Book Club

We are a family who loves books. We have shelves of books, piles of books, and closets full of books around our house.

There was a time when The Referee and I decorated in books. Bookshelves were our primary pieces of furniture. We looked forward to buying our college textbooks at the start of each semester, and we rarely sold them back to the bookstore at the semester's end. We justified ourselves by saying we were building a "reference" library for our fields of study.

As the kids and toys began to fill the house, I discovered that I did not have near as much time to read, and hardly the space to store so many unused books. I spent a full year purging all of the excess out of our house. We got rid of a ton of books.

And, then we acquired more.

When we started officially homeschooling, I started filling our home office/school room with school books, text books, workbooks, and all sorts of educational reading material. I filled up every shelf space that was once cleared in previous years. Now, we are in need of more bookshelves.

I have a friend who posted on Facebook that she had read over 60+ books in 2010. I commented back to her that it was more than a book a week, considering there are 52 weeks in a year. Then, and idea struck me:

We should read 50 books this year. That is just under a book a week.

I have been assigning the older kids to read a book a week and write a book report, during the school year this year.

I got to thinking that might be a great idea for me too. It would inspire me to get back into reading, a hobby that I have let go in the midst of motherhood. I thought the kids would enjoy it more if we did this goal as a family. The Referee was on board immediately.

So, I designed a spreadsheet to keep track of each book we read. At first, it was a casual thing. Then, the other night, I was updating the information, and I made a comment that The Referee was ahead of the goal. He reads a lot. That peaked Jersey #1's competitive nature, and she started to whine about how it was not fair, started to complain about the book she was reading, then started to plot and scheme ways to get ahead of him. She scanned the shelves for a simpler book to read real quick, so she could catch up to him. I suspect a spark has been lit in her, as now she is planning book after book.

I am not going to dare tell her at this point that her Dad reads constantly. He has books in paper form and electronic form. He reads on his laptop, on his phone, and now on the Kindle he received for Christmas. It will not surprise me if he surpasses the goal. It will be fun to watch Jersey #1 try to read more just to beat him. A little friendly competition to achieve a worthwhile goal.

A while back, I suggested to The Referee that he and I should read the same book and then take the time to discuss it. This seemed like a fun activity to help us reconnect more. I picked the first book, Love and Respect, then The Referee picked the 2nd book. Then, life got in the way, and we never finished the book or talked about it.

So, I started out my reading list this year with that unfinished book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

This book selection has a story. The Referee thinks Stephen Covey is brilliant. He has had the benefit of attending seminars put on by Franklin Covey representatives, with past employers. The book, the people, and the company have a wealth of ideas for success that The Referee would like to acquire.

The amusing part to me is that The Referee is convinced that I have these skills already. Naturally. He has told me this for years. He wanted me to read the book and verify that he was correct, and that I do the things outlined in this book on my own. I have always shook my head and rolled my eyes, thinking he was silly for thinking there is a secret to success in a book like that.

I am still amused. It is a good book. All due respect to Mr. Covey. His skills appear to be keys to success. He has some great points about leading a balanced life. I love the win/win approach. I stink at "sharpening the saw," so I still have to work on that.

And, yes, I do find the skills outlined in the book to be fairly natural. Actually, the book seems a bit long-winded to go into such depth to explain something that strikes me as so simple. But, knowing The Referee's perspective, I realize that it is not so simple to everyone.

This book is filled with great, inspiring quotes, from incredible people. It also gave me ideas for encouraging a stronger work ethic in myself and my kids.