Wonder

My History as a Reader

  • My birth!

    My birth!
    I was named after an author, Danielle Steel.
  • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

    Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
    I found this book at the flea market. I made my mom and brother read this to me everyday.
  • Dick and Jane

    Dick and Jane
    I had a terrible first grade teacher who had just moved down from teaching third grade. She expected us to know how to read at the beginning of first grade. I got so frustrated that I dreaded going to school. My mom began using terrible repetitive books to help me learn to read.
  • Little House in the Big Woods

    Little House in the Big Woods
    I fell in love with this book as soon as I heard my mom read the section where Laura plays with the pig bladder balloon.
  • Library summer reading program

    This was the first year I partricipated in the library summer reading program. The theme that year was the Olympics, and I read everything I could get my hands on in order to make my 'lap' around the program's reading track. I visited the library about two times every week that summer.
  • Book fairs

    I changed elementary schools in fourth grade. My new school had book fairs twice a year. I would spend hours looking through the books.
  • Borders

    I spent the night at my dad's house every other weekend. He would take me to Borders every Saturday to buy a new book.
  • Fear Street

    Fear Street
    Fear Street by R.L.Stein was the first series I became addicted to. I read almost all of them. This summer my dad and I drove to Canada, and I believe I read four of them on the drive up there.
  • Sweet Valley High

    Sweet Valley High
    I moved on to reading the Sweet Valley High series the summer before middle school. I remember making my mom driving me to the library because Borders did not have the next book in the series.
  • A Wrinkle in Time

    A Wrinkle in Time
    I read this in my sixth grade reading class. This novel was the first science fiction/fantasy book I had ever read that I loved. This book started my love of science fiction.
  • Anne of Green Gables

    Anne of Green Gables
    The moment I picked up Anne of Green Gables I knew I was going to love Anne. I feel like we are so similar that I would get annoyed with her if we were friends.
  • 1984

    1984
    This book opened the door to adult and young adolescent science fiction for me. I was sucked into a different world and had to find similar books.
  • Pride and Prejudice

    Pride and Prejudice
    I was sick and in bed for a week around this time. I picked up Pride and Prejudice on a whim and devoured it. I now read it about once a year.
  • Kindle #1

    I bought my first Kindle with an Amazon giftcard I received for my college graduation. I named him Gilbert after Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. I was known to take Gilbert to work and read during my planning period. My students even knew his name.
  • Hammock reading

    I bought my first hammock. Now I do about 80% of my reading in the hammock. The other 20% of the time I read in my bed.
  • Book challenge

    I read mostly required reading during high school and college. After I graduated college, I started my book challenge. I try to read one to two books a week. Sometimes the number of books I read is four or five.
  • Kindle #2

    I was given my second Kindle as a Christmas gift. I named him Darcy after Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. I never go anywhere without him.
  • One Second After

    One Second After
    I love getting book reccomendations from people, but very rarely do I get interested in the recommended book. This book was recommended to me by my boyfriend. I absolutely loved it! It reminded me of Life As We Knew It.