Top Ten Tuesdays - Bookish Memories

 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is Bookish Memories

1.  Visiting the library when I was little: This is probably one of my earliest bookish memories.  My mom and I went to the library constantly. In the summer, my mom would ride her bike with me on the back, until I was old enough to ride a bike myself.  We would go to the park afterwards and eat a lunch and look through our books. Once we took a bus there because I was obsessed with buses and really wanted to ride one. The library is the same one I still go to, and up until last year, the librarian was the same librarian.

2.  Reading in my yard in a tent: When I was little, my parents set up a tent one summer that I read in everyday.  I felt very cool and adventurous. That was also the year I read Harriet the Spy, which inspired me to carry a notebook with me everywhere for a while, writing down my observations.

3.  Attending a writing workshop given by Connie May Fowler:  My dad and I are huge fans of Ms. Fowler, and when we saw she was holding a small writing workshop in St. Augustine a couple of years ago, we of course had to sign up. I flew out alone from Detroit and met my dad in Orlando, and we drove from there to St. Augustine.  The workshop was about ten people and Connie May, in a living room at a beach house. It was awesome.  Everyone else seemed to be a serious writer, in the process of writing a book already - except my dad and I.  Regardless, it was an amazing experience, and I learned a lot in case I ever do write a novel. The best part was eating lunch, just hanging out with Ms. Fowler and her husband and the rest of the group, in the beach house kitchen and balcony, looking out at the Atlantic.  I also had my favorite book by her, Remembering Blue, signed.

4.  Starting my book club:  Book club meetings are one of my favorite days a month. Nerdy I know, but it is always fun.  We try to encourage reading out of our comfort zones.  We also spend a lot of time catching up on each others lives.  

5.  The first time I read Prince of Tides: This was before the movie that we will not talk about. I read this when I was in high school, and I faked being sick so I could stay home and finish it.  I cried my eyes out, but it was love at first sight for me and Conroy's books.

6.  Starting my book blog: I have really enjoyed blogging - it is awesome to see what other people are reading and talk about books. I enjoy this community of big time readers like me. I am not always the most consistent blogger, but that is my goal for the year.

7.  Meeting Kim Harrison:  This was such a fun night.

8.   Meeting Jonathan Rand: The school librarian and I arranged for Rand to speak to our students.  He was very cool to talk to behind the scenes, very down to earth and interesting.

9.  Getting my husband to read, and like it:  My husband is dyslexic, and always hated reading. Reading is such a huge part of my life, and when were dating, I really wanted him to love it as much as I do.  I began by reading books out loud to him - the first book was Bag of Bones, and he loved it.  It was kind of a neat thing, to spend time reading together.  After reading a few more though, I started reading Harry Potter to him. And stopped. Before finishing. He wanted to know what happened and wanted me to read more - I said no, if he wanted to know, he had to read it. So he did, and since then he has become a reader who reads everyday.

10.  Seeing an advanced screening of The Hunger Games: This was amazing. My sister-in-law received free passes to an advanced showing of The Hunger Games from Barnes and Noble, something having to do with a Nook. Seating was by bracelet color, and we had the color to enter the theater first. We waltzed in ahead of everyone, picked the best seats, and minutes later the movie was playing. Everyone there was serious about watching, and there were no people talking, getting up, anything. There weren't even any previews. It was super fun.