I’m taking part in the weekly Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by  Two Writing Teachers, where teachers write and share each Tuesday. Join in yourself or head over to check out what’s happening with other slicers. If you’re taking part in the SOL, leave a link to your post. I’d love to read it.

For the past several summers (and other school breaks), I have looked forward to diving headfirst into stacks of books with the #bookaday challenge thrown out by Donalyn Miller.  I don’t always succeed in reading a book every day of evert break from school, but I loved devouring a sea of words in book after book.

This summer, though, I find myself wanting to stay longer with the books I read. I finished Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys several days ago, but I’m not ready to let her story go.  I want to visit longer with Josie and wander the streets of the French Quarter with her as she schemes to find a way out of the past that haunts her.

I still have stacks and boxes of books that are waiting for me to read them (not to mention the unread books on my Kindle and the audio books I am downloading weekly from Sync YA).  I currently have a large enough supply of unread books that I could read a book a day for the rest of the summer and not run out.

But I also find myself wanting to be open to books that come into my life serendipitously.  Just the other weekend, a former pastor brought a book for me as his contribution to our cookout.  I didn’t even know Wendell Berry wrote short stories, but now a collection of them waits in my purse for me to dip into its pages.

I also want to explore books that make me think, and I want time to reflect on and absorb their words, even write in response to them.  I have been wanting to read books by Barbara Taylor Brown that reflect on faith, especially her newest book Learning to Walk in the Dark.  I even feel an urge to revisit Thoreau–maybe while I’m out hiking or camping.

I know after the pressure of this past teaching year, I need to slow down.  #Bookaday is not a competition where others will put me down for not meeting that goal, but I put the pressure on myself.  I want to savor the words I read and write this summer instead of rushing through them.  Books will be my companions as I wend my way through this summer.  So will my pen and notebook as I reflect on where I’ve been and where I may be headed.