Books.

I am currently listening to Elisabeth read a chapter book out loud. The girl loves books and is so proud of herself that she can basically read completely on her own. It really is one of the sweetest, most wonderful things I've ever heard.

Because, I love reading. If you know me even just a little, you're probably rolling your eyes because that's like me declaring that I have curly hair. It's just a given.

I've always loved books. My first memory of reading is sitting in the living room at my house when I was 4, reading a book and having my Aunt Diane come to ask me if I would read the book to her. When I finished, she turned to my mom and said, "See, Debbie? She can read. She should definitely go to Kindergarten." (I didn't turn 5 until the end of September, but the cut off date was October 1st when I was little)

I remember being in 2nd grade and going to the learning center for our library time. Most of the kids were going for books about cats or cars or some super hero. I was trying to find The Babysitter's Club books. I loved those books and I had a couple of them at home. I finally found them on the opposite side of the library that my class was on. I was so excited to see some that I hadn't read yet. That's when the librarian and my teacher came over to tell me I was on the wrong side. I told them I wanted to read The Babysitter's Club books and they both told me no, that I was too little. I could feel the tears in the back of my throat, but I didn't argue (because I was an excellent listener when I was little), and ended up grabbing some cat book. I went home and cried to my mom that they weren't letting me read the books I wanted to. My mom called my teacher the next day and let her know that if I wanted to read older chapter books, to allow me to do so since I was able to understand what I was reading. I loved my mom extra bunches that day.

In 3rd grade, I remember two very distinct things about me and books:
1.I was reading a book and was very into it (shocked?). That's when I heard my name being called. I looked up and everyone in my class was standing, facing the flag with their hands over their hearts. My face instantly grew warm and I hurried to join the class. My teacher informed me that she had said my name 5 times before I'd looked up.
2.At the end of the year when we all got our yearbooks, I noticed something on my class' page. You know how after everyone's head shots, they usually put pictures of the class doing things on the bottom of the pages? Well, at the bottom of my class' page was a picture of me. Just me. Reading a book. Here's the thing though...I didn't remember the photographer even being in the class taking our pictures! I took the yearbook up to my teacher and asked when my picture had been taken. She smiled at me and said the photographer had been in a few months before and I had been so busy reading, I didn't even flinch when the flash went off. She kind of chuckled as my face grew warm again. I seriously had had no idea.

In the mornings before school, I was allowed to read whatever book I was currently obsessed with while I was eating breakfast. After a few times of taking my book to my room and continuing to read instead of getting ready, my mom made a new rule that I had to leave my book at the table until I was all ready for school. This was absolute torture for me. I would have to force myself to leave the book, but I didn't always. Sometimes, if my mom wasn't looking, I'd tuck my book under my shirt and race to my room to read as much as I could before getting caught. I wasn't always on time for the school bus. (Mind you, this went on even in high school)

During junior high, I remember my 8th grade teacher getting frustrated with me for reading ahead of the rest of the class. She told me that I needed to stay with the chapters that she assigned and to quit reading more because I wasn't going to remember the details during class discussions. I was pretty shy in junior high, but I remember this really ticked me off. First off, I don't read by chapters. I rarely know what chapter I'm on in a book or even notice when a chapter has ended or started. Secondly, I remember a lot when I read and I felt like my intelligence was being questioned. Plus, this teacher was not polite about telling me this. She said it in front of the class in a very patronizing tone (as was her usual class room behavior). So, I did something out of the norm. I told her that I shouldn't be punished for finishing the books early and if she was worried about it to quiz me. Right then. Let me tell you, my face was on fire when I said this (I mean, seriously, I was 13 and making this speech in front of not only the entire class, but also the guy I had a major crush on...I was totally humiliated). So, she did. She handed me the end of the book test we were supposed to take in 2 weeks. I got an A+. She never bothered me again (well, at least about that).

I just can't get enough. If you recommend a book to me, it will go on a list or I'll head straight to the library's website to put it on hold. I can't tell you how many times my childhood best friend, Sharee, would yank books out of my hands during the summer and hide them so I'd actually go outside to play. And don't even get me started on how much trouble I get into if Evan thinks I am cheating on him with a book.

So, when I had a book exchange at my house last Friday, and 9 ladies showed up with bags of books to swap with each other, I was in HEAVEN. I couldn't stop clapping my hands and touching all the books. Some of them were ones I'd read, but most of them were new to me--new authors, new subjects, new titles. After the ladies left for the evening, on my table were the books no one had claimed. It was over twice the number that I had swapped from my own collection. Evan wasn't exactly thrilled (he seemed to think that I would be getting rid of books and not replacing them...pshaw!), but let me tell you something. I have never been happier.

So, check out the side of my blog and see what I'm reading. And feel free to tell me what your current book readings are. I promise to read them too!