I enjoy reading. I guess I wouldn’t be in this profession if I didn’t.

When I was 5 years old, I told my dad he no longer had to read to me. From that point on, I slept with numerous books under my bed for convenience. I slept with a touch lamp on and didn’t sleep in the dark until I was nearly out of high school, not because I was afraid of the dark but because I’d often fall asleep reading.

Growing up, I mostly read nonfiction, such as books about history. I recall borrowing the Time Life series on the American Civil War from then-Pleasants County Sheriff David Kelly (now the commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation). I was also into science fiction, checking out books from my elementary school library by Issac Asimov.

I spent a lot of time at the Pleasants County Public Library, either reading books there or checking out stacks to read at home. I’d go down every aisle looking for any book that caught my fancy. I am a believer that one can judge a book by its cover, and I often did so.

I’ve talked about in this space how I was a terrible student, either struggling in courses such as math, or bored by the pace of other subjects that I knew a lot about. But my avid reading appetite helped me lead our middle school and high school quiz bowl teams.

I still love reading as much as possible, though sometimes it is hard to find time to read recreationally. I still mostly read nonfiction, though I do have a few Tom Clancy novels on my home office shelf. I make it a point to go to Taylor Books in downtown Charleston and search through their used books for any about West Virginia political history to add to my State Capitol Building office shelf.

As I get older, I prefer to read using my backlit waterproof Kindle. Because I like to spend my summers near a beach or at least a pool, and reading in the water is a must. I also get a lot of Kindle reading done on my frequent camping trips, requiring the backlight. But when it comes to books I really love, I want a hardback to physically have.

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So, what have I read lately? Not too long ago I finished “Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism” by Leland Vittert, the host of “On Balance” weekday nights at 9 p.m. on NewsNation.

“Born Lucky” is about Leland – nicknamed Lucky due to surviving a dangerous childbirth – and his overcoming of autism thanks to his father Mark. Notice I used the work “overcoming,” because there is no cure for autism. It affects people differently and creates different challenges for each person. But Leland’s book is about how Mark refused to allow his son to be labeled and treated differently because of a learning disability.

Leland didn’t speak for much of his youngest years and struggled throughout his school years with picking up social cues and other issues. Noticing these struggles, Mark – a successful businessman and publisher – quit working to work with Lucky fulltime, being there for him as he came home from school bullied and demoralized. Mark was always there to put Leland back together.

Thanks to Mark and his family, Leland was able to rise above his issues, graduate high school and college, and work his way up in the TV news world to become a Middle East correspondent for Fox News. When he didn’t back down from the fact that President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, he was forced out of Fox but landed as a marquee name at NewsNation.

I’ll admit to some bias in this book review. Leland is a friend, whose sister – a wunderkind in her own right – is married to new U.S. Attorney Moore Capito – truly a small world after all. But as someone who also struggled in school and had similar social issues in elementary school, I came away impressed by Leland’s can-do attitude.

Leland’s book should be given to any parent having sleepless nights about whether their children can make it. They can.

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Last week, I read “Call Me Danny: Street Kid to Power Broker,” by former Charleston mayor Danny Jones with legendary newsman and ad agency leader Charlie Ryan.

Again, some bias. I know Danny, though I came to know Danny long after he left city government and his brief return to the Kanawha Valley airwaves. I got to know him by dropping into his Quarrier Street restaurant. But having lived in this city for nearly 16 years, I’ve watched Danny during most of his four terms helming the state’s Capitol city.

Danny came from money and Charleston royalty, but you wouldn’t have known that by observing him in his teens and early 20s. He has worked nearly every job imaginable, including bartender, bouncer, gravedigger, restaurateur and driver. He has participated in drag races and local theater. He has battled alcoholism, was nearly prosecuted in a trial involving cocaine and a previous Charleston mayor, and went to war in Vietnam.

But Danny has also been a Kanawha County sheriff, a member of the House of Delegates and served four terms as mayor beginning in 2003. The book includes the good, the bad and the ugly during his career. It even includes a candid critique of his actions during his final years in office, complete with interviews from those who disagreed with them. I found that quite refreshing, setting him apart from another memoir out there by another retired West Virginia politician.

I highly recommend both Leland’s and Danny’s books if you need stocking stuffers this Christmas.

(Adams is the state government reporter for Ogden Newspapers. He can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)