I’ve unofficially participated in Thankfully Reading Weekend, finishing Keys to the Repository by Melissa de la Cruz, beginning and finishing The Ghost Runner by Blair Richmond, and starting the book club pick Ripper by Stefan Petrucha and Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz.
Challenge #1 was what is the perfect book recipe or reading recipe:
My favorite place to read is on the couch, generally lying down but propped up on pillows and with a glass of something ice cold (usually water) or something piping hot (like coffee or hot cocoa) — the beverage often depends on the weather. The blanket can be fluffy, fuzzy, or just plain warm as long as the legs are covered. As for a book…generally the writing has to be easy to follow, absorbing, and about things I enjoy reading about, which can either mean poetry, the environment, vampires, Ireland, Boston, or those struggling to find their identities or home. I love internal struggles most of all, so books where the character is having an internal struggle are the most appealing.
Challenge #2 was about the book we’re most thankful for, and I have to say that its Thrall by Natasha Trethewey because it made me think about race and father-daughter relationships in a new way. I loved that she used paintings and other artwork to illustrate her points, but that she also drew on the more personal aspects of father-daughter relationships. And when you hear her read in person, you can just feel the emotion of these poems. It has inspired me to find more books that move me in that way and to write poetry that will carry a more emotional rather than theoretical weight.
For Challenge #3, we were asked about our family reading traditions or memories about books; here’s what I shared:
Our family didn’t read much, but my nana read to us all the time and she let me loose in the library at a very young age, and I would beg my mother to take us many days of the week to reload my shelves. The love of reading is something I hope to pass onto my daughter, who already knows the word “read” and says it every time she picks up a book from the shelf and hands it to me. And when I’m working or busy with dinner, you’ll often catch her in a sea of books on the floor saying the few words she remembers from the books — reading to herself or her stuffed animals. Too cute. And it makes me proud.
I hope to at least get partially through a third book before the end of the weekend, so wish me luck. I also cheer on everyone who is participating or not even participating, but reading.
