This article was originally published on Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews
Reading about Laurie Jenkins got me thinking about my own life and love of reading. When I was a little girl, I didn’t have anyone who read to me, nor did we have very many books in our home. At the time, my mom was doing her best to raise three children on her own. Things changed when she remarried, and we moved from a small farm community in Central Washington to a new planned community in Northern California.
In sixth grade, I attended La Fiesta Elementary School its inaugural year. We lived in “L” section where all the street names started with “L”—hence, La Fiesta, the party school! I was lucky enough to have Mr. Sanders as my teacher. He was the best teacher I ever had. He wasn’t easy, but he was tremendously dedicated and read to us every day after lunch. He read great books like The Egypt Game, Johnny Tremain, and My Brother Sam Is Dead. I looked forward to the story time more than recess.
Because of Mr. Sanders, I started reading on my own and raced through the Betsy series by Maud Hart Lovelace that I had discovered in our school library. It was because of this that he decided I should be the official library helper, which meant I was allowed to leave class a couple hours every week to help the school librarian organize and shelve books. Somehow I always managed to miss Science—it was awesome!
Thus began my love of books. Although I have read a good number of non-fiction books on a variety of topics, it is stories that I truly adore. I love nothing more than to escape into a book and go into another world, another life—to discover a book that I can’t put down and find myself reading at three in the morning when I should be sleeping.
In no particular order, here is a brief list of some of the authors who repeatedly kept me going in the middle of the night: John Jakes, Taylor Caldwell, Jane Austen, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Rachel Gibson, Henry James, Somerset Maugham, Laura Dave, and Philippa Gregory.
Who has recently kept you up in the middle of the night?
Originally Published January 12, 2018 on Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews
Lisa Slabach is the author of Degrees of Love, her debut novel, and is currently working on her third full-length manuscript and a collection of short stories. When she isn't writing, Lisa works for a Fortune 500 Company, leading a sales team in the financial industry. She lives California. 
