A reintroduction via deep dive.

When I was younger I wasn't a reader of popular books. When I did get into reading I did it, one might say, obsessively. I don't want that to make it seems like I was a fanatic, but seemingly that's what it ends up making me out to be. In other words, once I found something that worked I stuck with it. I know my strengths and I know my interests.

Since elementary school I've loved mythology and that hasn't much changed. One memory from (I wanna say) third grade is having an assignment of a set number of books to read. The deadline was approaching and I wasn't really reading a lot of books so the teacher spoke to me about it. I don't remember how it happened but after a talk about the harsh reality of my lack of reading, somehow I got hooked on biographies.

From middle school to high school historical fiction was my jam, for some reason. I made beelines to Ann Rinaldi's section in the school libraries. On the flip side I loved Christopher Pike's pulpy YA thriller mystery books. In high school I discovered Danticat, Vonnegut, some standards of science fiction, and many other authors whose words taught me much.

Technical books have always been intriguing to me and being that I was a science major one would assume I read a lot of them in college, but that wasn't the case. French literature was probably what I read the most of during those years in picturesque New England. The university library was one of my old haunts, but more often than not that was because I was watching films in the multimedia room. I did read some though. I read American Gods. I wish I could remember what other books I read for pleasure, but that's the one book that really stands out.

Now, why exactly did I write a recap of literary journey as it relates to my academic one? I don't know, that's just what ended up happening. What I'm trying to get at is that I've not been the most voracious reader. I wasn't the type to read the popular YA books or get into big series when they were all the rage. That's still not who I am. I'm a library girl. 

I remember the library by my mother's job where countless after school hours were passed. The NYPL system is cute, but the BPL system is better. Buying books is a luxury, a sign of wealth and privilege. My beautiful mother took us often to Barnes and Nobles bookstores throughout the city. Sitting around reading books in-store, perusing the crafting books, seeing the tastes of the city through the changes in the graphic novel aisle.

When I moved to Philadelphia, I did a very smart thing. I became a patron of the Free Library of Philadelphia. In my heart, right now, I know that that library system is one of, if not the best library system out there. Feel free to argue, you have that right. Just know your argument has no bearing because lies don't work.

Anyway.

Anyway!

So the FPL introduced me to Hoopla and Overdrive, the world of electronic reading and audiobooks. That's how I read most of what I read nowadays. Sometimes I feel like a fraud when I think about considering myself "a reader," but reading is reading, no matter how you do it. 

There was a program, now defunct, that I joined a few years ago, First To Read. That shut down but now I'm on some other sites reading books early for free. That's real cool. I like that.

I guess some people blog about books. I was considering (and still am) doing book reviews on YouTube or on my currently-on-hiatus podcast, but this is probably the easiest thing for me to do. Maybe I'll tie those other platforms in sometime later. Who knows.

But here we are.

Welcome to my blog, A Whirlwind of Words.