Bibliophile Me

 

Raising Bibliophile: 1. Surround them with books 2. Read to & with them 3. Give them room to reflect 4. Let them choose the books
Image created using Adletter

 

We are a family of proud bibliophiles.  My parents were readers and many evenings everyone read together. Our meals were infused with the stories mom told us from Ramayana,  Mahabharat & Shakespearean plays. Grandpa encouraged reading by presenting first grader me with Robinson Crusoe.  Growing up on Bakor Patel and Amar Chitra Katha was pure bliss. 

 

Cover Page of the Book Bakore Patel: Fun and Fun by Hariprasad Vyas
Image: Goodreads

 

As a child, while my peers played in school yard, I grabbed a bunch of books and read.  On lazy summer afternoons, I  got lost in a book & went on an adventure.  I was not very good at games and was a somewhat shy kid. Books allowed me to explore the worlds and get lost in the stories. I am not much different today. I continue to read, and be amazed by human nature, grit, complexity and hope.

gita-116Image: The Bhagavad Gita

I read from a wide range of books. I read picture books, comics, graphic novels, YA books, juvenile books, chapter books, bibliographies, self-help books, fantasy, science fiction,….I enjoy Eric Carle as much as Jodi Picoult and Amish Tripathi. I will to read anything from Amy Tan Maeve Binchy and John Grisholm.  Just like many of you, I went to midnight celebrations of Harry Potter books from J. K. Rowling and cried while reading Jacqueline Woodson’s Hush.  What can I say about Tagore?  He, the writer of Gitanjali, the Nobel laureates, the sage poet who knew a child’s heart!

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time. - Rabindranath Tagore

There is not what I do not read. OK. So I do not read: horror, slash n dash AKA gory detailed, murder mysteries, and bodice rippers style books. Therefore,  no Fifty Shades of Grey or Games of Thorn are banished from my bookshelf . Janet Evanovich & Mary Higgins Clark, you are wonderful writers but your books are not for me.

  

Read Dog Books. They are good for you.                   Image:Adletter

I shared my book choices with you.  Now it is your turn. What kind of books you like to read?

 


Slice of LifeI am writing this post for11th Annual  Slice of Life Story challenge hosted by  Two Writing Teachers .   During whole month of March, we will share a slice of our lives.  You are invited to join too.  

#SOL18

 

 

 

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18 thoughts on “Bibliophile Me

  1. Hi Purviben! I had subscribed to your blog because of #CCCWrite, and I was so excited to see this post too: Amar Chitra Katha!!! I teach a course in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and received a grant from my school’s library to buy the ACK Ultimate Collection: we have ALL the comic books on reserve in the library for my students, or any students, to read. I made a blog to help them browse and find the comic books they would enjoy most:
    http://ackguide.blogspot.com
    It has been a huge boost for my classes; this way, the characters are not just names in a book. Instead, they can start to imagine the characters really coming to life! And my students who grew up on Amar Chitra Katha as you did (I always have a few students of Indian heritage each semester) are excited tor revisit childhood favorites. 🙂

  2. Laura,

    I visited your blog and in awe of you.

    It is a sad reality that many of the Indian kids are not aware of their heritage while you and some others are keeping the flame alive.

    Thank you.

    We do not have all of the Amar Chitra katha comics. We give our kids ACK as birthday & Xmas gifts along with other books.

    Thanks for bringing the video and your blog post about Uncle Pai to my attention. Have you read any of the Tinkle magazines?

    Looking forward to reading your connecting deeply (is there a correct way to say, I would like to get to know you more as you are forging a path I admire?)

    Purviben

  3. Oh, that is too kind of you, Purviben! I am so lucky in my online teaching job: my school asked me to develop some kind of India course many years ago, back in 2002, so I have been teaching this Ramayana/Mahabharata course every semester for all those many years, which is how I have heaped up tons and tons of online material to share with my students! And I’ve learned so much along the way… plus there are some wonderful Indian writers to connect with at Twitter like Chitra Divakaruni, Devdutt Pattanaik and so many more who make great use of Twitter. It is so cool when they reply to me or to one of my students so we are connected there in cyberspace. And now you and I are connected at Twitter. I am looking forward to all the great Holi pictures and video that people will be sharing this week! I am really glad that our paths intersected thanks to #CCCWrite.

    • I have read Both Divakaruni & Pattnaik along with Jhumpa Lahiri & slew of others. Being an immigrant, one always try to support fellow immigrant authors of different nationalities. Idea being, buying their book will encourage the publishing companies to have more books from them & other authors like them. Then, there will be diversity of authors and large population of people will know about them as well I have never email/ twitter messaged them though.

      Yes, #CCCWrite is something good for us, ya?

      • Devdutt Pattanaik is a TWITTER DEVA. He shares everything he does… and he does so much!

        You will see a lot of Devdutt in my Twitter stream. 🙂

  4. Laura and Purviben, How awesome you two are now connected! I’ll need to check out those links. I agree with Purviben about the “no horror” and no “ugh” stuff. I do love murder mysteries though, just not the ones as you mentioned. One of my favorite books is “Go and Come Back” by Joan Abelove — it’s a young adult novel about two anthropologists in remote Peru as narrated by one of the young tribal members. Thanks for sharing your Slice of Life on reading! ~ Sheri

  5. Sheri,

    You have some wonderful suggestions on your post. Using Sketch notes too!

    I do read murder mysteries now & then but they have to be PG. what were that books about Cat Detective? The gore turns me off.

    I will have to check out Go And Come Back.

    I am glad we are connected

    Purviben

  6. Welcome to the challenge! I so enjoyed reading about your love of books and your favorites. I’m from a family of bibliophiles as well, and my husband and I are actually in the process of transforming our living room into a library! I’m looking forward to checking out some of the authors and books you mentioned that are new to me. Thanks!

    • Molly,

      Thank you for visiting. I would love to hear more about the living room turned library. It would be fun if you choose to share the pictures or progress and then the books you will house on these bookshelves. Funny, but I am excited for your library. You made me happy just know about it. 🙂

      Did you come across my blog from #CCC write or #sol18? or did you find it by web hopping?

      I was looking for your blog and would like to visit your blog.

      Lets keep reading and sharing our books. 🙂

  7. Thanks for this slice of your reading life, Purviben. My recent reads include _Clayton Byrd Goes Underground_ by Rita Williams Garcia, _The Mezzanine_ by Nicholson Baker, and _Zero Day_ by Jan Gangsei.

    • Brian,

      Thanks for sharing your recent reads. I looked up Rita Williams- Garcia. Like me she is from tri-state area and have lived in Georgia. Cool, ya? Next time I go to library, along with Clayton Byrd, I want to pick up No laughter here. Have you read that?

      I am looking forward to read your slice of life.

      Lets keep reading & sharing.

      Purviben

    • Sheri,

      I read your post today. You reminded me of my library trips when I was the kid. This is OMG moment. Thanks for bringing smile to me.

      I remember going to library as soon as it opened, sitting on stairs and reading till it was time to close the library.

      Hmmm. You inspire me to write a post about it now.

  8. I love books too and have been in a book clubs for most of my adult life. It’s the best way to continue exploring books while building friendships. My favorite middle grade reads of this past year were Train I Ride, Forever or a Long, Long Time and Beyond the Bright Sea.

    • Ramona,

      Thanks for visiting. Now I have four more books I can read. YE!

      I do book clubs with my kids. Typical Mom!!! 🙂 We don’t go through suggested questions but discuss them about what we like/dislike, how they remind them of, ..how the situation relates to real life etc.

      When they were younger, we used to choose a book & take turn reading chapters or passages from them. That is why, when our daughter & I were reading Animal Farm, my at that time reluctant reader son joined us; he was a first grader but wanted not to miss out on fun. Good start, ya? Now, we read same books & discuss them. Awesome has a complain that when he is reading, I start reading the same book & then he has to wait. Last week, he graciously told me, “Its OK Mom, you can finish the Screaming Staircase, I will wait.”

      Happy Reading.

      Purviben

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