The Day I Shared My Secrets

So yeah, I read a lot.  And one of the things I'm often asked is how do I read so much?  I have a full-time job and a family, and somehow I'm still at over 90 books read this year.  The truth is that I don't actually know how I fit them all in myself, but here's what I've noticed about my own reading habits.

1. I start and end my day by reading.  I'm the slowest person to wake up in the world, but I typically fall asleep with my book in bed or my Kindle in hand (or under my pillow, and yes, once on my face, but that hurt and woke me up).  When I wake up, typically I don't want to move, so I set my alarm a little earlier than I actually need to be out of bed, and I slowly accept my fate with a few quick pages.

2. I tend to do routine things while reading.  I'm the only one awake when I get up.  So I can brush out my hair or pull on some pants and socks while knocking out a paragraph or two.  This works throughout my day.  I can fold laundry and read at the same time.  It doesn't take my full attention to put two purple socks together.  There is a semi-famous (around my friends and family that is) picture of me reading and washing dishes at the same time.  Sure, there are some things you have to look at to do right, like scrub a pot or put on mascara (darn you, makeup!).  But something routine like rinsing a plate?  The movements are mechanical, so why not get a short paragraph in?

3. I've learned to read in short increments.  Sometimes I get my 30 minute lunch break to read.  Sometimes I get 5 minutes and then a student walks in to talk to me.  My daughter wants to read books all on her own, and then she wants me to build a city with her out of blocks.  Sometimes there's nobody in the workroom while I'm making copies, and then someone walks in and says hi.  I get in paragraphs when I can.  It's like exercise.  It adds up.  But along with that...

4. I have come to terms with mid-chapter pauses.  No, I take that back.  I'm learning to embrace mid-chapter pauses, which sounds crazy.  Who wants to stop in the middle of a page?  But the thing is, I have a job and a kid and a husband.  When 6:45 rolls around and I have to leave for work, or my daughter needs me to color with her, it is my job to put the book down, even if Miss Marple has only just arrived on the scene.  This used to bug me (not the coloring, but the sense of incompleteness), but here's the little advantage that I think it gives me: when I come back to the book later, I'm starting in the middle of the action.  I feel like my reading paces itself more quickly because I'm eager to return to that cliffhanger I left for myself.

5. I always have a book on my Kindle.  This is actually how I often end up reading multiple books at once.  I actually don't like reading multiple at once because it slows my reading pace per book down, especially when the two books are similar.  But having a book lined up on Kindle means that I always have a book I can access on my phone - even if I forget my book.

Those are the first five I've noticed, but definitely going to keep track and keep adding tips!

The Day I Got My Library Card

When recording our podcast yesterday, we discussed why we love libraries amidst the current kerfuffle over Macmillan's new ridiculous embargo on library e-books.  It seemed like a good time to tell this story.

I learned to read at 3 years old, not that long after I learned to speak, in fact (weird off-topic trivia).  From what I'm told, and what I can figure out from vague bits of memory, my parents read to me often.  They were avid library-goers, and I always had a stack of my own.  I can still remember picture books and books on tape which were particular favorites to check out.

One day when I was about four years old, I visited the library with my mother.  I don't remember what I'd chosen, but I remember having to wait for Mom as she perused the stacks for her own selection.  I suppose I must have been impatient.  Regardless, as I gazed at the check-out counter from across the room it occurred to me that if I had a library card of my own, I could already have checked out my books.  Not only that, but then they would truly be my library books.  I turned to my mother and asked her how old one needed to be to get a library card.

I remember pretty firmly believing the answer must be something like 5, and I'd be too young.  But hey, at least I'd made my interest known!

My mother had no idea.  But you have to give this woman credit for not letting the grass grow under her feet.  She walked me directly to the counter (now that I think of it, I don't even know if she'd finished choosing her books).  Once we had the librarian's attention, she prompted me to ask my question.  The librarian asked me if I wanted a library card, and how old I was.  I told her.  She then signed me right up, and I had a card to the Falls Church City Library.

Over the years, that library became another home to me.  It's where my friends and I hung out after school.  It's where I met some of my favorite characters, and explored worlds I've never forgotten.  And it started me down a path of library love that has never faded.  

I could reflect on all the times I've sought refuge in a library, from being a shy kid who took full advantage of the school library in kindergarten to spending classes writing and reading away homesickness while living in Ecuador.  I could reflect on my unhappy times living in South Florida, seeking solace by finding as many local library branches as I could.  But those are all their own stories, and they all amount to the same thing.

Libraries have always been and probably will always be my safe haven.  I'm blessed to live in an area where I've never been more than a couple of miles from a branch.  When the world gets too busy (and it does!), a half-hour walk through the stacks can reset me for the next few days.  As an introvert in hectic extroverted job with a busy, extrovert husband and a small child, a moment alone can be a gift.  When it's needed, I can feel that tether drawing me back to the peace of my local library.

The Day I Was Reminded

This is a delayed post, written July 29, 2019.  I just didn't have internet connection, so I forgot to post until now.  So the title has a double meaning? -J :-)

I was reminded today that I don’t have to do all the things.  I don’t have to be what someone tells me. I can write what I feel and what I think, and someone out there will probably want to read it.  I just need to be true to me.

I’ve also, if truth be told, had a glass of wine and a good day, so consider the world warned.

I stopped writing mostly due to stress.  I had to quit my part-time job, which stressed me financially.  My husband has been under-employed for two years, we’ve had major house repairs to make, and it’s not until now, two years almost to the date since it all began, that I’m starting to feel like we might somehow survive and be safe.  It’s not normally hard to write in that mode for me, but add a toddler on top, and there you go.

Today is different.  Today is different because today is the day they fix one of the two major basement issues we’ve been having.  This was the more major, and the one we didn’t see coming.  Fixing it seems like a sign.

Fixing it also meant daycare day for my daughter, so I got to enjoy a winery for the day.  Thus the glass of wine.  That might even be part of the sign.  This is legit the most relaxed I’ve been in ages.  And the most I’ve felt free to write. 

When you have no money with a toddler and you’re not a good outdoorsy person, you spend a lot of time at the library.  Well, I do, because I’m a nerd.  So I’ve read a lot, and I plan to write a lot about books and reading.  But there will be other stuff too, I hope.  And I hope anyone who’s reading this right now will enjoy it.