Reading a big girl book

The other day I went out and bought my mom the book Traveling With Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor. It's a dual memoir written by mother and daughter while they travel through Greece and France as they both struggle with changes in their lives. There are two reasons I bought this. One, my mom is a big fan of Sue Monk Kidd's other books like Dance of the Dissident Daughter and The Secret Life of Bees. Two, I opened a magazine to a mini interview about this book, and knew instantly that my mom had to read it. But that's another story. I should also note that this is a mother/daughter memoir. Another reason it was perfect. You can read more about the book here.

Nerd confession time.

We decided to read it aloud to each other. In my defense, this isn't my normal routine with books, but there is one exception - Harry Potter. I read that to my mom on a road trip once, and I have read the entire series to my now 9 yr old niece, of which we're only half way through book seven at the moment. (so please don't tell me how it ends!)

Anyone else read this way? Because you really need to try it. It's fun. And I mean reading to someone who isn't too young to read for themselves. I do that pretty much every day when I read to Nathan. (who is turning 2 this month!) There's something really special about reading to a fellow reader and sharing in the story together. My sister and I had good intentions of reading Catching Fire aloud but that didn't work out due to timing, but can you even imagine how stinking fun that would have been? Because let me tell you how incredible it is reading the last Harry Potter book for the first time with my niece. I get to experience it with her instead of knowing what's ahead like I did with the other six.

No pun intended, but it's magical.

I hope I get at least one of you to try reading to a friend, a boyfriend, an older child, a co-worker, the babysitter, the cable man...I don't care who, just give it a shot. And I'll share more thoughts on Traveling With Pomegranates as we go because I think the fact that a best selling author opens her heart on trying to reconnect with her writing is going to be pretty inspiring. And aren't wondering where the hell the title came from?