Meagan posted this picture to her Facbook page last week.
She wrote, “Excuse the ‘tired mommy outfit’ but this is our newest baby love…Madison Ryleigh at 27 weeks strong. She is full of life already. She loves doing flips and making her presence known at all times of the day. I can’t wait to hold her in my arms instead of my belly”
I still haven’t quite grasped the fact that I am going to be a grandma to a granddaughter. Oh my. Be still, my pitter-pattering heart.
What I am really looking forward to seeing is Nathan interacting with a daughter. He is so funny with Noah; he will be extra funny with that tiny girl who will wrap him around her wee finger the instant he lays eyes on her.
And speaking of grandchildren, Meagan just emailed this picture to me.
She said that Noah started this bedtime tradition on his own about a month ago; he chooses a story and his daddy reads it to him. Meagan said, “We love the time, and he loves the stories.”
After I saw that photo, I tried to find one of the many pictures I have of just Steve and Nathan reading together; I didn’t succeed in tracking one of those down but, in the process of looking, I did find these photos that illustrate just how much our family has always loved books.
Please overlook the stained curtains; we had a leak in one of the windows of our RV which ruined the curtains. (Or I guess we could say that the curtains had an intentional patina.)
I love Sarah’s little foot crossed over the other knee.
This pictures has nothing to do with books but it does have to do with babies–MY baby, in particular. I found it while looking for the other pictures and had to share it. I love my Summer!
What about you? What memories do you have of books? Were you read to a lot? Do you (or did you) read to your own children? Are you a book lover or are books just not your thing? And the best question? What is a favorite book/author of yours?
Well now, here is something we agree on 100%! I am a verbivore (thanks to Sarah for introducing me to that word!) and have been a book lover for as long as I can remember… in fact, to this day I am the only person I know who was regularly reprimanded for reading TOO MUCH when I was a kid. My favorite time of the school year was Book Fair Week (I don’t know that they even do that any more), when a vendor would set up oodles of books in our auditorium for perusal and purchase.
My mother read to my brother and me every night when we were young, and she taught me to read before I entered kindergarten. My favorite story as a very young child was The Biggest Sandwich Ever, and my mother still has the first few pages of it committed to memory. When I got a bit older, my father read a few ‘grown-up’ books to me, as well… I distinctly remember The Hobbit and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Other childhood favorites were The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner (just typing that made me smile!); Troubling a Star (Madeleine L’Engle); My Father’s Dragon (Ruth Stiles Gannett); James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and others by Roald Dahl; the Ramona books (Beverly Cleary); and, oh, this list could go on forever! And now I want to go find and reread all those books. 🙂
Currently, I am in the midst of reading some of the classics I’ve not yet read. I’m using a list I found (essentially an ‘everyone should read these’ list) to lead me to titles I’d forgotten. In the past several years, though, some of my favorite reads have been Once in a House on Fire (Andrea Ashworth); The Red Tent (Anita Diamant); A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving); Still Alice (Lisa Genova); A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That (Lisa Glatt); and, again, this list could be endless!
OH! Another childhood favorite was the series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read Little House in the Big Woods so many times that the cover fell off, and I desperately wanted to try roasting a pig and getting syrup out of trees.
OK…. I promise I’ll stop commenting on this post.
For now, at least ;).
Kristina,
Thanks for the wonderful list of books from your childhood and from the present, as well. I will definitely be checking some of those out since I am always on the lookout for new authors.
I also loved the Boxcar Children; I was utterly fascinated by their lives and all the things they went through and just couldn’t get enough of their stories.
I have also seen those lists of classic books that everyone should read and haven’t yet mustered the courage to delve into a list like that. I think it would be really cool to have some of those under my “reading belt” though.
I get the impression you and the Smith family could sit down and talk about books for endless hours! Aren’t they wonderful?
A true verbivore, indeed!
My high school did the Book Fair every year! I bought at least three or four books total from the events. Lots of fun!
-Sarah
Oh a girl…. It’s such a blessing to see how the Lord has blessed your family. Just tickled for you guys!
Dianna, yes, we are thrilled about it!
I, too, love to read. I know I was read to as a child, but don’t have any specific memories of it, I do remember always being surrounded by books. My mother was a teacher, and I remember reading her sixth grade “reader” as a first grader. I can remember what the book looked like and many of the stories in it. I remember going to the small local library and checking out the maximum allowed (10) often Nancy Drew, Dana Girls (does anyone remember them?) and when I finished those, would read all the ones my brother had checked out (including all the Hardy Boys). I think I read every book in that library. It was a great day when I could talk my parents into taking me to the Carnegie Library branch closest to home and a glorious one when we would go to the Main Library which is connected to the Carnegie Museums (natural history and art) now just called “The Carnegie”. For a while, my mother sold World Book Encyclopedias so we always had an up to date set, and yes, I would pick them up randomly and read them. In jr high and high school my study periods were spent as a library aide working in the school library (read most of those books, too) I love to read both fiction and non fiction. Could go on and on talking about books. Love to walk through the library and pick a book at random and read it. You can read some great books that way that you might never have read otherwise. It is also fun to choose a biography or more often an autobiography of someone who is not famous, that you’ve never heard of and read it. You can “meet” some very interesting people that way!
Linda,
Hmmmm. The Dana Girls is a new one by me.
As far as picking a random book at the library, I tried that one day when I got frustrated trying to find a new author. I picked three and got them home and didn’t like any of them! 🙂 I’ll have to give it another try.
I agree with you entirely about reading biographies and autobiographies. I love them, too. There is so much to gleaned from other peoples’ stories and, like you said, you almost feel like you’ve met them when you’re done with the book.
Thanks for taking the time to share all of your bookish thoughts–I enjoyed reading them!
Oh wow! Books! I love reading, it has made up a HUGE part of my life – i could read before i could walk, I memorised the alphabet very early on so books are definitely my thing! When my child is born, I intend to read to them every night (as a minimum)!
Favourite books/authors. Now you’re asking. As a child, Sweet Valley Twins, Jinny at Finmory, The Famous 5, Nancy Drew, Spooksville, Goosebumps, Babysitter’s Club etc were my favourites, I love(d) that whole teens in America thing – we don’t have a lot of sunny beaches and mysteries in the UK. That said, I also loved the classics – Narnia, Black Beauty, Secret Garden, What Katy Did….all of those and many more! I’ve always had an open mind when it comes to reading and I have always pretty much devoured anything that presented itself to me – although some at a faster rate than others! I had a library card from about the age of 4 and 10 books a week never seemed enough.
These days, I’m still the same when it comes to the diversity of what I’ll read, minus the library card (our local library is all computerised now and, much as it sounds odd, I hated going in and having to “self-check” out my books. My earliest memories include going to the library and being allowed to check out my own books at the desk and getting my card stamped, even though I couldn’t see over the counter – the librarian was also my “Brown Owl” at Brownies so we used to get on well, but we now only have machines and just a lady who “shushes” if you get too loud).
I use my Kindle a lot but you can’t beat a good old “real” book. My husband built me a custom ceiling-to-floor bookcase last year in our study and you can bet that’s being filled at a fast rate – although to be honest, it wasn’t far off when I moved all my books into it! I have all of my childhood SVT books (unfortunately not my Nancy Drew or SVH ones), Jinny, Narnia, Famous 5 and so on, as well as more adult themes – Stephen King, Harry Potter, some Reader’s Digest compilations…. I’d say the only genre i’m not really “into” is chic-lit – doesn’t hold my interest and all so cliche!! I also like factual accounts – so have just finished “9/11 from a journalist’s perspective” on my kindle.
So, back to your question. My current favourite new series is the St Mary’s books by Jodi Taylor – a completely new concept on time travel and they’re brilliant! First read them on Kindle and then bought the paperbacks – if you have five minutes, i’d really recommend them! From the “old but brilliant” faves of mine – IT, The Stand and 22/11/63 – Stephen King, the Harry Potter series, The Thirteenth Tale (again, one i’d really recommend) – Diane Settlerfield, The Time-Traveller’s Wife and Jedder’s Land rank up there as books I can read time and time again.
Wow. That’s a long essay on books. Do you wish you hadn’t asked haha :)!
Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield… oh my gosh, I’d forgotten about those series. Babysitter’s Club, too. Loved them all as a pre-teen.
The comments on this post are a stroll down literary memory lane!
Kristina,
I had to Google Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield since I had no clue what you were talking about. I am learning a lot from you all. Aren’t literary strolls so very marvelous?
Oh, and ALSO (should have finished reading your comment before my first reply… I got so excited remembering SVH/SVT that I jumped down to say so)…
The Time Traveler’s Wife is a spectacular book. I, too, have read it several times. The movie did a halfway decent job (which surprised me) but the book is phenomenal. Another great one this reminds me of is The Home-Maker, by Dorothy Canfield.
In other news, I dream of a room of my own with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves… does your husband have a like-minded brother?!
Haha, he does have a brother who is also good at DIY but we might be a bit far from you in the UK ;-)! I wish I could show you a photograph 🙂
I’ve never seen the TTW movie. I don’t think I could bear it if it ruined the book for me. Have you read the Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger? I didn’t think it was anywhere near as good!
I also have a bit of a thing for Jodi Picoult books, but again won’t watch the films. I’ll have to have a look out for the The Home-Maker!
One other book series I read recently that I didn’t think I’d enjoy but did immensely was The Tripods by John Christopher.
Hey, the UK is only an airplane ride away. And I loved the pieces of the UK that I’ve seen… I’d come that far for my own room of bookshelves 😉 !
I haven’t read Her Fearful Symmetry… had actually never even heard of it. I tend not to automatically go to books written by authors whose other book(s) I’ve enjoyed unless I get a strong recommendation. Too often they’re a letdown.
And movies are pretty much never as good as books, in my opinion. I sometimes watch them, but they don’t ever ruin books for me… in general I just wind up appreciating the books even more when the movie is lousy! Water for Elephants was a pretty good adaptation of a book, and I thought the Lord of the Rings movies were good. Also enjoyed the Harry Potter movies, right up to the last one which changed from the book so much and made me SO mad. Way to get it all right and then completely blow it at the end.
I will look for The Tripods next time I’m searching for new reading material (right now I have ‘yet to be read’ book stacks all over my house, so I’ve made a ‘no more buying books until you’ve read these’ rule). Thanks for the recommendation!
Rebecca,
No essay on books could ever be too long! 🙂 And I think it’s amazing that you have your own floor to ceiling bookcase. Maybe just a wee bit jealous, too.
I love that you gave some suggestions of books to try. I am always on the lookout for new authors so it’s a very happy day when I stumble across someone who I know I will read again and again.
It’s interesting to me how many of the replies on this post have mentioned Nancy Drew, even from someone like yourself who lives in the U.K. I had no idea that series was that popular!
And to read 10 books a week as a child is impressive indeed. Reading is sooo much better for a kid than television; I’m glad to know reading has been such a huge part of your life. Bookworms, unite!
I know I posted before but I want to add something. I went to my book talks meeting on Monday, the speaker works for a local publishing firm that is just starting out, She talked about some of the books they have then introduced us to her 17 yr old daughter who is one of the authors, she already has a book published and is under contract for 6 more in this series. I am not interested in the books as they are fantacy type books but the talk was very interesting in writing publishing and so on. I just wanted to share how a young person can do this so I know if Sarah wants to publish she can do it
Sharon,
Wow! Seventeen years old is pretty young for having a 6-book contract! I think i would be a little afraid of that pressure to produce but . . . good for HER!
Sheldon Vanauken is his wonderful A Severe Mercy notes that the mark of a true lover of books is re-reading them. On my list of multiples: The Chronicles of Narnia (at least 15 times through the set!); A Severe Mercy (again, more than a dozen times); C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters; Chuck Colson’s How Now Shall We Live and The Body. These and many others have served to spirit me away from the stresses of live, to challenge me to live every day for Christ, and to shape my worldview. I could very fairly be called a movie buff, but I’ve said before and I say again: there is nothing – NOTHING! – like a blanket, a cup of tea, and a really good book!
Gordon,
Always nice to see you and your mustache show up in the comments. 🙂
I agree that A Severe Mercy is an amazing book. I have read it several times over the years. And you’ve read the Chronicles of Narnia series fifteen times? That is truly impressive.
Your “blanket, cup of tea, and really good book” line deserves a rousing AMEN!
Mr. Gordon, I’ve probably only read Narnia all the way through six or seven times ever since discovering it 8 years ago. I’ve got some catching up to do! 🙂 Lewis was one of my biggest inspirations to write, right behind my mom and dad!
-Sarah
I love to read although I really don’t remember being read to a lot. I probably was but it’s been a long time since I was too young to read myself. Lately I haven’t had time to read much and I am really missing it. As a child, I loved the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries. Still love mysteries as an adult with John Grisham, James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark being three of my favorite authors. I also like some of the young adult series like the Harry Potter series. Having two nieces that are 15, it’s kind of nice to read some of the same books and have that in common with them. My oldest niece loves to read also, the younger of the two reads but not as much as the older one. My mom loves to read also – she likes Karen Kingsbury, Cindy Woodsmall, and some of the other Amish series authors whose names are escaping me right now. I also love Nicholas Sparks books.
Phyllis,
Sounds like books have been a part of your life for a long time! I used to love Nancy Drew, too. 🙂
Love your picture posts. It is incredible how much Noah looks like Nathan and Nathan like his dad.
As a child growing up I looooooved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boy books. I was also known to just pick up an encyclopedia every now and then and just start reading. I am still a book lover and still mystery and crime. I would have to say John Grisham and Anne Rule are two of my all time favorites but Danielle Steele is always good for some easy reading. The picture of you doing crosswords really shows your love of words even then. I enjoy doing Kakuro puzzles which knowing your love of numbers, haha, you probably would not be interested in. As an accountant, my life centers around numbers.
Mel,
Okay, I have to say that admitting to picking up an encyclopedia to read tells me just a little bit about your age. 🙂 I kind of miss those days when homes actually had sets encyclopedias to refer to instead of Google. And I am impressed that you would pick one up for miscellaneous reading.
And you’re right, number puzzles would drive me batty. Glad you love them, though!
Fun facts: My ‘dream job’ is to be a librarian. The only functional thing my Sarah can do with her right hand is to turn pages of a book. My son’s favorite gift is always a gift card to a book store.
Favorites: Honey Bunch and Norman series, The “Betsy” books by Carolyn Haywood, The Bobbsey Twins, Trixie Belden, A Little Princess, Gone With the Wind.
And can I just share the impact one lone author had on my and my daughter’s life? Marie Killilea. I bet you’ve never heard of her. She was ‘just’ a mom in the 1940’s who happened to have a daughter diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Back in those days, children with disabilities were to be ashamed of, they were put away, hidden, left to die on mountain tops. Marie tells the story of her daughter and how she fought for Karen’s diagnosis, survival and figured out how to give Karen the best life possible. She was ingenious, smart, determined and clever. She is my hero. She went on to found United Cerebral Palsy. Well, I loved those 2 books. I first read them when I was 12 and reread them over and over in my teens and 20’s. So when my girlie was diagnosed with CP, I felt like I had come home. I had no fear, I took my cues from that mom and she was, and still remains, the springboard off of which I soar with Sarah. I still have those 2 original books, they are tattered and soft, I will never give them up.
I guess my point is, that it only takes one author with one story, to make a profound difference in someone’s life. It really is amazing. books are amazing.
Lesley,
Wow. What an amazing story about the power of a story!
And what a confirmation that God knew you and Sarah’s story from beginning to end and drew your heart to those books, over and over and over again so that you would be ready for Sarah when she arrived in your life and took over your heart. I especially love your line about that author being the springboard off of which you soar with Sarah.
Such beautiful thoughts beautifully written. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your story–and the story behind your story.
Definitely a book lover! My grandparents joined a Dr. Seuss book club when I was about two and I still have all of those and I’m so thankful my granddaddy dated them when they gave them to me. I loved the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew (and would get the Bobbsey Twins from our little church library (I was in 4-5 grade before my town got visits from the bookmobile and 6th grade when the town library opened; so it was church and classroom libraries). Then for Christmas when I was in second grade I received my first Trixie Belden book – #7 The Mysterious Code. I remember never hearing of this (Nancy Drew was the popular series) and I had trouble “getting into it”, so my Mama would read it to me. She passed away just 13 months later, so this is a treasured memory and I went on to buy every book in the original 16 book series and a few of the later ones. I now collect Sue Grafton and John Grisham hardcovers (many of them signed) and am on a first-name-basis with my local librarians.
Sue Ellen,
What sorrow to lose your mom when you were so young. And what joy to have the memory of her voice and her words as she read to you. I can only imagine how much your treasure the Trixie Belden books. Sweet, sweet memories!
Thank you for telling your book story; I loved reading it.
I love books I have since I can remember. my mom read to my brother and me all the time. one of my favorite stories was about a little girl that wanted to live in the tree ‘wiff da birdies’ I read a lot of things, and I am glad I read the posts ahead of me cause it reminded me of the Mitford books loved them and I have them of cassette tape and no way to play. and the books about the quilts. Right now I am really into the Amish books/ I read one every couple of days
Sharon,
I also have enjoyed the Mitford books. Jan Karon is such a great story teller.
So glad you have the memory of being read to a child–a true treasure.
The pictures were great. So excited for the Smiths waiting for Madison Ryleigh! I grew up with Nancy Drew books and The Hardy Boys. Always loved reading them. I enjoy books but have many I have not read yet. I am enjoying the Amish books by Beverly Lewis and I really loved Donna Jeremiah and Peggy Leslie’s book Storm over Coronado. Donna autographed it for me. Before I started these I always read biographies. Enjoyed Sheri Easter’s book about her life. Would like to read more but have to make the time.
Ann,
I certainly enjoyed reading the copy of the Sheri Easter book you gave me. It was especially meaningful that it was autographed. Thanks again for that surprise!
Well, my claim to fame would be that in the 1940s I was probably one of the first kid/person to have a Book on Tape. My Mother read my favorite book and recorded it on one of those big old machines with a wire recording. I was about five, and I can’t remember the book. I know my favorite record was Little Toot, and I listened to it so much that my brothers broke it.
I was never much of a reader for pleasure growing up. Loved reading and researching for my monthly Jr. Kdg and Preschool themes, and now read a book or two a week. I loved Jan Karon’s Mitford series, and Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilt series.
Mrs. Pam,
How fun to hear the story of your mom recording a book for you back in the 40’s! She was ahead of her time, for sure, and on the cutting edge of technology! Sorry about your brothers breaking your Little Toot record although I imagine by that point, you must have had it memorized. 🙂
At Christmas every year, every person that comes to my parents house for Christmas is pretty much guaranteed to get a book for Christmas. Can’t remember how long this has gone on, but I know it has been since I was a kid. When they start their shopping each year, the first stop is at an indpendent bookstore, to buy those books. They have definitely passed a love for books on by doing this. When I was growing up, it was the one time we got a hardback book. And still today, if you put books on your list, if they are available in hardback, you will probably get one that is hardback. Unless, of course, you are my sister who now gets all of hers in Kindle version!
Nicole,
I love that your parents buy their books at an independent book store instead of one of the big chains. Good for them! And of course I really love their habit of giving books as gifts; what better gift can there possibly be? I’m so glad they raised you to love books.
One of the great gifts parents should give their children is a love of books. Maybe husband and our now 37 year old son had a tradition of reading books before bedtime (as he did also for our daughters) which continued until our son was in junior high. They would read to each other. Our son now reads to his twin sons to continue the tradition.
So glad to see Noah enjoying his Daddy reading time!
Liz,
I can only imagine how happy it makes you to see your son reading to his sons. Traditions like that are priceless. What a great gift your family is passing through the generations.
I love to read! My parents read to us all the time when we were young. Dad did the voices….too fun!! We always read to our children too. My daughter’s favorite story was The Bears’ Picnic by Stan and Jan Berenstain. She was very young and had the words memorized! We still have boxes and boxes of her books in our attic. 🙂
The Thorn Birds is my favorite book but I don’t really have a favorite author.
It sure is fun to look back at the old pictures. Love the ones of Summer. Such a sweetie.
LeeAnne,
How great that your dad read doing all the voices–I bet he enjoyed the experience every bit as much as you did. The Berenstain books are wonderful; we read those to Nathan and Sarah.
Such happy memories that gather around the topic of books.
The Berenstain Bears! I loved those books, too… my favorite was one where the mother bans the whole family from watching any TV for a week, and as much as they complain, that TV-free week reminds them all that there are lots of other things they like to do. I’ve adopted this strategy a few times… if I’m spending too much time on a game, the computer, etc., I take a conscious hiatus from it to give myself space to remember everything else I love!
Beautiful pictures all! Meagan wears pregnancy very well! Both of my parents were avid readers, but Dad was the one who liked to read out loud and he did character voices especially for a short story called “Flooey Island” (which I have been trying to find for a couple decades) and “The Night After Christmas.” When I was in 3rd grade my Mom ordered books through the mail for me arriving one each month…The Happy Hollisters…and I was hooked on reading from then on! A bunch of kids who developed a detective club! To this day at 60, I am an avid reader of anything except textbooks and, like my Mom, I hate reading out loud because it slows me down!
Guerrina,
Hooray! Another Happy Hollister fan! I just found one of their old books at a thrift store and snatched it up. I used to love that series.
And I can’t imagine how exciting it must have been to be a kid and have a new book arrive in the mail every month. Fabulous gift from your mom.
Lol, Becky, I still have all of them as well as Nancy Drew, and a few Hardy Boys and Cherry Ames! By the way, the Happy Hollister books got me and my 6 cousins to form a detective club with a weekly newsletter…that newsletter was tough to do having only carbon paper to make copies lol. We gave them to neighbors to “advertise” our club. We never did get called for any detective work!
love the photo’s and you are going to love being a grandma to a little girl as much as you are to sweet Noah. I have 3 grand-ladies and 2 grand-boys. We have always been big readers in our family – mama’s goal before she dies was to read 1,000 books but she has far surpassed that. My favorite author right now is Diane Chamberlain from Raleigh
Becky,
A thousand books? That’s a big goal and a big accomplishment! You’re fortunate to have been raised by a book-loving mama!
I know you enjoy your grand babies and will pass on the love of reading to them, too.
Love all the pictures today! (Pictures of your granddaughter and grandson are best, of course, but the others are definitely very close behind.) I see a number of pictures of Steve and you both, if not reading to your children, reading WITH them. I really think a lot of a child’s love of reading comes from wanting to be just like Mommy and Daddy…who read a lot.
I remember a big difference between my parents when they read to us. My mother read every word exactly as it was written, pronounced perfectly, but not with a lot of inflection. My father, on the other hand, did “voices” and often changed the words to be funnier.
Books were like comfort food for me. My parents had the complete works of Mark Twain (that must have been a super salesman who showed up at their door!), and the summer after 7th grade I read the entire collection…lying under my bed with the bedspread hanging down so that I was in my own little cave. 7th grade was a horrible year; I was bullied mercilessly and my grandfather died. Mark Twain got me through it. So yeah, I guess you could say I love books.
So many favorites over the years, but in recent years the book I’ve loved and read over and over is “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.” I was devastated when I read that the author died before it was published, because there won’t be any more books by her.
Jan,
So many things to love about your comment.
The first is that you love the Guernsey book. I found the audio book version at the library last year and having no idea what it was all about, I popped it into the CD player for a trip. Oh my. Such fabulous writing and characters and plot. I LOVED it. I didn’t know the author has died; that will just make me treasure this book all the more.
And your story about books being your comfort during 7th grade touched my heart. The picture of you hiding under the shelter of the bedspread reading Mark Twain and finding solace in the experience and in the words just makes me teary. Anyone who says books can’t be our friends has never experienced what you experienced.
I so appreciate your sharing this part of your life with me and the rest of the Smithellaneous family.