Read Any Good Books Lately?

My last posting got me thinking about books and reading. I love to read and never remember not being able to read. Mom and dad set a great example of reading. From my ealiest days, I can still remember going into the living room and seeing both of them reading. Granted, there wasn't much competition coming from our small black & white television set. . .

Back in the days of Smith family vacations (decades before the invention of personal DVD players), we'd take books to entertain ourselves during long drives to destinations in the western United States. One year my brother Merrill received a set of James Herriott books for Christmas. We took them and devoured them during the trip. As soon as one person was finished with a book, it was passed to the next, and so on, and so on. I don't remember the destination of that trip, but I do remember the books.

For years during my childhood, we'd go to the Bookmobile which would be parked on Pages Lane in front of Dick's Market in Centerville. The trip to the Bookmobile was always anticipated as a sort of treasure hunt - what would I find to bring home to read that week? There was always something new.

Books can create immediate connections between people. I just found out that Tony, Mark's dad, loves John Grisham books. My mom gave me my first Nancy Drew mystery because she read them when she was a girl. My brother Clay got several of us in the family reading books by Vince Flynn. (Warning - don't start a Vince Flynn book on a work night. You won't be able to put it down until you have read the final page.) If you love dogs, or if you just want a good laugh, read "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" by Farley Mowat. My dad got me reading Tom Clancy books - The Hunt for Red October is a classic, and the step-by-step description of the start of a war in Red Storm Rising is unforgettable.

Mrs. Goodrich, my third grade teacher, introduced us to the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She read the books out loud to us and made history come alive as we then studied the pioneers. And who can forget the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery? Good stories, good morals, and a great way to escape for an hour, an afternoon, and sometimes even a weekend.

With a few years' growth, Jane Eyre and Little Women came into my life. The people in the books became more than characters in a book, almost like old friends that you meet again after a long separation. I'll admit that every couple of years I'll pull out Jane Eyre and Little Women and read them again. Sure, some of the language is dated, the book spines are cracking, and the pages are dusty. . . but what's a little dust among friends?

I'm seldom without a book, or three, that I'm reading at any given time. It's my favorite way to unwind, clear my mind, and take a mental vacation. So, have you read any good books lately? Let me know. . . perhaps it will be an opportunity to make a new connection.