Personal Narrative: I Grown-Up Books

I remember the first book I’ve read alone.

I was about 4 years old and sort of learning how to read. The book was a collection of short bedtime stories, and it was given to us by our mother for our birthday. It was heavy, hardbound, and the squeaky pages were similar to that of an encyclopedia. I recently took interest in reading during my free time at the school library. I sat in the corner of our bedroom, a milk bottle in one hand and the book at the other. The first story I read was about a mother hen and the challenges she faced while searching for her lost baby chick. I got up and told everyone what I read, very proud of myself, and then went back down to read the next. And the next. And the next. As so on to a life-long addiction

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Most will associate a kitchen with comfort food, family gatherings, and a mountain-like pile of dirty dishes waiting to be washed in an equally dirty sink. I only knew of a kitchen where, at the side of its entrance, there stood a big bookshelf containing her collection of, as a 10 year old would say, "grown-up" books.

My younger self knew of grown-up books as books without pictures, those with ancient covers, creased bindings, a musty scent, and yellowing pages. Stories enclosed in those old covers were nothing but boring nonfiction, literary works with complicated wordings, and historical whatnot I had no intention to care for or read about. I assumed boring books were read by boring people. I preferred children's story books. But Lola loved them nonetheless, and I didn't understand why back then. She was determined to make us children love them as she

To simply put it, I have accepted different kinds of literary works and how they are presented. Back then, I would only read books with graphic designs. The fact that I have read a "grown-up" book (albeit the Harry Potter series is considered a book for children) has given me the feeling of self-accomplishment that ran through my veins as I finished one book after another. Reading those 600-paged literary works has led me to think that, if I have accomplished this, that would mean I could do anything. I have fought against the Dark Lord alongside The Boy Who Lived, would there be a more complicated challenge life would offer that I could not overcome? Reading the Harry Potter series has led me to read books from other authors as well. From Lemony Snickets' A Series of Unfortunate Events to Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, I will continue reading, for my goal is to read all the books the world has to offer. I would read the next. And the next. And the next. As so on to a life-long