Seven Things About Kate as a Reader

1. I currently have four active library cards.I love libraries. They are a wondrous place filled with books I can bring home for free. when I was growing up, our local library only let kids take out two books at a time. Not sure why that is. But I was an exception. I would check out bags full of books and bring them all back within the week ready for more. I still have memorized where my favorite books were shelved at that library.

2. I also love to OWN books. When I was young, that is where ALL my money went. Actually not much has changed. Well, a little has--I used to buy books like crazy before I started to run out of room. Now I'm trying restrict my purchases to books I love or if I buy a book that is only so-so, I resell it or give it away. Owning books enables me to experience the joy in lending beloved books to friends. When I was 9, I bought some blank library cards and affixed them to the back covers of all my books using paper clips and then proceeded to bring them to school creating a little lending library for my friends. Every once in awhile I still find old books with their library cards clipped inside the back cover.

3. I go through stages as a reader--mild obsessions with authors, genres, topics, etc. This is not unlike my life in general. I tend to get excited about something new and that continues until the next new thing comes along. Gemini fickleness, I know. I've been through the series books obsession (Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton, Girls of Canby Hall, Seniors, Sweet Valley High, and though this has left me I am still a bit hooked on Stephanie Plum books). I've been through my books turned TV mini-series stage in which I loved the John Jakes trilogy and some Belva Plain and Sidney Sheldon books. I got sucked into the Oprah book club trend for awhile. I went through my Brit lit chick lit phase launched by Bridget Jones and Becky Bloomwood. Not long ago I started sampling graphic novels though it's not a full blown phase yet. I think I am now all over the place with my book loves.

4. I've had some great reading mentors in my life. When I was in 4th grade, my Aunt Heather's sister Bonnie sent me grocery bags full of books from her private collection. I remember the Carol Ryrie Brink books best of all. Bonnie was a teacher in another town and liked the idea of encouraging a voracious reader. I blame some of my love of reading on her! My dad was also a huge influence. He is willing to read almost anything and often pressed books into my eager hands, at times books that weren't particularly age appropriate, but made me feel like we were co-conspirators in the world of books. It made me feel grown up and eager to discover books I could hand to him with the same sort of ceremony. I used to read aloud to my mom in the car when we'd do road trips--before the popularity of the audiobook.

5. I initially choose books for their covers. Or because someone recommended it. Or because I like the author. Often I'll go into Barnes and Noble and sit down with a stack of ten books and read the first few pages of each narrowing and selecting based on that. I don't like to read the backs of books or to read reviews, for fear of too much being given away. I really like to approach a book fresh with an open mind and experience it as it unfolds before me. I've also been in a book club for seven years and it's responsible for introducing me to all sorts of authors and books I might never have read.

6. I easily own hundreds of books that I've bought but haven't read because I keep finding more books to read. I can't keep up. There are tons of classics I want to read and there's always a book for book club looming. I need to temper my challenging reads with a fluffy fiction (something that reads quickly with ease) or a young adult book. I tend to read at least one fiction and one nonfiction book at a time. I need a different book for different moods. I like it best when I get obsessed with a book and it goes everywhere with me. I've actually been a danger on the streets when I pull out a book to read while I'm stopped at a stop light. Before audiobooks got popular, I actually READ books while driving... I grew up in theMidwest where roads are flat and straight and this was less dangerous than it sounds.

7. Books are precious, precious things to me. Some of my dearest possessions are books and the memories wrapped around those. When my grandma died the only thing of hers I really wanted was her collection of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales because I have such strong memories of sitting tucked up beside her on the couch and her reading The Wild Swans. I recall reading The Boxcar Children to my own brother and sister and later to my youngest sister I read Because of Winn Dixie--a great dog book after she lost her own dog. Tale of Two cities left a permanent mark on my 18 year old self and To Kill a Mockingbird is part of my soul. After I read The Secret Garden I tried to make one of my own hidden away in a grove of trees on our farm. I love the way Anne of Green Gables books spoke to me, to the girl in me and opened my eyes to another world and another place. So many books have touched my heart and taught me lessons, directed my travels, and fulfilled my appetite for adventure. I read like I breathe. It is necessary. It's the whole point.

The seven things about me as a reader idea came from here.
--Kate