If you combine our school days, they number over 10,000. That's a lot of time spent sitting at small desks, waiting for a bell to ring. I wonder how many Ticonderoga #2 pencils we've pressed dull, how many Scantron sheets we've bubbled and smeared, how many cartons of milk we've drank.
But most of all, I wonder how many books we've read.
The number of books in our lives is countless; we can't begin to list all of our favorites but here are some special ones:
Celine's List:
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Polar Bear, Polar Bear What DO You HEar by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle
Self Help by Lorrie Moore
Ali's List
What the Witch Left by Ruth Chew
My 8th grade obsession
Until I Find You by John Irving
This lovely little gem
The book that make me start a book cult years ago
What can we say, we like to read.
I won't speak for Celine, (however judging her list, I probably could) but I'm an equal opportunity reader: I read everything from 19th Century novels to Twilight, and enjoy fiction and non-fiction equally. I also read several books at a time and am always listening to one in the car.
Currently, I'm surprised to find myself reading Traveling with Pomegranates, a memoir by mother/daughter team Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor because I hated the mother's secret bee book.
My adorable friend Alina turned me on to Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling and I'm hoping once I finish it, I'll have an even stronger license to perform amateur psych evals on my friends and family.
In addition to those, I'm also reading a few books on writing and publishing, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (re-reading for school), and I'm listening to Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed (which I'm LOVING).
I don't know what I would do if I didn't read; for me, it's therapeutic to fill my head with words and ideas other than those that belong to me.
That is an interesting question, trying to put a number on how many things you've read in a lifetime. I think I'm a more indiscrminate reader, like Ali. My first book memories, besides story time with my parents, was getting busted in my room reading under the covers with my flashlight when I was supposed to be sleeping. I remember getting detention for the first time ever in fourth grade because I was reading "Tom's Midnight Garden" during class. There was an early pattern of deviant reading and want of self control around books, something I still try to temper as an adult so I'm not up finishing a book at 3am when I have to be getting ready for work in 3 hours. With my kids I'm definitely trying to encourage a love for books, but also trying to figure out how to keep it contained so it doesn't become a self-sabotaging torrid affair. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI too also hated "The Secret Life of Bees". You should be my goodreads friend! Celine is! www.goodreads.com. Copy this link to be my friend! (http://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?i=LTM2MDY5MjE1MjQ6MzEy). I love to read as well and I have mountains and mountains of books listed there that I have read or am planning on reading!
ReplyDeleteOooo! I want to hear more about the secret reads read under the covers! I read "Flowers in the Attic", "Kramer vs Kramer" and "Wifey" that way !!
ReplyDeleteI used to keep up with my Goodreads and then I got lazy - I'll update my profile and add you!
As an English teacher, I am often asked what I read "for fun"...and I go in phases between being able to (and not able to) read "for fun" when so much of my time is filled with reading to teach.
ReplyDeleteJane Eyre: read it so many April's now...and still love it.
Snow day for me too! Hope you enjoy.
(stumbled on you from cjane)