Saturday, February 15, 2014

I'm Kind of a Nerd

I love reading. I remember kind of feeling like a nerd when I was little because I would always, always have my nose buried in a book. I remember back in Elementary School anticipating those Scholastic book club order forms that would arrive each month. I would beg my mom to let me order tons of books every month and when we could, I would get to order a couple books and it was just the coolest thing ever.  It started with Clifford The Big Red Dog... then it moved to more mature books such a Goosebumps. R.L. Stine is probably a millionaire by now. I just looked it up, his net worth is estimated at 300 million. Go figure.

During the summer, I joined one of the local library programs and my goal was to read 30 books during the summer. I think I got close - I might have read 25 or so. But, that wasn't a big deal to me. It was just something I loved to do. As I got older and had to devote more of my time to studying, I wasn't able to read as much as I wanted to. In high school and college, I really didn't read much for fun.  My life revolved around school and friends.  Even now {even though I don't have any more homework}, sometimes I struggle to find time to read with all the other social media distractions around me. 

For me, the thing about reading is that once I get into a good book, I am hooked. I read Gone Girl in 2 days, which isn't unusual. But I had to stop reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao because I just couldn't get into it. I tried to pick it up several times but for some reason, it just wasn't the right book at the right time for me.  

Ironically, I think getting a kindle was one of the best things to happen to my "reading life" I discovered that I could borrow books from the local library for free for 21 days and I could get on wait lists for the really popular books. And once a book is ready for you to download, it's very seamless - you just login to your amazon account and it sends the book wirelessly to your kindle. It's basically magic. Oh - and it automatically returns it after 21 days and erases it from your kindle. But - I found a trick. If you don't close out of the book and don't turn off your kindle, it can't erase it and you can keep reading it for as long as you want. You know me, I have always been a bit of a rebel.


I think social media has also done a lot for making books popular and cool. Are you on Goodreads? It's a website where you can catalog books you have read and books you want to read and share those lists with friends. It's a fun new way to share some of your favorite books.  Truth: Jake and I literally had a bibliography spreadsheet that we shared on google docs about our favorite books but not anymore! Find me on Goodreads and add me as a friend so we can share recommendations!

*I am currently reading Brain on Fire which is a fascinating true story. Next up is Where'd You go Bernadette?.... Happy reading! 

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