I am a Public Library Devotee

I took a respite from life to the public library today.  I’m lucky enough to live a few blocks away from what I consider to be my brick sanctuary.  When I need to clear my head or find inner peace, I go to the library. 

I suppose I love the library so much because as long as authors are writing and publishing books, humanity is thriving. I am assured, peering at the shelves of published material, that democracy is alive and well.  Of course our society has its problems—social inequality, disease, war, poverty, and the failing alternator in my husband’s 2007 Ford Focus; however, as long as text exists, is created, and is accessible, life is good!  Freedom is alive and well! 

Today when I walked through the automatic doors and security monitors at the entrance of the library   (evidently, people steal material that you can check out for free), I noticed two pre-teenaged boys parking their BMX bikes and entering the library.

 I thought, “Wow.  Those are impressive young boys.  They are on summer break and are going to expand their learning by reading.”  I felt like all was right with the youth of America.

I slipped the lame fantasy novel that I attempted  and failed to read into the return slot and then picked up my book I had placed on hold, Twenty Five Books that Shaped America  by Thomas C. Foster(I am considering this book my summer professional development  because I did not sign up for any classes).                      

                                                                                   

Then, I followed my regular route through the library: a quick stop at the “Readers’ Choice” display to see if anything looked interesting.  No luck--only some trashy romance novels.  Then, a careful glance at the young adult section. I was searching for a copy of Ally Condie’s novel Matched.

 There were plenty of copies of the sequel  titled Crossed, but no Matched. So, I moved to the adult fiction section.  I didn’t have a specific book I was looking for, but I always seem to find a book to read when I wander up and down the aisles.  My strategy is to look for books with multiple copies lying on the shelves.  When the library has multiple copies of a book, I assume it must be a good read (I have found this is not always true, especially when the novel is a cheesy romance with a religious theme.  I won’t name any authors, but you know who they are).

This time the novel How Green Was My Valley caught my eye.  Not only were there multiple copies, but I’ve heard of this novel.  I thought I would give it a try.

I moved towards the self-check-out and noticed that the two boys I had been impressed with were also checking out their selections.  As I strolled past them to the exit, I glanced to see what books they had chosen to read.  They both had a stack, at least 7 or 8 copies, of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Graphic Novel.”  I guess if a drawing or two of Sarah Michelle Gellar can get kids reading, who am I to judge?

Longing for Book Time

I began reading The House of the Scorpion a week before school began. So far, it's been a intriguing read. I thought I could polish off this novel in a week; however, school began and I had to return to work (sob sob). It's not that I hate teaching school, but it subtracts time to tend to a basic human need--reading.

I suppose I could read before I go to sleep every evening. The problem is, I know myself too well. If I begin reading before bedtime, I'll keep reading compulsively and wake up sleep-deprived. Then, I'll turn into a dysfunctional mean person and everyone around me will suffer. On top of everything else, I'll be too exhausted to pick up my book when I get home from work so I won't get any reading done.

I long for those lingering summer days of lying in the hammock with hours of reading ahead.

My Personal Reading History

I first identified myself as a reader when I was a preteen. It was summertime, so I was on vacation from school. Looking back on my elementary and junior high summers, I must have been an unimaginative kid because I recall proclaiming this pathetic phrase to my mother often, "I'm bored!"

She would always reply with, "Well, you I have some chores for you to do if you are bored."

I never liked her remedies for the doldrums, so I would usually dig up something to do.

I suppose my constant whining finally drove her to desperation because one day she proposed a swap: If I kept track of how many pages I read over the summer, my father would pay me a penny a page when summer ended.

I took her deal and began my summer long reading affair with Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly series. These were Christian romance novels set in the 1800's on the American prairie. I began reading as many of them as I could during those months to make as much money as I possibly could. However, something magical happened as I was reading: I discovered that reading enchanted me. I found myself wanting to read more and more to discover the fates of the main characters of the story, Marty and Clark Davis.

I think I made over $20 that summer. Not bad for a girl who never voluntarily read before that time.

I blame my parents for creating a bookworm of me.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I just finished this novel and wanted to reflect upon it. I have wanted to read this book for a while, as I have heard nothing but good spoken of it. To be honest, I expected a Southern (United States) period piece. I thought that maybe this was a Civil War era novel. I got the war part correct; however this story is set in post-WWII. And it's not set in the United States, but rather Great Britain. The entire story is told through letters composed by a variety of characters to each other. The plot centers around a group of people living on a channel island (Guernsey) during and after the German occupation.

I found this book cleverly-crafted with likable characters. I would not call this book the best book I've ever read, but it was decent. I enjoyed how passionate the characters became over books they were reading and discussing in their literary society. I can easily relate to that. There's nothing like a deep conversation with fellow readers about books.

How I Live Now

I realized that I forgot to review the novel How I live Now by Meg Rosoff. It's another of my summer reads. This novel won a Michael L. Printz award in 2005. It was rightly earned. I laughed out loud while reading this novel because the narrator, a teenage girl, had such a strong, comical voice. I also cried because of her unconquerable spirit in the face of unthinkable hardships. This American teenage girl is sent to England to live with her loving aunt and jovial cousins after her father remarries a very evil woman. After suffering from culture shock, she finds a home on their country farm. But then war breaks out, and the characters' world is turned upside down. I loved this book.

Summer Readin' Had Me A Blast!

Here are my summer reads so far:

My summer reading began with The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Last year, my workplace was undergoing many changes. A colleague of mine mentioned that she felt a character in a Kafka novel with all the craziness on the job. I had never read Kafka, so I didn't know what she meant. After reading The Metamorphosis, I got it! Unfortunately, sometimes our societies bureaucracies alienate individual human beings. Kafka's novel is a great read with some important societal issues. How would you treat someone, especially a member of your family if he or she morphed into a giant bug?

After The Metamorphosis, I wanted a lighter read. So I perused the young adult fiction section of the library. I found a great read titled Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. I would categorize Airborn as a fantasy, historical fiction, pirate-adventure novel. If you want to be swept into the world of passenger airships (like the Hindenburg), and see a young man overcome great obstacles in a world of fantastical flying felines, check this book out.

I guess summer is the time to fly with young adult novels, because my next read was titled Bird by author Rita Murphy. It is quintessential children's literature: a young girl, separated from her parents, in the hands of an emotionally cold and reclusive woman, tries to make friends with a curious and free-spirited boy. She lives in a house with mysteries and dark secrets seeping through the wall cracks. This novel swept me away into a world where young, skinny girls need to wear heavy boots during strong winds.

Currently, the novel The Vanishing of Katharina Linden sits on the table next to my computer. The cover is orange, sweet-potato orange in fact. The title and name of the author are written in capital block letters inside of the outline of a black cat. I've read 1/4 of the way through, and love this debut novel by London-born Helen Grant. It is a mystery/supernatural novel set in a small German town. Per the title, a young girl disappears during a Karneval parade. If you read this novel, pay special attention to the amazing description of the cats creeping from the "darkest corners" into the mill found in chapter 9. I'll add more when I have finished this one...I can't wait to keep reading!

Okay, so I finished The Vanishing of Katharina Linden. It was a great read, and I found myself staying up way past my bedtime in my bed reading way more chapters than I planned to before I fell into bed. The mystery of the disappearing girl kept me intrigued and the creepy supernatural stuff added another dimension to the story.

Now I am reading The Art of Racing in the Rain because I have this weakness for books about dogs. I know that most of those dog books will end with a dead dog, and this one is no exception. In fact, the author makes the inevitable demise of the dog very clear in the first chapter. I started crying--hysterical sobbing--during the first chapter. I'll keep reading and I am sure more tears will fall.