Happy Book Lover's Day!

August 9th is when America celebrates Book Lover's Day - but that's really every day for me. And it has been ever since Miss Casey introduced me to my first Dick and Jane book in first grade at Washington Elementary in Atlantic, Iowa. I recall how delighted I was to take control of those letters - making them into words and finding meaning in them. Reading opened a whole new world for me!

The world was first - our little library of books at the Bullock house - some of the books gleaned from Momo and Bubba's attic, from the stash that had been Dads, and my Aunt Jean and Aunt Marty's.

• Happy Hollisters
• Bobbsey Twins
• Nancy Drew
• Oz Books - by Frank L. Baum
• and other assorted books - like the Grimm Fairy Tales - those were some dark stories!
• Black Beauty

After I exhausted our supply of reading material, I began to order paperbacks from the school program. They probably made a bit of money on each paperback they sold for $.45. Mom was generous - I'd get up to 10 books sometimes. I loved Encyclopedia Brown - were I got to try to solve the crime along with the boy detective.

 

Then it was on to the Atlantic Memorial Library. I'd go with Mom, who was also an avid reader, or during summer months, I enjoyed walking downtown. I'd stop at the various dime stores for candy - enough to get a big canker sore later! Pixie sticks, purple bubble gum, Lemonheads, Pez - I liked it all! Even Giant Sweet Tarts - the kind that made your tongue bleed. It's no wonder I didn't go into a diabetic coma.

Once I had my little paper sack full of sugary goodness, I'd walk a block over to the library and load up on books. They'd only let me get four, but that was about as many as I could carry! I'd plod up three blocks to 909 Poplar, where my grandparents lived. Momo would be watching her soap opera - sitting in her wingback chair. If I was lucky she'd get me an RC Cola (I'm not sure why they didn't like Coke or Pepsi), and some ice milk with Hersey Syrup from a can. Yum.

If Bubba wasn't home (he was often out putzing around the county), I might entertain myself by looking at books in the bookshelf that was built into the wall as you walked up to the scary attic. (It was scary because I was told the insulation could kill me - I thought if I stepped in it I would sink like quicksand...I know now I was probably asbestos-containing). When Bub got home, he'd drive me up Chestnut Street to our house, where I could lay on my twin bed with a reading light and eat my candy and read. Or I could sit in our formal living room that nobody used...except when Mom had bridge club. Oh, and Betsy used it for tumbling. Cindy practiced cheerleading there, and we put our Christmas tree there too. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't a total bookworm! I liked to get out and do stuff - but just like these days, I can pick up a book almost any time and be a happy girl!

My other book memories are -

• Mrs. Tibben (4th grade) and Mrs. Kluever (5th grade) reading to us after lunch - I fell in love with listening to stories thanks to them. The Secret Garden is one of my all time faves from that era.
• My Aunt Jean gave my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (aka Willy Wonka) which also became a beloved book of mine.
• When I went to Junior High, the library there opened up my world to a new genre of book - the "Young Reader". Gwen Kluever was the librarian - she was a friend of mom's. I was a little embarrassed but still found a way to check out "My Darling My Hamburger" and other books that clued me in on what teens my age were doing and thinking (I was quite naive). Heady stuff!
• In High School, I took a course where I got points for the books I read - with more points for classics. This was when I read books like 1984.

Deb with Thea

I can't think about books without thinking of my friend Thea Applegate who passed away just over a year ago. I met her through book club more than ten years ago, and we grew to be close friends through the years. I've thought of her often this past year, and miss her laugh and her insight. She was a social worker, and was very good at reading situations and people. She also was great seeing humor in her own laugh. Here's to you booklover lady.

Want to shout out to my former book club mate (and St. Malachy mom and sports mom mate) Barb Coenen as well. Barb donated a kidney this week to a stranger, as part of a deal to allow someone she knows from Creston to get a new kidney. I've known Barb for over 20 years - she volunteers for Appalachia Service Project and makes people happy with scrapbooking. I'm proud to say she's a friend!

I went to the West DM library today to refill my supply. I get a little jittery when I'm out - books are like crack to me! I started reading a book tonight called "No Regrets Coyote". I noticed on the cover it says "A novel so good you will want to throw a party for it" - it's a quote from one of my other fave authors, Dennis Lahane (of Shutter Island fame). Liked that!

I'm going to read now...