The Evolution of a Bibliophile pt. 2

Sorry been slacking a little bit lately crazy life getting in the way of blogging (also reading sadly) I HAVE FINALLY finished reading my first two books on the list and will be posting about those next I promise.... In the meantime I figured I'd post part 2 of my evolution!!

Oh Scholastic Book Fairs!! These were the highlights of my season I was the clichéd kid in a candy store on those days (or book store as the case may be). Our parents always gave us enough money to buy a couple books and since we both love reading they had no worry that the money would be hoarded or spent on frivolous things, however this particular book fair (I believe I was in grade 3 at the time) had something that would be of great help to me since I no longer had access to my flashlight. A BOOK LIGHT!!!

       

This tiny book light that clipped on to the back of your book provided me with enough light to discreetly read into the wee hours of the morning and was small enough to hide when needed. So armed with this book light and a couple new Fear Street selections I was set to continue my habit with my parents (ironically?) in the dark!! Around this same time I was spending more time than usual with my grandmother who also had a penchant for books but whereas my love at the time drew me to slightly scary and mysterious novels my grandmothers collection was on the “romantic” side of the literary spectrum (re: Harlequin Romance). After a few squeamish readings a confused (maybe slightly intrigued??) 9 year old decided grandma’s books were better left on the shelf (as I’m sure some children of today have had similar experiences with their mother’s 50 Shades or Gray).

 

Later in elementary school and early high school I discovered John Grisham, Steve Martini and their ilk of court room drama and suspense but I would still read anything I could get my hands on. And this coupled with my amazing disorganization skills (yes I was SO disorganized it was a talent) led to many school and public library books being lost or otherwise misplaced… each semester I would have to scrounge to pay the fine for lost or late books before exams rolled around in order to not fail (though looking back that may have simply been an idle threat?? Can’t really see a kid being failed due to unpaid fines). 

To this day I laugh when I come across an old fave in my collection and open it to see the PROPERTY OF NOTRE DAME stamp and the pocket where a library card should be. My tastes in books matured as I got older however my compulsive book hoarding never did...

To be continued....

Cheers!!
Dana Lynn

The Evolution of a Bibliophile pt. 1

So for this post I thought I would take some time to explain how I came to love and live books to the point where people that know little about me know about my passion for reading (on a side note when I mentioned to my boss that I was taking on the 1,001 books list he laughed and said "no worries you will probably be done by next summer), Only once I started writing I noticed that my story was a LOT longer then I thought so today I will begin with part 1 of my life story...

Going way back to childhood I would have to trace my passion for reading to my mother even today still fondly remembers reading at least once everyday to my brother and I these special times obviously left an impression on both of us since we both spend a lot of time reading and excelled in reading and writing from a young age. 

I remember in early years of school becoming easily bored (and therefore disruptive!) as I flew through the primary readers with less than 15 words per page (“See Spot Run” ya that took a lot of effort) and being the first in my class to graduate to chapter books. In later years I was taken right out of my grade 4 reading time and sent to the lower grade to buddy up with a student and help them with their reading skills since typically I was done that month’s book within 2-4 days.

I commiserate with today’s teens suffering from “text neck” (soreness of the neck and upper back from slouching to stealthily send texts when you shouldn’t be) as I can probably attribute my life long struggle with tension headaches and shoulder pain to the hours spent in class slouched down and hunched over to read from the novel I had hidden halfway into my desk (though my father blames my back problems on my brother once launching me off a teeter totter as a toddler). 

As I discovered series of youth and teen books (all my love to Baby Sitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins, Goosebumps and Fear Street) I would devour one after another sometimes reading more than one book in a single day. I would feign “bathroom troubles” to stay up reading late at night in the bathroom and when my parents caught on to that one I stole a flashlight from my dad’s toolbox to sit under covers and continue. Eventually this ruse was caught on and I was forced to sleep after bedtime rather then read my current novel until a faithful book fair day brought me a new enabler for this addiction…

To be continued....

Cheers!!
Dana Lynn

Things I learned in October...

So I finally got the list of 1,001 books posted (see pages at the left) sorry took so long been super busy with life in general lately. Check it out let me know if you have any recommendations for my next picks! Also if you notice there are green highlighted lines and peachy highlighted lines green are books I’ve read before and peachy are ones that were on my list of books to read before this endeavour.

And with being uber busy I am definitely already behind schedule for my 9 year timeline. But I am not giving up of course and I figure a couple good summers by the pool and maybe a few Mediterranean cruises and I should be right up to date!!

In order to fit into my schedule I decided one book at a time is the way to go currently reading The Blind Assassin and am really enjoying it. As I thought from reading a quick description it is quite different than the previous book I have read from Margaret Atwood but it seems to be quite interesting. It’s weaving several different stories from different time periods in the main characters life which I always love a story jumping back and forth between different times and story lines (if you like books with several plotlines I recommend books by Wally Lamb he does this wonderfully). I haven’t gotten too far but am looking forward to seeing the stories and characters develop.

I thought it would be neat at the beginning of each month to talk about things I may have learned (in cases re-learned) over the course of the past month. So today being November first I can tell you about my October learning.

• A busy schedule can’t and won’t kill me… I’ve been told my whole life to slow down and not try to cram a million things into my schedule ADHD plus ambition plus procrastination = MY CRAZY LIFE (Working more than one job, back to back social and extracurricular obligations, NEVER saying no etc…) Some people can and will burn out but I have always been able to prioritize when the things get hectic.

• Sometimes when a question goes unanswered it’s for a good reason. I always want to know EVERYTHING about EVERYBODY and have finally realized that some things are better left unknown.

• This I think I learn again and again and hope I never stop learning… Sometimes the absolute best thing to do when stressed is grab your besties and a couple bottles of wine and bitch and laugh for a couple hours!!

I hope to post at least once a week but like I said busy schedule priorities etc…

Cheers!

Dana B.

I don't borrow books... I adopt them!

Soooo.... I went to the Library today for the first time in over 10 years to make this adventure NOT cost a lot well much to my surprise (though as per the title of this  blog I shouldn't be too surprised) I owed back fines for books I borrowed in 2001! So thank goodness libraries don't charge interest or I would have been walking outta there a poor lady!! I have probably paid as much in fines at the Library over the course of my life as most people have spent in books total! Seriously my book collection probably consists of at least 25% books that have been "acquired" through means other than buying. I remember in high school patiently waiting for the libraries amnesty days where in lieu of paying fines you would bring some non-perishable food and wipe your record clean. Of course for a high schooler this equaled free since I would just scoff a few cans of beans and boxes of KD and continue until next time.

So after paying $15.87 ($12.87 in fines plus $3 for lost card fee) I was making my way through the new Welland Library to find the first books to tackle... I still haven't figured out a great plan of attack but didn't want that to stop me from getting started so I just found 4 books (from the list of course) from different authors at least one from the oldest time periods. Since I am more drawn to more contemporary works usually I want to make sure I get older books each time so I don't do all the newer ones first.

After awhile searching around I came up with four titles to start my adventure

Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift 1726
     This book I have heard of before never really wanted to read it but after reading some of the reviews and a synopsis it seems I may have been missing out. (Judging a book by it's cover??)

White Teeth Zadie Smith 2000
     Never heard of this one or the author but I am excited to read this seems to touch on themes that I have always enjoyed reading,

The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood 2000
     The only book on this list from an author I have previously read (The Handmaid's Tale) and though I really liked the previous book this one seems quite different so not sure what to expect.

The Color Pupler Alice Walker 1982
     This book I have definitely heard and I vaguely knew that it revolved around themes of racism and class struggles but never really knew the story in in it.

So tomorrow or Monday I will begin I think I will chose 2 to begin with and keep one at work and one at home so I always have access to one of my current reads! Will keep you updated on this decision as it unfolds!

Cheers!
Dana Lynn




 

my first post!!

Welcome to my blog!

 Recently my good friend and fellow amazing person started a blog (follow Dawn @ http://acoupleshadesofgreen.blogspot.ca/) and it seemed like something I should do so I added it to my constantly changing Bucket List. The question was what do I write about?? The thing is I have a ton of interests but nothing that I am super passionate about or an expert in enough to write a whole blog about! And at 29 years old a blog about my occasional(ish) binge drinking and 2 day hangovers seems sad rather than entertaining. Then thanks to the wonder that is Pintrest I stumbled upon (also a website I love) 1,001 books to read before you die and figured as a life time avid (not quite the right word I basically devour any book within a 20 foot radius) reader that tackling this list and sharing my experiences with whoever chooses to follow would be just the thing I could do and it would keep me motivated to finish the task.

My official goal for completing this 1,001 books was December 2022. I had figured 1,001 books at approx 100 per year (some of the books are relatively short) AND after I went through the WHOLE list I realized that I had previously read 18 of the books already so YAY! I only have 983 books to read making it only a little over 98 books per year to read :). However I do currently have about 46 books on my wish list at indigo.ca so we will have to see if any creep in over the years (only 6 of my wish list books were on the 1,001 list)

It won’t be a Coles Notes version or critical review more so my thoughts and whatnot when I am reading the books and maybe some comparisons to other books and or life. Of course I will mix in some random thoughts and happenings in my life. First things first I am getting a new library card this weekend so that this blog does NOT become a financial fiasco (books are EXPENSIVE!!) So I hope you enjoy I will be posting the list and my plan of attack for this adventure

Cheers! Dana Lynn