— Bertrand Russell
I've been on a reading frenzy of late. I think it might be because school has begun and there are things that I need to do in place of things I want to do. I've loved to read as long as I can remember. My first love was Dr. Suess. My Mother bought a subscription to a "Dr. Suess book club" I suppose. Each month a new book arrived in the mail. Oh how I loved those books. I remember Mother reading to me at night, until I started reading them myself. Many times falling asleep with one in my hand.
When I was old enough to get my library card (you had to able to write your name in cursive), I found a treasure chest of friends. I met Heidi, Alice, and Dorothy. Oh Dorothy and I became fast friends. Did you know there is a complete series of "The Wizard of Oz" books. I can close my eyes and describe exactly where they were located in our public library (left corner back wall, bottom shelf - children's room). It wasn't long before I met Nancy and set out to solve each and every mystery she encountered.
When Scarlet entered my life I was recuperating from a bout with the flu; I considered myself quite the "southern belle", until we found ourselves treating wounded soldiers in a field hospital. I turned absolutely green (using my best southern voice) while reading the vivid descriptions of the wounds we were treating. Scarlet had to wait until I was well before we could continue on our trek through the civil war and on into reconstruction.
I soon found a kindred spirit, Francie Nolan (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn). I loved the thought of starting with the A's and reading through the library. I loved she had a place outside to escape and read. I especially loved her Saturday ritual of going to the Library for books, stopping by the candy store for a small purchase, returning home with her treasures and spending her day in solitude savoring her treats. I never did try to read through the library; I did begin going out and sitting on my front door steps to read. Often I read aloud to my cat who was curled up in my lap.
Recently, I traveled to the nineteenth century and searched the the shores for Remarkable Creatures, listened to a Tinker(s) revisit his youth in the last hours before his death, witnessed the Salem witch trials after discovering The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, and searched relics left by imprisoned Japanese Americans at the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I found a lost identity in The Forgotten Garden. I was rescued by The Blessings of the Animals after being offended on so many levels by A Reliable Wife. Lastly, I cherish the time spent with Lilly Casey Smith as she spun the tales of Half Broke Horses.
Books worth bragging about? I don't think so. Enjoyable? Some more than others. Now you know how I spent some of my summer vacation. I can't think of a better way to stay cool when the temperatures reach 105+.
Summer is over, and when I have time I will relax and Let the Great World Spin
before me.
I grew up being such a reader. I vividly remember the summer that I planted myself firmly in Scarlet's life, and I think in my mind I lived at Tara more than in real life! Sadly in law school I had to read so much, that I haven't regained my full appetite for reading. I remember my first year of law school, my friends made fun of me because I brought Faulkner to read by the pool at the lake, but by the end of my third year I was watching TV instead of reading. Now I am so sleepy at the end of the day, that I can only read a few pages and it takes me forever to finish a book. But I'm having a lot of fun re-reading the Laura Ingalls books with Sophia and Dr. Seuss with Amelia! I know my days of reading my own books will come again!
ReplyDeleteYour childhood sounds wonderful, Bonnie.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE reading too!
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xo