Reading To Daddy

Happy Fathers Day!!!! (I know it was yesterday, but still...)  My daddy has always encouraged his kids love of reading, often setting the example by always having a book in his hand.  When I was around 10ish Daddy went back to school to become a Physician's Assistant, or a PA.  This of course required TONS of studying and reading.  Living in Seattle at the time also meant a lot of traffic to and from various places.  One day Daddy came in and saw me flipping through one of his medical
text books and asked if I could read it, turns out not only could I pronounce the insanely weird words, but I actually enjoyed it!  For the next four years I would go places with him and read aloud from his books as we drove, I would quiz him, asked way more questions than he probably thought possible and generally formed a bond over my new found passion in the medical field.  Our learning and reading things related to our profession endures to this day, with us sending each other articles and case studies that we thing the other would find interesting or discussing a difficult patient or call.  I am eternally grateful to my Daddy for including me in his quest for education, for not being to big of a man to let his little girl read to him, and for just always being there as an amazing daddy!  Happy Reading Everybody!

Walk Like An Egyptian

After my unending praise of Middle Grade books yesterday, I thought I would do a rambling on the book that set off my current adoration of the genre.  The book is The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder who besides having one of the coolest names ever, wrote a book that could have come straight from my childhood.  First as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

April has just moved from Hollywood, living with her glamorous...if featherheaded mother to living with her more run of the mill grandmother.  She now lives in an apartment building and soon meets another girl by the name of Melanie.  At first Melanie thinks April, with her false eyelashes and odd updo is a bit strange, but soon the girls, along with Melanie's little brother Marshall find a shared love of Egypt.  Chance is in their favor and they discover a bit of fenced off yard that they turn into a type of temple/shrine/play place for their game.  The three come up with elaborate story lines, rituals, ceremonies, costumes, getting so into the game that on occasion it seems real.  Soon a new girl Elizabeth moves into the neighborhood and joins the game, adding her own pieces of imagination.  Unfortunately the fun is almost ruined when the body of a local child is found.  To make matters worse, this is the second murdered child in the area in two years.   Along with being stuck inside where the adults can keep an eye on them, April is also upset over the fact that her mother, in one of her infrequent communications has told her daughter that she has gotten married, but their is still no place for her.  Halloween finally sees the adults letting up a bit and allowing the children to go trick or treating in supervised groups.  April convinces the kids to sneak off and play the game for a few minutes.  While there, two boys from April and Melanie's class, Ken and Toby crash the game and exchange for letting them play, agree to keep quiet.  The four original players are nervous about the new additions, but it turns out the boys, especially Toby have some great idea's to add to the game.  One night, while she is baby-sitting Marshall, April realizes she left a school book in the yard and takes Marshall to go get it.  On the out of the yard, April is grabbed by a man, and is saved when the Professor, the man who owns the yard the children were playing in, breaks a window and calls for help.  Marshall is able to identify the attacker and the murders are solved.  The Professor allows the children to continue to play in the yard and they all play until they get too old for playing to be cool.

So this is going to be a bit of a different ramble.  I will tell you right now that I loved loved loved this book.  The reason I loved it so much can be directly attributed to my own childhood.  Growing up my parents were pretty strict on the amount of time we spent in front of screens, not just TV, but any consoles, computers or handheld devices.  We were encouraged to play together, and with our friends.  To this end my three siblings and I, along with various friends, came up with the most elaborate games.  Most of the time these games took much longer to set up then they did to actually play.  Looking back the most amazing part was the ability of up to 14 kids (our parent's had a regular get together with a couple other families) ages 3-14 could actually communicate, coordinate and agree on a plan of action.  We had a diverse group, with TONS of idea's, lots of skill sets and and varied interests.  We used to set up whole towns, hold elections, build road signs.  We would write, cast, design, and produce our own plays.  We created whole worlds with their own magics, rules and ecosystems.  Sometimes our games would go on for days.  One of the things that struck me in the

book is that four of the six players were in sixth grade.  I cannot think of ANY sixth graders now who would be caught dead playing imagination games that did not involve a MMORPG game.  It makes me sad that even our younger kids, who are still willing to play, probably spend more time in front of a screen then in their playroom, and by the time they hit Middle School, they have turned into gadget toting pre-teens.  I hate that we now have an environment where we encourage our kids to grow up way to fast in certain area's, while teaching them to rely on social media and other people's opinions, rather then their own sense of self to judge their worth.  I am sure every generation feels like this, but when I read books like this, and realize how many social skills I learned by playing these types of games, and how most kids I know, even if they are in a room with other kids, don't do a whole lot of interaction.  I myself am a technology lover, and I don't want to "go back" to the way things were...I just hope we can find a way to spark that same elaborate sense of play and cooperation that I grew up with.  Ok so this was less of a ramble and more of a personal speculation, but one of the best things about a good book is it makes you think, and this book made me think...and remember.  I give this book an 8 out of 10 Crocodile gods and would suggest it to anybody who remembers a playroom without a screen.  Happy Reading Everybody!
What kind of games did you play growing up?  Do you think kids play differently today?  Do I have a valid point, or am I just old?

Go To Your Room!

Growing up one of the main punishments in our family was being sent to our room, usually missing out on TV time.  For my siblings this was the end of the world, for me this was actually a reward because I could read all of my books.

Eventually my parents figured out that I would happily go to my room for just about any reason and started having me bring all my books out before my punishment started.  Of course after a while this got impractical as all my allowance money went to books (and coffee) so my punishment started to be that I was banned from my room :-)  Still a joke in my family today, best way to punish me is take away my reading material.

Reading...It All Started With My Mamma

Hello all,  we have a special guest today in the form the amazing, one of a kind, weird and wonderful Mamma!  Today I you get to read an exclusive interview about how my Mamma became a book lover and passed that love on to me and the rest of her children.  So here we go.

Q: What time did you get up this morning?
A: 4:03 am
Q: And what were you doing up at 4:03 am?
A. I just needed a Coke really bad so I could finish my book
(side note:  See I'm not the only crazy person in this family!!)
Q: What are you reading right now?
A:  The Girl Who Came Home, by Hazel Gaynor
Q:Do you like it?
A:Yes, it's a novel about love stories on the Titanic
(side note:  She is a hopeless romantic
Q. When did you first learn to read
A:  I remember Dick and Jane in first grade with Ms. Lewis, think of the word pinched and that is Ms. Lewis.
Q:  Did you love at first page?  Or did it grow on you?
A.  I just remember my favorite day was library day, but I do remember let's get past this simple Dick and Jane stuff, lets go!
Q.  Why did love reading so much
A. I lived in a rural area where my basic escape from chores, siblings (she had 7) and loneliness was books...now mind you we didn't have money for books so during the school time no problem, but the summer time was like the Dust Bowl Drought of '32!  Until this lovely librarian invited me to come every Wednesday and she met me in the dark empty school library and let me check out a weeks worth of books.
Q. Aw that is awesome!  What was your favorite kind of book growing up.
A. Travel books, stories of people of foreign countries.  In fact I would get so into them that I would get in trouble in school because I would tell them that is where I went on summer vacation.
Q. What do you like to read now?
A.  I try to mix it between biographies and junk fantasy.  I also have a terrible habit of reading a book right before the movie comes out and then hating the movie
(side note. Glad I come by that honestly)
Q.  Do you remember teaching me how to read?
A.  Teaching or allowing you how to do what you knew already?  I knew you were ready to read when you would read me words from the newspaper...you were four.  So we made flashcards...and by the next day the flashcards were useless because you were on to books.\
Q. Do you remember how you punished me after I learned to read?
A.  I would send you to your room to sit on my bed...which you would have gleefully done except I removed every single book from your room
(side note.  This was a fate worse then death before I learned to hide books...)
Q. Now that you have grandkids...who you like more then your own children, how important is it to teach this next techno driven generation how to read and more importantly how to love reading?
A.  Yes I did by my grandchild an ipad...but I have bought him tons of books and we lay in bed at night and read them over and over until he starts telling me the stories back, and that is how I know he is going to be a book lover...just one more Nana he says, just one more.
Q. How do you feel about this blog?  Do you actually read it?
A.  I read it all the time, but I don't comment all the time because I don't want people to think I'm THAT mother :-)  I have actually read books you have recommended from this site.

And that my friends is a little glimpse into how Super Bookworm Girl came to be.  I am so glad that she is here and that she imparted her love of books to me.  I am glad that we can discuss books and squeal like little girls over our shared love.  Now we are off to get some coffee and an adventure of our own...who knows maybe we will write a book about it some day.

Smelling 100 Year Old Books!

I was totally going to do one of my ramblings today, I have finished several amazing books and can't wait to share my thoughts on them, but as with life, things change.  Instead I want to tell you about my weekend, one because it was AWESOME, and two I think it is important that it gets written down somewhere.  Don't worry there are books involved so it is still pretty much on topic.

My Aunt L, Cousin E, and Grandma K decided to make a last minute trip out to the East Coast to finish spreading my Aunt K's ashes in the Catskills.  They made a stop in Philadelphia and wondered if it would be possible for me and Hubbin to come up and stay for the weekend.  Life being that funny thing it is, astoundingly gave me a free weekend and adventuring we went. We arrived in the early afternoon and got to meet some family that I did not even know existed.  We went to this old rectory (it was built in the 1846) that my grandmother and her brother had lived in when her father was the rector there in the 40's-60's.  We also wandered the cemetery and the looked at the outside of the Church of St.James the Less as it is all

locked up tight. I have to say, all of this was pretty cool, all the old trees and stonework, grave stones that were hundreds of years old, the family history, all pretty neat.  We were just about ready to leave when L calls us over and this amazing young woman offers to let us into the rectory where K and her brother lived.  We of course jumped at the opportunity to actually experience this bit of personal history.  Turns out that after a 7 year vacancy the rectory and adjoining parish hall had been turned into St. James School, a middle school focused on getting under served kids the best start possible, totally and insanely wonderful.  They let us wander the rectory, peeking into every room, exploring the attic, stepping out to the balcony, and to top it all off, it turns out that this lovely woman taking the time to show us the place (who will now be referred to as A) actually sleeps in the same room K did.
So we were all pretty happy, we had gotten to see the place K and her brother had lived, learned it had been turned into a worthy school of awesomness, and gotten to poke around historically preserved buildings...but we were not done yet.  This lovely A decided she would hunt down a key to the church itself.  Enter F our other angel for this trip, he had a key and along with A let us into this amazing church.  Breath taking is the only word I can think of.  My Hubbin says every time he see's buildings that we are not allowed inside he would imagine what they would look like, and finally getting to go inside, it was exactly what he thought it would be. It was simply beautiful, full of stained glass windows, carvings, paintings, attention to detail that you don't see anymore.  It was all wonderfully preserved, clean and repaired.  Then they let us ring the big bells Quasimodo style, I felt like a happy little kid. This was all just crazy cool enough, but then E discovered a staircase, and really who can resist a staircase to somewhere new?  So up we went, where we discovered

the archives!  We spent the next 30 minutes happily breathing in the dust of books that were over 100 years old (no seriously we kept passing them back and forth saying "smell this!").  We also discovered a photo album with pictures inscribed with names and dates, and lo and behold there was a pic of my grandmother with her father, talk about instant personal connection!  Seriously A and F were so great through the whole thing, just as excited as we were, eager and willing to show us EVERYTHING!
Next day after chilling with some new found cousins we wandered around the Chestnut Hill area ogling the old stone houses (I now want an old haunted house for my birthday). We stumbled upon this great used book store that was in this little old school train station (totally sounds like something from a book right!?!)  It was jammed full of every type of book, plastic ensconced first edition Hans Christian Anderson next to a 1970's pulp detective novel, so cool!  After spending a bit of cash there (unfortunately not the first editions, boo) we wandered back to the house right before a massive rain storm hit, turning the outside into a delicious smelling, soothing sound of happiness.  We rehashed what a great trip it had been and then sadly headed home.

Thanks for letting me get this all down in writing.  It is important to me personally for several reasons, one being this may be the last trip K remembers as Alzheimer's as started to take a toll.  To have all of this come together in such a short spontaneous time really reminds me why sometimes you have to not over plan, or worry about all the craziness and just let your self have adventures, because who knows you to may be able to ring the big bells and smell 100 year old books!

Back To The Books

Everybody is headed back to school today, and besides the fact it messes up my morning commute, it is the time of year everybody gets to start over and try again.  Here are some of my favorite schools in the books I've read through out my own school years.

Sweet Valley High- Don't judge, you know you read these too!  The Sweet Valley High Series was one of my first introductions to the "idealized" high school experience.  Of course the fact that I was a sheltered little middle schooler who wore a uniform probably helped to foster the fantasy.  Of course the real experience was nothing like what I had read, and looking back some of the messages in these books are probably questionable at best, but hey they are still great for a nostalgic sigh.

Lowood School-Jane Eyre is not my favorite of the classics, but I always love the first part at the Lowood School.  Something about it's sinister Mr. Brocklehurst, and the banding together of the girls, and the tragic typhoid deaths that is everything a good character forming school in a gothic novel should be.

Harper Hall-I always wanted to go to Harper Hall after reading about it in the Harper Hall Trilogy.  Regardless of my complete lack of musical ability this combination school/college/guild always seemed like the perfect place to learn just about anything.  I also like that they use Teaching Songs as a way to impart learning on the children through out the world.

One Room School Houses-I loved the old school...well schools in the Little House series. I loved watching Laura and Mary go to school.  I loved watching Laura graduate and become a teacher.  I loved all the little advances that were made from the beginning of the series until the end.  I know my siblings probably hated this series because I used to make them bring there dinner pails and go to school in my made up school houses all the time.

Hogwarts-Of course my favorite school in a book/series is without a doubt Hogwarts that is the setting for a good chunk of the Harry Potter series.  This is a school you would actually be excited to go to everyday, with classes like Potions and Charms how could you not have a great time.  These books combine all of the best and worst bits of school with magic and adventure, the perfect back to school tale for anybody.

What is your favorite literary school?  What kind of books did you discover in school?  What type of school would you like to go to?  Did you have senoritis in kindergarten like me?

Let's Go Buy Something

The title of this post refers to one of those priceless moments when my nephew lil G crawled in bed with his visiting Nana (my Mamma) at 3am and whispered oh so sweetly in her ear "Nana lets go buy something".  What can I say he's just living in a material world and he is a material dude.  In this vein I have found a random assortment of things I would love to "go buy".  Alas my bank account tells a different story, oh well looking never hurt anybody right...

I Found My Love In A Book Pendant
Sweet, simple and goes with all of my fall sweaters!

Shakespearean Insult Mug

Coffee, Shakespeare, Insulting my coworkers before 10am! Whats not to like about this mug?!?

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night Board Game

Oooh I want this soooo bad, and then I want to invite my Mamma and Sisters over to share a bottle of wine or three and play with me!

Bookworm Socks

Finally the missing piece to my Super Bookworm Girl disguise

In the Library Perfume

In the Library is a warm blend of English Novel*, Russian & Moroccan Leather Bindings, Worn Cloth and a hint of Wood Polish (this is the actual description of the perfume...how cool is that!)

What random bookieness would you like to buy? Would it be wiser to just save all my money for actual books?  How does one obtain a literary sugar daddy/mamma? Who wants to come to my house, drink wine, and play Dark and Stormy Night?

What Came First The Reading Or The Insomnia?

So, I  may have stayed up all night finishing up the book I was reading...and then instead of going to sleep I may have started a new one.  Needless to say the alarm clock was not my friend this morning.  I have had this habit of reading instead of sleeping ever since I can remember and to be quit honest I'm not sure if the insomnia begets the reading, or the reading is the cause of my insomnia.  All I know is my first memories of not being able to sleep, and my memories of learning how to read all start at the same time.  I remember telling my parents I was afraid of the dark so that they would leave the hall light on and my door open. I
would then sneak to the end of my bed and read by the hall light.  I clearly remember the foot of my bed being covered in books.  When I got a little older, staying up late to read became a reward my parents would give me.  We were all responsible for turning of our lights by a certain time (8:00pm for the younger kids and 9:00pm for the older kids).  They would come check on us to make sure we were in beds with lights off, if we left the light on past our given time we would get in trouble and have to go to bed however many minutes we stayed up, earlier the next night (does that makes sense, e.g. if our lights out time was 9:00pm and we left our light on until 9:20pm we had to turn off our light at 8:40pm the next night).  Our parents did this to teach us how regulate our own time, responsibility, etc. etc.  When I did something exceptionally good, then my reward was to stay up and read later, usually in 15 minute increments.  I remember one night my Daddy told me I could stay up until 10:00 pm to read!!!  What they didn't know is that I would find any light source possible (night light, glowing clock, smuggled flashlights, full moons) to stay up and read until who know's what time.  I know by the time I was nine I was regularly reading into the single digits of the morning.  Eventually I got my own room away from the rest of my family and was allowed to stay up as late as I wanted (provided I got myself up and ready for school with no issues the next morning) and can honestly say their were nights the sun would come up and I would still be reading.
Once I moved out on my own, I would find my alarm going off and me still on the couch in the middle of a book.  Now that I am old and have to be at work at ungodly hours I sometimes actually go to bed at a decentish time, but some nights that still not possible.  Last night for instance, I knew as soon as I got into bed that I was not going to sleep, so I got out my trusty stack of books and filled the time with a good story.  To this day I am not sure if the reason I don't sleep well at night is genetics (my Mamma is a night owl as well) 'cause I can sleep just fine in the mornings (I usually drift off around 3am) or if my eagerness to read books is what keeps my mind awake until I finally give in and turn on the light.  Regardless of the reason, my bouts with sleeplessness have led to some great marathon reading sessions and the dreams I have after a good book is finished are usually pretty awesome.  So to all my fellow night owls out there, happy reading!
When is your favorite time to read?  Does reading make you sleepy or wake you up?  Are you a night owl or a morning person?  Who is willing to do a scientific study showing that you can replace sleep with a good book, I will volunteer as the guinea pig :-) ?

A Family That Makes Mine Look Normal

My family is weird...wonderful, loving and amazing, but weird.  For one of many examples one year for our church directory all the families had there pictures taken so we could all recognize each other.  My family decided to wear those little  disguise glasses all six of us, except my dad and he had the best expression of normalcy on his face making the rest of us even weirder and that is what was forever printed in our church directory.

The Family Fang is a book about a really weird family.  The parents Caleb and Camille Fang are performance artists who prize their art above all else.  Annie and Buster Fang, better known to the public as Child A and Child B are the tools the parents use to create their bizarre art.  The book switches back and forth between descriptions of events from the children's youth and their current situation.

The book introduces us in two separate chapters to Annie, the oldest Fang child who is a nominally successful actress and Buster the youngest Fang child who is a struggling author with one acclaimed novel and one bomb of a novel under his belt.  The Fang children are adults when our story starts and both have gotten themselves into some hot water.  Annie in preparation for a part where she is asked to perform topless has wandered around the set sans shirt and bra for all the paparazzi to see.  To make matters worse, her psycho co-star is spreading nusto rumors about her, with just enough evidence to make it plausible, and Annie then proceeds to sleep with a reporter doing a piece on her, giving him even more fodder for his 

article.  Meanwhile Buster has hit a slump with his writing and is now employed by a men's magazine, writing various interest articles.  Buster goes to the Midwest to interview some former soldiers who spend their nights making potato guns.  Buster gets shot in the face with a potato and ends up with some significant injuries.  These events force the Fang children back home to live with their parents.  Mr. and Mrs. Fang are still all about the art, all about the performance and try and get their children to participate again.  The Fang children agree to record the newest piece of Fang art and witness the failed attempts of Caleb and Camille to create chaos.  Throughout this story we get scenes from the past and see some of the art that the Fangs create.  Caleb and Camille are convinced that the only true art is living art, they create scenes and bizarre scenarios to make people horribly uncomfortable and then record the ensuing chaos.  One such piece involved Child A and Child B horribly playing instruments, screeching made up songs like "Kill All the Parents" to supposedly raise money to get there dog surgery.  Meanwhile in the audience, Mr. and Mrs. Fang start to heckle the children, causing some people to join in the derision of the children and others to defend the poor things.  Eventually things escalate into an all out brawl and the family makes it's escape.  This is just one of the numerous examples of how the Fang children are used as tools in their parents art.  Back in the present the Fang parents have disappeared.  The police contact Annie and Buster and inform them that they have found their parents van and discovered  copious amounts of blood at the scene.  Annie and Buster however do not believe their parents are dead, but rather they are working on yet another project.  Going to a flashback we see Annie getting ready to perform her last play, her senior year of high school, she is Juliet and she is very excited about it.  Unfortunately the boy who is supposed to play Romeo is unable to perform and the only other person who knows all the lines is Buster...her brother.  There is much back and forth on weather the school can permit a brother and sister to perform as Shakespearean lovers, but the director finally gets his way.  The principal warns them no kissing, just hand shakes and maybe a hug.  Buster gets carried away and at one point thoroughly kisses his sister.  The resulting chaos turns out to be a set up by the Fang parents.  This is the last straw for Annie who moves as far away as possible, shortly followed by Buster as soon as he graduates.  Back in the present Annie and Buster go back and forth between trying to find their parents, and just wanting to go back to their own lives.  

A clue to their parents whereabouts pops up when the kids here the song "Kill All the Parents" on a CD.  They eventually track down their parents who have faked their own death so that they can emerge after being declared dead as their biggest piece yet.  The only problem is that they won't be declared dead for at least seven years.  Annie and Buster are hurt that their parents would just abandon them and let them think they were dead.  They debate exposing their parents, but decide to give them a choice instead.  Tired of being pawns in their "art" they tell their parents they can either end the charade here and be a family, or the kids will walk away and not ruin things, but they will never see their parents again.  Caleb and Camille are so commited to their art that they agree never to see their kids again.  Annie and Buster though sad, also feel liberated and go on to attempt to live healthy lives.

This book was a hit and a miss for me.  I really liked the first half, it was quirky and weird and funny all at the same time.  It was fun to see all of the different scenario's the Fangs came up with and watching Buster and Annie try and cope with their family connections as adults was very interesting.  I liked the psychological way that both Fang kids were always finding themselves in the middle of chaos, mostly self-inflicted even as adults when their parents were not their to pull the strings, that long ingrained way of living almost impossible to stomp out.  It was also sad to see the effects that being tools for their parents left on their lives.  Through out the scenes you could catch glimpses of both sides of the family life.  The side where art was important above all else, and the part where the parents seemed to truly love their children.  I think the most heartbreaking part was at the end of the books when the parents decide that since the kids want no part in the art, then the parents are willing to essentially give up their kids, the implication that art was more important than them all along.  This is one of the problems I had with this book, I can believe that Caleb Fang would feel that way, throughout the book it is shown that he is willing to give up anything and everything for what he considers true art.  Camille on the other hand while into her art, showed many glimpses of trying to be a good mother and genuinely loving her children.  For her to just give up all contact with her kids, even as adults just did not ring true.  The other problem I personally had with the book is most of the last third seemed to drag on and on, alright we get it, you are screwed up and depressed, moving on.  I did however really love the very last scenes of the book, with Annie filming her movie.  Over all it was an interesting book with a good premise.  I would recommend it to anybody who likes a little bit twisted, a little bit dark, and a little bit weird.  It is not overwhelmingly any of these things, just enough to get the point across.  I would give this book 3 out of 5 cross eyed teddy bears.

What is the weirdest book you have ever read?  What is the weirdest thing your family has ever done?  How do you feel about performance art?  What do you think counts as art?

Library Love

Some of my best memories growing up involve my local library.  When I was around 4-6years old the little local library was within walking distance and Mamma would pack us four kids up to a trip to the library.  Pretty soon our community outgrew our little library and they built us a big new shiny one just up the road.  For the rest of the time we lived in the area we would head to the library at least once a week.  My taste in books grew up there as I transitioned from picture books, to chapter books, to full grown adult variety.  The librarians knew us by name and knowing my propensity for out reading the library's supply of books for they would put aside new books that they thought I might like.  To this day every time I think of that wonderful place it puts a smile on my face.
Here are some cool libraries from around the country and a few from around the world!  I found most of these at

http://libraryarchitecture.wikispaces.com/



Heritage Preservation: Reconstructions: Ancient Alexandria; Copyright owner: Bibliotheca Alexandrina;

One of the first libraries in history (renovated obviously :-) )

George Peabody Library, main reading room

I could probably die happy here, of course I would need to add some comfy chairs and a coffee maker

Aerial View of the Rolex Learning Center;Copyright Owner, Public Domain

So cool like a library in space!

Beinecke Library, exterior; Obtained from Wikimedia (Outside)

(Inside)

I just love the inside/outside contrast of this one, kinda want to go see it in person

Langston Hughes Library, exterior; Copyright owner: Lin

Yep this is a real library chock full of books!

The Tower of the Five Orders, Bodleian Library, Oxford

This is always what first comes to mind when I think of a "proper" library

Library of Celsus, Ephesus, Turkey

So cool!

The Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Of course I had to include my current local library

Kent Library, Kent, Washington

And the library that started it all, my childhood library

Did you go to the library a lot growing up?  Was it a good library with lots of new books, or was it a treasure trove of forgotten titles?

Now There Is A Fine Looking Non-Existent Book Man

When I was growing up we were not allowed to watch a whole lot of television, a fact that I am now very grateful for.  My parents say it was to keep undue influences out of our life, but I think the real reason was even "educational" tv was dangerous in our family. For example after watching a documentary on mountain climbing, my little four year brother thought it would be a good idea to tie a kite string to a lamp and "mountain climb" out of his second story bedroom window.  My Mamma after hearing the thump that was my brother making a miraculous uninjured landing, came running out to see him brushing the dirt of himself and hollering for his younger 2 year old sister to try it next. Her little legs were already over the windowsill as my poor Mamma is screaming for her to get back inside :-)  Needless to say even educational tv was limited at our house.  One of the by-products of a fairly television free house, was lots of time to read.  The other was I didn't have access to all of those tv and movie boys to have crushes on.  Which leads me to my first crush Prince Caspian, oh my first true love, my version of Prince Charming...Hmmmm... He was a perfect non-existent boy, a prince, handsome (at least in my head), brave, and of course dwelt in a the ideal land of Narnia!  One of the few good things about the movie was at least the role was played the very handsome Ben Barnes mmmmm.

Anyways, for the longest time whenever I was playing with friends (did I mention I was about 8 or 9 at the time) and needed a husband/boyfriend/prince regardless of the time period our game was in, I always chose my Prince Caspian.  Over the years I of course had my share of  TV/Movie and real life crushes, but there is something about a book crush that seems more personal.  The funny thing is now that I am married to my own real life Prince Hubbin, I find myself on occasion putting his stunningly handsome face on my current book crushes.  Who was your first book crush? Any current book crushes?  (mine current book crush is Jack and Nemo from the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica Series) Am I the only crazy person who develops crushes on non-existent people?