Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Peanuts or Romance? Why Pick Only One!


Can I just say I think it's really funny of me to write about something I haven't done yet.  It's now day 5 of my staycation, and I have no clue what I'm going to do.  I would like to say that I will sit back, relax and take it easy, but I'm pretty sure that won't be what I do.  Today will probably be the day I get caught up on the house cleaning I avoided the day before.  I may end up doing laundry, always a good time.  For that matter I may break down, fire up the computer, log into my blog and write a review or two that are due later this week.  Either way, I'll probably start getting myself ready for returning to work on Thursday.  I love my job, so by now, I'm probably itching to get back to it.  Though I do understand the need to step away from it for a few days and recharge.

Today, I would like to turn the blog over to a blogger that I'm had pleasure of knowing from almost the beginning, and if I had a long lost sister out there, Michelle would be her.  Michelle of The True Book Addict, and about a million other blogs, has truly become one of my favorite people on the face of the planet.  She is an amazing blogger, writer, mother, and friend who has the energy of a hundred other people going at full steam.  She juggles more than I can ever fathom, and she never drops a ball.  I admire and respect her and I hope we stay friends for years to come.  Now that I'm done gushing about her, go on over to her blog and say hi.


I'd like to thank my good friend, Ryan, for having me as a guest today.  Now, since it's summer, I thought I would share a bit of nostalgia from the summers of my past.  When I was a preteen, and in my early teens, I went through a period of habitual summer reading.  Summer used to be my favorite season (until I moved to the South with the sweltering summer climate) and I looked forward to it every year.  My main focus in the years I mentioned above was getting plenty of sun and doing lots of reading.


My first order of business was to pull out my set of Peanuts books by Charles M. Schultz.  I had the whole set and they looked just like this image.  The books were full of the comic strips that Schultz wrote and I would spend hours reading these and laughing my butt off.  Snoopy never failed to crack me up.  I usually managed to read the whole set every summer and, you know what?  I still have this entire set.  My mom saved them and they have been enjoyed by my sister's kids and now mine.  Who knows...maybe I'll get them out this summer and bring back a tradition.


My other young adult summer reading habit is a bit strange to me now because I really have not had much use for romance novels for a very long time.  But back then, I had a thing for....Harlequin Romances.  Eek! I'm serious.  I had a stack of those books (I think I ordered them from a book club or something...they had one back then) and I used to read at least one or two of them every summer.  I guess I was like other girls that age.  Full of romantic ideas and illusions.  Not that I'm faulting anyone that still enjoys the romance genre, but, in my case, what a difference a number of years has made.  Now I'm just a cynical old adult.  I found this cover image and it is exactly like those books I used to read all those years ago.  When I look at that cover, it brings back memories of myself as I soaked up the sun on the patio, reading away in my romance novel, and dreaming of my future Prince Charming.

What was your summer reading habit when you were young?

10 comments:

JaneGS said...

Aw, summer reading. It's so cool that you still have your complete set of Peanuts comics--what a nostalgic treasure.

I've never been much of a romance reader myself, but sweltering summer seems the best time to indulge in guilty pleasures :)

I used to sit in the sun and read too--those were the days when we put on baby oil to burn in a good tan! Being the youngest of six with four older brothers, I read a lot of their books--mostly things like Ripley's Believe it or Not, Strange Lives, and The Three Investigators, not to mention their hockey books with titles like "Pass that Puck!"

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Jane--I know! The baby oil...with iodine! We cared nothing about skin cancer back then, did we?

I've never been a romance reader either. In fact, I never read them, except those few months in the summer. It was weird. =O)

I liked books like Ripley's Believe it or Not. Also, the Guinness Book of World Records was also a fave!

Staci said...

What a fun post!! Summer to me was swimming, riding my bike, hanging out with friends, and of course reading! One summer I read the entire Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series and then moved on to Trixie Belden.

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Staci, sounds just like what I would do. I actually think I did read all the Nancy Drews one summer when I was younger. I still have my set too. And one old Trixie Belden book that was my mom's!

Heidenkind said...

Fun post! I would go through my mom's Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels, and Emilie Loring books every summer. I've had a hankering to read some Mary Stewart lately, actually!

Yvette said...

I didn't discover Harlequin romance novels until after I'd exhausted mine and the library's supply of Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt. But one thing leads to another and I soon was reading romances. Not only Harlequin, but Silhouette and any other that took my fancy. I enjoyed them.

I still have a stash of romances which I occasionally still dip into.

Yes, I admit it. :)

But as a kid I was reading Nancy Drew books and then Agatha Christie. That's about all I remember. Though I know I read other writers and many different sorts of books. The truth is I read all the time and I especially liked books that took me out of myself.

Fun post, Michelle. Enjoyed reading it.

Yvette said...

Michelle, I've tried to leave a comment on TRUE BOOK ADDICT's main page, but it just won't go through. I can't even type anything into the box. At any rate, just wanted you to know I visited and signed up as a follower. I too love historical fiction. Wanted to recommend a few books, but I'll wait until the snafu is fixed. I'm sure it's just a temporary thingy.

Ryan said...

Is it horrible that I've never read the Peanuts books. I've read the comic strip and the seen the TV specials, but that's about it. Thanks so much for your post Michelle!

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

I always had my nose in a book... even then. Pretty much everything Judy Blume wrote was in my hands and of course VC Andrews. Anyone remember Flowers In The Attic.... when I think back on that book series now I have to laugh... it was actually pretty racy for the day and age....

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Tasha--I was just talking to Jillian at A Room of One's Own about Mary Stewart. Her Merlin/Arthurian series is one of the best. Books I will definitely reread.

Yvette--glad to see I wasn't the only one who enjoyed Harlequins! Yes, Nancy Drew was always a favorite too.

Thanks for visiting my blog and following too. I had that same problem the other day when I tried to reply to a comment. Hopefully, it is just temporary. I really don't like the embedded comment form, but that's the only way to get the reply feature. Blogger really needs to innovate more!

Ryan--you're more than welcome! I hope you had a terrific vacation. =O)

Sheila--I used to read V.C. Andrews back then too. It was racy for the age I was when I read it. Liberal parents!