Late nights...

By Charlene

I've always been avid reader, plowing through a book a week. When we had Nolan, we wanted to ensure he had a love for books and reading, too. From the moment we brought him home from the hospital, we started reading to him. His love of listening to stories grew strong.

My reading habits, however, jumped a rocket ship to the moon and continued to circle above earth.

When Nolan was first born and then was attached to my boob the first four months of his life, it was fairly easy to get through a few books a month. I quickly learned the art of holding my book over him, one-handed, while he rested on the infamous Boppie.

At the five month mark, things changed. I went back to work, Nolan started paying attention to the world, and my books went back on the shelf. It was hard enough to scan the morning paper.

I think I read one book from the six-month to one-year-old period of Nolan's life. I was so busy with life and being a mom that I didn't really think about it.

Until a friend at work handed me a book she had just read: the "The Dirty Girls Social Club" by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. I brought it home and it saw on my nightstand for two weeks. Every day, I'd glance over at the book, with its vibrant, multi-colored cover, a burr on my butt reminding me I needed to pick it up and READ it.

And so, one night after Nolan went to sleep, I crawled into bed, grabbed the book, and turned to the first page. I was hooked and hit the last page at about 2 am. I awoke in the morning tired, but exhilarated. My reading bug was back.

Nearly three years old now, Nolan still loves books. He frequently plants himself on the floor of a room, surrounded by his literary treasures. "My books," he says, as he claims ownership and flips through them recounting the stories he's memorized. He begs us to read certain books over and over and over and ooooooooover.

And me? You'll find me on any given Friday or Saturday night, huddled in my bed, my husband sound asleep next to me, while I read every single page of a new novel. My book.

Need a good book to read? Try "The Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult or "Hissy Fit" by Mary Kay Andrews.

What are you reading?

Comments

[Suzanne]

You mean other than "The Little Engine That Could" and that other timeless classic, "Squirt the Fire Truck" over and over (and over) again?

I'm just about finished with "Einstein Never Used Flashcards", have recently given up on the 800-page "Crimson Petal and the White" because there's only so much Victoria-era prostitution and hypocrisy I can stand, and would like to get back to "Autograph Man" by Zadie Smith. But my reading pace is now glacial; once in bed I can't seem to read more than 10 minutes without falling asleep. Some day I hope to return to my book-a-week habit!

[autumn hour]

i know how you feel. i didn't read anything for the first couple of years of my daugther's life. but now, i'm reading constantly it seems. last week i read the devil wears prada, this week it's the davinci code, and next week holds multitudes of possibilities. but then again, my daughter is now almost 6.

[Betsy]

I love reading - always have. And the nice thing about being a single parent who sleeps alone is that I can bring a book to bed...fall asleep with the lamp on...and resume reading if a wakeful patch hits at 3 am, only to fall back asleep until the alarm rings a few short hours later.

I read mostly 'mind candy', though, interspersed with some books that are a bit more, er, nutritional or substantively entertaining.