Nineteen

I'll just come right out with it.  Stephen King is my favorite author.  My goodness, it's hard to describe what I love about his books!  I've just started and then deleted 16 sentences, because I can't seem to get the words right.  Here are some of the words that I've repeatedly come up with during the last 7 minutes of trying to write 1 or 2 sentences:  Home. Familiar. Imagination. Exactly. Me. Sunset. Gotta. My thoughts. Afternoon. Understand.  Maybe someone else who has read his stories will be able to put those words together in a way that isn't so...nineteen.

As a Constant Reader of his, I've come to notice the number 19 in my daily life, and when I saw that I was approaching my 19th blog post (this one), I wanted it to be special.  Over the past few days, I've been daydreaming about The Dark Tower, and trying to think of ways to work it in to my mostly-about-running-and-kindergarten blog.  Last night, I dreamed about Roland Deschain, and woke up feeling sad, with the words "The Man in Black raced across the desert, and Roland followed" running through my mind.

I then came to the disturbing realization that I'm still reading the same book that I was reading back in January, even though I'm enjoying it and reading as often as I can.

The author, +Jenn Thorson , sent me a magnet and sticker.  Na na na boo boo!  I got prizes and yoooouuu didn't!  (But seriously, you should read this book, and add her on G+.  Awe. Some.)

That I also plan to read books for 2 different book clubs before the end of March, have received 2 free books that I'm really looking forward to reading, and had to return my last 2 library books, late and unread, does not bode well for my finding the time to re-read the entire Dark Tower series anytime soon.

sigh

Now, where was I?  Oh, yeah.  19.  Books.  Blogging.

I decided to share with you an idea I had a couple of years ago that I'm still praising myself for today.  I thought about how cool it would be for my son (daughter was yet-to-be) to receive the entire Dark Tower series as a gift for his 19th birthday.  Then, I started thinking of another favorite book series, and how cool it would be to give him the Harry Potter books for his 11th birthday ('cause that's how old Harry is when the series starts, remember?)  Finally, my Idea (capitalized on purpose, as it is that good) was fully formed.  I would start a birthday tradition from the time he learned to read until he turned 19, and give an age appropriate, meaningful, really special book or series of books as a gift each year.  Also important to note is that the books would be real ink and paper types, and hardcover, mostly.  I worry that 13 years from now, they'll be hard to find in that format.

4 haircuts, 3 shoe sizes, 2 lost teeth, and 1 pants size ago.  Hard to believe it has only been 6 months since his first day of Kindergarten.

 His 6th birthday is coming up soon, and he's been reading since last Spring, so at last, I get to start the tradition.  I was originally thinking of getting the Junie B. Jones books, but then I read some of them.  They're cute and funny, but little Junie narrator uses very poor grammar, and talks back to her parents and is allowed to say the words "stupid" and "dumb", which our son is not.  Even though it's hard to find them together in a good set, I have fond memories of reading the Amelia Bedelia* stories when I was a child, so they win this year.  Next year, he'll get the Arthur chapter books, followed by the Little House on the Prairie series when he turns 8.  My dad gave me a great book the year I turned 9, "Stories for 9-year-olds" which I would love to find for my little guy.  Age 10 will be exciting, too, with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series finally being appropriate.  11, HP (dur) and 12, Hunger Games ('cause when they're 12, they're eligible for the reaping, you know).  Between birthdays 13 and 18, he'll need to read some Tolkien, some Twain, and some not-required-by-teachers Classics.  And then, he'll turn 19...and I don't want to think about my sweet little boy being almost out of his teens, thankyouverymuch.

Today, I spattered advice all in and out of this post, but the gist should be clear, even if you just skimmed (yeah, I know who you are, you skimmers!):  READ!

What are you reading now?  No, no.  Don't tell me.  I can't add to my list of must-reads right now!  Ok, only tell me if you're not enjoying it and wouldn't recommend it.  Deal?

*The set pictured in that link is not what I would consider "good".  They're not written by the original author of the series, there are only 3 books, and they're paperback.