Lickety Split

I've always loved that hilarious little term... lickety split...

I don't know why I titled this post lickety split.

I'm a word whore. I love silly words and phrases, books drowning in good verbage, silly puns, sarcasm, and the urban dictionary. Words and books and stories... I could get lost in the loveliness of it all.

I think my love of books stems from several of the women in my family. My parents always read to us when we were kids. Usually it was my mom... well, we liked her to read better because she would do the voices for the characters, nothing was ever the same. She'd let us each pick several books, and as we got older, she'd read us chapter books or let us read to her.

My dad on the other hand... he was hilarious. He would skip over parts, and read too fast, flip the pages before we were done looking at the illustrations. I can remember giggling, "NO DAD, that's too fast!" My sister and I would have to point out each detail on each page of Mike the Steam Shovel... before we could turn the page. Thats just how it was. I can still picture all the silly books we used to read and how much I loved them... the illustrations... the scary parts... the messages they gave.

I think its really important to introduce kids to reading at a young age. I really never did understand those kids who would just read one or two books over the summer when I'd read sometimes two or three a day. We had to go to the library weekly just to keep enough books in our queue that we wouldn't run out.

I also quickly discovered that while dad would not allow us to watch R-Rated movies... Mom would allow us to read Judith McNaught and Brenda Joyce and LaVyrle Spencer (SMUT, for those of you not familiar). I became addicted. Sometimes I'd stay up till three or four in the morning, hiding under my comforter with a flashlight so if they checked under the door they wouldn't know I was secretly devouring books by the pound.

My grandmothers on both sides are also book lovers. But my grandma Leona was especially. When we'd spend the night over there she'd let us crawl into bed with her, and she'd squeal in delight as we pulled out our books and told her about what we were reading. Sometimes she'd pass out with her book on her face and Jess and I would just keep on reading. (Grandpa slept in the other room, because he snored...LOL). Ahhh, the memories...

I have many favorites... in a wide array of genres... Some of which include (but are certainly not limited to...):

Shes Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Tully by Paullina Simons

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

The Big Friendly Giant by Roald Dahl

At any given time there is a pile of books a mile high atop my bedside table. Its never lovely and ladylike. Its always piled high with reading material.

I love books. I love the world they create, the fantasy, the hope, the passion, the sadness.

What are some of your favorite books, what should I be reading?