Reading is a Great Gift...

I have given myself the gift of reading the past few weeks. So often in my life I have felt reading was an indulgence I didn't have time for. But now I do! It has been too cold to work outside and with gas so high I don't go driving anyplace. I check out about six books of my favorite authors, get my tasks done in the morning, and then start up the fire and read, read, read. It is very hard to be lonely when you are so involved in other people's lives.

Yesterday I read a 555 pager, stayed up till 3:30 am to finish it and...I had actually read it before, but couldn't remember any of it. It was "The Glass Lake" by Maeve Binchy. I became acquainted with her books when I first moved up here--a neighbor had said she liked her. I have read most of her books now.

When I was in Maryland, a Fema lady turned me on to Jan Karon and "The Mitford Series"--I think I have read all her books also. When spending so much time in hotels and motels while on disaster duty, you always have to have a good book to read.

Another author I became acquainted with while on disaster duty is Judith McNaught and I have read most of hers. Anita Shreve I became acquainted with when they filmed "The Pilot's Wife" and I have only one or two left to read of hers. Rosamund Pilcher also I became acquainted with when they made her book into a movie and another into a tv show. She has retired from writing but I loved all of hers also.

After buying many books I didn't finish I finally decided to keep track of the authors I like and just look for their books. I also have a list of the "Classics" and trying to periodically finish reading those as well. Although most of my favorites are women authors, I have read all of Nicholas Sparks and Nicholas Evans and most of Dean Hughes. "A Town Called Alice" by Neil Schute was also great.

Lately I have been marveling at all the different ideas, plots, and imaginings a writer has to have to keep us turning those pages. I think I admire writers more than any other people. It is always amusing to me though that characters in books are so good at knowing what other people are thinking. It doesn't seem that way in real life.

Right now I am reading "The Jane Austen Book Club" by Karen Joy Fowler and I know I am going to want to read her other books as well. Some people just have a gift for writing.

I remember so well in first grade walking to the library with my brothers and sisters and bringing home books to read. I loved the whole atmosphere of the library and I loved reading. My favorites that year were the "Flicka, Ricka, Dicka" and "Snipp, Snapp, Snurr" books. We are very fortunate to have a really lovely library here in Chester.

In junior high I became very involved in any books that had stories of countries that were occupied by the Nazis in World War II. They always had brave young people doing spying and outwitting the German soldiers. I also remember I would always have to make myself a white bread and cheese sandwich with milk because that is what they would always be eating.

In high school the two books I remember best were "Going on Sixteen" and "Seventeenth Summer". It would be interesting to read them now and see how mild they were. I also liked the Nancy Drew series but not the Hardy Boys.

As Meagan once said, "I feel sorry for anyone that doesn't like to read."