By Maureen McKamey

Growing up, I was an avid reader. The library was my favorite place on earth---the stools in the middle of the aisles of books in Barnes and Noble came in a close second. I started reading early, and technically, I never stopped. But what I read started to change a few years ago.

In my bio on the CRI team page, I mention that one of my favorite things is curling up on the couch with a latte and a good book. That hasn't changed. But when I was younger, I found fiction engrossing. I would sit down with a book and, if it hooked me, which many did, I wouldn't set it down until I was finished. Books can transport you to another world---it's one of the greatest feelings in the world.

When I visit my family back in Minnesota, my books are still everywhere. Piled on bookshelves all over the house, stuffed into boxes so I can eventually bring them back to my apartment in Pella, hidden in the closet in my old room, or under my bed.

When I went to college, I didn't stop reading. But somehow, I got away from good fiction. See, I also happen to be sort of a geek when it comes to history and geography and politics, and even though I still read all the time, I had a biography stuck in my book bag instead of a good novel.

I'm not saying one form of reading is better than another. The shelves in my apartments at college were filled with books on Alexander Hamilton, books written by Noam Chomsky or Arianna Huffington instead of Mark Twain or F. Scott Fitzgerald, books like The Al Jazeera Phenomenon, Don't Know Much About History, and Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. Guidebooks on places I wanted to go on vacation. Dissertations, collections of articles, and humorous books---Stephen Colbert's I am America and So Can You, or Jon Stewart's America: The Book.

I think one of the reasons I love journalism is because it reminds me of non-fiction. I try to tell stories about real things and real people. Maybe reporters are just another kind of non-fiction writer. When I did occasionally return to fiction, I usually just read a book I already knew I loved again. I can't even tell you how many times I've read each of the Harry Potter books. It's embarrassing!

But it wasn't until recently that I remembered what it was like not to be able to set a good new novel down.

Last month, my mom got the new Kindle Fire, and she gave her old Kindle to me.

Now, I never thought I would be a Kindle fan. I liked holding a real, physical book in my hands, not what I tended to view as an iPad you can only read books on.

But this Kindle was loaded up with an entire library of books already.

I picked my first fiction choices by books with movies coming out that I wanted to see. I've always been a purist about that---I usually don't see a movie based on a book until I read the book first.

In less than a week, I was through all three of Stieg Larsson's books---The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the other two that follow. I started the Hunger Games series next.

I've read dozens of novels since I inherited my mom's Kindle last month. My evenings and weekends are spent curled up with a good book, Kindle version or otherwise, and usually a latte, too. And now, I remember why I find fiction engrossing.

I don't think I'll ever stop reading my nerdy biographies and history books, either. But my mistake was getting away from good fiction. I'm glad I've rediscovered my love for reading all kinds of books. Have you read a good book lately? Shoot me an email and let me know, or find me on GoodReads. I'll add it to my Kindle.