Yikes! September!

Where did that amazing summer go? In less than one week, school starts up again and summer reading is just a memory.

A sweet memory for some of us, and here's why. Seattle Public Library offered Book Bingo! Did you hear about that? The library issued bingo cards in which each cell represents a specific book category: NW author, published the year you were born, short story collection, borrowed from the library, etc. You fill in the cells with titles of what you read, and with each "bingo" your name is entered in a drawing.

Did you play? We did in the library. All of us got our bingo cards at the Judy Blume Seattle Arts & Lectures event last June (Now that was fun!! She's amazing!) and spent the summer filling in the blanks. Not to brag or anything, but I'm one short of a blackout and I've got my (banned) book in hand!

Admittedly, I'm an avid reader at any time, and can get a little competitive about these things, but even so, this was energizing for the three of us and for some of our colleagues and friends. In fact, Lisa organized a Facebook page for our group of enthusiasts to track each other's progress and give book recommendations.

I read a lot of wonderful books this summer, some I might not have picked up but for this challenge (Out of my comfort zone: Bomb by Steve Sheinkin); renewed my love of reading; achieved one of my summer goals; and connected with friends around books.

All in all, an amazing summer -- and that's just the part around reading! How about you?