I started reading at four. My parents had decided to homeschool their kids. My mom was anxious to get started so she bought some McGuffy Readers and taught me to read. If you aren't in the know, McGuffy Readers are what was used in one room school houses. I vividly remember when it "stuck" for me and I started reading ahead. By six I was reading the King James Bible. My mom says I was comprehending it, I'm not so sure. When I was five I became obsessed with American Girl dolls. I had a few of the books, but I wasn't allowed to read all of them. This is when my books started being monitored.
As I got a little older I was allowed to read classics. But, not all classics. My mom had to talk my dad into letting me read The Diary Of Anne Frank because she had a crush in the story. I was not allowed to have crushes, thankfully my mom was able to get him to let me read it.
Around 12, I became interested in love stories. My poor dad! He started with letting me read Jane Austen books, Gone With The Wind, Shakespeare (my favorites were adapted so I didn't have to push through scripts). I read all of them. I really liked a little known series called Elsie Dinsmore, it's the more religious version of Little Women, the writers were friends. After awhile I wanted more, so my dad reluctantly agreed to Christian romance. But, he always reminded me that kind of love was fake. This was during the start of "Purity Culture" my dad took me aside at 13 and had me sign a contract that I was going to let him pick my husband and I would not look at boys at all. Naively I signed the contract. I was encouraged to read I Kissed Dating Goodbye (which wasn't strict enough, I was told) and When God Writes Your Love Story. I totally bought the whole thing.
At 17, I got a job at the public library. For the most part I stayed a "good girl" I remember putting away a sex positions book. I looked at it, but wasn't really interested in it. I did pick up a novel at the library that I thought was a novel about nuns. It was not. I finished the book, but didn't get anymore like it yet. Around this time our pastor referred to our church as a cult and I flipped out. I refused to go anymore, I demanded that we destroy my contract. My dad had his hands full. Even with my freak out I was still a pretty good girl. I snuck out with my brother's and my cousin to watch Oh Brother Where Art Thou. I didn't really like it. My dad kicked me out because he thought I was reading my horoscope. My aunt took me in. She introduced me to her romance books. My favorites were Amanda Quick and Johanna Lindsay. I had never heard of Julia Quinn until Netflix released Bridgerton.
For the next 15 years I read these types of books. 14 years ago I met my husband. After a year of dating, he decided to gift me a Nook for Christmas. It was a simple paperwhite, but there was a lot of free smut. Because I was pretty poor, I stuck with free reads. The smut I read back then was really filthy and cheesy. When I got my Kindle I ended up getting Kindle Unlimited and the quality of my smut has been a lot better.
I have even faced my past and read some smut about escape from Purity Culture.
I still love classics. These days I have a free audiobook app on my phone plays classics. I will never read Christian romance again.
Like I mentioned before, both my parents and I get along great now. My dad lives half a continent away from me now, but we text often. My mom lives nearby, we spend a lot more time together. We like to look up stories of people that were former Fundamentalists or those that escaped Purity Culture.
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