For close to two weeks in August, my mother in law visits from Minnesota. The days are typically filled with activities and family time leaving little time for me to read independently but the one thing that is substituted is time to play Bananagrams.

By far, this game is an all-time favorite. On par with rummy and now chess (see previous post here), I love the challenge of making words. The competition is secondary. As a reader, words have deep meaning. Sentences move me. Paragraphs are photographed and saved in folders for me to reread. I have pages from The Lovely Bones photocopied just to go back to read when I want. I have bookshelves of books that have changed me.

One of my favorite slides to end on during book presentations is the reminder that all books are made up of just twenty-six letters– think of the magic that just twenty-six letters rearranged can have on people and for writers, the magic they weave with them. There is a power of one word or in a dozen words. And Bananagrams allows you to appreciate it. There are some games where I want to take pictures to remember the words I used. To clarify, not that they’re overly intelligent words or pulled from a huge lexicon I have, instead, because I’m proud of the English language. The game keeps me mentally sharp and reminds me that in a time when words are being replaced by emojis and abbreviations that words a beautiful. And they’re built through reading.

Today I used words like quotidian and shamrock. Yesterday I used words like toxin and extensive. Again, not overly complicated or long, but sometimes just their meaning or usage is a reminder of how words can hurt or help, tear down or build us up. Words are powerful. Remember that. Then play a round of Bananagrams. And if you don’t have anyone to play with, give me a shout and I’ll bring my A-game.