childhood reminiscence
I'm sitting on my futon in my apartment in Brookline.
The evening started off sort of uneventful, an evening full of indecision.
I finally - after lazily reading, but not really paying attention to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - decided that I needed to fulfill my earlier craving for tuna fish salad, and so I went over to Stop and Shop and bought the necessary ingredients: Tuna, Celery, and Solid, White, Albacore Tuna.
I came home and put all the ingredients together and sat back down in the living room. I decided to check on the status of my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - It bes' be gettin' delivered to my door by UPS tomorrow ...
Anyway, as I was checking the status of Harry, I couldn't help but think of all I've been hearing about children who have grown up reading Harry Potter and how the series is so wonderful and encourages children to read ... I thought back to the books I read growing up and became overwhelmed with a comforting feeling of appreciation for having those books in my life.
I started to make a list so that I can re-purchase and/or dig up from my basement at home, all the books I so loved as a child.
Among them:
The Fairy Rebel by Lynn Reid Banks - One of the first 'Big Girl' books I read.
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Matilda by Roald Dahl - One of my favorite books of ALL time.
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Those were the top on my list that I recalled - there are of course countless others, which naturally include, many from the Baby Sitters Club, I won't lie; as well as Riding Academy books, and a few summer reading novels, short stories, and essays that I dreaded at the time, but that I look back on fondly.
Weston and I were at Barnes and Noble about a month ago (I must admit I don't go into Barnes and Noble much anymore now that I've found Brookline Booksmith = AMAZING! But as we were walking by, Weston pulled my arm and up the escalator we went. When we arrived at the second floor of the building, that which housed this particular Barnes and Noble store ...
Side Note: Ian and Martha are fucking ADORABLE!!! I think they just nuzzled ...
As I was saying, when we arrived, I found myself compelled to check out the summer reading shelves and tables that were set up. I stayed there almost the whole time we were there. Thinking back to the books I loved, (Lord of the Flies, Night, 1984) and the books I was supposed to read but never finished, namely Sophie's Choice. I purchased the latter and it is now on my current Summer Reading list, along with a few other indulgences from that foray into Barnes and Noble.
I must admit, I felt a little as though I had cheated on Brookline Booksmith, as it's almost next door, and clearly the better of the two options: the smaller, local, cozy, personalized bookstore, as opposed to Barnes and Noble, the large conglomerate impersonal, money grubbing whore of a bookstore.
Well ... Those are my thoughts on books at the moment.
I have been re-reading all of the Harry Potters in preparation for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ... but I find myself yearning for the old characters of my childhood and some new ones that others have insisted I must meet.
So a Cheers! to reading ... and to reading for fun and learning along the way, instead of being forced to read and when you're not ready to learn.
The evening started off sort of uneventful, an evening full of indecision.
I finally - after lazily reading, but not really paying attention to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - decided that I needed to fulfill my earlier craving for tuna fish salad, and so I went over to Stop and Shop and bought the necessary ingredients: Tuna, Celery, and Solid, White, Albacore Tuna.
I came home and put all the ingredients together and sat back down in the living room. I decided to check on the status of my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - It bes' be gettin' delivered to my door by UPS tomorrow ...
Anyway, as I was checking the status of Harry, I couldn't help but think of all I've been hearing about children who have grown up reading Harry Potter and how the series is so wonderful and encourages children to read ... I thought back to the books I read growing up and became overwhelmed with a comforting feeling of appreciation for having those books in my life.
I started to make a list so that I can re-purchase and/or dig up from my basement at home, all the books I so loved as a child.
Among them:
The Fairy Rebel by Lynn Reid Banks - One of the first 'Big Girl' books I read.
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Matilda by Roald Dahl - One of my favorite books of ALL time.
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Those were the top on my list that I recalled - there are of course countless others, which naturally include, many from the Baby Sitters Club, I won't lie; as well as Riding Academy books, and a few summer reading novels, short stories, and essays that I dreaded at the time, but that I look back on fondly.
Weston and I were at Barnes and Noble about a month ago (I must admit I don't go into Barnes and Noble much anymore now that I've found Brookline Booksmith = AMAZING! But as we were walking by, Weston pulled my arm and up the escalator we went. When we arrived at the second floor of the building, that which housed this particular Barnes and Noble store ...
Side Note: Ian and Martha are fucking ADORABLE!!! I think they just nuzzled ...
As I was saying, when we arrived, I found myself compelled to check out the summer reading shelves and tables that were set up. I stayed there almost the whole time we were there. Thinking back to the books I loved, (Lord of the Flies, Night, 1984) and the books I was supposed to read but never finished, namely Sophie's Choice. I purchased the latter and it is now on my current Summer Reading list, along with a few other indulgences from that foray into Barnes and Noble.
I must admit, I felt a little as though I had cheated on Brookline Booksmith, as it's almost next door, and clearly the better of the two options: the smaller, local, cozy, personalized bookstore, as opposed to Barnes and Noble, the large conglomerate impersonal, money grubbing whore of a bookstore.
Well ... Those are my thoughts on books at the moment.
I have been re-reading all of the Harry Potters in preparation for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ... but I find myself yearning for the old characters of my childhood and some new ones that others have insisted I must meet.
So a Cheers! to reading ... and to reading for fun and learning along the way, instead of being forced to read and when you're not ready to learn.