Books On My Nightstand

I LOVE TO READ!  Just a peek into my bedroom and you will see that I'm not lying.  (I even graduated with a degree in English, with an emphasis on Literature. )  You will also see that my husband does not share my passion for books.  Here's his nightstand.......

Here's my nightstand.......

Buried in there somewhere is my journal and a clock!  Here are some titles of the books that I'm reading - yes, I do read more than one book at a time.  This is the book my dad gave me to have my boys read (ages 13 and 15).

I thought I'd read it first so we could discuss it after they read it.  It's non-fiction but written like a novel.  I'm about half way through and can hardly put it down.  In fact, I was late getting back to work after lunch today because I was so into this book I forgot to keep an eye on the clock!  I'm looking forward to having my boys read it.  I think they'll like it as it's filled with action and conversation and isn't just a history book filled with names, places and dates.

This is a grouping of books that I've started.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and  Calico Joe by John Grisham were Father's Day gifts to my dad from my sister and me.  They both made him cry and then he passed them on to the both of us as "must reads".  I've started them both and he's right......they're both emotional reads.  The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a book I'm saving to read this winter when I'm tucked into my cozy bed with the wind howling outside.  Actually, Hannah and I will be reading this together so we will be cozily tucked into her bed!  The Real Deadwood by John Ames is a book my brother-in-law gave me to read.  He thought I'd find it interesting because we traveled to the Black Hills this summer with my sister's family and I was so intrigued by Deadwood, SD, especially anything having to do with Calamity Jane.  This book has made me wish I could go back in time for just one day!

This is a book that is always on my nightstand.

It is my all time favorite book, Jennie's Hat by Ezra Jack Keats.  I can remember checking it out of the library when I was a little girl.  I hope someday to find a hard bound copy of it.

There is also a Kindle on my nightstand and I just dowloaded The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard.  It's the mystery book of the month at my hometown library.  I loved The Virgin of Small Plains by the same author so I thought I'd give this one a try.  I just finished Northwest Angle by William Kent Krueger; Cast On, Kill Off by Maggie Sefton; and The Stone Cutter by Camilla Lackberg.  I'm also reading bits and pieces of Get Out of My Life, but first could you drive me and Cheryl to the mall? by Anthony E. Wolf, Ph.D. (I have two teenage boys and a pre-teen daughter.  I'd like to be armed with some parenting skills for teenagers!)

I feel a connection to my grandpa when I read.  He always had a big, thick book next to his chair in the livingroom.  It was usually a book about something historical or about baseball and most always non-fiction.  He also read to me.  I'd lay with him in the hammock in their backyard for hours while he read one book after another to me.  I'm a testament to what can happen when you read to a child!

"I've never known any trouble that an hour's reading didn't assuage."  - Arthur Schopenhauer