Monday

Habits: So I say to you, read!

So I say to you, read! Read! Something will stick in the mind, be diligent and good will come of it. Rev. Thomas Shepard, in a letter to his son, read by me in Sarah Vowell's book The Wordy Shipmates.


For reasons I don't quite understand, I was piling up books to read and then not reading them. It had become a habit - finding good books and not reading.

Earlier this summer I decided to correct the habit and read through my stash of books.


Good thing I started reading, otherwise I might not have recognized Roger Williams when I saw him.


But, since I was in the middle of The Wordy Shipmates when my family took a field trip to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in the Bronx, I recognized him right away. Okay, I had to read the name plate first, but  it was like sighting a celebrity.

I said, "Hey, I know this guy! This is the Rhode Island guy. He and the other Puritan minister people didn't get along because of theology differences or something like that, and he was banished. They banished him - and he was a Puritan too! Then the one guy - Winthrop? Yeah, Winthrop warned him about something or other. It was winter when he was banished and first he could stay, but then he couldn't. And then Williams started Rhode Island - not right away, but later. I know who he is. Roger Williams! Isn't that so cool?"

My husband said what he usually says after my narrations, "What are you talking about?"

Then my daughter gave a more articulate description of Roger Williams. Turns out she remembers reading about him in This Country of Ours a couple of years ago, and she's way better at narrating than I am. Darn homeschoolers.



I might not have narrated The Wordy Shipmates well, but something from the book stuck in my mind, as Rev. Thomas Shepard told his son would happen if he read.

So I say to you, read! Read!

4 comments:

  1. Okay, so Sarah Vowell is one of my favorite authors. Witty, snarky and an atheist - she never fails to make me think from a different angle. Assassination Vacation and Unfamiliar Fishes were worth the read, too. Say, maybe I should blog about it? Look at that - I completely missed the point of your post because I wanted to say something about Sarah. Forgive me?

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  2. Nancy, I can't help but read Sarah Vowell's books with her voice in my head - do you listen to her on the radio? Memorable voice. :)

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  3. Your post at the beginning of the summer has had me doing just what you are suggesting. I have been reading, reading, reading. I would have to count them, but I think I have read 8 books this summer. Of cours, it is easier for me to read than for most because I do audios while I 'm cooking/cleaning. I have enjoyed reading my books. By listening to some of the audios it has caused my children to take an interest in some of the books.

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  4. Hooray! Traci is back! I don't listen to many books on audio, but I really like listening to radio programs. My favorite is "Selected Shorts."

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