Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Gratitude Week - Day 3

Today's gratitude goes out to books. They have been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. My grandmother was a schoolteacher and she told me that if I could read, I could learn anything and everything. I took this advice to heart, and have been learning through fiction, nonfiction, textbooks, picture books, YA, and audiobooks ever since.


Childhood favorites gave me pleasure decades ago, and I have appreciated them even more after several rereads as an adult. Even though I never did find a spider that could spell, have a sugaring off, run away to the Met, or drink raspberry cordial, I could do these things in my imagination.


Books have given me a way to spend quality time with my sons. When Justin was learning to read, he was obsessed with Mr. Grump. His teacher finally gave us a copy and I remember getting teary-eyed when he read it by himself for the first time. My boy could read!


Ryan and I shared the Harry Potter books. I had to order the first books in the series from the UK because I was so anxious to read the next one and they were published in the UK six months earlier than in the US. I started ordering two copies when Ryan began reading them himself and we had great discussions after we had both finished. We share an Audible account now, and he called last night to tell me that he had finally started The Nix, which I've been urging him to do for several months. I hope he loves it as much as I did, but even if he doesn't it's still wonderful to talk about books with him.

I'm currently reading Faithful, and one of the characters expressed my feelings perfectly, "I'm sticking with books. They never let you down and they don't judge you." I'm so grateful for books, reading, trips to the library, meeting other readers, the thrill of a new book, and the excitement of turning the page. I'm sticking with books, too.

11 comments:

  1. I share a similar background with reading and a love of books. Those are four of my childhood favorites, right there at the top of your post! I was thrilled when my daughter loved reading as much as I did (she even became a literature major -- despite the poor job prospects, but oh well.) My son? I am ashamed to admit that I had to PAY him to read any fiction . . .

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  2. I likewise read all those spectacular books as a child/teenager (and re-read some of them for Summer Book Bingo)!! They all had such an incredible impact on my life, I cannot imagine who or what I would be without books. My reading has ebbed and flowed throughout my life - some days the best books I read were Hop on Pop or Green Eggs and Ham. However, the blessing of books is that they are always ready for you - even if you are so tired you can only manage a paragraph or two.

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  3. Books have been my true friends and constant companions for as long as I can remember. And they still are. It's funny though, when I was a kid and could read on my own, we didn't have any kids' books in the house. So I ended up not reading a lot of kids' books until I was an adult. :-)

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  4. I cannot imagine a world without books, I have traveled to many places and pretended to be many people all the while sitting on the same porch swing sipping iced tea in the summer as a kid :)

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  5. I don't know how I would get through a day without books! I have memories of sitting on my grandfather's lap and him reading aloud to me, not from a children's book, but from whatever he was reading at the time-poetry, Shakespeare, classics, best sellers, & the NY Post. Yes, I am grateful for books.

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  6. Books have been my friend for life too. I've lost some reading time to knitting but the addition of that Audible membership has been life changing! Doug is reading more these days and Dan at times too. Now Harry Potter...someday! (Dan read the first 5 I think but she took too long to get one out and he aged up and out of the interest. Kinda too bad.)

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  7. Reading is just such a gift and I'm so happy you chose this as a topic for your gratitude week. Thanks for the library love, too!

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  8. The line from Faithful is so perfect. Books have saved my life in more ways that one! Here's to BOOKS!

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  9. You are so right, we all need to be thankful for the ability to read what we want, and the places books take us. I like the quote from the book. I'm thinking I will look the book up and give it a try.

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  10. YES for books and reading! One of the highlights of these past few years is finding community around books, because about the only thing better than reading a wonderful book is having someone to share it with. And reading to Charlie is one of my favorite things to do on Tuesdays. I can't wait to share Harry Potter with him!

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  11. Books are my #1 thing. I am bonkers for knitting and fiber, but my earliest memories involve books. When I am too tired to knit or spin, I can always read. Books are SO IMPORTANT!

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