When I was growing up, the public library and my piano teacher were both located in a town about a 20-minute drive from my home. Each Saturday morning my mother and I would set out, first stopping at the library, then to my piano lesson. How I loved that Victorian-home-turned-into-a-library! I had long since exhausted the books on the shelves at home, including an ancient encyclopedia set and a collection of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books. With the library’s offerings, I was off traveling to ancient Mayan ruins or solving a mystery with Agatha Christie or time traveling with Madeleine L’Engle. Imagine my delight to discover as an adult that L’Engle wrote adult fiction too!
I still love books today. Recently I greedily consumed the Stieg Larsson trilogy. I simply couldn’t get enough of Lisbeth Salander! I’ll pick up anything written by Gail Godwin, Nora Gallagher, Barbara Kingsolver or Lorna Landvik. Back in 2002 I started keeping a record of each book I read along with a paragraph summary critique. It soon struck me that I was reading almost exclusively female authors and most of the novels featured women’s relationships with one another. I don’t think that’s just an occupational hazard!
Anyway, here’s what I’m reading now. It kind of drives my introverted, focus-on-one-thing-at-a-time husband crazy, but I’m usually reading several books at a time.
For All The Tea In China by Sarah Rose
Jesus Freak by Sara Miles
The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer
Abigail Adams by Woody Holton
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
I’ve got a long list of books queued up, both traditional paper ones as well as e-books. Even so, I’m always open for new recommendations. (My last recommendation came from my orthopedic surgeon!)
So what are you reading now? And does your unit of Women of the ELCA have a book discussion group?
(As an aside, I have to say that while I like the feel of a traditional bound book, e-books are great, especially when traveling. I’ve got 20 books on my iPad right now, taking up a mere .01 GB of space. I’d never travel with 20 books, but I know with e-books I’ll never go wanting. By the way, have you discovered all the e-books that are free because they are in the public domain? What a treasure trove!)
Linda Post Bushkofsky, an inveterate reader, knows that all her reading makes her a better writer. She is executive director of Women of the ELCA.