Reader's Fave

I recently interviewed Chance Toteff for our 45th installment of Reader's Fave, a casual interview with someone who shares their favorite book. Chance and his family live on Puget Island.

"I wasn't a reader until I met my wife, Nancy," Chance said. "I was a TV watcher. I remember, when I was young, we had this bookshelf in our house, and I never took a book off [it]. I don't remember my dad being a reader - maybe my mom on occasion - and my sisters were not readers at that time. I do recall in sixth grade the book 'The Black Pearl' by Scott O'Dell. I read it and found it fascinating, but I never followed up with reading after that. Then, in 10th grade I had a teacher, Ms. Miles, and we were supposed to read 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens. I'd tell her, 'I'm sorry for not reading it; I just can't bring myself to do it. I can't read it.' Then about 16 years ago, I read 'Great Expectations, which is a great book, so I owe her an apology. I've read all the Dickens stuff now. I think it's great history; it takes us back in time. It's just great, but what caused the change, I think, was Nancy's talking about the stories she was reading. These related to the movies I watched, and we'd have these conversations. This led me to begin reading. Now, except for movies or Amazon Prime, we read. I imagine that 'Lord of the Rings' might be the start of my reading. The first three books were great. Another great book I read was 'The Count of Monte Cristo' [by Alexandre Dumas]. I read that about 12 years ago. Also, 'Robinson Crusoe' [by Daniel Defoe] and 'Treasure Island' [by Robert Louis Stevenson]; great books. I've really loved sea stories the last five years, especially historical fiction. Anything historical fiction or history. I'm rereading 'Moby-Dick' [by Herman Melville] now, but I don't have a fave. A maybe fave might be 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand. It's a little wordy, but I feel everyone should grasp the concept of the book. I think there's relevance to it. It's this world stage, societal changes, the author's foresight. It lays out a timeline; the haves and have-nots. It shows the self and social responsibility. The self according to ability versus need, and the social [aspect] of being a good neighbor."

Sharing how reading happens at home now, Chance said, "I read religiously to my boys, since they could grasp the pictures in a book. Just your voice in reading to them. Developing an expectation in the child that we're going to lay down now and read. Every week now, they are at the library. We debate about what books to read and then discuss the book. It's so impactful for kids. I wish I had that as a kid. We just finished 'Treasure Island' with the boys for the first time, but [it was] my third time. Other great books to read to boys were 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Matilda' [by Roald Dahl]. There is so much to be gained from reading."

As far as how he reads today, Chance said, "I used to read physical books, but I started using a Kindle, probably because of my fishing in Alaska. It just makes it much easier. I don't listen to audio books, but I do listen to podcasts."

May you wonderful Wahkiakum readers find some great books to read for yourself and, maybe, for someone younger who is just getting into reading.