Wow I expected this thread to be kind of a one and done deal. Didn't expect it to generate such lovely comments! I'd like to say that I'm sitting in a big chair with my feet up and cuppa on the side while listening to the story but the truth is I'm actually listening to the audio book while doing mind numbing and physical work not-fun around here.
I loved the comments about mother's encouraging you to read as children! Yes! I agree those mother's make a huge impact on their children's lives. I know when I was in elementary, I always read above grade level. I attribute that to the fact that I had a mother who read to me every day of my childhood and so of course, I did the same with my own children. Where we live out in the sticks, the local library system runs a book mobile. Throughout my children's childhoods we visited the book mobile every week and as Lemmie described, left with arms loaded with books! I hope my kids will remember that in years to come as fondly as Lemmie does! We did make trips to the library and hang out there for whole afternoons but the book mobile was our main source of supply.
As an adult, I almost never read fiction. If you look at my shelves or the basket near the actual cozy chair in question, you'll notice it's almost all biographies and historical material mainly having to do with causes such as the civil rights movement, things like that. I don't know why except for the fact that as an adult I am keen to hear the stories of people. I've said that here numerous times over the years. I want to know what a person's life was like, their childhood if I can get it, and try to discern their motivations especially when they encountered their greatest challenges--what kept them going and what did they rely on for their inner strength? What lessons or experiences in childhood drove them in certain ways? That's why I gush whenever you guys share personal stories here like Lemmie's story she shared about the library. It helps me to know you better and knowing you is what I want most because...everyone here has a story. I want to know the whole person that is you guys as much as I can know you on a screen.
Truth. The only fiction I've read in the past several years was the Harry Potter series. When the books started coming out, one of my kids wanted to read them. There was a big uproar amongst the Christian community and so I decided that I would read them with her so I could oversee the content. Jenn Kamp Rowling created a complex world with it's own language, it's own customs and societal issues, and once we boarded the train to Hogwarts together, we never came back. I'm talking two adults who now start the series all over again at the start of the Hogwarts school year every year and have traveled to Wizarding Worlds on both coasts. We're sick with it.
I'm loving the audio book. It is content rich, takes you to a place in time where you've never been, and the character development (so far) is such that you feel you are coming to know them. I have no idea where the story goes or how it ends. I'll get there eventually!
The way she weaves nature references into all of her stories sounds. like. ME. 