Hey,Battle axe. I feel like we grew in similar situations. We had no electricity or running water when I was growing up. We relied on the well on the back porch for water and we used kerosene lamps for reading and studying. I never knew I was limited in any way. I learned to read before I went to public school so I never felt deprived. I think the single greatest gift we can give anyone is the gift of reading. I am sad when I hear someone say they don't like to read. As a teacher, I used all sorts of "tricks" to encourage students to read. I once had an 8th grader who bragged that she had never read a whole book. I set out to change that without her realizing it. I went to an International Reading Association meeting and had a nationally known author autograph a book for her. That student came in the next morning bleary-eyed. She said it was the best book she had ever read and did I have any more like that. "I had her then." She would happily read any book I recommended after that.
Because I had read so widely, my students thought I had read every book in the library. I challenged them to read the first 5 pages of any book and if it didn't grab them, bring it back and try something else. My advanced students had to read 2 books a week. One nursing later told me that she was never challenged by any reading material because of that class.