(Now that things have slowed down a bit and it’s officially our “off-season” [until January!! Yay!], I’m really excited to spend a bit more time blogging and sharing more of who I am and what I love! I think that when my clients know me better, they trust me more and their photography experience is that much more wonderful! So, here’s a new “Favorite Things” blog series, highlighting random things that I’m really enjoying! )

I love books. Can I say it again? I LOVE books. If I’m not taking the time to read at least a little bit every day, it’s a sign for me that my life is pretty off-balance, because reading is so life-giving for me!! I love browsing used bookstores, and a perfect day for me would always involve a bookstore and books! Some of my closest friends and I have spent hours together, just meandering through musty-smelling stores with ancient stacks of used books. That is seriously a dream for me. I try to keep our house as minimal and clutter-free as possible, but books are the one exception! I want my kids to love books as much as I do, so I decorate with books, I cover the walls with books, and I make sure we have books in every room of the house! (Side note: Marty is the exact opposite of me in pretty much every way, and his feelings about books and reading are no exception. He sweetly tolerates my stacks of books piled all over the house, builds me more shelves, and only gives me the tiniest little side-eye when more book-shaped packages arrive on the front porch haha!)

Want to win my love forever?! Give me a book. Want to get my attention? Tell me something awesome you just read. Want to intrigue me? Give me your best theory on Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman. (Am I way too deep into nerd territory? Yes?! Haha!!) I ask for books every year for Christmas. I have a running list on Amazon of books I’d love to own someday, and if Marty gives me a book instead of a bouquet of flowers on Valentine’s Day, I’m the happiest girl in the world! We love our library, and if you’ve followed me on Instagram at all, you know that our library loves me, mostly because I’m the world’s worst library-book-returner, and the world’s best library-fine-payer 😉

I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, and I’m so thankful to my parents for cultivating a love for books in my life. My mom always took us to the library, bought us books, and read to us as little kids. My dad would read us biographies before bedtime, and my mom read me the Chronicles of Narnia when I was three! We weren’t a particularly “brainy” family — we played sports and watched TV and did normal things!! — but I always appreciated that my parents prioritized reading, not by emphasizing it or talking about it a lot, but just by making it part of how we did life as a family.

In another post, I’ll share more about exactly what I love to read, but for now, you know the important stuff. If you come over and ask me for a book recommendation, I’ll give you three books to take home, plus a few that you might like just in case. I’ve forced books on friends who have turned around and brought them right back, unread, two months later: “I only do audiobooks, but you were so enthusiastic, I couldn’t say no!!”

Non-readers, beware. Just avoid the whole topic if you don’t want me to talk about it 😉