Summertime Reading... old habits die hard

I've rediscovered the joy of the summertime reading clubs since my children are old enough to participate in not 1, but 2 different reading clubs locally as well as my library running one for adults!  I've already won a door prize. 

My kids, as I've mentioned before, participate weekly in the Half Priced Books club.  Bring in your weekly reading sheet, having read at least 15 minutes for 5 days or more, and you get a $3 coupon towards your next purchase.  My kids enjoy picking out clearance books to bring home or a special little goody...  so far, the favorite has been the Disney wrist warmers (think old school 80's style sweat bands for the wrists).  They're perfect for our upcoming cruise & personally, I love that my daughter, not quite 2, picked out the "Drama Queen" all on her own.

They are also tracking their reading for our local library.  After 8 hours of reading (tracked by 15 minute increments), they get a prize and after 16, they get another plus entered in a drawing for a "grand prize".  I give kudos to the library- the little book they have to track has little pictures to color, 8 per page, so the kids can actually color in their own reading records as opposed to me writing their times every day.  The adults are required to read 10 books in the summer.  After reading 5, you receive a prize, then another after 10.  And you're entered to win a really fabulous looking gift basket.

But, aside from free things, frequenting the library is a favorite pasttime of our family.  And it's one I spent many, many hours of my youth doing as well.  We lived within walking distance of the local community center which housed several all-purpose rooms (where I had Girl Scout meetings and for a brief time, Earth Club meetings) and the small library.  Books were too expensive to buy, especially new.  So, the library was my favorite place.  I've been an avid King fan for as long as I've had my own library card!

Last year, when circumstances required we cut back significantly on living expenses to save cash, I gave up buying all literature, books and movies in lieu of the library.  But, as library funding was cut more and more, I felt the need to show some monetary appreciation.  I tracked what the library saved me on my own personal reading (so, not counting the kids movies and books) and checked current values using amazon.com.  I gave a small percentage of my personal savings back to our library.  And it was even a tax write-off.

Libraries offer so, so much to our communities.  Free programming, a safe place for kids to hang out after-school, many offer free internet access and even WiFi in some areas, in addition to the actual media material you can borrow either for free or for a nominal fee.  The expertise of the librarians themselves shouldn't be discounted!  Ours recommended this very cute book to us when I asked about dinosaurs: When Dinosaurs Came with Everything  The director of our new library also sings beautiful Celtic music with his wife and treated us to a concert last Monday night.  For free.  My kids loved it.

I also found this total classic from my youth: There's An Alligator Under my Bed. How on Earth did I become a mother 4 years ago without remembering to buy my son this book? 

And for my personal list, no updates this week.  I ran in to issues with the "Play Away" version of American Gods & I'm almost finished with Obsessed by Ted Dekker.

So, share something about your reading habits- do you have to eat or drink while reading? prefer to read long periods at a stretch or short? alternate quick reads with more heavy stuff?