{Corner} BOOKS {View}

Hello to all my Corner View friends !
Things have been very busy around here and I've missed a few weeks !
I'm back now though and excited to see you all again !


Corner View is hosted by Jane at Spain Daily.
Join us as we travel the world each Wednesday ...

This week's theme ... "books"

I've written a fair bit about books (or reading) on this blog. I'm going to cut and paste from a post that I wrote last year today.

Here we go ...

I found the quote above in a coffee table book that my sister, Gina, gave me years ago. The Charm of Simple Things is a wonderful book about delighting in simple things. Things like ... "reading, conversation, music. The sunrise, sunset, the beating of rain on the roof, the gentle fall of snow in winter ..." to quote the book directly.

The laughter of children. The crackling of a burning fire. Stars on a clear country night. The rustle of leaves. The feel of sand underfoot during a walk along the beach. Fireworks ... to name a few of my own.

I could go on and on.

But I won't, because I want to talk about reading. It's one of my favorite things to do. A gift that was passed on to me from my parents, as it was passed on to them from theirs. One that Rory and I have already passed onto both of our children. At (almost) seven, Jono can read well. And at five, Alia is so desperate to be able to that I think she may teach herself if they don't do it quick enough next year when she starts school !

I have always got books on the go. I read all over the place. In the lounge, family room, at the dining room table while I eat breakfast, in the backyard on a blanket, in my rocking chair in the garage (where I sit when the kids play out front !), in the bath tub, on the toilet (but you probably didn't need to know that !).

The library is one of my favorite places to hang out. Books books books ! What could be better ? I have four library cards in my wallet now. Which means, if I wanted to, I could check out 120 books ~ and I sometimes come close ! I do almost always come home with a half dozen to a dozen cookbooks, a couple of computer books, a few photography books, a few books about famous painters, books that the kids have chosen, DVD's, music CD's, books on CD for Rory who commutes, and a novel or two for me. The library is such a great resource. If there are books that I've heard about that I want to read, I go on-line and reserve them ( for free ! ) and just pick them up when I go in ! We use the library so much, we actually have two shelves in our house dedicated to housing library books !!

As children, my parents read aloud to me and my siblings. I remember them reading the Little House on the Prairie books, Narnia, The Hobbit, The Winnie-The-Pooh books, and In Grandma's Attic ... to name a few. I'm reading In Grandma's Attic to Alia at night before she goes to bed. It's not a picture book so she just has to listen. She does. It's a little above her comprehension level but I like that because she asks questions and we talk about stuff.

Reading, for me, opens up not only the imagination but a whole world of ideas and inspiration. It can be an escape. A place of learning, a place of stretching and growing. I laugh. I cry. I get mad. Frightened. Even irritated. I get attached to characters in novels. I'm always bummed when a great series ends ...

The above is a stack of some of my favorites ... ones that I own anyway. I've talked about a few of these books on this blog ... Water For Elephants. The Creative Family. You Sexy Mother.

And last ... cookbooks. COOOOOOKBOOOOOOKS !!! I looooooove cookbooks !! Don't you ? You can see evidence of my love of cookbooks over at The Beans Blog !

I look forward to coming round and visiting all of you this week ! Seeing what "books" looks like in your corner of the world !! Hooray ! For now though ... it's time for our weekly trip to the library so I'm going to have to bid you au revoir, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci, sayonara, adios, shalom, aloha ... and hooroo. I think that about covers the languages in which I can say goodbye !