I love to read

Did you know this about me? I love, love, LOVE to read. I can't remember not enjoying books. In the 1st grade my teacher would let me read books to the class -- probably to give her some free time to work on her evil plot to be the cruelest teacher on earth. By 2nd grade, my new (nicer) teacher had an agreement with me that when I finished my work, I could read books in our in-room library until the class moved on to the next activity. The Clifford series was a big favorite then, as well as Amelia Bedelia. By Jr. High, I would beg my mom to take me to the public library on a Friday so that I could check out an armload of books for the weekend. They were all geared towards teenagers, like the Sweet Valley series, or the Lois Duncan and R.L. Stine thrillers, so each one only took me about 2 hours to read.

In high school, I was always in the middle of one thing or another. It was during these years that I discovered my favorite romance author -- LaVyrle Spencer. She wrote "Years," a book about a 19 year old school teacher who falls in love with a 35 year old gruff farmer. This book became a favorite in my formative years, and really touched home when I was 19 and met my future husband, who was 35.

When I was a senior, I would run to each next class and pull out whatever book I was reading, giving myself a few precious minutes of reading time. What never failed was that in English, just as the bell rang and I was just about to put my book mark in, my teacher would say, "Saunders, put the book away!" I think it was almost a race to see who would win - him or my book mark. Usually him.

Nowadays, with a full time job, a family and a scrapbooking business, I don't get as much reading time as I used to. Therefore, I'm a bit choosier in my selection of books. Often it depends on my mood, whether I feel like a fun read or a biography by someone I admire, or if I'm up for the challenge of a classic that I feel I should try. More recently I've enjoyed "Marie Antoinette: the Journey," "'Tis Herself: An Autobigraphy" by Maureen O'Hara, "Emma" and "Best Friends." Currently I'm reading "The Other Boleyn Sister" thanks to another blogger who said the book was better than the movie. So far, I'm inclined to agree with her, and I haven't even seen the movie!

Feel free to recommend any books that you've recently taken a liking to, or even one that you find yourself picking up year after year to re-read. Those are the keepers on my bookshelf. What's on yours?