Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Beginning

Not all readers are good writers. I definitely am not! So I appreciate anyone who bears with me as I express my feelings here about books and stuff.

I owe my love of reading to my mother. She read to me a lot and took me to the library frequently. I remember I was about third grade when my mom encouraged me one day at the library to pick out a novel instead of just a stack of picture books. I chose Old Yeller. I read it all in one day because I just couldn’t put it down. After that, my mom bought for me any book I wanted from the Scholastic Book Club at school and I remember some of them were books that were made into Disney Movies that I wanted to see, but missed. A couple of memorable ones are 101 Dalmatians and Escape To Witch Mountain.

I didn’t have many friends growing up, so books were my friends and my ticket to anywhere I wanted to go or anyone I wanted to be. Have you seen the Amazon Kindle commercial on TV? I LOVE that! I definitely feel like that when I read.

My earliest memory of books in school was first grade. I remember the “Dick and Jane” type reader we had. I have a vivid memory of one day having reading group and being so into the story about a boy taking a trip to the moon. The teacher was having trouble controlling an unruly class, so gave up on reading for the day and told us to close our readers and color (or something?). She put her feet up on her desk and leisurely ate a banana. I was so frustrated! I wanted so badly to know what happened in the story that I tried to read it silently on my own instead of coloring, but I did not know enough of the new words to decipher what it said! (I made sure my kids learned phonics so this could never happen to them.)

Unfortunately, out of the six teachers I had from sixth to twelfth grades, only one of them taught any literature. Sad. But I will be forever grateful to Mrs. Wanda Waldeck for introducing me to Shakespeare, numerous poets, and Homer in tenth grade. God Bless you! I wish I had appreciated it more then as I do now.

I do remember my eighth grade English teacher requiring us to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It changed my life. Ever since, I have tried not to judge people on appearances, or “pre-judge”. I love it so much that I have read it about three more times since then, and I own the old movie starring Gregory Peck. It taught me about having convictions and doing what is right no matter what it may cost. Everyone should read it! It has a clear moral! You gotta love a book where the bad guy “gets it” in the end!

6 comments:

  1. I too have a love for books that started in my youth. I am so loving that you are starting this book blog. How wonderful & another great way to get know you. "To Kill A Mockingbird" has to be my favorite all time book. Followed by Anne of Green Gables & many, many others.

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  2. i love "to kill a mocking bird" in print and film. i also love to read! thankfully i had a great teacher in grade school (one nancy contival!) and we read often. my dad, too, encouraged reading. i can remember him reading to me from a very very early age. as i type this, he's sitting across from me, reading.
    keep posting, friend!

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  3. Wow, Wanda Waldeck, there's a name I've not thought of in a couple of decades. :)

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  4. kindred spirits through God's Holy Spirit, as well as our love of books, and the ocean, and eating - although not seafood - kinda like our preference for books - I'm not so much into Dickens as you, and even though To Kill a Mockingbird has an excellent moral, etc. - it's too real for my present day circumstances. I read the Bible for nourishment, and fiction for escape from reality, shallow as that may sound, it's me. GOOD HISTORICAL fiction is my favorite. BOoks I can re-read unlimited number of times so far are the Mitford Series, The Yada Yada Prayer Group series, and Anne McCaffrey's "Dragon Singer" series.... none of which fall under Historical Fiction. I never said I was consistent :)

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  5. Jess, Anne of Green Gables is a favorite of mine also. Stay tuned for a blog about that coming up. It will no doubt be one of my longest entries!
    Angela, the book you mentioned in your Facebook comment - that's the next one I planned to blog about! I have enjoyed talking to your dad about books over the years. He inspires me also.
    Doug - I admit I had trouble remembering her name!
    Harriet! I plan to blog sometime about Mitford for sure and Jennifer Chiaverini who I know you also like. Just to set the record straight, I don't like the ocean as much as you do! But some of my most cherished times at the ocean are with you! Watch also for a blog soon about another love we have in common. Cats!

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  6. Well looky there...it worked. I didn't even need to use my password.

    Ok...my comment is on the Mitford series. I just finished re-reading them last month. Since my first time, about 4 new books were added. I loved them all! I also read Home to Holly Springs. Now I miss Father Tim and all the characters. Wish she would write more!!!!

    I also love historical fiction, especially books written about the 18th century. I think I was born too late...hah.

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