library

Grateful for Reading Time

~ Colline ~ 20 Comments

My enjoyment of reading began when I was a child. I have always enjoyed the time spent immersing myself in different worlds and try tried to find those moments when I can be still and read the written word. The last few years, though, have found me putting aside novels and focusing on the work that has to be done as I navigate my way through planning for the classes I have taught.

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2016
Reading Stash. © Colline Kook-Chun, 2016

The Summer school break gives me the perfect time to catch up on my reading. Not only do I spend time reading books I have set aside on my bookshelf, but I also visit the library and browse the new fiction titles they have on display. Before school ended, I made a virtual visit to the library and requested a few titles. These I picked up before the school year ended. Amongst this stash were favourite authors as well as titles that looked interesting.

Since the break has started, I have spent plenty of time relaxing with a book in my hand. The stories have interested me, made me tense, and forced me to rest. I know there will come a time when I will have had enough of reading for a while – but that moment has not yet arrived! Which is why, when I went to drop off some of the books I had read at the library, I could not resist some of the titles that were on display.

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2016
Result of a library visit! © Colline Kook-Chun, 2016

This week I am grateful for the time I have to spend time reading. I have missed immersing myself in stories and look forward to the many I will enjoy this Summer.

What have you been grateful for this week?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2016

(Join me and share something that you have been grateful for in the past week. Link up with my post so that I know you have participated)

Grateful for the Library

~ Colline ~ 12 Comments

Last Friday I decided to pay our local library a visit. As I walked into the air-conditioned place, I felt a sense of homecoming. I enjoy visiting the library and seeing the rows and rows of stories that have been created for the enjoyment of the reader. Looking around, I saw adults browsing through the shelves, and children enjoying the books that had been laid out for them. I headed for the “Best Bets” section where I am always sure to find new fiction of my favourite authors. It had been a while since I visited the library, so I was sure to find something to read.

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2015
An ecclectic collection of library books. © Colline Kook-Chun, 2015

Before I knew it, I had five books in my hand – and I had only perused one shelf! I thought I had better leave before other titles tempted me. I arrived at home pleased with my ecclectic collection. As you can guess, I began reading a story as soon as my tea had brewed!

What have you been grateful for this week?

Last week Lavender Ladi was greateful for refeshing ice capps.

Processed with Rookie© Colline Kook-Chun, 2015

(Join me and share something that you have been grateful for in the past week. Link up with my post and feel free to use the badge my daughter created. )

I enjoy reading what others are grateful for – the posts make me think of other things I am happy to have in my life. Please remember to send me a pingback so that I know you have participated.

A Reader is Born

~ Colline ~ 52 Comments

File:Tampere library shelves.jpg

“I was born in a library, in the fiction stacks.” -Luanne Rice

I came across this quote by Luanne Rice last week – and I loved it at first sight. My reading skills and soaring imagination were certainly polished by my many visits to the library. One of my early memories is of my mom taking us to the public library a car ride away. I recall the largeness of the space, the silence that echoed among the stacks, the many shelves filled with books: picture books, adult books, and the books in between.

The memory that comes to mind is of the time when I chose Dickens’ story A Tale of Two Cities to take home and read. I remember the thickness of the book, the cream-coloured paper, the scent of the pages as I turned them. I enjoyed the detailed drawings in the novel, and the intricacies of the story. I spent time engrossed in the plot while sitting on my bed, or in a shady part of our garden. I was a young reader at that time and would often forgo playing for travel into the world of the imagination.

Reading, and the many visits to the library, has definitely affected the many aspects of who I am: my sense of imagination; my ability to see in my mind what it is I am reading; the ease with which I currently write (whether for work or for pleasure); my vocabulary; my general knowledge. Would I change this part of me? No. And would I cease to visit those stacks that encourage me to wander into different worlds? I think not.

Within the fiction stacks, a reader was born. And among those shelves of books, a reader will continue to thrive.

musingmondaysDo you spend time among the fiction stacks of a library?

© Colline Kook-Chun, 2014

(This post was inspired by Luanne Rice’s quote and Miz B’s Musing Mondays)