Because of A Book with Alexandra Cenni

 

This week we take a break from our authors to bring you a blogger.  Alexandra Cenni, or Lexie as she is known on the web, blogs about books at Poisoned Rationality, and personally at Lotuseyes.  Go visit her!!  Here's a little about Lexie, in her own words.  I'm just your run of the mill book-obsessed girl.  I'm the oldest of four kids, I read voraciously, studying to be a paralegal and I love working with younger kids.  I mostly read fantasy (of all sub categories), historical romances, paranormal romances, young adult (most sub divisions there of) and manga.   

And now, help me welcome Lexie to the blog today.

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My friends have a couple of jokes and they go like this: 'Hello my name is Lexie and I like books more than I like you' and 'Did someone say books? As in the very thing that Lexie lives for?'

Why? Because the very first thing I unpack when I move and the last thing I pack up are my books. For the last twelve years I’ve asked for more books then anything else on my birthday and Christmas lists. I’ve been known to give up my bed to make room for my books (I hate stacking them on the ground) and when I had to sleep in a bunk bed my little single bed was surrounded on all sides by boxes of books so I could only sleep on my side. It's also quite possible I love my books more than I love my boyfriend, parents, friends or siblings.

I don’t say these things to brag, they’re just facts. They’re who I am and who I choose to be. I could have been a ballet dancer or a soccer player or a drama student or any number of things I dabbled in growing up. Except that every time any of those things got serious--and by serious I mean began eating into my reading time--I dropped it quicker then a hot potato. Nothing came before my being able to read as often as I liked.

So its with some difficulty I tried to figure out what book made me this way. I can point to books that were important in shaping my reading tastes, or books that were part of an event in my childhood that encapsulates that memory, but I honestly can not remember what book made me want to read so voraciously.

Was it Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Leaves from a Child's Garden of Verses' (illustrated by Donna Green)? Or maybe Little House in Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Or no, it must have been The Complete Mother Goose! No that's not quite right, I'm sure I read Bulfinch's Mythology before Mother Goose...do you see what I mean? Like a needle in a haystack the more I try to remember the farther I push the memory.

That's not the important part though surely. What's important is that I've had a love of books and reading since I can remember. One of my dad's favorite stories to tell new friends is how I would sit in front of one of his huge books (he has a lot of big academic historical books about Rome and Ancient Cultures), open it up to a page and then 'read' it out loud. I couldn't be more then two he says, and thus not really reading the book at all, but I had such an intense look on my face and would fly into such a tizzy if disturbed, that it was the cutest thing he had ever seen.

My ultimate fantasy (aside from ruling the world and having a harem of hot men at my beck and call) is to just to read all the time. No matter what I'm doing, or where I'm at or who I'm with I want to read without problems. Sadly bosses frown on this sort of behavior (or at least mine do)...and my family/friends/boyfriend do as well.

That's okay though! ::wink:: Luckily I only need three hours of sleep!

Thank you for stopping by today, Lexie!!!

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Learn more about Lexie's book picks!

About A Child's Garden of Verses:  In this well-known collection of poems, master poet Robert Louis Stevenson captures all the joy and magic of childhood.

Buy it at Amazon
Buy it at Powell's
Buy it at IndiBound

 

About Little House in the Big Woods:  Meet Laura Ingalls, the little girl who would grow up to write the Little House books.
Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.

Buy it at Amazon
Buy it at Powell's 
Buy it at IndieBound

About The Complete Mother Goose:  This collection of children's favorites features rich, full-color illustration throughout. Ideal for reading aloud, or for children to read on their own.

Buy it at Amazon
Buy it at IndieBound

About Bulfinch's Mythology:  Here are the worlds most-loved stories, in a dynamic visual tour de force for todays readers. Each timeless myth is superbly presented in story form and enhanced with original art work by world-renowned artist Giovanni Caselli. Though Bulfinchs has been heralded for more than a century, it has never been published in so beautiful and accessible a format. Evocative four-color illustrations, many full-page, bring to life key events and characters of these universal tales and sagasfrom the Greek and Roman pantheon of gods to the heroes of the Crusades, from the exploits of Robin Hood to the feats of Richard the Lionheart. As enjoyable now as when Bulfinch first assembled them, these selections come from a variety of worksOvids classic Metamorphoses, Egyptian myths, Eastern mythology, and Hindu, Norse, and Celtic sources. Together they form a remarkable tapestry of human endeavor: dreams, illusions, adventures, loves lost and loves found.

Buy it at Amazon
Buy it at Powell's
Buy it at IndieBound