Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Have books will travel...

We've been busy running errands and getting ready to leave. We finally went to the book store yesterday - and now I'm all stocked up and I can go! I need a minimum of a paperback a day to survive!

I am a reader! A big reader. As in, I go NO WHERE without a book. I've been known to read at the horse races, car races, or just waiting for a train to pass - anywhere and everywhere I go. I read the backs of the cereal boxes while I eat my breakfast, and will pretty much read anything.

T has his tv - and oh boy, does he have varied interests! He watches tractor shows, auctions, car shows, medical shows, law shows, does math on the math channel, watches everything on the history and discovery channels and PBS - and sometimes, all at the same time! He's a 'flipper'. And I read. Good thing...since it wouldn't do to get too into a show that will be 'flipped' off to another channel in minutes!

Before my mother got very ill, I remember her reading all the time, too. I think she passed the gene along to us. Sisters Quilly and Caryl have always read. And our older sister, Jean....oh, my god, she is the queen of reading! Nearly every wall in her house, floor to ceiling, is bookcases! I've always read, (Gram said I read aloud to the girls, things like True Confessions, long before we could ever understand the stories!), and I guess I passed that gene on to my kids. They all read - a lot. And their kids (the grandbabies) read now, too.

Especially Cindra's "teengirl', my Sugarplum. (It's okay, she says no matter how old she gets, she'll always still be my Sugarplum). She is definitely a reader. This last winter when we were going through some little town in Arizona, there was a book sale of outdated, old, worn library books. I picked some up, and didn't get at some of them until I got home this spring. I started reading one of the hard backs and discovered it was about a teenager. When the focus stayed on this girl, I read the inside and back of the book, and discovered it was for "young adults". Well if there ever was a young adult - that would be me! - so I decided to read it. And it was GOOD. There was a racial message, a look at faith, and an awareness of what some of our moral obligations should be. It made me think of Sugarplum - who in the situation, would have acted the same as the girl in the book, as she's the same kind of girl...loving, caring, and full of compassion.

When Cindra and her family were here last month, I told Sugarplum that she'd probably enjoy this book I read, and I gave it to her. When they left for Oregon, they stopped two nights along the way. And by the time they got home, Sugarplum had finished the book. She said she couldn't wait to find out what happened at the end. It gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling to have been able to enjoy the same book with her. I'd say she was growing up fast, but the truth is, she's always been an old soul.

I can never wait to find out what's going to happen at the end of a book, either. The difference being - I don't wait. I read the first and second chapters, usually, and then the last one. I know. I know. Not the way to do it. But it works for me. It's the way I've done it for years and I've never NOT read a book because I knew the ending. And I so don't have the patience to wait.

T wasn't quite sure what to do about my reading the first time we went south. Where do you put all these books? How do you pack enough books for 4 months? But he's good! He'll stop anywhere and take me to a used book store to exchange my books, or stop at any book sales I see, but meanwhile, all the bags of books floating around waiting to be traded in, and the other piles of books I had not read yet - were driving him crazy. So he built me an oak bookcase with sliding doors, in the motorhome. I am good to go!

Now - if I could just make myself read something that would enrich my mind! I think sometimes about how intellegent I might be if I read something besides murder mysteries, true crime, horror and grisly serial killer books. And I don't even want to think about what my reading choices say about me!

23 comments:

Charlene Amsden said...

When asked to describe myself I always include the phrase, "I am a reader." It is a fundamental part of my life. If left alone for more than a few minutes I will FIND something to read -- be it the tire warranty in the car glove box. I simply MUST read.

I remember when I was very young watching all my syblings read. I remember them reading to me -- even their friends read to me. I remember begging Harold to read me the comics whenever he opened the newspaper. I remember that my father read the paper daily, from the front page to the back page -- including the page numbers. My grandmother always sat in the same chair, with a stack of books on one side of her and a bundle of crocheting on the other.

Reading is what WE do -- our family thing we can all do independantly and seperately.

I remember Caryl and I spending a weekend with you and all three of us snatching reads from the EXACT same book, until you hid it from us and told us to go buy our own.

I didn't mean to hijack yo" button. Besides, I can't talk over at my place ...

Charlene Amsden said...

That's supposed to say "independantly and together" which pretty much describes our family as a whole.

Jackie's Garden said...

Oh, Quilly-Sister, I am seriously ROFLMAO when I read you can't talk over at your place! Too funny. Now I've got the giggles! Feel free - talk over here all you want. Love and miss you. xoxoxo

P.S. Isn't it strange, when you are a reader, that you can go to bed very late, dead tired - and your day won't be okay until you read for a while? T really doesn't understand that. That it's my unwinding and "ME" time.

Kat Campbell said...

It is people like me that just adore people like you guys! I'm also a reader, five books a week not counting whichever one I'm editing. If I especially love it, I can't trade it in or give it away which is how I finally got Pap off his butt to build my library. Ceiling to floor, all the bottom shelves are filled with the grandgirls books. I'm so jealous of your bookcase in the motor home! Cool!

Anonymous said...

Mama, do you remember when Sugarplum was only 2 yrs old maybe and she would always ask us to read to her? Or she'd sit in her bedroom with her cat on her lap and "read" to the cat and make up stories? That girl has always been a reader... just like her Grandma. And her mom, and aunt, and great aunts, and uncle... lol

Jackie's Garden said...

Kat - and I envy you your library! I use to keep books, but just don't have room any longer. We live in a very small house and I've downsized and minimized all things, only keep a few books (and the bird/koi/gardening ones) I just cannot let go of. Brooke bought me Silence of the Lambs years before it was a movie, and I love my Mystic River and Fannie Flagg and Prince of Tides...and and and LOL

Jackie's Garden said...

That was easy to figure out! Sheesh, Cindra Jo, how do I respond to that!? If you weren't my daughter - I'd have one response, but since you are, I can only cover my ears and say "la la la la la".

xoxoxoxoxo

Jackie's Garden said...

Brooke, I remember everything about my Sugarplum! She had more books by the time she was 2 years old, than most adults have. She loved them. Cindra pushed that reading for some reason. LOL

xoxoxoxo

Jackie's Garden said...

Quilly-Sister, I just read your comment again - ("independantly and together" which pretty much describes our family as a whole.)

My God, you hit it on the head. Caryl keeps telling me we sound too together on here, like all our ducks are always in a row. And some bloggers comment about our 'wonderful family'. When Cindra and I were on the phone the other day, we were discussing how, surely they know we are like every one else - our petty stuff, too. I've thought about it, and about who and what we are, and when Cindra and I were on the phone today - I told her I've come to the conclusion that we ARE jsut that way. As different and separate and distances apart we may be, family is the core for our family. Warts and all.

Thanks for putting it the way you did. I like it. I love you.

Charlene Amsden said...

Jackie, I am 1800 miles away, yet my family is my strength and my compass. My independance is strongly rooted, not in a place, but in my family.

It is because of our less than perfect or stellar past that I can step out in confidence knowing that I will never be without security and love. My family may not always approve of my choices (Michael comes to mind) but they will support me anyway.

I love you.

Just Tom said...

We are a collective of booknuts. I'm the opposite, Jackie, I can't bring myself to read fiction. Of course I do a lot of reading for research, but I love my subjects and so it is a labor of love. I read a lot of classic fiction when I was younger, but now nothing but non-fiction (which is an oxymoron anyway, but you know what I mean). Someday, I hope to relax, maybe when I'm retired, and catch up on all that creative stuff I've missed.

Just Tom said...

Oh, almost forgot. Tom's Challenge #4 is up. Hope it's more challenging for ya this time. Guess I'll find out. Love ya

Jackie's Garden said...

Tom, you are so lucky to love what you have to research. You're receiving enjoyment and knowledge at the same time. YOU are enriching your mind. And I like that mind of yours!

Okay, I'm going over to see what you came up with now.

Love you.

Jackie's Garden said...

Janet - most people react that way. But, hey, it works for me. LOL

Save your pennies and hire a carpenter - you DESERVE a place for your books! My sister's aren't fancy or anything, and she stained them herself.

Louisiana said...

i love reading. i have always had books all around. so did my ex, he loves a book. so when our kids our first son was born with all the other babe toys bought were a ton of books..hard books,soft books, bath time books, real grown up books..the issue was hard for the ex since books have to be in a perfect state..he used to almost cry when the baby would bite into the book or drool over it..but i always held firm, i wanted him to know books and feel comfortable. i did the same with all the kids and now i'm the proud mama of 5 book worms..the worst are the oldest..in this home if punishment needs to be handed it is not through lack of tv or such but no books...and trust me, it works..

i'm with your hubby i'm a flipper too..don't know why, i can't stand a commercial..

and i love that you read the back of the book too...i don't wait till the second chapter though. i start at the end, i can't wait to know how it ends and as soon as i do, i feel relaxed to wait for the storyline to develop..i love to know the ends of movies too..and would love to know how my life turns out but i haven't figure out how to do that yet, lol...

Jenn said...

I love reading too. Ever since I picked up my first Enid Blyton at age seven, fell in love with circus life (or what she described as circus life and I think realism is overrated anyway), there has been no looking back.

I only get rid of books I will not read again.

And now I want floor to ceiling bookshelves as well...

Jackie's Garden said...

chana - i've known a few others who start at the back of the book, too - whatever works, huh? and i always want the end of the movie first, too - but ususally, no one will tell me - they think it'll ruin it for me. little do they know! am not sure i would like to know the end of my life, though. i'm neurotic enough as it is! LOL

Jackie's Garden said...

jenn - then you should have them! beg someone to build them for you -or do it yourself. you can do it - and home depot can help! LOL

Charlene Amsden said...

Jenn, is there a Home Depot in Malaysia?

Jackie's Garden said...

Quilly-Sister and Jenn - boy, am I dense! Completely forgot where Jenn is! Here, the Home Depot runs these ads continuously, selling lumber and hardware and saying, "You can do it, Home Depot can help!" Maybe an equivalent helpful hardware/lumber store??

Charlene Amsden said...

No, no, Jackie, Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man .....

Jenn said...

Hello, there is no Home Depot (see that rhymes, did I tell you that I was a poet as well?)

I will need to get my own place and designate a whole room for the library...I will put in a leather armchair, a nice kilim on the floor, nurse a glass of port, and read my antiquarian volumes, debating between the merits of Virginia Woolf and Agatha Christie.

Jackie's Garden said...

Jenn, glad you have a plan for your library - it sounds great. I could curl up in that armchair if it was big enough!