R is for Reading
I missed the deadline for finishing Encyclopedia of Me by the end of the month, but I’m close so I’ll try to finish it out soon.
As a child, reading was always a favorite hobby. I learned to read early, but the first book I actually remember reading was Helen Keller in first grade. My teacher had a reading corner (old refrigerator box) set up in the classroom where you could go if you finished your other work.
Other than the typical Ramona and Babysitter’s Club books, in elementary school, I also liked reading about the Underground Railroad, Salem Witch Trials, and Holocaust. Middle school switched to true crime and multiple personality books.
I’ve always admired houses with public bookcases. Unfortunately, we don’t have any in our current house - it’s hard when another goal is to simplify our surroundings and declutter. My family had a few large bookcases in the family room when I was a kid. They were filled with all kinds of books. My grandparents also had large collections of books to leaf through.
Amber recently posted about getting a vintage set of encyclopedias. It reminded me of the set we had growing up - I loved the glossy photos and how the edges of the pages were gold . It made reading feel so fancy.
Now days, I am more of an audiobook person. There is an awesome audiobook rental store (Bookears) near my office, so I can easily switch them out for my commute. I’ve listed my favorites on Amazon.
The photo is from some shots I took the other day of flowers Thomas bought me. There are more on Flickr.
I think R is also for rambling.
Posted in Encyclopedia of Me
Beautiful photographs!
The first real book you read was “Amelia Bedelia,” and you read it before you started kindergarten. You taught yourself to read with the SRA reading materials when you were 4. At the end of a book fair, an SRA salesman gave me the entire set of preprimers, readers, and workbooks through 5th grade level. They were in the hall closet and you wanted something to do, so I pulled out the box, gave you the first preprimer, and told you what sound each letter made. From there, you were on your way.