Top Ten Tuesday – The One Where I Share Bookish Memories

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is Bookish Memories (Share stories of your reading life as a child, events you’ve gone to, books that made an impression on you, noteworthy experiences with books, authors you’ve met, etc. Reminisce with me!).  I’ve never attended a bookish event or met an author so I decided to take a stroll down memory lane and share a few highlights of my bookish life.

(My post is also a little shout-out to Friends since I wrote all of my memories like they’re episode titles from the show.)

10 Bookish Episodes from My Life

  1. The one where my Dad taught me how to read using Little Golden Books. This will always be one of my favorite childhood memories.
  1. The one where I cried my eyes out because I thought I had lost a library book (Bambi by Felix Salten) and therefore would never be allowed to check out books from my elementary school library again. So traumatizing!
  1. The one where getting to go to the Scholastic Book Fair when it came to my school was like Christmas. So many books!
  1. The one where I felt so grown up in middle school because I was allowed to read To Kill a Mockingbird, which was banned in a lot of schools.
  1. The one where, as a young teen, I used to hide in my grandmother’s house so I could secretly read the steamy historical romance novels I had pilfered from her bedroom.
  1. The one where I took so many literature classes for “fun” in college that I ended up adding English as a Double Major.
  1. The one where I had such an addiction to collecting books that I convinced my husband to convert our formal living room, which never got used, into a home office with wall to wall built in bookshelves. My sanctuary.
  1. The one where I felt the need to find more people to share my love of books with so I started a book blog. 😊
  1. The one where I read the entire Harry Potter series aloud to my son because I wanted to foster a love of reading in him at a young age.
  1. The one where I realized that one of my bffs loves to read as much as I do, so I invited her to guest post on my blog. Hi Sharon!  😊

 

 

47 replies
  1. Jonetta (Ejaygirl) | Blue Mood Café
    Jonetta (Ejaygirl) | Blue Mood Café says:

    Thank you for sharing your memories, Suzanne💜 I enjoyed reading them and they brought back some fond ones of my own. Love that you, too, secretly swiped your grandmother’s romance books. Believe it or not, my step grandfather got regular shipments from Harlequin! My sister and I sneaked reading them for years😏

  2. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
    Deb Nance at Readerbuzz says:

    We did not have Scholastic Book Fairs when I was a child. Instead we were given a Scholastic book order, and it was the same sort of experience for me. Books only cost fifty cents or seventy-five cents, but I only had a little bit of money, so I’d buy books very, very carefully. I remember buying Wrinkle in Time that way.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I remember the books being very affordable as well. I never had much money with me but I was still able to buy 2 or 3 new ones, which was wonderful.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I never had too much money with me for the bookfair but I remember the books being so affordable that I could still get a couple of new ones, which made me so happy.

  3. Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy
    Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy says:

    Your memories actually gave me chills, and made me remember my own reading experiences. 😁 And so funny, I also stole forbidden books, but from my dad, of all people, and I’m pretty sure that’s how I learned about sex, lol.

  4. Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books says:

    Love how you formatted this one, Suzanne. 🙂 What a special memory of your dad teaching you to read with the Little Golden Books. I loved those. And the Scholastic Book Fair! That was always so exciting. And converting the dining room into a library? Yes! *fist bump*

  5. Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads
    Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads says:

    Love the Friends theme! Ah, I see so many good memories (and bookish memes) about Scholastic Book Fairs and I’m a little sad we never had those because they sound amazing. Also, love how you read the entire HP series with your son! And of course, yay for starting a blog 😉

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      The book fairs were so great, especially because I grew up in a rural community and the closest bookstore was about an hour away from us.

  6. Lark
    Lark says:

    I love that you had a hiding place in your grandma’s house where you could read those steamy romances. 😀 And my dad taught me to read, too.

  7. Sam@WLABB
    Sam@WLABB says:

    Seriously, the book fair and when we got the scholastic order forms were the best days. I was impressed with how low their prices still were when my daughter was in grade school.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Right? Very reasonable prices. They were a little higher when my son was in elementary school but still cheaper than if you were to buy the same books from an actual bookstore.

  8. Jo
    Jo says:

    I love how you did this, the Friends theme was such a fun way to read this post! I loved Scholastic book fairs as a kid too. And it’s great that you’re fostering a love of books in your son 🙂

  9. Greg
    Greg says:

    Little Golden Books are special. Those book fair fliers they’d send home too- I used to PORE over those and circle everything lol.

    And oh my gosh steamy historical romances! lol I remember we had a lot of those around the house growing up. My mom read stuff like Kathleen Woodiwiss and I still remember liking the titles- stuff like The Flame and the Flower etc. I never really thought about what they meant, I just liked how they sounded. 🙂 She had Sidney Sheldon’s too…

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      LOL! I did the same thing with the book flyer and then I would rank them in order of importance so that I could prioritize in case I didn’t have enough money to get everything I wanted.

  10. ShootingStarsMag
    ShootingStarsMag says:

    Fun memories!! I honestly don’t remember ever NOT reading. I wish I could remember how I learned, or the first book I read on my own, but nope – it’s gone! LOL

    Lauren

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