So Many Books, So Little Time

Certain books remind me of certain people.  They are like songs in that way. Maybe a friend introduced me to a particular novel, or maybe he or she resembles a character in the book.

And books are also like people, in that some make more of an impression on you than others. Some are only in your life for a short while, some stick with you for the long haul, and others you find yourself returning to again and again. Some change you forever.

I could not possibly overstate my love for books. I am forever grateful to all the writers who have laid their words and their hearts on the page and given us books to fill our shelves and our minds.

For me, it all began with The Little Engine That Could.  I soon progressed to Judy Blume. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a perennial fave, but my favorite Blume book has to be Tiger Eyes.  I must have read that one 20 times.  Jacob Have I Loved was introduced to me by my fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Paille.  Great book, even greater teacher.  I also devoured the entire Sweet Valley High series, and, no, I’m not ashamed to say that.  Book choices are a judgment-free zone. I might be guilty of judging people on occasion, but never for their literary, or not-so-literary, choices.  After all, no two people will experience a book in exactly the same way.

My parents always said they would buy me all the books I could read.  I had to save my allowance for that Rainbow Brite doll I wanted, but books were a freebie.  And I took full advantage of that offer, reading nearly nonstop.  I had a little TV in my bedroom, but I rarely watched it, because I spent most of my time with my nose stuck in a book. Although I did a lot of reading in my room, my favorite place to read was on the landing of the stairs.  Just sitting on the ground.  (This is actually a great place to read.  You should try it.  No joke.)

I developed an eclectic taste in literature.  I seek different things from books at different times.  Sometimes escape, sometimes information, sometimes inspiration.  I’m no book snob. I don’t necessarily read what is “cool,” obscure, or high-brow. I just read what I like.  And/or what’s in front of me.  Heck, I would happily read the back of a cereal box if that was all that was available.

In high school, there was Gone With the Wind. That one reminds me of an old friend. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Our Town.  I’ll never forget that play because I missed a pop quiz on it the one and only day I ever cut a class.  (It was a beautiful spring day, so Lindsay and I hopped in her car after lunch and picked up some Dairy Queen. Then we actually came back to campus and sat on the track to chat. We were real rebels.) The next day, I earned a perfect score on the make-up quiz, but when the teacher found out I had ditched school, that 100% became a big ole zero.  That didn’t diminish my love for the play, though.

College was The Alchemist.  A boy I only knew for a few weeks gave me his copy.  I couldn’t tell you his name, but his book is still on my shelf.   Antigone.  On the Road.  Tuesdays With Morrie. Lonesome Dove. Beach Music. Hawaii. Bridget Jones’ Diary. I was studying abroad in Italy when the first Harry Potter book was released.  I paid an arm and a leg for it at the English bookstore in Florence.

Bel Canto was in law school.  So was The Time Traveler’s Wife. Since then I have met Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  Looking for Alaska.  What to Say Next.  Wild. Upstairs at the White House. The Fault in Our Stars. Go the F**k to Sleep. Eleanor & Park. More recently I made the acquaintance of Capital Gaines and The Great Alone.

I’ve read other books, of course.  More than I could recount here.  There were the classics from English class and various “great books” lists. The last-minute airport bookstore picks. But the books listed above are some that have stuck with me, for one reason or another. Maybe they made me laugh, or they made me think, or they just allowed my brain to be comfortable for a bit.

During certain periods of my life, it has been harder to find time to read.  This has turned me into a multi-tasking reader.  I have found that if I download books onto my phone, I will have them with me at all times. Although this is a sad commentary on my addiction to my iPhone, it also means I can read whenever a small pocket of time presents itself.  I read while drying my hair, standing in line at the grocery store, folding laundry…

Still, I prefer actual, paper-and-ink books.  Paperback or hardcover, I’m not picky.  I appreciate the tactile experience of book-reading.  My husband insisted on having built-in shelves installed in my office because he knew I had always wanted them.  And I love them.  I love having my favorite friends nearby (…with a few randoms mixed in. I’m not sure when I was planning to run a marathon, but I have a book instructing me how to do so, should I ever feel inspired!).  I lost a good chunk of my book collection through my many moves, so my shelves hold more Lego creations and clay pinch pots than novels.  But I managed to hold on to the best of the best.

I have tried to impart my love for reading to my kids. I read Muddy Paws and Road Work Ahead to Baylor so many times when he was a toddler that I memorized both books from cover to cover. “Hello, Grandma, here we come!  You’re making oatmeal cookies? Yum! Road work ahead.  Move over, go slow.  Jackhammers crack.  Look at them go….”  Later, I found the copy of The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh that my Aunt Pat gave to me on my 4th birthday, and I read it to both kiddos.  Baylor loved when I read aloud from The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, too. Right now, though, my son is all about the second-grade series books (think Dragon Masters and Eerie Elementary) which is just not my area of expertise. Although his teacher tells me he is a voracious reader at school, I sometimes struggle to find books he wants to read at home.

Ryan, on the other hand, is just like me.  She will read anything and everything.  She most recently breezed through the entire Mo Willems collection and all of the “If You Give a _________ a ______________” books by Laura Numeroff.  I have a feeling she will be raiding my bookshelf soon.  🙂

What about you guys?  Do you use e-readers now, or do you still like “real” books?  Do you have any recommendations for me or the kids?