Top Ten Bookish Memories

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. There is a new subject each week and this week's topic is "Top Ten Bookish Memories"

1. Meeting Ally Carter at a book signing

I had the chance to hear Ally Carter speak at PLA last year and then she signed my copy of Out of Sight, Out of Time. I am a huge fan of her books and of course I was tongue tied when I met her but she was really nice about it. She is a big supporter of libraries and librarians and hopefully if I ever meet her again, I will be able to speak more coherently!

2. Hearing Deanna Raybourn and other romance authors speak at PLA

I got to sit in on a romance author panel that was really entertaining and interesting and as I love the Lady Julia mysteries it was an added bonus to see Deanna Raybourn and find out more about her writing and research.

3. Standing in line at Borders to pick up the last Harry Potter book and talking to people about what we thought was going to happen and how much we love the books

It was kind of surreal to be standing in a long queue to pick up my preordered book and just talk to random strangers while waiting in line. Everyone was really nice and talking about how much the books meant to them, etc. It was kind of cool to be part of that.

4.  The Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince book release party at my library

We had a program for kids and teens and it was so much fun! We had copies of the book to give away and a trivia contest and the kids and teens dressed up as Harry Potter characters. I think that is one of my favorite library programs I've ever been a part of. People of all ages were just so excited about the book.

5. Watching J.K. Rowling read the first chapter of Deathly Hallows

I remember just sitting at my computer in awe as she read that scene where Snape and Yaxley meet outside Malfoy Manor. I am so glad they did a webcast so those of us in the States could see it too.

6. My intense weekend of reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I was in grad school at the time for a summer session and I didn't get any studying done that weekend. I also didn't go anywhere or go online or listen to the radio because I was afraid that there would be spoilers for the book!

7.  Being part of the Barnes and Noble Book Discussion of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince led by John Granger

I had a lot of fun participating in this online book discussion group. One person even guessed correctly what would happen in the end (the Snape/Lily relationship, Harry as Horcrux, etc.). It was really strange when I read the final book to see how many of the predictions happened. 

8.  When my fourth grade teacher read books out loud to our class

Mrs. Pratt is the one who introduced me to Judy Blume when she read the Fudge books to us. It was so much fun for us to listen to the stories that way and I'm glad she did it. Those are some of my favorite memories of middle school.

9. Reading on my summer vacations

As a kid and teen, I had a lot of fun when my family went to Canada every year to visit relatives and part of the time was always spent reading the books I lugged with me (one year it was the Jane Austen anthology and another year it was Shakespeare or Greek mythology) or reading my cousins' old books. One of my favorites was discovering an old novelization of Star Wars! 

10. Buying books for the first time

Growing up, I always wanted books as gifts but rarely every got what I wanted! It was something special to finally be able to buy my own books. The earliest books I remember buying: little $2 or $3 Nancy Drew novels!

Honorable mention:

Staying up till two in the morning on a school night to finish a book because I just had to know what happened (and getting busted by my parents)
Reading Ramona the Pest and deciding that I wanted a new shiny pair of rain boots too
Reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time
Any time I discover a new favorite author