When I was in elementary school, every kid looked forward to 5th grade because we got our 5th grade books. From Kindergarten all the way through our 5th grade promotion, our teachers and parents would save our "special" work that we had done-whether it was nice drawings, great essays, or the A+ we somehow managed to get on an assignment-it was in there! Before we had our books bound, we were able to pick out our own title, and typically it was a 3 word title where each word began with the same letter as your name. Mine was "Erin's Extraordinary Experiences," or at least something very close to that. I still have it, but am pretty sure it is somewhere at my parents' house, a.k.a. the "black hole!" Or, it is in our closet here at the apartment, but that is neither here nor there. I do not think the school is able to afford doing this amazing project anymore, but it made my experience so much richer, and now I have this awesome book I can show my kids (or nieces and nephews, whatever will happen!).
Creating this blog made me think of the anxiety I had while trying to pick out the perfect name. A name says it all and makes a person decide whether or not the book will be worth opening. In my case, I look at the cover and do often judge a book in that way! Sure, I know it doesn't mean a book will actually be good, but the cover art can be so cool and makes me think that the author put a lot of thought into how their book would be as a whole-words and cover. And maybe the author does not get to choose how a book looks from the cover. It took me a while to pick out the simple, "Erin's Bookshelf," and I am hoping it alludes to the fact that a person's bookshelf says a lot about them. For Sam (my husband) and myself, we have a lot of classics, Science Fiction (which Sam really enjoys and I need to give a try!), Art History, Architecture, mysteries, and Cookbooks. It really does say a lot about the person! I'm hoping this blog will show who I am and what I look forward to in the coming years.
