QOT...W ~ Wednesday, May 27, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ BOOKS EDITION ~

QOT...W ~ Wednesday, May 27, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ BOOKS EDITION ~ I have any number of things that I can lament about losing or severely limiting my ability to do as a result of my 7+ year struggle with chronic pain. The obvious ones are spending time with family, helping out around the house, being "here" for my kids, being able to work, actually "living", etc. There are also some lesser important things that I have had to give up or that have been restricted in some way due to my severe chronic pain. Knitting, cross stitch, crafts, and working at the computer, name just a few of them. Rest, relaxation and doing things that we enjoy are very much a part of coping skills and strategies that are meant to encourage and improve the lives of those suffering from chronic pain. For me, (if I don't fall asleep), resting and relaxing usually consists of reading. In the few hobbies that I have listed above that I have basically had to give up, the one I didn't mention and probably the one that I resent losing the most, is reading. My ability to read well and rather quickly has been seriously compromised due to the 24/7 pain that I have in the back of my neck, at the base of my skull. As you can imagine, since the pain is in my neck, (and head when I have a migraine ~ which seems almost as constant as the 24/7 pain in my neck), reading has become quite difficult as I can't look down for very long without straining my neck, and I can't lay down and hold the book above me because that puts added strain on my arms and my neck as well. I love to read though, I always have. Even going back as far as when I first learned to read. If I didn't have a book, I would read anything that I could get my hands on. The newspaper (of course I started with the comics), the ingredients on a cereal box, the milk carton, soup cans, shampoo and conditioner bottles (I would read these "repeatedly" pun intended), and, I almost hesitate to admit, (but I promised myself that this would be a no holds barred blog), that even, after all these years, the instructions from a tampon box!! (Really)!! Like everyone, I have a mental list of my favourite books. The ones that I have read and re-read over and over again. And I surprised myself to realize that I really only have three books that can remember reading more than once. (And that doesn't count the books that I've borrowed from the library and started to read, not realizing that I had recently taken them out and read them)! I honestly thought that there would be more (and perhaps there are and my foggy memory is preventing me from thinking of them at this time). The first book that I remember reading twice, goes back to when I was about 12 years old, and first read "Audrey Rose" by Frank De Felitta. I have since read it about 9 or 10 more times. I also just found out that it has been made into a movie and I can't wait to find it so I can watch it!! The next book is "And The Sea Will Tell" by Vincent Bugliosi ~ I've read this about 20 times and I own and have seen the movie about 5 times. "The Shack" by Wm Paul Young is my next favourite, I've read it about 3 times since I bought it a few years ago. And I would LOVE for there to be a movie made of this book! I can go back even further and name some of the books that I remember reading that, for one reason or another, have stayed in my memory. One in particular that I read during my pre-teen years, was called "Raven's Hollow." I have been looking for this book for YEARS and have still not found it. I think that it is about a boy who lives in the woods, carves out a tree for a home and lives off the land ~ I know, it sounds an awful lot like the book by Jean Craighead George's, but I really don't think that it is the same book, and unless the area in that book where Sam lives was called "Raven's Hollow," (which I doubt), it is NOT "My Side Of The Mountain." I am still at a loss as to how/where I can find it. I know I mentioned these books in my Flashback Friday "Memories" post of November 7, 2014, but they bear mentioning again. When I was younger, my parents read "The Hobbit" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" to my brother and I. When my daughter was old enough, I continued the tradition and read her the Narnia series along with the "Harry Potter" series, among others. Of course there are also the books I read when I was much younger, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and even younger, Charlotte's Web, Encyclopedia Brown and Flat Stanley. More recently, I have come across several books that I will eventually like to read again, and they include the "Gone" series, by Michael Grant, (and if you haven't read these books, you really should, it is such an incredible series and I cannot wait for it to be made into a movie! At one point a few years ago, I had gone through my borrowed library books and was desperate for something to read. My daughter gave me a book that I will forever be grateful to her for introducing me to. It was the first book in the series of the same name, "Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater. (And as I wrote this, I now need to re-read this series, soon ~ it is just that good)!! Another favourite series that I will most definitely be reading again is by L.A. Meyer. When I was recovering from emergency, exploratory surgery in Nova Scotia, my nephew, Riley (@riley_mccready), brought me the first book in this series, "Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary Jacky Faber, Ship's Boy'' has ~ OMG ~ when I checked Google to get the list of books in this series, I discovered that two more books have been published, finishing off the series with a total of 12 books!! I had been awaiting the release of the 10th book and thought I had been keeping track of the release date. Apparently, I was wrong, because now the final two books have been released!!! Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to read them!! [and how lucky am I?!? I just put a hold on the books at the library and I am number ONE in line to receive all three books]!!! Lately, I've been reading a lot of dystopian, post-apolcoliptic novels. (My favourites so far being "Hunger Games," the "Divergent" series, "The Maze Runner," "Delierium," "Matched," "The Chemical Garden," and the "Uglies" series). I have read many other lesser known books of this genre that I have thoroughly enjoyed as well. And although I'm an adult, I'm finding that I am really enjoying these type of novels for teens and young adults! But then again, I'll read anything!! So, my Wednesday, May 27, 2015 (even thought it's Friday already) QOT...W is: what is your favourite book? What is the earliest book you remember reading or being read to you? What top three books do you know that you will read again?? What book are you reading right now? A follow-up to this post will be posted as my Flashback Friday post, entitled FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~ May 29, 2015 ~ FOR THE LOVE OF READING ~ MOVIE ADAPTATION EDITION ~ #QOTW, #QOTD, #questions, #askme, #tellme, #orcanut #read, #books, #ShiverMaggieStiefvater, #SupportLocalLibrary, #ReadToMe, #ReadABook, #RaiseAReader #FavouriteBooksAndAuthors #AudreyRoseFrankDeFelitta #AndTheSeaWillTellVincentBugliosi #TheShackWmPaulYoung #MySideOfTheMountainJeanCraigheadGeorge #TheHobbit #TheChroniclesOfNarnia #HarryPotter #HardyBoysAndNancyDrew #CharlottesWeb #EncyclopediaBrownFlatStanley #GoneMichaelGrant #BloodyJackLAMeyer #DystopianPostApocalyptic #HungerGamesTheMazeRunnerTheUglies #DivergentDelieriumMatched #TheChemicalGarden