reading

Book Lovers Day

Posted on by Wendy Kennar
This is elementary-school-me holding the certificate I earned for all my reading during the library's Summer Reading Club.

Saturday, August 9th is Book Lovers Day.

I am a book lover, but I don’t think of Book Lovers Day as a special day just for me. Instead, I think of Book Lovers Day kind of like Earth Day. We should respect, care for, learn about, and protect our planet every day of every month of every year. Earth Day is one big extra-celebratory day when a whole lot of people focus on the same thing — our Earth.


Just like Book Lovers Day. Readers, book lovers, writers, booksellers — in one way or another, we all respect, care for, learn about, and protect our books every day of every month of every year. At the same time, it can be fun to organize a special day when people come together and talk about books, celebrate books, give books, buy books, and read books.


I have always been a book lover, even when I didn’t have the words for it. Growing up, I participated in our public library’s annual summer reading program. I visited the library each week, filling up my canvas tote bag, dutifully writing down the titles of the books I read on the library’s record sheet.


I grew up reading about Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. (If you don’t recognize those names, then I guess you didn’t grow up reading Sweet Valley High.) I saved my money to buy big, heavy, hardcover books about NASA and America’s Space Program. 

When I was in high school, I spent some of my lunches and after-school time volunteering in our school’s library. I liked books, and I knew our school library was understaffed and underfunded. (And, let’s be honest, I also knew that volunteering would look good on my college applications.)


And when I was a college student, I worked in a public library for a few years. I enjoyed seeing how all our different departments (including Circulation, Support Services, Reference) contributed to the end result — the book on the shelf. I remember the days of card catalogs, and if you don’t know what a card catalog is then yes, if you were wondering, chances are I’m much older than you are. (And you can click here to learn more about a library’s card catalog.)

As an elementary school teacher, I made sure each of my classrooms had a colorful, cozy, well-stocked library. Colorful as in big blue and pink storage bins from Ikea. Cozy as in pillows and stuffed animals. And well-stocked meaning fiction and nonfiction. Chapter books and picture books. An old set of encyclopedias. Guinness World Records books. A set of Little House on the Prairie books. Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Books by Roald Dahl and Kate DiCamillo.

September 2010. I had to move classrooms so I started the school year with an incomplete library corner - we had to wait a bit for our new rug.


And as a parent, I started building my son’s library before he was born, filling the shelves with books that celebrate diverse families (Todd Parr’s The Family Book, Shades of Black by Sandra L. Pinkney, Sesame Street’s We’re Different, We’re the Same). Books were a part of my son’s childhood — in the diaper bag, in the car, read at night, read during bath time, and read at a restaurant while waiting for his chicken nuggets and fries. Books were given as gifts for every birthday and every holiday. Our son knew there was always money for books — whether they were bought at a bookstore, or Target, or through the Scholastic order form sent home by his second grade teacher.

My son at age 6, during one of our weekly visits to the library.


Nowadays, I go into an independent bookstore knowing I won’t leave without buying at least one book. I have run out of shelf space and started a pile of yet-to-be-read-books on the floor near one of my smaller bookcases. I regularly add titles to my list of want-to-read books. And, I continue to research publishing paths for my memoir-in-essays.

I did all that, I do all that, because I’m a Book Lover.

Every day.

Please note: I am including a link to buy the book that I’m highlighting this week. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.


Read 25 in 2025

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

Confession: I didn’t meet my goal for the 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge.

This isn’t the first time I didn’t complete the annual challenge. But this was the first time I wasn’t even close to meeting my goal. (I read 29 books, and had hoped to read 45.)

Here are some things you should know about my 2024:

1.  I did read, but not as much and not as fast as I have in previous years. Plus, I also read magazines, including my subscriptions to Writer’s Digest Magazine and Poets and Writers Magazine, and magazines are not tracked on Goodreads. 

2.  I also spent potential reading time attending webinars, watching author talks on YouTube, and listening to podcasts. 

3.  Physically, 2024 was among my worst years — in terms of high levels of fatigue and pain, and low levels of restorative sleep and energy. Just the other day, my husband reminded me that I used to have “good days.” Neither one of us can remember the last time I told him I was having a good day (which translates into a low-pain day). Actually, I don’t know if there were any good days in 2024. 

4.  I short-changed myself. On busy days, the first things I stopped doing were the things I most like to do, such as sitting on my patio reading and completing my daily five-minute writing exercises.

So, after recovering from the horrendous flu, I made a few changes for 2025.

I set a much lower number (24) as my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal. Because it’s not the number of books that matters. It’s the books. It’s reading what I want to read when I want to read it. It’s spending money on books without feeling guilty, since I have more than enough to-be-read books at home. But I continue buying books, knowing my purchases help authors and bookstores. 

Reading goes hand-in-hand with writing, and I’m hopeful that if I start increasing the time I spend doing one of those activities, time spent on the other activity will automatically increase as well. 

Plus, I discovered the “Read 25 in ’25” challenge. Gretchen Rubin and Bookshop.org have partnered to support this group challenge to read twenty-five minutes a day in 2025. (You can read more about the #25in25 challenge by clicking here.)

Like I did with my Spoonie NaNoWriMo, I printed out a January calendar and am placing a sticker each day I read twenty-five minutes. I didn’t begin this challenge until last week, Monday, January 6th. You’ll notice, I fell short of the twenty-five minutes on my first day as well as last Thursday. (You can click here to read about my Spoonie NaNoWriMo experience.)

And that’s okay. 

What’s important is acknowledging that I want to read twenty-five minutes each day. That I am starting this new year aware of the importance of making the effort to regularly and consistently do something I enjoy.

How about you, dear readers? Anyone else participating in the #25in25 challenge? Let me know in the comments; I’d love to cheer you on, and learn about the books you’re reading!

Please note: I am including a link to buy the books I have mentioned on this blog. If you use my link, I do make a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you. I am working with Bookshop.org which also sends a portion of the profit to support local, independent bookstores.


Walk the Talk

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

I recently started reading Claire Cook’s novel Walk the Talk, the fourth book in her Wildwater Walking Club series. (I have read and enjoyed them all.)

Page 20 stopped me, though. Because page 20 made me realize I had become a bit of a hypocrite. 

Let me explain.

From the novel:

“The dictionary, or at least Wiktionary, definition of walk the talk is to perform actions consistent with one’s claims. Walking the talk is all about doing what you said you would do, not just making empty promises to someone, especially to yourself.
“Walk the talk is a kind of condensed version of if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk. Which is kind of a modern version of old sayings like practice what you preach or actions speak louder than words.
“However you decided to phrase it, for most of us, walking the talk was way easier said than done.”

Reading is always one of my top answers when I’m asked about my hobbies and ways I like to spend my time. 

Reading Walk the Talk made me realize I talk, and write, a lot about books and reading. Yet lately I have not devoted a lot of time to reading. It’s so easy to push reading off my daily to-do list, to make room for chores like “shred old papers,” “pick up prescriptions at CVS,” or “return library books.” 

They say a big first step in solving a problem is acknowledging there is a problem. This week’s blog post serves as my acknowledgment. I want to read more. Specifically, I want to read more during the day and not just save my reading for the last few minutes before I fall asleep at night. 

Now I just need to walk the talk.

How about you, dear readers? Do you make a lot of time each day to read? Or is there another goal you have in mind when thinking about “walking the talk”? Let me know in the comments.

Writing Out the Storm

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

There are some people who see little value in re-reading a book. After all, the world is full of books. There will never be time to read them all.

I am not one of those people.

One of my most re-read books is Barbara Abercrombie’s Writing Out the Storm: Reading and Writing Your Way Through Serious Illness or Injury. (Barbara holds a special place in my heart. You can read my tribute post, For Barbara, by clicking here.) 

Inside my copy of the book, is a print-out of a short email exchange between Barbara and me. I had written Barbara, thanking her for writing the book, and letting her know it had helped me put my thoughts on paper. That email was dated 2012.

This paragraph is taken from the back of the book:

“This powerful and deeply inspirational handbook is for anyone coping with serious illness or injury — be it theirs or that of a loved one — who wants and needs to help themselves through the healing process. Offering her own experiences with breast cancer, as well as stories from other authors who have suffered from illnesses or severe injuries…”

Though I have read this book several times, highlighting passages, marking pages with sticky notes, each read feels like a slightly new read. Each time I turn to this book, I’m surprised when a passage sticks out, a passage that in all my other reads had never really stood out to me before. 

That’s because I’m different. The book doesn’t change. But I do. Each time I read this book, I am a slightly different version of myself. And each time I read this book, I find writing prompts and quotes that speak to me and serve as inspiration in my writing. 

This time around, these are just a few of the sentences that jumped out at me.

“Once you’ve heard the unthinkable, you know it’s possible to hear it again, or worse.”

“I’ve stopped fighting the diagnosis. I now fight the disease.”  

“I suppose it’s easy to be courageous when you don’t know you are doing so.”

Readers, I’m curious. Do you ever re-read books? Let me know in the comments. 

“Bad” Habits

Posted on by Wendy Kennar
These are just a few of the books I have bought but haven’t yet read.

I have a few “bad” habits. 

I use quotation marks around bad, because it’s a subjective term. My bad habits could be someone else’s “no-big-deal” habits. And they’re not bad-bad, they’re just things I could improve on.

1. I leave the printer on. Long after I’m done printing, I often forget to power it off.

2. I push through and keep to my schedule regardless of how I’m feeling. If Wednesday is my day to Swiffer the floors and vacuum the area rugs, I do it. Regardless of my pain level, I feel I must maintain my schedule.

3. I buy too many books. I have so many books on my shelf, waiting to be read. My “want-to-read” list on Goodreads numbers in the hundreds. Some of these books are written by authors whose other books I have enjoyed. Some are books I bought after listening to the author talk on a podcast or interview of some sort. 

While this doesn’t mean I plan to stop buying books, it does mean I’m aware of the situation. And the lack of available shelf space. 

How about you, readers? Any “bad” habits you want to share? Do you find yourself buying more books than you should?

Why Do You Enjoy Reading?

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

A born reader! Ryan at 18 months old!

Recently, while on a walk with my twelve-year-old son, I asked Ryan what he would say if someone asked him why he enjoys reading.

(By the way, click here to read a recently published essay about our walks called “Yes, Walking Is Exercise.”)

Ryan took a second and then answered, “Because it’s fun. And it’s interesting.”

He continued, “It depends what I’m reading. Like Diary of a Wimpy Kid is fun. And biographies are interesting. I learn new things.”

I smiled. 

“Great answer,” I proudly replied.

I share this story with you in honor of National Book Lovers Day coming up on Sunday, August 9th.

Keep reading. And wearing those masks!

 

Reasons To Still Be Happy

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

Sometimes I need to read to escape. 

Not for information. Not for facts. But to step into a world other than my own.

Sometimes I read for hope. 

For reassurance. 

For that soothing feeling you get when you drink a really good mug-full of hot chocolate on a cold day.

That’s how I felt when I read Elizabeth Berg’s Still Happy.

The book is a collection of Ms. Berg’s Facebook posts, and since I am not on Facebook, this book was the only way for me to read her delightful observations. (By the way, if you’re curious you can click here to read my article “Why I’m Not on Facebook” on Role Reboot.)

This week I’d like to share some delightful passages with you.

“I want to be a responsible citizen. I don’t want to bury my head in the sand. I want to work hard to try to make a better world not just for our beautiful children and grandchildren but for our beautiful old people and our beautiful selves. We live in such hard times. We need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others. Therefore the onus is as much on us to seek out and bask in little pleasures (or big ones), to relish or become demonstrations of love and content, to celebrate nature’s beauty and humanity’s worth – as it is to read the newspaper and write our congress people and vote in November.”

“I write because I need to. I write to get things from the inside, out. But I publish to try to connect.”

“I believe there are times in our lives that are little emergencies, when we see that the balance has shifted too far in one direction or the other, and parts of ourselves need more care and feeding than we’ve been willing to give.”

“I feel that we are living in times that assault us every day. I feel that the national mood is dark and despairing. But I also still believe that most people are basically good. We get lost sometimes, we get confused, we get combative, but at heart we are basically good.” 

“I have to hope that the biggest part of human nature is ever on the side of life and love, and that any day now, we will see the evidence of that. It will never be perfect, I know, but surely we can do better than this.” 

Note to my readers – Elizabeth Berg published this book in 2017, but many of her passages sound as if they are written for our current trying times. 

 

No Picky Readers in This House

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

Ryan (age 3) and I, reading at our public library

Within the first week of school, my son’s sixth grade English teacher noticed his strong reading skills, and he asked Ryan what types of books he likes to read.

“It was hard for me to answer at first,” Ryan told me that afternoon after I picked him up from school and he filled me in on his day. 

I smiled.

Of course it was hard to answer.

My son may be a bit of a picky eater (he refuses to try macaroni and cheese, yet he loves a daily serving or two of cucumbers and carrots). 

But he certainly isn’t a picky reader.

Currently, we are reading Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior – a biography about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Most of our reading happens at bedtime as part of our nightly routine. It’s a serious book filled with facts that are not easy to read and discuss. But they are important and necessary not just because they are a part of our nation’s history, but our family’s history as well. (We are a mixed race family, and Ryan was understandably astounded to learn that not-too-long-ago my husband and I would not have legally been permitted to marry.)

Before this nonfiction book, Ryan had read the latest installment of a popular graphic novel series – Dog Man #7: For Whom the Ball Rolls. That book isn’t serious. It’s silly and off-the-wall and entertaining (for him). I enjoy the clever titles referencing literature classics (Lord of the Fleas, A Tale of Two Kitties, Brawl of the Wild).

Later that afternoon, I got the rest of the story.

“I told Mr. V. I like to read books about space,” Ryan told me. (Reaching For the Moon). 

“Yes you do,” I said. 

And basketball (Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Excellence). 

And famous people (Who Was Rachel Carson?).

And dogs (Because of Winn-Dixie).

And girls with magical powers (Matilda). 

And kids in middle school (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). I silently added all these to the list.

So I will happily take this trade-off. 

I’ll deal with a somewhat limited rotation of dinner menus in exchange for my son’s plentiful book appetite. 

5 Inspirational Books

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

Did you know Friday, August 9th is National Book Lovers Day?

To celebrate – the day; the power of books; and those of us who find comfort, knowledge, and entertainment between their pages; I’d like to share with you books I have found helpful, inspirational, and just plain good.  Books I have turned to (some of them more than once) as I navigate this journey of living with an invisible disability.

– The Gratitude Diaries by Janice Kaplan.  You can click here to read my blog post citing some of the passages that most touched me.

– Chronic Resilience by Danea Horn.  This is one of the few books I ordered from Amazon without ever having seen a physical copy of the book.  I’m so glad I did.  I’ve read it a few times now.

– Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes.  You can click here to read the blog post I wrote while in the middle of reading this book. I will tell you that this was one of those books that started conversations among people I didn’t know, people who saw me carrying this book and reading this book and felt a connection to it as well.

– Everybody’s Got Something by Robin Roberts.  This book came recommended by a friend of mine (you can read my blog post about it here). 

And that led me to:

– From the Heart: Eight Rules to Live By by Robin Roberts.  You can click here to read my blog post, gushing with praise for this book. 

 

 

Readers, I’d love to learn about the books you turn to for help, for guidance, for strength, or just a plain-ole-good read!  Feel free to share in the comments section.

The Best Kind of Gift

Posted on by Wendy Kennar

My ten-and-a-half year old son received an early Christmas gift last week from a friend of the family.  Well, she’s not just a friend of the family.  Several years ago, she and I taught at the same school.  Now she teaches at Ryan’s elementary school, and two years ago, she was his third-grade teacher.

The gift was a surprise to us both.  

It was wrapped, so as Ryan looked at it and felt it, he first thought it was an iPad.  It would have been an incredibly generous, though unlikely, gift.  But in his mind it was the right size.

It wasn’t an iPad.  It was a book.  A hardcover book.  A hardcover book signed by the author.  A hardcover book signed by the author and inscribed to Ryan.

And Ryan loves it.  

Ryan loves it so much he whooped and hollered around the house.  He proudly showed it off. 

I don’t think it’s a book Ryan would have picked up on his own had we just been browsing at our local Barnes and Noble or public library.  But because his teacher selected this book for him, because his teacher asked the author to sign the book for Ryan, Ryan is reading it. 

It’s a beautiful testament to the power of books and putting a book in a child’s hands.