Yesterday I was part of a Facebook party. I posed the question, where was your favorite place to read when you were a child?

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do during the summer was to go outside and read. For most kids my age, summer reading was a real chore. Not for me. There were trees on the side of the house and I used to throw out a blanket and sit under the shade, losing myself for hours in faraway places with compelling characters who captured my attention. When I close my eyes, I can still feel the breeze, smell the freshly cut grass and feel of the book pages. I still love to read and can be swept away pretty much anywhere I open a book.

I started reading with the Bobbsey Twins. Remember Nan and Bert, Flossie and Freddie? Then I moved on to Nancy Drew. I was always drawn to mysteries or, when I got older, a good romance story. I can’t recall the hours I spent in the library during the summer, leaving the building with a stack of books in my arms. I either ended up locked in my bedroom, lounging on on my bed as I poured through a book, or back outside under the trees. What is it about fresh air and reading going hand in hand?

When I got to college I really didn’t have time to read anything but school books. Not exactly page-turners, but for that period of time, very important, so I buckled down and stayed away from fiction.

My husband is also a big reader, so when we got married we exchanged mysteries or thrillers. Then the kids came along and although I kept up my reading habit, I also read to the girls from the time they were babies. They never complained when I plopped them in the wagon and lugged them to the library. It opened up a whole new world of reading for them.

The backyard is still a place I  love to curl up with a good book.

and then there’s the beach…

Today I spend my days creating stories, but at night, I still hold a book in my hands. My husband laughs and asks how I can read after spending the day looking at the computer screen while writing my own book. I tell him, I’m reading someone else’s novel and it helps me relax. I couldn’t imagine a life without books. How about you?

Tara Randel is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of fifteen novels. Family values, a bit of mystery and, of course, love and romance, are her favorite themes, because she believes love is the greatest gift of all. She is currently working on new stories for Harlequin Heartwarming, The Business of Weddings series, as well as books in the Amish Inn Mysteries. Visit Tara at www.tararandel.com. Like her on Facebook at Tara Randel Books