C is for “Colorado USA”

Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays), I’ll be sharing a short bookish memory with you.

I’ve lived in Colorado, USA for most of my life. The state is overcrowded, but as far as places to live go, it’s an excellent one. It’s usually sunny, even when there are several feet of snow on the ground. Compared to other states, it’s (mostly) safe and (somewhat) clean. You’re never far from the wilderness here.

Growing up in Colorado has influenced what I read. The Southwestern US is rich in folklore and has a long, strange history. Living in the "Wild West" is what sparked my interest in ghost stories. Spending time in nature has given me an appreciation for survival stories and books about plants and animals. Big cities have always felt foreign to me. In fiction and in real life, I like silence and room to breathe.

Here are some pictures I’ve taken while exploring Colorado over the years:

Does where you live influence your taste in books?

B is for “Books in Stockings”

Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays), I’ll be sharing a short bookish memory with you.

I didn’t love reading as a kid, but I always got books for Christmas. They were usually in my stocking along with an obscene amount of candy. I didn’t know it at the time, but some really important books showed up in my stocking: Bridge to Terabithia, Hatchet, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, Holes, Walk Two Moons, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Summer of the Monkeys, The Golden Compass, Around the World in 80 Days, and many others.

Recently, I asked my dad how he—I mean, how Santa Claus—chose which books to put in our Christmas stocking every year. Neither of my parents are readers, so I wondered how they’d picked books for us kids. My dad said he didn’t remember. He didn’t even remember which books they’d given us.

I remember. Most of my Christmas books were classics or winners of major literary awards. I have a feeling my parents went to the children’s section of a bookstore and chose whichever books were sitting on the shelves with the covers facing out. If you’re searching a store for popular books, that’s a pretty good strategy for finding them.

I'm not sure how my parents chose books for me, but I’m very grateful they did. If I ever have kids, they’re getting books and candy in their Christmas stockings.

Some of my original stocking books.

Did you get books for the holidays when you were a kid?

The Sunday Post #91

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, and share news. It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Date. I get to tell you what I’ve read recently.

Blogging From A To Z

Things around here are a little different this month. I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays), I’m going to write a short post about how books and book blogging have impacted my life. Brace yourself. Posts are coming.

On The Blog Last Week

• On Monday I reviewed Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks.
• On Wednesday I reviewed Slasher Girls & Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke (Editor)
• On Thursday I wrapped up March.
• On Saturday I started the Blogging from A to Z Challenge with A is for “Margaret Atwood.”

On The Blog This Week

• B is for “Books in Stockings”
• C is for “Colorado USA”
• D is for “Desperation, Depression, Decisions”
• E is for “Escapism”
• F is for “First Blogging Failure”
• G is for “Graduate School”

In My Reading Life

Guys, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces is kicking my ass. I’ve had to stop reading several times to Google what the heck he’s talking about. This book requires a huge amount of concentration, so last week I took a small break from it to read Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini. Right now, when I’m not reading the Campbell book, I’m reading Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. To everybody who keeps telling me to read Sleeping Giants, I’m finally doing it! (And, yes, I’m liking it. You were right.)

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. My career actually took an itty-bitty step in a non-disastrous direction. What is this sorcery? Things don’t usually go right for me! Of course, it could always blow up in my face, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
2. The Blogging from A to Z Challenge started.
3. So many books. I got a ton of books for my birthday, and most of them showed up last week.
4. My parents got me a second week of Nutrisystem because I liked my first week. The second week also went well.
5. New season of The Amazing Race. I love that show.

Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other! See you around the blogosphere!

A is for “Margaret Atwood”

Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day in April (except Sundays), I’ll be sharing a short bookish memory with you.

I read my first Margaret Atwood book when I was a teenager. The book was The Handmaid’s Tale, and it completely blew my little bookworm mind. I immediately wanted more Margaret Atwood books, and then I wanted more and more and more. I started with Atwood's novels and moved on to her short stories and poetry.

In high school, we had to memorize lists of literary devices, and I was okay at analyzing books for essays, but I couldn’t explain my love for Atwood’s writing. I didn’t have the vocabulary to explain it. Her characters and settings felt so real to me that I sometimes wondered if I was really reading fiction. Her books made me feel things and think things that no other book had before.

“She’d scoop us up and sit us on the white enamel kitchen table, alongside the pie dough she was rolling out or the chicken she was cutting up or the fish she was gutting, and give us a lump of brown sugar to get us to close our mouths. Tell me where it hurts, she’d say. Stop howling. Just calm down and show me where.

But some people can’t tell where it hurts. They can’t calm down. They can’t ever stop howling.” – Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

When I went on my first solo camping trip, I brought Margaret Atwood’s books with me. I remember sitting on a boulder by a lake with a notebook and The Handmaid’s Tale. Determined to figure out what made this story tick, I examined everything from verb choices to scene transitions to major themes. I filled pages of a notebook with everything that interested me about The Handmaid’s Tale.

I didn’t know it at the time, but those were the seeds of me becoming a book blogger.  

Me reading The Handmaid's Tale in a campground.

If you have a blog, what made you decide to become a blogger?