The Reading Life

If you know me, you know I'm a bookish sort of person.  I have been bookish since I can remember and could read Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Superfudge and later tales like The Hobbit  and A Wrinkle in Time.  Sometimes my bookish tendencies get me in trouble, because I would definitely mostly rather read a book.  Sometimes it also confuses me.  I like to be with people, I do a lot of extraverted reading, at ballgames, at coffee shops, in the park, in the car with the kids screaming, places where there are external noises to keep me moving. 

I began to feel guilty about all the reading. Shockingly, there were comments from people around me, because that's what we, the human race, does best, ignorantly comment -
                                    "How do you read so much?"
                                    "Do you do anything else?"

Of course I do other things, I'm the mother of 5.  But here is how I read so much, it's a priority.  I don't watch much TV.  If I'm digging my way through a lot of books I won't get on social media.  I have no games on my phone and I don't play games.  If the kids are watching a movie, I snuggle too, but probably read a book instead of watching the movie.  If its half-time and everyone goes to get a snack, I stay put and read a few pages.   Basically, I always carry a book with me.  Last night I headed out to watch some volleyball and in my bag I threw in a book with a super appropriate title.

I didn't crack open the book, not even once. I caught up with a great friend, but I was prepared, just in case.  On a side note, the girls were on fire last night, it was a great game.

The thing is, I read a lot because I love to think and take in information.  Even the lightest book is a place for me to think deeply.  I have taken the StrengthsFinder several times and my number one strength is always Input.  I get energized from input of information.  In Anne Bogel's book, Reading People, she also talks about her strength of Input and how that impacts her reading life.  I read because it is an outflow of my strengths.  I read because the Input of information makes me feel alive, just like making music makes my husband feel alive.  For me, reading is not an escape but a way to make my world bigger and my life richer.  Okay, you got me, sometimes reading is all about the escape, ignoring the hard tasks and negative emotions, but more times than not it is the way I work through it.  When we got our boys I read every book I could on attachment and international adoption and transracial issues.  When I started to feel like my world was very small in regards to race, I started reading the stories of people with different backgrounds.  When I can't understand my husband, I read books on marriage.  These books mentor me and grow me.  I tend to read a wide variety of books and I'm not interested in just reading what I agree with, reading books that stretch my brain brings me energy in an unique way.

This is my current stack, including a few on my Kindle. I just noticed there is only one fiction on that stack and no classics.  That is a unique stack for me, but September is a unique season of learning and growing and grabbing a new rhythm.

I would love to know what you are reading and any recommendations you might have.  You can follow me on Goodreads to keep up with my reading life.