I have to confess that I did not do much during the summer months while I was growing up (save for trips to camp, or the occasional trip to SeaWorld, Cedar Point or Kings Island.) One of the things that I did do, was participate in the annual summer reading challenge that’s held by the Columbus Metropolitan Library. As a child, I read the usual kid stuff (such as Dr. Seuss, The Boxcar Children, and books on nature and science.) I also participated in the Read It program by Pizza Hut as a child as well, and watched Reading Rainbow and Wishbone on PBS Kids.

When I was in middle school and high school, my tastes in books changed. I was more into science fiction (namely Star Wars) architecture (as that was working towards becoming while in high school), and Hockey (as a direct result of the Blue Jackets, and I was playing house league hockey at the time.) Sadly, while in college, the only books I had time for were my textbooks. I also was not an active participant in the library’s reading challenges.

When my family moved out of the home that I grew up in, most of the books that I had were sold to Half-Priced Books or donated to charity. When we lived over off of Henderson Road, the closest libraries were Whetstone (2 Miles from the duplex we lived in.) and the Lane Road branch of the Upper Arlington Public Library. The UA Library at the time I was living nearby had e-readers pre-loaded with material to check out, and I took advantage of that a number of times while over there.

When we moved back into the neighborhood that I grew up in, my love of reading had somewhat diminished. That changed two years ago, when I participated in the Summer Reading Challenge from the Columbus Library for the first time in a decade. After a down year last year, I am getting ready to start my Summer Reading Challenge for this year, and for the first time ever, I will use this blog to monitor my progress.

Happy Reading Everyone

Chris