That’s the saying on a t-shirt I bought at the Green Valley Book Fair near Harrisonburg, Virginia. It’s so true for me. I don’t feel complete if I’m not in the middle of a book. My favorites are well-written fiction books like Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters that I bought and finished in two days. Stories of love, loss, and learning that stick with me even after the book has ended. Complex characters who don’t always do the right thing or make the best choices as they struggle to live happy full lives. I read mysteries but often for the historical setting (Maisie Dobbs and Maggie Hope are two current favorites set in war-time Britain) where the murder almost happens off screen and the plot is about the critical thinking that goes into solving problems rather than the grisly details of torture or killing. The most violent I get is Bernard Cornwell but there’s something about his swashbuckling storytelling that makes up for the battle scenes.

So, Paula White’s post about Sharing Books really resonated with me this morning. Paula has been reading the books on the Virginia Young Readers list so she can share them with her students and I am eager to get started on them myself. But, she finds herself unwilling to share some of them with her elementary school children and even questions the content for the older kids. Paula writes:

Just finished Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt.  I’m trying to remember back to my middle school years and what in the heck I read beyond science fiction.

NOT books like this one…where the main character has what could be considered to be an awful life.  I don’t remember reading books where parents wouldn’t let their hard of hearing kids learn sign language (Hurt Go Happy) or kids killed other kids (Hunger Games) or kids committed suicide (13 Reasons Why).

I asked myself the same question as, like Paula, I was a voracious reader, always bringing home stacks of books from the library, a book hidden behind my social studies textbook, a book squirreled away in my purse for odd moments in the car or even church.  I remember loving The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and climbing into the back of my own closet to see if I could find a magical world. One summer, I read every Nancy Drew mystery. E.L. Konigsburg was a favorite, especially From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler. I dabbled in science fiction from the Dune series to Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of NIMH. And so many more…too bad there wasn’t a Librarything back then where I could track them all.

And I also wonder, as Paula does, about the diet of violence on which we all seem to live these days. In my antenna driven world, I get to see all the old shows from my childhood and while they seem hokey, I’m glad I grew up with the Brady Bunch and MASH rather than CSI and Criminal Minds. They portrayed a view of the world where honesty and kindness were valued and, while the world wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t as dark and evil as it seems now.

I also love sharing books and am hoping to get involved with a book group at my local library this fall. I’ve been sharing books with a friend’s daughter and can’t wait to get home and read The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, a loaner from her that I forgot to bring with me on vacation. I sent her home with a box of Nancy Drews and a few other favorites and am looking forward to chatting with her about them. I also share books with an old teaching friend in Pennsylvania with whom I exchange “real” letters about reading. Finally, I blog about books on my personal blog In One Place.

Postscript: Paula has been blogging faithfully every day about her reading and her adventures with her students. Amplifying Minds is definitely worth adding to your aggregator.