Read All About It

Reading books has always been a favorite pastime of mine.  Not that I do it daily anymore, but as a child and teen I did.  Checking out books from the school or public library was such an exciting activity in itself.

I absolutely loved “visiting” the far away places and times of past, or future.  Even history biographies were enjoyable.  I liked a variety, no one particular genre.  There were mysteries (Agatha Christie of course!), adventures, historical, and fantasy/science-fiction.  Occasionally a romance, but it would have to include mystery or other genre.  Oh yes, westerns too.

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I don’t remember what was the first book I read. I do remember as a young child enjoying “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” (Aesop's Fables) as I so much wanted to live in the country.  And “Stuart Little” (by E. B. White) was fascinating, yet to me ended sadly, as he left on a journey to find his friend.  (The movie version never ever came close to the heart of that story.)

My mom liked for me to read to her.  I was a good reader, but I got impatient whenever she would get sidetracked with something and lose my attention, albeit briefly.  If I could have those times back...I’d make it better.  She was tickled about the adventures of Lige and Blige with Sam Houston.  She would reminisce about picking cotton in her youth in Texas, as the stories brought out those memories.

Of course there was required reading in school.  But when we could pick our own book for a report it was much more fun.  I was enthralled with “The Sound of Music” movie and the book it was based on, “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers” by Marie Augusta Trapp.  And Edgar Allen Poe’s work.  Yes, wide variety way back then.

As an adult I read more mysteries and horror (Stephen King, Dean Koontz).  Once after reading a graphic, violent crime novel (I forget the name) I was left feeling sick and a bit scared, so I don’t go for those much at all.

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I do love adventure.  I’ve read Edgar Rice Burroughs novels (he was a favorite of my dad who liked the Tarzan series).  Burroughs was quite good, imaginary.  More adventure with crime-solving (but not gory) were in the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman.  Funny!

Today I continue to sway back and forth, here and there, among the genres.  I also find I like short stories for quick reads.  Kind of like a snack instead of the whole meal in a novel!

I got a lot of free books online from Amazon Prime and the Gutenberg Institute (gutenberg.org).  Gutenberg has many classics and books over a century old!  But it’s not quite the same as walking down the aisles in a library, with books lining up their titles, calling for your attention:  “read me!” “look here!”  And then there’s the smell of old books--it takes you back.

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Of course I really ought to go to my public library.  Yes, we still have one.  I hope libraries last forever.  They’re a place of refuge, retreat and of course simply a quiet place to read.  Enjoy an adventure in your lifetime.  Read.         Theresa M







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OK, here is some suggested reading:  📚📚📚   

The Corfu Trilogy - Gerald Durrell
Hidden in Liquid - Jane Maria
The Land That Time Forgot - Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Little Known - Janice Daugharty
The Murmur of Bees - Sophia Segovia, translated to Eng by Simon Bruni
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers - Maria Augusta Trapp
The Wizard of Oz:  The Complete Collection - L. Frank Baum

short stories:
Aesop’s Fables
The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts - Abbie Farwell Brown
Followers of the Trail - Zoe Meyer

historical non-fiction:
Slave Narratives (various volumes for states) - A Folk History of Slavery in the US from Interviews with Former Slaves (translated in their own words) prepared by the Federal Writer’s Project 1936-1938 by the Library of Congress, 1941