Sunday, March 24, 2013

Never Too Late


As a child, I was not much of a reader. I dare say, if you had asked me back then, I would have told you that I hated to read. But today, what is clear is that I never really had a chance to love books.

My parents never took me to the library. I remember coming home from school and telling my mother that I had a book report assignment. She walked over to the mantel and pulled one of her books down for me: A biography of Johnny Cash. The next year it was a dictionary-sized tome: the autobiography of Norma Zimmer (of Lawrence Welk Show fame.) Is it any wonder I had no interest in reading?

"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them."
Ray Bradbury


Surprise, surprise, I didn’t finish either of those books. But my mother told me that was okay. I could write a report using just the information from the front flap and back cover. I kid you not.



It wasn’t until I was a mother myself, taking my own children, daily, to the library, that I really discovered what books had to offer. And then I began devouring them.                                

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him." Maya Angelou


Maybe that sense of what I missed out on is why I read so much MG and YA now. I am making up for lost time. And with so many amazing books to choose from, who can blame me?

I’m in the midst of a bit of a reading lull at the moment. But that hasn’t kept me from adding to my TBR pile. I picked up Linda Urban’s The Center of Everything last week, as well as AnnStampler’s Where it Began. And when the time is right, I am sure that I will devour them too.





















What are you reading?



Sunday, March 10, 2013

BEA, NYC, ME?

My daughter and I have been considering attending BookExpo America in New York City this spring. Many of you understand that this is a HUGE deal for me. As suggested in the title of this blog, I am shy. I am also a travel wimp.



Although my daughter has been to NYC several time, I have never been. I have never wanted to go. Cities overwhelm me, as do large (and even not so large) groups of people. If my life had a theme it might best be summed up in the words of Jane Austen: "There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort." But, as suggested by the "goes social" portion of my blog title,  I have been slowly, this past year or so, been trying to stretch the limits of my comfort zone. This trip will be a big stretch. But a book expo - could there be anything more persuasive? Perhaps the most surprising thing, to me, is that since deciding to go, I am actually getting excited about it.

If you've been to BEA in the past, I'd love for you to share any tips with me. If you're planning to attend this year, it would be fun to be on the lookout to say hello in person. And if you are a fellow wallflower, please, please, please wish me luck!

And in the meantime, I'm going to try to avoid the onset of any panic attacks by visualizing things like this:







Instead of this: