DIY Life

I am one of the lucky ones. I grew up with my mother reading to me constantly, and since I always saw my parents reading, I had good examples (ah, the power of modeling). Reading was an innate love for me.

What if you found reading later in life? Is it possible to become well read without that solid foundation? Or what if you got lost in mundane life tasks and put reading by the wayside for a while? Can you still be well read?

In my opinion, as an avid reader, someone who holds a degree in English literature, and a former reading teacher, the answer is yes. It's never too late to start reading regularly, and it doesn't take much to catch up, so to speak. Thankfully, there is a pool of amazing books from which to choose.

After the break, you'll find my tips on how to become well read.

I just discovered You Grow Girl and I love it! This fabulous blog is the creation of avid green-thumbed-girl Gayla Trail. The YGG motto is "gardening for the people." Unlike the stuffy and old-fashioned garden-society-type garden sites I'm used to seeing, this site is fresh and cool, hip and funky. It's aimed at a younger and more environmentally-conscious audience. People like myself, perhaps, who want to garden...but don't want gardens like their parents have, with neatly clipped lawns and stiffly symmetrical shrubbery.

For Gayla, gardening is about more than just growing stuff. It's about cherishing the environment. It's also about the art and creativity involved in gardening and the inspiration that a beautiful garden can provide. Gayla's gardening style is also about the basics that well-planned gardens can bestow on us -- like nutritious and delicious foods and all-natural products for health and beauty. She's enthusiastic, too, about all the crafts associated with life in the garden, like sewing aprons and converting old, junky items into eye-catching yard art and cool garden containers.

Ms. Trail even has a book: You Grow Girl: the Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening. You can buy the book through numerous vendors including Amazon. Have a story, photo or project you'd like to share with You Grow Girl? Post it to the ever-expanding forum page.