A Little Bit About Me

I have always wanted to have my own blog so this first post is a pretty big deal for me. In my twenty-one years of life I have always been fascinated at how people fearlessly post their innermost thoughts, feelings and stories online for anyone to see and read. It is a courage that I certainly never had, nor did I think anyone would be interested in what I had to say. I'm from a small town in Connecticut, an English major about to enter my senior year in the fall, and an aspiring high school English teacher. Needless to say, I have never really had a reason to start something like this. But I finally found that inspiration a few days ago thanks to an old English teacher who I reconnected with on Facebook (I'll get back to that later) and the realization that I did in fact have something worth writing about: my love for books.

I guess I should start by explaining the title of this blog: Special Thanks: Junie B. Jones, Judy Blume, and Nancy Drew. These were my favorite books/authors growing up as a kid, and were pieces of literature that have stuck with me into my twenties. I work with kids a lot at my current job, part of which is running a reading program, and these stories have proven to transcend any time and technological gap. Every day without fail, I watch my students fall in love with the same characters that I did when I was young.

Let me back up a little and explain the type of child I was. I was the kid who wrote Waldenbooks Shopping Spree on my Christmas List. I don't know if Waldenbooks is still in existence, but back then it was like a candy store for me. Better than a candy store, actually. I would wander in the children's section for hours, searching for the newest Junie B. Jones or Magic Treehouse and walk up to the checkout counter with my arms completely full. Luckily my grandparents supported this somewhat odd love for reading as a child and supplied me with whatever books I desired on these periodic "shopping" sprees.

At every family event or holiday I would always have my nose in a book, to be completely cliche. I come from a big Italian family, so no gathering is ever quiet or tame. Nevertheless I was able to tune out all of the shouting about spaghetti and the laughter at old family anecdotes and completely immerse myself in whatever story I was reading. This, I realized later on in life, would prove to be an invaluable skill. Not only was I able to read in theoretically any environment, but I read quickly. VERY quickly. One of my favorite memories is sitting down to Thanksgiving lunch at my grandparents' house and reading an entire Nancy Drew book before returning home that evening. Another is hiding with a flashlight under my blanket (yes, this was in the days before IPhone lights), and reading The Diary of Anne Frank and Number the Stars within a three day period.

I think you get the point. I love a good book, and I always have.

Although nobody else in my family, other than my grandmother, was or is an avid reader, I was always supported and inspired to read by other people in my life (that is a post for another day). However, in college-especially as an English major-I have found it increasingly difficult to read for pleasure. That is why I decided to start this blog.

I hadn't picked up a book to read for pleasure in about a year before this morning. I have been tackling War and Peace for my Capping course this fall, and am constantly bombarded with other papers to read and tasks to complete that don't leave me much time to get into a new book. Today, however, something made me want to go through the dusty, partially torn up Barnes & Noble bags in my closet, filled with recently purchased but untouched books that I have bought in the past year. One book in particular stuck out to me: A Brilliant Death by Robin Yocum. It was a novel I spotted on a random trip to Barnes & Noble with my boyfriend back in April and was later given to me as a joint birthday gift between him and my best friend. I started it this morning and just finished it a few hours ago. It was an absolutely captivating read.

Reading that book not only sparked my love of reading for fun, but inspired me to finally start this blog. What I plan to do is post reviews of all my favorite books, from the past and present, as well as books I have heard about or want to read, and some of my personal thoughts on reading and the literary (literature? book? publishing?) industry in general. This also gives me a great excuse to practice my writing, which is also a passion of mine.

So hopefully, if for some reason you have stumbled across this or I asked you personally to check out this latest venture of mine, you get something out of it. I know I already have and I'm super excited to continue :)

Wish me luck!

-M.B.