Readers & Writers at the Fiction Readers Summit

“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” – Lena Dunham

I know all these wonderful readers and writers that I spent a couple of days with last week at the Fiction Readers Summit would agree with Lena Dunham on that extra day for reading. But not having that extra day isn’t slowing some of these readers down. The authors were given a kind of bingo game with different things to find a reader who could sign the sheet that they had done whatever the square indicated. Things like having a library card or wearing your favorite color or reading a book in one day or more than one book a week. I had no problem at all finding someone to sign my bingo sheet for that reading a book in one day and I could have found multiple readers to sign the sheet about reading more than one book a week. These were dedicated readers who loved books. I had such fun getting to know them and the other writers as we talked books.

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

They definitely agreed with the quotes below here too as they talked about their favorite stories and characters. I ended up doing a lot of smiling when many of them said they had read some of my stories. And I kept smiling when others said they were anxious to give one of my books a try. I felt the same way about the other writers’ books when they talked about their stories and characters.

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”– Walt Disney

“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.” – Carl Sagan

“Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people – people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.” – E.B. White

Many of the readers and some of the writers too had young children who they proudly said loved to read.  My children are all adults but they all love to read. Even better, they are passing on their love of reading to their children. Books are important to them. My youngest son recently sold his house and moved to a new house. In the process of selling their house, they eliminated clutter by packing up all their books and storing them in a storage unit. Well, except mine. 🙂 Those they treated with special care. LOL.

Anyway, after they moved into their new house, they had a lot of painting and fixing up to do. So they waited a while to go fetch their books out of the storage place and they were too busy to visit the library. My thirteen-year-old granddaughter was distraught  with nothing to read. I gave her a new book for her birthday and she read it three times before she got to go back to the library. And that was in the midst of helping paint her room and all the rooms in the house.  She also read some of my stories since those books were the first to find a shelf in their new house.  So I’m thankful that my grandchildren have fathers and mothers who read to them and passed along a love of books.

“You may have tangible wealth untold. Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be — I had a mother who read to me.” – Strickland Gillilan

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” – Emilie Buchwald

Writers are readers too and it was a pleasure getting to talk books and more with all the writers there too. Here I am with Susie Finkbeiner who helped make the Fiction Readers Summit happen along with Chris Jager of the Baker Book House and others on their committee. I recently read Susie’s newest book, All Manner of Things. So we were ready to take a selfie and talk books. And since Susie has a great sense of humor, I know she’d enjoy these last two quotes. She got me to take a selfie with her making an excited face and me looking sad. I’m almost afraid to peek at her Facebook page to see if she posted it. LOL.

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” – Groucho Marx

“Books to the ceiling, Books to the sky, My pile of books is a mile high. How I love them! How I need them! I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them.” – Arnold Lobel

We ended the Fiction Readers Summit at the Baker Book House with many of us shopping for books and more. All of us who didn’t live nearby wished we did so that we could shop there every week. We loved the bookstore. But the good thing is that we can “go” shopping there online too. Check out their great website here.

Which book and reading quote do you like best?

As always, thanks for reading.

(Quotes are all gleaned from https://bookroo.com/blog/the-100-best-quotes-about-reading)