My Winter 2026 Bucket List: Am I Back?

Hello, Tuesday!  Hello, friends!  It is time for another installment of the A - Z Blogging Challenge and I am practically bleary-eyed from all of this writing.  Hey, I think I just thought of my W is for... word, though...W is for Writing!!  Writing has been a lifelong blessing to me.  But that is neither here nor there right now as our letter for today is R.  Can you guess what glimmers I have experienced throughout my adult life that might begin with R?  If you know me at all, I bet you can!!

R is for Reading and Books

I don't think anyone would have called me a big reader as a child.  Surely not my mom who would have to remind me to read the words on the page and quit looking at the illustrations each night when I read with her.  I don't remember ever having phonics so sounding out words was tricky at first.  But I became pretty good at reading the words but less successful with comprehension.  Probably because I was focused on the illustrations.  

Elementary School

When I was in third or fourth grade, increasing children's reading speed was a big deal in Boston schools.  We used a program - some kind of machine - to read that uncovered one sentence at a time and flashed it for brief seconds before recovering that sentence and uncovering the next.  Not sure what that did for my comprehension but I got to where I could call the words pretty quickly. Oh, and there was the SRA Reading Laboratory - an individualized reading program featuring leveled fiction/nonfiction passages.  Did you ever do SRA?

When we moved to Memphis, we discovered our neighborhood public library.  And rather than just carry books around like I did with books checked out at my school library in Boston, I actually read the books I borrowed.  

High School and College and Beyond

Didn't really have time/take time to read much for pleasure.  In my eleventh grade AP American Studies class, I did read a few books that have stuck with me.  Don't remember reading anything for fun in college.  

As a young mom in Panama, I didn't have anywhere to get books.  I bet there were public libraries on base but I don't remember visiting any of them.  When I worked as a substitute teacher at Coco Solo High School, I think I checked out a few books that I remembered from my library science studies in college.  That would have been an excellent time for me to read because my (ex)husband was often gone to the field for training, and I was alone a lot.  Alas, hindsight.

When we moved to El Paso and I became a high school librarian, I looked for some of the books I had read in college for my library science classes and began reading excerpts from them to my high school students.  They loved being read to aloud.  And I loved doing it.  

Loved Being a Librarian

For the letter L, I wrote how much I enjoyed my career as a librarian.  And still miss it to this day.  A lot of that love came from working with children.  But the rest of it came from working with books and encouraging children to read.  What a glimmer and gift it was to have a student ask for help finding a good book.  And then to have them return a few days later having finished that book and asking for a second one.  So heartwarming.  

I enjoyed sponsoring different programs designed to put children and books together.  My students were predominantly limited English speakers so trying to find books on their English language reading levels could be tough at times.  How rewarding it would be to see the growth over a year or two in a child who spoke and read literally no English.  Often times, my bilingual students became my most enthusiastic readers.  

Come Read with Me Book Club

Now that I am retired, I miss putting books and 'babies' together.  I enjoy buying books for friends' children and for my own grands.  But in this season of life, I am getting much pleasure from my grown-up online book club, "Come Read with Me." We 'meet' on Facebook and vote the end of each month on the book we will read in the coming month.  This has been a banner year so far with 3 out of the 4 books we've read earning 5 stars from me on Goodreads.  We have read:

• Theo of Golden by Alan Levi, 01.2026, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin, 02.2026, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford, 03.2026, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• This Book Made me Think of You by Libby Page (on sale), 04.2026, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I adored our April book and would recommend it to about anyone.  Part love story, part family story, filled with the mention of life-changing books.  Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from This Book Made Me Think of You.

“The right book in the hands of the right person at exactly the right moment can change their life forever.”  ~Libby Page, This Book Made Me Think of You

“I am the person I am because of the books I have read.”  ~Libby Page, This Book Made Me Think of You

“Tilly has always thought of bookshops as a gathering place: all those books lined up neatly on the shelves like potential friends she just hasn’t met yet.”  ~Libby Page, This Book Made Me Think of You 

 

My book club members are about to vote for our 05.2026.  You can join us! If you are looking for a no-pressure online book club, Come Read with Me might just be the perfect fit.  We read one book a month together and discuss them within our group on Facebook.  There is never any requirement for members to read any of the books that don't interest them.  And of course, no pressure to discuss!!  I am just hoping that in the 5 or 6 recommended titles from which we vote each month, my friends will find their next favorite read.  

So holler if you would like to join us.  We would love to read with YOU.

Your Turn

Many people read as an escape.

“But isn’t that one of the great things about fiction?” he says. “It’s an escape. Somewhere to go when you don’t want to be where you are.”
~Libby Page, This Book Made Me Think of You

But I don't think I have really ever used reading or books as an escape.  For me, it is entertainment.  They are the thoughtful compilation of words to tell a story.  Word that make me feel various emotions, and give me an opportunity to experience things I might not otherwise.  Books are glimmers.  They are magical.  And they have played a very important part in my life.

What are you currently reading?  If you are about to say 'nothing' then please consider coming to read with me, with my book club.  Please allow me to put some books on your radar for just a month and see if you don't discover a little magic for yourself. 

Hugs and kisses,