Love Fest: Book Nerd

From the time I can remember (and from what I've been told, even before then) I have always loved a good book.  I would crawl into my parent's lap & beg them to read.  And when they did?  I would follow up with asking for just "one more book."

I love everything about books.. the feeling, the sound of turning pages, the weight, the smell.  One of my favorite ways to spend the day is browsing aimlessly in a book store or library.  It's heaven.

With that said..   The Love Item of the day are my favorite books.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

 Easily my favorite book ever.  It's the only novel I've ever read more than once. 

 I actually lobbied to name my daughter Scout...  

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

image from Wikipedia

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

 Introduced to me by my Mom,  I can't wait

 until Cheeks is old enough to share this with. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

image via Wikipedia

 The unforgettable story about the ability of a book to feed the soul.  

my review

The Help by Katheryn Stockett

 the story of the South before my time, but one that I knew pretty well

my review

The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne

 Read during my junior year of high school.  I empathized with Hester 

because some days I felt as if my ever growing pregnant teenage 

belly was my own big red A. 

My love affair with Mr. King began in 6th grade with IT & has continued to this day.  I prefer his classic works to the ones around the time of Dolores Claiborne. I stopped reading for awhile, but his new stuff?  Reminds me of classic King.... and I like it.
(and yes,  I was the dork in middle school that lugged around 5 lb 1200 page books in their back pack)

The Dark Half by Stephen King:

"The Sparrows are coming."  We all have good & evil within us, but which side is going to win? 

The Stand by Stephen King

Post-apocalyptic society killed off by the Super-Flu..  It took me longer to read this book 

than any other Kin novel, mostly because I received it as a Christmas gift.  When I started it

, I was sick with flu-like symptoms and it freaked me out.  I waited til I was well before finishing it. 

IT by Stephen King

Still covering his classic good vs. evil motif, this one played into our childhood nightmares.

 Who doesn't hate an evil clown and various other childhood fears..  And although I was near

14 when I read it, I started sleeping with the hall way light on and my door open. 

"Try to keep smiling. Get a little rock and roll on the radio, and go toward all the life there is with all the belief you can find and all the truth you can muster. Be true. Be brave. Stand. All the rest is darkness."

Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

I was in high school when these books came out & I was positive I couldn't enjoy some silly wizard book written for kids.  So I ignored them.  Then, the movies came and I fell in love.   I waited until the last novel was released before I started reading.  In true Natalie fashion, I devoured them.  I laughed, I cried.. These characters were so well-written, I felt as if I knew them.  They became my friends and I watched them grow up before my very eyes.

Charlotte's Web by EB White

I enjoyed this sweet story about friendship on many levels..  when my mom 

read to me, when I read it alone & then later as I read it to my own children.  

Charlotte was even on the short list of baby names for a girl. 

"She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both. "


Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss

The most-requested book from my childhood.  My grandfather often recounts how he would have to read it to me at least 30 times a day.  The constant repetition lead to memorization and probably why this was the first book I remember sitting and reading by myself.   
As a mother & reader, it killed me to watch my first born struggle with learning his words.  So when Andrew was finally able to master it & his reading light-bulb went on, there were tears in my eyes.  It meant that much more because his first book to read to me?  Was this one.  
Also?  That first copy that was read and re-read so many times?  Now has a special spot on my bookcase. 




This post could probably continue for days..  There are so many books that I love... even if I read it only once or many years ago.   If I fall in love with a book, there is an emotional connection to the characters.  I truly fall in love with the people on those pages. 




And just to ensure the next generation also loves books as much as I do, I encourage each of my kids to become readers.