About our Contributors: Rindee

I am a mother of 4 young children ages 1-9. I really enjoyed reading in Jr. High, but after that I filled my time with volleyball, choir, orchestra, and working. Mostly what I read in high school was required reading for my English classes. As I entered college, marriage and motherhood, works of non-fiction seemed to dominate my repertoire as I tried to get a handle on life and tried to figure out all I didn't know. I told myself that there wasn't enough time in this life to waste some of it on silly stories that weren't even real.

When I was pregnant with my first child I did a lot of reading to learn how to be a great mother. A common theme that seemed to repeat itself was the importance of reading to your children. My husband and I created a "literature budget" and vowed to buy one children's book each month to gradually build our library and fill it with books we enjoyed as children. I also made a promise to myself that if my child ever asked me to read them a book that I would stop whatever I was doing and hold them as I read their story of choice. My children love to read and have been early readers.

Four years ago I was put in charge our our Relief Society's Book Club and had to attend to monitor the subject matter. In that book club I read books of other genres that I would never chosen myself and was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed every one of them. I now try to balance non-fiction along with fiction and have found that I can even learn things from those "silly stories." I also discovered that I love to read! I'm always reading or learning about something. Although I never would consider myself an avid reader, my husband told me once that "You read more than most."

I am picky about quality and content for me and my children. If I'm not enjoying a book, I have nothing against not finishing it. There is too much good literature out there to waste my time on garbage. I am also sensitive about the content in books. I don't enjoy excessive language, descriptive violence, detailed intimacy, or infidelity in my books. I feel that if these elements need to be included in a story that they can be included in a tactful way. I like to surround myself with inspirational stories, wisdom, and hope.

Along with non-fiction, my favorite genera is Speculative Fiction. I enjoy reading about hypothetical situations that are realistic. Some of my favorite examples of these books are the "Great & Terrible" series by Chris Stewart and "Life as We Knew it" by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I also enjoy Fantasy books such as "The Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkein, "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull, and the "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer.