learning to love books ... at almost 35 years old

Not being an avid reader [ok, I can count the number of books I have read on ONE HAND] I have decided to create a family tradition as well as provide entertainment to and from work.

Both involve books.

Discovering the library
As you may have guessed, I have gone to the library to check out some books on CD. I have to admit that this was my FIRST ever personal leisure visit to a public library. No book reports, not Internet needs, no kids section. An honest to goodness desire to just go check something out for pleasure! Call me crazy.

I walk in, find the appropriate section of the library and scribble frantically creating a “next” list…a “books-on-CD” version of NetFlix. I decided against the Steven King books, political books, and other deep and complex literature. I was looking for light, whimsical, fairy tale, funny, or just a downright a good story! I left from the library with 2 “books” …”cold Mountain” and The Same Sweet Girls”.

The best part and I knew this ahead of time but didn’t realize how good it felt) was that I took my selections to the counter asked for a library card and as simple as a few lines on a form, the books (and a DVD of “Finding Neverland”) were mine to use for the next 3 weeks…FREE!!! I was very surprised with my excitement of discovering this secret treasure…a public library!

Might as well have been Steel Magnolias
I began my car “reading” with The Same Sweet Girls. A story of 6 southern girls read by a Georgian. The accent is wonderful and adds character and believability to the personalities. Each of the girls takes a turn in sharing the story. The plot continues with only minimal overlap between character’s perspective. For example: in one “chapter” Julia talks about a packing for a trip to meet all the girls for an annual gathering, then Leneer picks right up and talks about the drive to the inlet to meet up with her friends.

It has been light hearted and funny…until this morning. I’m on CD #3 and all breaks loose! They all start talking about problems (past and present). Big ones like suicide, handicapped children, teen aged love affairs leading to a Convent and lost pregnancy, physical abuse, and life threatening illness….it goes on an on! So for and hour and 15 minutes on my way in this morning I cried and cried!

I was hesitant about the drive home but just had to find out what stupid selfish snobby thing Aster was going to say, how Bird was going to try to generate some kind of harmony among all, if that jerk of a husband Miles was going to get his... blah blah blah. The sad part is, I have to keep reminding myself that these people are not real. The southern accented narration draws me into their lives. Is that how books really are?

The Chronicles come alive!
Nicholas has wanted to see “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” since hearing about it at church. But I feel that with his sensitive emotions, anxiety and fears, its better that he wait MANY years. Yes, I agree. It is a GREAT story. But the movie is too graphic for him. Heck…it was too graphic for me.

So the other evening we curled up on the couch and I read the first 2 chapters of the Chronicles of Narnia’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. He fell in love. Every once in a while I would look up to find him eagerly staring at me or the book. He has always like to be read to, but this is the first book with NO pictures and he is captivated!

A couple of chapters ago, I snuggled with the children on the couch with the book and 2 small bowls of popcorn. They had blankets and nighttime snugglies with mommy in between. Nicholas said “This is like watching a movie”…[pause then an excited revelation]…”it’s better than a movie!”

Last night Daddy read the book. We skipped tonight to make time for a new book from school. But tomorrow we will find out where Edmund went and see where they are off to with the beavers….in search of Edmund!

Webinar lesson in practice
It is only day 2 of my new job and I am overwhelmed. I am so glad I started work in the middle of the week. Today I went to a “webinar” class…never done that before. It wasn’t any less than a seminar, but I guess since it was broadcast over the internet it gets a new name!

I learned about paragraph sizes, subheads, and the importance of links and bullets in the copy. He had examples of good and poorly designed pages. The main topic was focused on writing for the web, so it was mostly copy specific, but some design elements were highlighted. I have tried to use his suggestions in this entry. Short choppy paragraphs, bold subheads that mean something and a entry title that’s catchy and descriptive.

How’d I do?

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