I divide all readers into two classes; those who read to remember and those who read to forget.

–William Lyon Phelps

Hi there.  I love to read.  However, if you were to track my activities over the last decade, you would find plenty of evidence to convict me to the contrary.  It’s been awful!  I have missed being lost in a good book. And what little I have read are books on parenting, marriage, spirituality, leadership, self-empowerment and education.  Awesome stuff…but it’s hard to get lost in a book called, “A  Parent’s Guide to Charlotte Mason” or “The Power of Starting Something Stupid”.  (No, that’s not a parenting book…HAHAHAHAHA!)  My time for novels greatly diminished in direct correlation to my growing family.  I didn’t realize what a vital part of my life had been whittled away.

One part of the problem was that I  got so busy during the day that I couldn’t justify laying down on the couch to read.  (The last memory I have of that was Summer 2003-I was pregnant, sick, and couldn’t resist Harry Potter.)
Another part of the problem was that I had so many little ones underfoot which meant CONSTANT interruptions and  I couldn’t stand to read in one sentence intervals.  Try reading, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” over and over.  Pretty soon you bury the book and face the chaos.

The last part was fatigue.  I love to read at night, but I could not for the life of me stay awake; and if I could, my nighttime reading habit didn’t jive with my hubby’s nighttime sleeping habit.  I gave it up.  I all but gave it up.  Thank heavens for windows of light and new opportunities and kids growing up and sheer grit.

I am back at it.  The last six months have been heavenly.  Through a small, neighborhood geography class that I have taught for children, I have found my way back into novels.  As we’ve studied different countries, I have read novels set in some of these countries.  Slowly survival mode is dissipating and my world is opening up again. In a lovely, quiet way,  I am becoming reacquainted with my mind (and my heart). As you can see, I am easing my way into it with a lot of young adult literature.  I have found that they are quick to read and I can pick up new information in a flash. (Plus, I have penchant for Newbery novels-there’s so many that I haven’t read. ) Now my only problem is that I want to discuss these books with someone.  So, this my friends, my blog will be my venue for book discussion.  I want to share what I’ve read and learned and hopefully pique your interest in some new books.  And I’m sorry if I clog up your Facebook newsfeed with my blog posts about the books I’ve read.

At any rate, I hope you will share your book experiences as well. Reading brings me such joy-it’s an escape, an immersion in reality, a chance to think and a chance to forget-all at once. My favorite thing is when my brain makes connections with my new read and other things that I’ve read or experienced or discussed before.  Few things make me feel more alive than these connections.  Perhaps Rene Descartes hit  upon an important human need:

I think therefore I am

We need to think in order to feel our humanness and reading is such a great vehicle to get me thinking…which might mean that I haven’t been doing much thinking the last decade either…criminy.  Don’t tell the children. It will just confirm their suspicion that I’ve been making things up and operating on half a brain.