Hello dear readers,

My DH (dear husband) was curious how I was able to remember and recount passages from book to include in the review space.  So, in this space I will tell you how I have fell in love with reading on my IPad.  Yes, I too love the feel of a REAL book in my hands and the smell of the ink and smoothness of the cover.  The artistry of putting a book together to reach masses of people is overwhelming to someone like me who knows nothing about the printing industry.  I appreciate the artistry and creativity of it all.  Thank goodness for man's development of the printing press.

Think back to when you read your first ‘chapter book’.  Were you like me in being disappointed that there were just a few pictures?  Sometimes at the beginning of each chapter there were some pictures, but not many.  Then you learned to see what the author was describing by letting your imagination run into the book and picturing the words in your own mind's eye. So, you fell in love with reading all over again!

Weren’t you always taught to wash your hands before picking up a book to read, no eating while reading and horror of horrors – NEVER, NEVER, NEVER write in a book!  I got over the ‘writing in books’ when highlighting text books but generally tried to buy used books that were already highlighted.  While attending Bible studies I learned to write margin notes for things I wanted to remember (watching other people whose Bibles were a mess because they had written and taken notes of things they wanted to remember) but I have never written in a novel or other book read for enjoyment.  Writing my name on the inside flap of a book took me years to overcome the trauma!

Then, along comes the IPad,  fun for games but never for reading a book. Then the library takes 2 weeks to get a book I want, the book store is 45 minutes away or they get the book but the library is 2 miles away… you know the excuses.  So I purchase my first E-book.  While reading I discover quite by accident that if I touch the screen a highlight will appear sometimes turning the whole page pink or purple or blue. Quick – get that color off of there!  Then I leaned this would be useful and I could also write a note making that passage relevant to my thoughts at the time.  So, I go from a person who never went near a book with pen & ink to a blogger who writes all over the book she's reading just so I can make relevant comments that will somehow hold your interest.  

Surely this is a long explanation on how I come up with passages and questions on the books we are reading but if you are using an e-reader, you could also make bookmarks and comments that will bring each book into your book discussion.

Coming soon – the discussion of:  The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Have a wonderful day and happy reading.

Barbara