I like big books and I cannot lie.

I like big books and I cannot lie.

You other readers can’t deny,

that when a book on your shelf has an itty bitty spine,

you think a big book instead would be so fine.

Baby got book!

Dial 1-900-BIGBOOK

Baby got book!

My apologies to Sir Mix-A-Lot … (not really)

A while back I posted this picture on my FB timeline. Several people noticed, so I decided to write a little bit about the books on this shelf.

On the top of the table, by the little lamp are two piles. I’ll start with the one on the left. The spiral notebook is a journal I’m keeping for the book Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly. You can’t see the book, but it’s there. It’s half tucked into the journal and half the journal is tucked into the book. They’re being a book mark for each other.

Each year during Lent, ourchurch gives us a free book. During this season of the year I always try to DO more rather than give up something. Reading a spiritual book is always a priority. This year’s book, oddly enough*, Resisting Happiness, fell squarely into my New Year’s resolution of time management.

The next book down is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It’s a young adult book, which in my opinion, is an exciting and entertaining genre. This book has gotten a lot of press and I can’t wait to read it.

Next in line, Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden, has been on my to-read list for a long time. I picked this one up for next to nothing at a book sale. Finally, the last one in the stack, also picked up at a book sale, is by Diana Gabaldon. Need I say more? Yes???? O.K. She’s the author of the Outlander series and the creator of my literary crush, Jamie Frasier. (BTW my friend Debbie T. in Omaha thinks he is her boyfriend, but he’s not.) I can’t wait to read The Scottish Prisoner.

Are you still with me? Good! 

The pile on the right has the book I’m reading right now on  the top.  I’m reading The Book That Matters Most, by Ann Hood for a couple of reasons. First, I found her book The Red Thread,which I wrote a post about, and fell in love with it. Secondly, The Book That Matters Most was released around that same time. I plan to read all of her books. Maggie, the daughter in this story, at one point in her life works in a weird book store where the owner expects the employees to arrange/group the books any way they’d like. Maggie makes a shelf she entitles ‘her mom’s books.’ I’d need more than a shelf. Just sayin’.

Under that book is a movie….wait for it…. based on a book. (Surprise!) Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins was a good book and a good movie. I’m glad I read the book first though, because I know I would have gotten lost in the story if I’d seen the movie first.

And under that movie is my Nook. I'm an equal opportunity reader. I read e-books, books on cd and good ol' fashion paper books. Under my Nook is our son Nathan’s first communion Bible that I try to read regularly. 

O.K. The first shelf. Easy-peasy. That’s our family Bible. It was given to us by Tim’s sister Jane and her husband Denny. This is the Bible Tim likes to read from.

Second shelf: Besides being a mess, it has a book I bought a long time ago and recently dug back out for Woman’s history month, which is March ladies and gentlemen. Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. It’s a non-fiction book, and if I’m being candid, I have to tell you I have not finished it. Not a big fan of history type reading. But I have ‘read around’ in this book.

Under that book is the book sleeve for Nate’s little blue Bible. Under that, my volunteer binder from Women’s Choice Center. And under that, a beautiful photo book by Mark Hirsch called ThatTree. 

Now, the. Bottom. Shelf! 

The book you see there is a kid’s how-to knitting book by Melani Falick. I find that when I’m teaching myself how to do something, using kid’s books are best. They have easy to follow directions and simple pictures. I used to knit all the time and kinda got away from it. I wanted to pick it up again so I got out my book. You know what? It’s NOT like riding a bike. I’ve forgotten how to do stuff and my knitting is not smooth. My hands and shoulders get stiff. I had to pull this project out four, yes four times!  I’m not sure if I want to get back into knitting again! Geesh!

And finally, under the dreaded knitting book is a photo album. It chronicles our clean up history on our land. Boy, it's changed a lot over the years!

So there it is. My shelf.  A picture of me.

The scary or cool (you decide) thing is I have lots of other stashes of books around this house. Tim is a patient man. (But don’t tell him I said that.)

So, what’s your “deal”? What makes you who you are?

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself.

~Nadine

*Or maybe not so oddly…

Reading: An Introvert Just Doin’ Her Thang

Being a reader is something that I do not take for granted.  I’m not sure at what age I became a “good” reader.  I remember being in the “middle reading group” in elementary school. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the groups were named after birds.  You know: The Blue Bird Group – they were the top readers, The Red Bird Group, and the poorest readers: The Buzzards Group—(not really their name).   And like all kids, I envied the Blue Bird Group. 

I have a distinct memory of my third grade teacher (nasty ol' Miss Brown) making a big stink over me mistakenly using the word ‘kids’ in a sentence when the text said  ‘children’. It went something like this:  The text sentence:  The children ran outside.  What I read out loud:  The kids ran outside. I remember she made me read that sentence several times until I finally realized my mistake. (I know now, as an experienced teacher, that those kinds of word substitutions do not change the meaning of the text, nor is it the end of the world if a kid can understand the meaning of the passage even if using an incorrect word.)  Geesh lady, take a chill pill.

I think sixth grade might have been the year that I stood up and took notice of literature. My teacher that year read many books to our class that I considered “risky.”   I wrote in a previous post about The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton and how that book changed me.  That may have been the beginning of my love of reading.  This particular school year was an all-out whole language paarrtayyy.  We got together in small groups and wrote extra chapters for The Outsiders, and then made the book into a play.  I remember my friend, Connie, was talked into being the lead female, Cherry Valance, because she had the best clothes of all the girls in our class.  We also wrote a newspaper based on the events of that story.  It Was All Good.  No taking turns reading out loud up and down the desk rows that year.  Mrs. Juanita Jackson (my teacher) knew what was what when it comes to engaging kids in reading.

When I was in junior high, I was put in an accelerated reading class.  This class literally was a speed reading course.  After reading a text that flashed on the screen-- I’m not talking computer screen, I mean reach-up-and- grab-the-handle-pull-it-down silver screen-- fired from a slide projector, we had to complete a comprehension quiz before moving on.  Oh, man did I love the status of that class and I was determined to stay above the line that would send me back to the regular reading class. The cool thing about this class is that I didn’t have to read out loud in front of the other kids. --  Because whenever I had to read out loud you could just forgggedddabout comprehension at that point!

I’m rather confused and disoriented when I’m in a crowd. (My husband often leads me through them.) I don’t do well with small talk. I’d rather just sit back and talk with one or two people- and even that’s difficult sometimes.  I get overwhelmed in unfamiliar surroundings.  I often observe rather than participate.  I like to people-watch. I like quiet. I am an introverted person.

It seems that introversion and a love of reading go hand-in-hand. My fellow employees at the library are all self-confessed introverts who would rather not be part of unorganized social situations. They’re all readers (of course) and they’re all cat people. (But that’s a different story.)

I’m not saying extroverted people don’t read. They do.  I’m just saying that for me, reading is a natural part of who I am, as much as being introverted is who I am.  I contend that extroverts read more for information and introverts read more for entertainment. Do you agree? Disagree?

What are your reading habits and preferences? Do they align with your personality?

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself.

~Nadine