To Kill a Mockingbird

It's hard to believe that in over two years of blogging, my favorite book has only gotten a passing mention in a list of books that everyone should read. That will be remedied today, on the 50th anniversary of it's publication. It's hard to put into words how I feel about this book. It's almost scripture to me.

This was on the news earlier. I have so much respect for the author and the characters she has created. I've said before that I wish she had written more, but I see her point about attempting to top TKAM being a futile attempt.

I love the names Harper, Atticus, Jem and Scout and used to want to possibly use them in a child's name (before Adam vetoed them). Atticus is hands down, my favorite. I have a reading journal where I kept track of some of the life lessons learned in TKAM, and most of them are from him (although I can't discount Calpurnia).

Here are some of the lessons from TKAM I strive to follow:

"Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets."

"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win."

"Most people are (nice), Scout, when you finally see them."

Looking at these and some of the other lessons I had written down, I think it's time for me to relearn some of these. It's a good thing I bought the book yesterday (my first copy from 9th grade fell apart).