About

I grew up across the street from a library and have loved reading my entire life.

Reading for me has changed over the years.  I now include anyway I consume books as reading. When I read aloud to my students or my children or anyone for that matter, I assume that all listening to me have read that book with me.  

When I listen to a book electronically via Hoopla, Cloud Library, Libby or another platform I consider that reading as well.  I sometimes will read a book on my computer, or my I-pad or even my phone.  But what I really love to do is get a book in my hand and read it the old fashioned way.

According to the fine scholarly duo of Phineas and Ferb, there are 104 days of Summer vacation.  This has not been my experience, but I am not usually to quibble with cultural icons.  (Actually, I quibble with cultural icons all the time, it's why most people blog. )  Most of my life I have defined Summer by the months June, July, and August.  While, I know that Summer actually starts 2/3rds  into June and ends 2/3rds into  September, I am more comfortable with a June July August distinction.    

Another way to define Summer is a Memorial Day to Labor Day approach. In the U.S.  Memorial Day is always on the last Monday in the month of May and Labor Day always on the first Monday of September.  The Phineas & Ferb title sequence method of counting days may be a derivative of this  approach as The time from memorial Day to Labor Day may be as few as 92 days and as many as 106.   

A few years ago when I started a summer reading program for myself I chose a hybrid approach I call 100 days of Summer Reading.  This year Memorial Day was on May 30th and Labor Day is on September 5th.  That constitutes 99 days.  To get 100 days I simply started the reading program this year on the Sunday prior to Memorial Day.  

My general minimum  goal each year is to read at least 10 books during the course of the summer.  As I wrote in my blog, Leap of Dave, this years my only goal is to finish one book and that book is Moby Dick.  

This is not entirely true.  I would be very disappointed in my self If I finished only 1 book this Summer, even if it was Moby Dick.  But I think I would be more disappointed if I finished 25 book and the white whale epic did not number among them.  

My plan for this blog is simple.  After each book I read during the Summer, I hope to write a simple post about it and place it here and link that post to Leap of Dave as well.  I am writing this on May 31,st and I have already finished 1 book.  This puts me on track to read 331/3 for the program.  I will probably put up  some graphic here on the blog that shows where I am both in finishing Moby Dick and my estimated total for the summer.  I will also check with my editor/muse/spouse to see if Summer has to be constantly capitalized and change it accrdingly.

You may ask if I'm a little old to be having a Summer Reading Program.  My answer would be, Yes, yes I am.