A Book Meme

My blogging friend Barbara at Stray Thoughts does a lot of memes. I usually don't because of time constraints; but this being summer and one that interests me, I am participating.

meme: n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading? My parents were readers and read to us often. And I was one of those kids who, once phonics opened up the world of reading, I was hooked.

2. What are some books you read as a child? As an elementary age child: Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, Dana Girls, and many other series books; The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett; many of the Moody Press fiction books for young people. I read the Little House series over and over into adulthood. Don't laugh, but I used to read encyclopedias just because they were interesting.

3. What is your favorite genre? Biographies and non-fiction. Very little Christian fiction interests me—most of it is pumped out too quickly and just doesn’t have the depth of characterization that makes fiction interesting.

4. Do you have a favorite novel? No. Lots are favorites. Since teaching literature for the past eight years, I’ve learned to appreciate several of the classics: Great Expectations (Dickens), To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee), Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald). I just re-read two Francena Arnold novels that have long been favorites: Not My Will and The Light in My Window. In my opinion just about every modern Christian fiction writer needs to read those two novels before writing another word.

5. Where do you usually read? In the La-Z-Boy in the den; or, if people are in there, I’ll read in the old La-Z-Boy in my bedroom. When I was a kid I read in the bathroom while my younger sisters were doing the dishes. You’d have to ask them about that.

6. When do you usually read? Whenever I have a chance.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time? Just depends.

8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction? Yes. If a novel is good I usually can’t put it down. Nonfiction is a little easier to put down and then pick back up.

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library? I love to go to the public library and check out several good political books at a time. I also have access to the library at our school (it helps to be the supervisor) and often get books there. I don’t buy many books.

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them? I pass a lot on to our school library or put them in the Haven of Rest box. I hang on to collectibles and am starting a small collection of them. I’m not averse to flipping books on eBay.

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child? I have fond memories of reading aloud to my kids. When Mary Lee was about three, we were reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe out loud, and after the description of someone coming through the forest on horses, I can still remember her breathlessly saying “The White Witch!!”

We read lots of Golden Books. They loved Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Story Book. We read the Bedtime Nursery Story series by Emily Hunter. They also liked the Christopher Churchmouse stories. Andrew loved Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things that Go (by age two he could find Goldbug faster than any adult). There was a great series by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen with several titles about parables Jesus told—they were delightfully illustrated and are combined in a book called Stories Jesus Told. I don’t believe it’s currently in print.

Oh, there are so many. The Happy Days series from Standard Publishing was like a Christian version of Golden Books, and most of them were very well done. My favorite to read aloud was I Wish I Wish by Elaine Watson.

Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown). The Little Engine that Could (Watty Piper). Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (Virginia Lee Burton). Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings (Robert McCloskey). The Story About Ping (Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese). Corduroy (Don Freeman). If I were to go up in the attic I’d find a bunch more.

12. What are you reading now? I am trying to wade through A Tale of Two Cities (figure an English teacher ought to have read that one) and am currently looking for something else to start on!

13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list? No.

14. What’s next? Don’t really know. So much of my life is scheduled that I read on whims!

15. What books would you like to reread? Little Women and Little Men (Alcott). I’ve read them many times but still like to read and re-read them. A Garden to Keep by Jamie Langston Turner. Any of my Elisabeth Elliot books. Birds of Eastern and Central North America by Roger Tory Peterson. Evidence not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose. This is just a sampling.

16. Who are your favorite authors? Jamie Langston Turner, Francena Arnold, Dorothy Martin (the old Peggy series by Moody Press), Doris Coffin Aldrich (wrote Musings of a Mother published by Moody Press in the '60s), Harper Lee. Loula Grace Erdman is an excellent author (she wrote fiction in the '50's)--I have most of her books. I’ll think of others after this is posted.

My son has become a lover of reading; my daughter has not. It’s hard to figure out what turns that light on.

Oh, I also can't do without news magazines and the daily newspaper!