The reason for my black circles
I sat up and read one of my 6 new/old books last night - Working Parts by Lucy Jane Bledsoe. It's a book about a dyke in her early 30's who's a bicycle mechanic and best friends with her colleague (also a mechanic). He wants to open a bike shop with her using his compensation money from a car accident and she initially refuses, not because she doesn't want to but because she's illiterate. So they strike a deal - she'll learn to read if he has his first kiss.
I've always felt really grateful for the ability to read fluently and be able to string 2 or more words together on the written page. I'm someone who skipped over a lot of small childrens books to get into short novels by the age of 7. I remember my favourite activity as a child was reading in the glass section in my dad's tractor behind his seat, nestled in a pile of cushions going around and around the paddocks. And I would sit up till all hours with a torch under my blankets to finish a story cause I just couldn't help myself, reading till after midnight when I was only 10. And not much has changed! If I get really into a book now I'll just read it straight through even if I've got an early shift in the morning, throwing a scarf over the bedside lamp to make it duller for Little Mister.
So I just loved the really visceral description in this book of how it feels to learn to read, the freedom and pride it gives someone who's never had the opportunity and what it means in their life. It's a bit of a tear jerker in a way! I really recommend it to anyone who has someone in their life who has difficulties with literacy, cause I really think it explains so well how they feel and the coping mechanisms they develop to get through life without reading.