Every year, I reread my favorite novel: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And that quote is one of the millions of reasons why. I feel like there’s never enough time to read everything new that is on my list, but, even still, I always make time for this one novel. I think it’s because, the first time I ever read it, when I was eight years old, it was the book that made me realize that we can come to understand people that we will never meet, people whose lives are completely different from ours, just by reading a book. And now, 21 years later, that book still speaks to me in the same way.
I had the distinct pleasure of attending my first Southern Independent Booksellers Association trade show last weekend (shop local, y’all!) and it was like a buffet for a book lover like me. Books everywhere! (And authors!)
This weekend actually solidified for me an idea that I’ve been toying with for quite a while. I get all tingly-toed and excited and smiley around books and so, it seems like a natural fit for me to start blogging about them. Not in the traditional, review, “here’s what I thought about this book” kind of way. But in the ways in which a very good book can change the way we see the world.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the perfect place to start for me since it is probably the book that I have read the most and loved the most ever since I was young. I only wish that Betty Smith was here to do a Google Hangout with us and tell us all about what inspired this fantastic read! (I can sort of imagine that… Betty Smith. Google Hangout…)
I hope you’ll stick around and find some brand new (or very old!) reads that you can relate to too.
I hope you had a fabulous weekend and a great week to come!
Sounds like it was quite an inspiration for you!! How fun you went!! I can’t wait to start reading your reviews!! xo