So, today is a day for new things: this is the first time I’m going to try to blog from my phone (it’s storming like crazy here, and I’ve turned off all the electronics, including the wireless router) and this is my first Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Thank you Estella Society for hosting this event!!!!

Day One is about introducing myself by sharing five books that represent my life and who I am. Hmmmm… I’m going to have to think about this for a few minutes.

Ok. Here goes!

I love reading, but I also really love words. Some words I like because of their mouth feel, like “muffin” or “foot”, and others for their meaning like ” sesquipedalian” or “Panglossian“. With that, I think The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester definitely fits in this list.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been a passionate animal lover, especially the pets that have come into my life. Today I live with three animals: two little senior dogs and one fluffy street cat.  They are my children, and they rule my life. And I’m totally OK with that. I thought If Dogs Could Talk was appropriate, considering one of my pack ironically chewed it up a few years ago.

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up, and I was in my late 20s by a time I discovered the field of counseling psychology. I know this is a new level of nerdy, but I’m putting a textbook in my list: Contemporary Behavior Therapy by Michael Spiegler. I could’ve gone with something by Freud or one of the “famous” psychologists, but I’m a behaviorist, so I figured a behavior therapy book was the best fit.

When I was an adolescent I hit my reading stride, and discovered that I really enjoyed horror and science fiction, and I became a huge Dean Koontz fan. I must’ve read dozens of his works during junior and senior high school (I eventually branched out beyond one author). I can’t remember exactly the first Dean Koontz novel ever read, but I vividly remember binge reading The Funhouse in about a day when I was a teen.

And finally, although I was an adult before I was introduced to the Wizarding World, I am an unapologetic Potterhead and proud Gryffindor. I close my list with the first book in that series since that’s where I first met Harry, Ron, and Hermione ( my spirit witch): Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling.

That’s my five! Thanks for stopping by and reading about me and my books. Please visit me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I love connecting with other readers and bloggers!