Too Many Books?
So, what happens when an English teacher marries a minister? Books, lots of books. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone uttered the phrase “nose in a book” within my earshot. Yes, I was that kid that read every book at my elementary school library, and when I finished, I read my favorite ones again. I spent a lot of time on the “W” aisle for Laura Ingalls Wilder. Reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote at too early an age resulted in nightmares for months. Alexandre Dumas fueled my imagination long before I knew movies could be made from books. I attribute my fascination with anything remotely French to his swashbuckling Musketeers.
People often ask me to name my favorite book. Oh, so many books, so little time! Have you heard about the app goodreads? I have scanned and rated hundreds of books. I use this handy app every time I go to the local used bookstore, because heavens, at my age, I couldn’t remember which John Grisham novels I have read to save my life! The beach reader in me loves a good simple story: girlfriends bonding over a crisis, a mysterious newcomer in a small town, unrequited love turned to a blissful union. The English teacher in me gravitates to classics like Les Miserable, Great Expectations, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
Because I taught 9th grade English for seven years in a row, I would have to choose To Kill a Mockingbird as my all-time favorite novel. I read it every year right along with my students, and I never failed to read a passage and think to myself, “I don’t remember ever reading this.” Harper Lee took the language of the South, a small town, and sometimes a small child to cast a spell on her readers. I found an audio reading of the entire thirty-one chapters by Sissy Spacek. I made my students listen to at least the first couple of chapters because I wanted to immerse them into the experience of the spoken words. I wanted them to hear emphatic living words, not to read the hurried, skimmed words of a chapter summary while searching for an answer on a study guide. Some of my students got it. They admitted how much they had loved the story and the characters. When Harper Lee died last year, one of my former students texted me: “I wanted to tell you that Harper Lee died.” Why? Because somewhere during chapter quizzes and tests, lengthy discussions and character analysis, my passion for teaching my favorite novel shone through. I haven’t taught for the last two school years, and I miss my annual reading of To Kill a Mockingbird. I often think of Scout, Jem, and Boo, and most certainly Atticus. I remember the lessons I taught, and the lessons I learned by the hand of this skillful storyteller.
I’m doing some decluttering for Lent, and when I come across one of my copies, I may just have my nose in a book for about thirty-one chapters reacquainting myself with Miss Lee.
