My Reading-Journey Story

When I was a child, I loved books. I remember my mom reading Berenstain Bears books to me as well as many others. I still remember the voice she used for Mama. 

I remember enjoying the elementary school library where I had my first introduction to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and of course many others.

I didn't have much access to my small town's public library as we lived outside of town so I only remember going to it a few times. I did, however, devour school library books throughout elementary school and middle school and part of high school.

My mom introduced me to Agatha Christie books and I would always take them to read when we went on vacation. I loved Agatha Christie.

As happens with some people, books became less fun for me when certain ones were assigned in high school. No offense to the those Charles Dickens fans out there but I did not like A Tale of Two Cities and it's possible I didn't even finish it.

So in high school and college, I was less of a book worm.

After I got married and started having children, I discovered my love of books again. My husband and I read to our children when they were young and since he also loves reading, it's no surprise that all of our children developed a love of books.

For many years I loved mysteries with a hint of romance or other genres with a hint of romance. I was wary of anything in the "romance" genre because I was worried about content. My high school friends understood if I asked if something was "Kristin appropriate." I didn't like being exposed to foul language or crude/inappropriate jokes.

Then years ago I was introduced to a new genre of "clean romance" books. I read Julianne Donaldson's book, Edenbrooke, and loved how the main characters became friends before realizing their love for each other, probably because it echoed my own love story with my husband. 

I read some other books from time to time like that, including Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden, so many years later when they announced they wanted to make a movie of it, I jumped at the chance to support the project and I was not disappointed with the result.

In the last few years, I've grown to love clean romances more than I did those many years ago. There are so many books out there that are "Kristin appropriate." I'm grateful for the authors who write them.

I've become more of a book worm again and have enjoyed getting into lot of different types, not just clean romances. I even have some cookbooks based on books.

I've gotten involved with book clubs, library programs, author events.

Sometimes I do them on my own, sometimes I drag family members with me. We all get involved in Summer Reading programs with local libraries.

I've learned how great it is to interact with authors and learned to value supporting them in different ways, whether that's taking a look at a Timmy Termite book for Stephanie Goodman to give my opinion before it's published or posting on social media over and over about how much I love A Lady's Guide to Love and Pirates by Jennifer Moore.

It's been quite a reading journey getting to where I am but it has been good for me and I can genuinely say I LOVE BOOKS!   

Thank You, Agatha Christie's Hat?

September 15 was National Thank You Day. Those words were said in our home, of course.

It was Linguine Day but I didn't have any linguine so I made spaghetti with alfredo.

It was National Double Cheeseburger Day. To go along with Shelftember, I used a tamale casserole from the freezer (it had both hamburger and cheese in it). I made Spanish rice to go with it and homemade bread and applesauce (not homemade).

It was Agatha Christie's Birthday. I checked out an Agatha Christie book from the library.

It was Make a Hat Day. I watched Alice Through the Looking Glass while doing dishes and making dinner.

One of these years, we really need to make an Agatha Christie themed hat.

   

The Shadow Mountain Publishing calendars for National Literacy Month had the following for that day's literacy activities, in order of adult calendar and children's calendar:

 

September 15 Join a discussion online

Read a book about friendship

Books Are Cool, Reading Is Cool

Monday, June 8, was Name Your Poison Day.

At one point, Lucky looked at the calendar and called out, "Name your poison, Nichole!"

Without missing a beat, Nichole called back, "Ricin!" 

 

I told her the Daisy Dalrymple books I've been reading have had poison used several times. Mystery books are cool. I like that we've got generational mystery readers. My mom introduced me to Agatha Christie books when I was younger and I got into them. I introduced Nichole to Agatha Christie books when she was younger and she got into them.

 

For the Orem Library Adult Reading Challenge this year, I needed a book recommendation from a friend. Nichole recommended a mystery book for me. She's my friend.

It is fun to have book discussions with my children. I love that books and reading are one thing we all have in common in our family. We may have differences in tastes. I wouldn't recommend my "kissing books" to everybody in the family. I did make everyone watch the movie, Seeking Persephone, but only a couple of us have or will read the book. It doesn't stop me from sharing with Jeremy when I'm really enjoying parts of those books, though. 

We do all enjoy similar books from time to time, though. I've taken book recommendations from Lucky before who reads more junior fiction books than I do generally. We all like Terry Pratchett books on some level. Audiobooks on car trips can be fun. We went through the whole (original) Fablehaven series on audiobooks a while back when we were traveling more. 

 

Isn't this funny? I just wanted to mention the funny interaction that happened on Name Your Poison Day then I kept going about mystery books then books in general and... blah blah blah blah blah.

Books are cool. Mystery books are cool.

Here is a picture I made three of my children pose for so I could put it on this blog post.

Oh, look. Jr. Jr. is reading a Fablehaven book. Lucky is reading a Terry Pratchett book. Nichole is reading a mystery. I did not tell them what books to grab. I just told them to grab a book. Ha Ha.

Even More September Catching Up

September 12 was Hug and High Five Day. Some of the teachers at the elementary school were giving high fives as students were leaving. Lucky made sure to give his dad a hug and "high five" when his dad came home from work. 

 

September 12 was also National Video Games Day. I remembered to wear my Mario shirt this time. Woohoo. I went shopping and the gal helping me to check out remarked on my shirt so I told her it was National Video Games Day. She was very happy to find that out because it gave her an excuse to play later. 

I never got to play video games that day but the kids did.

 

September 12 was also Chocolate Milkshake Day. We made woo-woo.

That evening was Lucky's elementary school Fall Festival. He volunteered to help out since he is on the student council. He got to run a booth during the second half of the festival and got to play and eat earlier. And being the sweet boy that he is, he shared his cotton candy with me.

 

September 13 was International Chocolate Day and National Peanut Day. You know what that means. Parfaits! 

 

It was also Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day. I asked the kids to take care of dinner. 

 

It was National Day of Service. I helped tie quilts and took some time to do other service that day. 
Jet had Primary Program practice then got pizza afterward. 

The next day was the Primary Program and he did a pretty good job this year. He sang some of the songs and stayed in his seat when he was supposed to and stood when he was supposed to for the most part. When it was his turn to say his part, he said it so quickly that it was unintelligible but that's okay. Still cute.

After church, Lucky came to choir with me then we decided to walk home together. I walked. Lucky somewhat walked, somewhat ran. Cute kid.

 

September 15 was Agatha Christie's birthday. Nichole and I discussed it because you know she's into mystery writing. 

 

September 16 was Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day. We had cinnamon toast with raisins on top for those that preferred it.

 

September 17 was Monte Cristo Day so of course we had Monte Cristo Sandwiches. We love celebrating that holiday that way. 

 

September 18 was National Cheeseburger Day. I didn't make cheeseburgers but I took some ground turkey and made stroganoff to go along with sauteed zucchini from our garden. And toast because toast is popular around here, especially with homemade bread.

Celebrating During Shelftember

I can celebrate with food even during Shelftember.

September 15 was Double Cheeseburger Day.

It was also Agatha Christie's Birthday so I had some fun chatting on Orem Public Library's Instagram about loving Agatha Christie and book recommendations. (Have I mentioned I love the library and the people who work there?)

 

September 16 was Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day.

Some of our family members don't like raisins so I made one loaf with raisins and one without.

To go along with the bread we had homemade pizza (chicken alfredo pizza with artichoke hearts from the fridge and homemade alfredo sauce and pepperoni and olive pizza), salad that needed to be eaten up, and zucchini brownies (recipe from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner Again) using shredded zucchini that's been in the freezer for a while.

 

September 17 was Monte Cristo Day.

I will admit, I did spend money on the raspberry jam for the Monte Cristo Sandwiches. I could have used strawberry jam from the fridge, but it just had to be raspberry. We've been saving money on other groceries this month, though.

Jr.'s been reading The Count of Monte Cristo lately. My oldest two have a thing about thick books.

Make A Hat Day 2020

September 15 was Make a Hat Day. I made a balloon hat with flowers. 

Jeremy made me a better balloon hat. I added a flower.

It was also Agatha Christie's birthday. I watched a movie based on a play based on an Agatha Christie novel.