Coleen Grissom on reading (mp3): 
One should make reading an integral part of one’s life. One should do this in spite of all joys, challenges, distractions and attractions of tempting television and films, plays, cocktail parties, athletic competitions, ipods and interactive computers. Reading offers much stimulation on many levels, an important one of which is that it is a solitary process and can teach you the pleasures and rewards of aloneness in a world in which noise (even Don DeLillo’s White Noise) and togetherness seem the norm. I recommend occasional solitude for your personal growth and rejuvenation.
Grissom was a fantastic literature teacher of mine from Trinity University whose taste for books over the years have given her “occasional eyestream, and … longer- lasting biceps than most my age.” This hilarious lecture goes over her early reading, starting with Nancy Drew to Zane Grey to Nobel prize winners (make sure to skip the 6 minute introduction). Her book a Novel Approach to Life contains a collection of her essays.
Sheila Bender on the art of writing a personal essay (mp3). Great tips on how to get started and how to elicit constructive criticism from readers. Here are 3 instructions to give to a reader:
1) report the images and phrases that stick with me
2) monitor the feelings that occur inside me as I read, and report these feelings accurately, and
3) tell the writer where I want to know more.
