Matilda + new book recs!

I was watching Matilda last weekend for what must have been the 10th time. The movie celebrated its 30th anniversary, and it seemed like an honorable thing to do. Plus, I absolutely love Matilda. Right from the start I remembered why the book has always been one of my favorites. The dialogue after Matilda asks her dad for a book (at age 4) is one of the most memorable to me: 

"Harry Wormwood (dad): A book? What do you want a book for?

Matilda Wormwood: To read.

Harry Wormwood: To read? Why would you want to read when you got the television set sitting right in front of you? There's nothing you can get from a book that you can't get from a television faster."

Doesn't this sound so familiar? 

The combo of small attention spans and too many options of television entertainment, the current overload of screen-time consumption has passed any limit I had ever imagined. For me, the worst part is that I did not even realize what was happening. From 2016 with the beginning of the Stranger Things fever; to 2020 with all the binge watching; and now 2026: 10 years later and the amount of TV being made did not catch my attention until very recently, when I realized everyone around me seemed to be talking about a different TV Show. 

I've been living in the little (enormous) reality of an avid reader for a couple of years now, and it was changed my perspective of everything. Watching the movie this past weekend was a major nostalgic moment to my own experience going to the local public library, having to chat with the "old" people working there (they were probably the age I am today!), and finding out how much can be explored through words. 

I do have hope that we can turn this around. I see so many more people around me are talking about book goals for the year, book clubs, book hangouts, stories they've read, etc. And do you know the best way to make reading popular again? Supporting public libraries! Libraries are a world of discovery for children and grown-ups too - the best part? It is free! 

Now, this week's book recommendations by my inner child: 

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 

3. Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley 

Here are 10 Awesome Ways to Support Your Local Library!