My book nerd

My daughter reads more often than any person I have ever known.

It’s astounding. Imagine someone reading as much as you could possibly imagine. Clara reads more than that. I promise you.

She likes to credit her love for reading to me and Elysha, who read to her every night of her life for the first eight years of her life, but I suspect that she simply loves stories.

Recently, we were in Target, looking to replace a pair of her headphones. While we waited for an employee to open the headphone case, she wandered into the main aisle.

“Wait,” I said. “You need to pick a color.”

She came back and identified her preference. Then she wandered back into the main aisle and turned left.

“What are you doing?” I shouted. “Come back!”

She popped back around the corner, smiling sheepishly.

“What are you doing?” I asked, but then it hit me. She was trying to sneak away to the book section.

“I just bought you a pile of books two days ago,” I said. “Why do you need more?”

“Books never abandon me,” she said.

It’s annoying when you’re a father, an elementary school teacher, and an author, and you’re forced to tell your daughter to stop buying books or put the book down or stop reading for five seconds and talk to me.

On the way to the mall yesterday, Clara added, “Most people are Forever 21. I’m Forever Bookstore.”

Admittedly, it’s a pretty good problem to have.