My Life in Books

We are getting a new receiver installed in the master bedroom for our satellite TV this week so I spent most of the day cleaning and preparing to rearrange the furniture. Lately our room has become the place to stash things when the "public" areas of the house need to be cleaned so I had a lot to do.  I had boxes of photos that need to be sorted and put in albums, 30+ exercise DVD's  (I should be ripped by now, but I think you actually have to USE them to see results!) and a box or 2 of miscellaneous junk.

But the thing that blew me away was the number of books I had!  I was amazed at how many books were crammed on my poor sagging bookshelf.

                           

 As I pulled the books off the shelves to box them up, I realized that these books represented many different stages of my life.  Some of the books were copies of my childhood favorites like Heidi and Little Women that I had purchased for my girls.  My very well-loved and dog-eared copy of Gone with the Wind was there.  (I discovered Gone with the Wind in junior high and instantly fell in love.  I reread it and watch the movie every couple of years.)  Then there were several picture books that belonged to my children- the book about a little dancer that my youngest daughter loved, a pop-up version of The Night Before Christmas, and other "special" books that I wanted to keep safe.  I found myself tearing up a little as I remembered snuggling up and reading these books to my three now grown children.  I even found my tattered copy of Dr. Spock's baby book!
Then there were the books that represented the different interests I have had throughout the years.  A book on yoga poses was shelved next to a book on Barbie collectibles.  Next to them were a couple of diet books.  Although most of my craft books are in my sewing room, a couple of quilting books found their way onto this shelf.  On one shelf I found the upper elementary/young adult fiction purchased while I was a literacy coach to help me become familiar with what the "big kids" were reading.  There were several books I read during a time when I was trying to get in touch with my spiritual side.  I like to read series books or related titles by an author so I had a shelf filled with the Mitford series by Jan Caron, the quilt series by Jennifer Chiaverini and the historical fiction of Philippa Gregory. That shelf also housed my "guilty pleasure" books- all of my Nora Roberts and other romance paperbacks!

A sample of what was on my bookshelf!

These books all tell the story of my life as a reader.  As I browsed through some of the books, I could remember reading the story for the first time or what I was going through in life that made me choose that particular title.  As teachers, I think it is important that we share our reading with our students and talk about the choices we make.  Of course, I'm not going to share with my first graders that I like a good semi-trashy romance novel now and then, but I can talk about how I have favorite authors and genres.  I can share that I choose some books so I can learn something and choose others just for enjoyment.  If we want children to become life-long readers, we have to show them that WE value reading and make time for books in our lives.

Now, I'm back to my cleaning or I won't be able to sleep in my bed tonight!
Happy Reading!