Audiobook Review: The Reading Promise

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared,
by Alice Ozma & Jim Brozina
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Date: May 2011
Format: Audio -- 7 hrs 1 min
How did I get this book? purchased with Audible credit
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
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So, I had a $1 paperback copy of this one from a library sale that I'd been meaning to read for the longest time. A bookish memoir is right up my alley, but I finally admitted this is exactly the sort of book I really love listening to on audiobook. So I set aside the print copy for my Mom and Grandma to read and used one of my Audible credits on it instead. In a nutshell, this is the true story of a father and daughter who make a pact when she was 9 years old to read together for 100 days, then 1,000 days, then all the way until the day Alice leaves for college.

Most of the book is read by Alice, but the introduction and quotations at the beginning of each chapter are read by her father who is an elementary school librarian -- what a gift he has! I could see from these brief glimpses why his daughter, students, and other audiences have enjoyed his reading aloud so much. The book addresses a lot of family issues and difficulties -- everything is not just sunshine, roses, and bedtime stories -- but through it all, they honored this promise they made to each other and kept their "Streak" alive for years. 

This was an inspiring and heartwarming memoir I'm so glad I finally read. In fact, I may have enjoyed it even more now that I'm a mom. I was only about six minutes in and getting a little teary-eyed! It's not really a tear-jerker, but hearing Jim talk about the importance of reading and spending time with his children tugged at my heartstrings. I already read a lot to my 10 month old son, but this makes me want to continue the tradition as long as I possibly can (translation: as long as he will let me!)