If you have graced me with your presence here in this hushed and homely blog space because you know me, the steaming mug of tea at my elbow will not surprise you. Neither will knowing that I am starting a blog to comment on the books that I read.
For those of you who don’t already know me, let me introduce myself. I love to read, and I am hopelessly captivated by tea and other hot drinks: coffee, lattes, hot chocolate… All delicious. If I were to invite you into my home now to discuss these books that will shortly appear in this blog, you would notice that the sun is painting long cheerful stripes across the carpet. But don’t let that fool you; our windows are old and a bit drafty. You may want to bring your slippers next time.
I would usher you into our kitchen and sit you down in a chair the color of wheat at a table to match. Then I would stand in front of my tea cupboard calling out options to you, “Chamomile? Peppermint? Chai? Earl Gray? Green? Hot chocolate?” The water would boil, and I’d set our tea to steep in mismatched mugs. I would come and take a chair kitty-corner from you, cupping my always cold hands around the mug, and we would talk about books.
I have been an avid reader since childhood. My mom unearthed this picture to celebrate my birthday a month ago:
My attitude toward books has not changed much since this picture was taken (although, now I can read the books).
I am currently a children’s librarian in our town’s public library, and I love the many opportunities I have to share a love of reading with the adorable little squirts that come to one of our weekly preschool programs.
My love of tea does not stem quite as far back as my love of books. I began to love tea in college, and when I couldn’t give up hot drinks even while sweltering in the tropical rain forests of Belize
If you are still reading at this point, then you are probably a reader too. Naturally, you will want to know what kinds of books I like to read and will be commenting on in this blog. As a children’s librarian, I try to read a wide variety of what we add to our library collection, so I hope that to some extent the selections I share will be diverse. However, I’m sure my personal preferences will shine through as well.
Some of my favorite authors to date include: C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Madeleine L’Engle, Roald Dahl, Robin McKinley, Gail Carson Levine, Patricia C. Wrede, and my most recently Nicole Baart. You will hopefully find commentary on a wide range of children’s, young adult and adult books, but you will certainly see those names again, as well as authors in the same genres.
I hope that this blog will give you a place to talk about books that you have read, read what others are saying about certain books, and, most of all, a place to find new books to share with children or read by yourself. The best books are those that leave us just slightly different, better, after they have finished with us, and I hope you find some of those books here.
Grab a cup of tea, a stack of books, and join me!
Your favorite authors are mine, too! I'd add to that list some more "oldies" from childhood: JD Fitzgerald, Jean Little, Eleanor Estes, Carol Ryrie Brink (who wrote 20+ books besides Caddie Woodlawn, but most are out of print), Keith Robertson, and of course, Robert Conly. "Newbies" discovered the next time around through J & J include Andrew Clements, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, and Louis Sachar. There were also some authors I loved as a child (EL Konigsburg, Ellen Conford) that seemed diminished when I came back to them as an adult -- perhaps too much humanism.
ReplyDeleteI had a really hard time graduating to "adult" fiction, and even now, sometimes find "there's nothing to read", mainly because there's too much to read. My tastes aren't particularly esoteric and are wide-ranging -- they include John Grisham, Khaled Hosseini, and Francine Rivers, though in general, I've found Christian fiction and women's fiction to be disappointing. I've come to appreciate many of the classics (Tolstoy, Dickens, Hugo) more than I used to, but sometimes I don't want to work that hard! (though Tolstoy's short works are an easy read)
With regards to reading, I'm still a kid at heart, and I'm really looking forward to your recommendations!
Oops, I meant Robert O'Brien. The sequel to the original "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by his daughter Jane Conly did not do justice to the original (IMHO).
DeleteYou and I have such similar tastes in books! So many of the authors you listed are authors I enjoy. And I'm relieved to hear that there are other adults who have a hard time leaving children's literature behind.
DeleteAnd I agree-- the sequel to "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMM" did not do the first justice!