Thoughts on Reading

I was at a bit of a loss tonight as to what today's post would be. I'm currently reading a good book on which I will be sharing my thoughts at a later date. I read a few interesting articles last night which gave me an idea or two. But, nothing really inspired me today. So, I was chatting with a friend on facebook and eventually as it often does, the topic of books came up. I of course had seen another book I want to read, my list grows ever longer. Then I remembered that this week is the 2010 NEA Read Across America. So, I hope everyone has found something good to read and for those with young children, please spend time every night reading with them.

I was browsing through a book of quotes and found some quotes on reading that I'd thought I'd share.


"If we encountered a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he read."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is hardly any grief that an hour's reading will not dissipate." L. de Montesquieu

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body" - Richard Steele

"You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be -
I had a mother who read to me. - Strickland Gillilan

"When we read we may not only be kings and live in palaces, but, what is far better,
we may transport ourselves to the mountains or the seashore, and visit the most beautiful parts of the earth, without fatigue, inconvenience, or expense. " -John Lubbock

"To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting" - Edmund Burke

"He that loves reading has everything within his reach." -William Godwin

Quotes found in Phillips' Book of Great Thoughts, Funny Sayings, Bob Philips 1993
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.


"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss

The first books I ever learned to read were by Dr. Seuss. When I was a little girl, I lived right across the street from the public library. Every summer I would participate in the summer reading contest. The winner got their picture in the local newspaper.. One summer I won; I remember getting a free book and a big bag of tootsie pops! I still love tootsie pops, and I got my picture in the paper; I still have that paper today. Some days I would spend hours sitting at a table, or on the floor by the bookshelves reading. I remember when I wanted to check out a book about Hiroshima, the librarian thought it might be just a little advanced for me and encouraged me to make another choice, but no, I wanted that book and I read it all the way through. I've always had a love for books, my favorite subject in high school was English Literature and Composition. Maybe it was the teachers I had, who were so passionate about what they taught. We read some great books, Camelot, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, Flowers for Algernon, Pride and Prejudice and more, I still have some of those books. By the way, The Great Gatsby is when I discovered Robert Redford! When I go to a book store, I can be there for hours. I have to browse through books in nearly every genre and I have to have great self control, because I always spend more than I set out to. It's a joke in my house that if you're invited to go to the bookstore with mom you had better pack a lunch, you may be there all day.