Slice of Life 2018 Day 5: Eleven Things About Me as a Reader

Recently, I saw a blogger write a list of 11 things about her as a blog post for Slice of Life. This reminded me of Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s book, The Book of Eleven. Note: Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s categorizes this title on her website as one of her grown up books. The Book of Eleven, as many of Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s books, is one of my writing go-to’s when I am not sure what to write about. For me, creating lists is sometimes the only way I can get started in writing.

My personal copy of The Book of Eleven

In the spirit of the great Amy Krouse Rosenthal, below is a list of eleven things about me as a reader:

1. I was a struggling reader for most of elementary school and middle school. I often share this with my students and wrote about it here.
2. Most nights I end the day reading. It is usually in bed or on the couch between my two children. I once wrote a poem about it called Bookends.
3. I almost always have an audio book going in the car. Right now I am listening to One of Us is Lying. When selecting audio books, I try to find books that will appeal to my high school students so I can use the titles when I confer with students and make recommendations.
4. My least favorite genre to read is fiction stories about animals. I am pretty certain that this is because I love animals, especially dogs, and cannot handle it when a dog dies.
5. The last book I finished reading was Louise Erdrich’s Future Home of the Living God. It is a dystopian feminist thriller, a kind of book that I didn’t expect from Louise Erdrich. Although this was not my favorite title from Louise Erdrich, I still loved it. Think Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
6. I am currently reading Deborah Wiles’ book Countdown. This is a mixture of historical fiction and nonfiction through a variety of texts. I was introduced to Deborah Wiles when I participated in the 2017 Book Love Foundation Summer Book Club.
7. My nightstand is nearly always toppling with books. It is a constant source of annoyance for my husband. I own too many books, but it makes me really happy to live in a house full of books. 
8. For the past three years I have surpassed my goal for on my Goodreads challenge. This is where I am at right now: 

My current Goodreads challenge

9. I enjoy reading physical books more than electronic versions of books. Mostly, I think that this is because I dog ear pages of books all of the time. When I find a line that I want to linger over, I oven dog ear the bottom corner of that page. I know that there is a digital bookmark option, but I just can't get used to it.

10. One of my favorite places to visit is our local public library. I typically check out more titles than I can read before the titles are due at the library.

11. I must read before I go to sleep. Every. Single. Night. I have found that I have trouble sleeping without digging into a good book.