Books – 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, Week 23

Amanda is to books as bacon is to eggs or Linus is to his blanket or Calvin is to Hobbes. Books to me are sustenance, comfort and best friends. I could not live without my books and I know I will not live long enough to read all the ones that interest me. One of my favorite memories of childhood is on a summer's day sitting outside all day reading. I took a blanket and my pile of books into the front yard and when the shade moved to a different part of the yard, I moved too. It was a fabulous – I must have read at least three books that day.

Now that we have established that Amanda. Loves. To. Read. what books will tempt her to crack the cover and which will make her run screaming from the room? Let's start with the latter. I'm not terribly keen on science fiction or fantasy; my sister loved the VC Andrews books, but I had no interest at all. I don't read graphic novels and I was never a comic book person. Neither am I keen on Important Fiction. As a historian I read plenty of books about the unfairness and complicated nature of the human experience, I don't really feel the need to read about it in a fictionalized format. So when I read fiction, I want to have to think too much.

I have always tended to read nonfiction as opposed to fiction as learning is fun for me. When I want to know something, I go to the library and look for a book on the subject whether it is dating, sewing, blogging, religion, history, job hunting, gardening, or cooking. Now of course, my profession demands that I read nonfiction. Right now I am reading a book on central European migration to Cleveland for a program I will be attending this summer. It is work and fun at the same time, and you can't get any better than that.

When I have a yen for fiction, I usually will pick a mystery. The first mysteries I read were the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew. I've read all but one of the Brother Cadfeal mysteries by Ellis Peters and I'm pretty sure I've read everything Agatha Christie and Margery Allingham ever wrote. I tried reading Inspector Morse and Rebus, but did not love them, although I think I'd give Rebus another go. I have also enjoyed the work of Joanne Dobson and Earlene Fowler.

When I was little I had a huge collection of Golden Books. My absolute favorite was The Monster at the End of this Book starring loveably, furry old Grover. Grover spends the whole book telling you not to turn the pages because he is afraid of the monster. Then when you get to the end he realizes that he is the monster and there was no reason to be afraid. Not being afraid is an important life lesson, one that I am still learning.

Another favorite was Mandy by Julie Edwards. My grandma bought it for me just before my sixth birthday and I read it shortly afterwards. I really identified with the main character Mandy, and I don't think it's just because we had the same name. She was an orphan who found a garden house that she decorated for her very own; I think I just didn't want to share a room with my little sister and wanted to create my own. Our bedroom at the time was also yellow and brown – ick! Mandy is one of the few books I schlepped from California to Ohio when I went to college.

Snuggled next to Mandy in my suitcase was a copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. My papaw got this for me when I was 12. If you've never read it, you really need to. It has the most fun poems for kids. Great rhymes, fun drawings, silly topics, amazing rhythm and cadence. When I had to memorize a poem in the seventh grade, I picked "Sick." This short poem, which begins, "I cannot go to school today, Said little Peggy Ann McKay" details all the illnesses which would unfortunately prevent Peggy from attending school that day. At the end she learns that it is Saturday and is miraculously recovered and goes out to play. Another student did an excerpt from Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Guess who went to Harvard.

[Update 6/23/2011: The Monster at the End of the Book is now an iPhone/iPad App which you can purchase for $3.99. Just search for Grover at the iTunes Store. I haven't bought it yet, but the average customer rating is 4.5 stars.]