School's out!
posted: Jun 30, 05:13 PM
Some people are addicted to buying cigarettes and smoking; my addiction is to buying books and to reading. Much more enjoyable and considerably better for my over all well-being.
I will read almost anything! My favorite genre, however, is fiction, it’s like going on a vacation, becoming someone else, experiencing their life. The ultimate getaway.
I like historical fiction, but only if it is accurate. If the writer hasn’t done their research and it is a time in history with which I am familiar I can’t continue with the book when I find errors. Patricia Shaw and JoJo Moyes are excellent and I recently discovered Philippa Gregory and can’t get enough of her books.
I love humor, such as The Bridget Jones Diaries, The Shopaholic Series (Sophie Kinsella), and any Marian Keyes or Fiona Walker book. There is nothing better than collapsing into giggles over the misadventures of the characters in your book. Especially when you can relate to their dilemma! By the way, Sophie Kinsella also writes as Madeleine Wickham and one review describes her style as “Wickham writes with a funny, acid pen, revealing human weakness, and yet, at the end of the day, treating them with a certain dry compassion.”
Jodi Picoult is definitely my favorite writer! She chooses controversial material which is often part of our day to day lives and creates stories which require the reader to reflect on their own values and beliefs. Her most recent book “Nineteen Minutes” is intense, frightening and believable. It is also immensely readable. As a teacher and as a parent I recommend this book.
One of my favorite pass times is picking through the bargain section of Chapters. I am ecstatic when I find a book marked down to $4.99 and I know I’d actually have paid full price! I continue to be surprised to find so many wonderful books marked down because no one wants to buy them.
I recently found “Secrets of a family album” by Isla Dewar in the bargain section. This was the second time I had found one of her books in this section; I really enjoyed the other so, of course, went ahead and bought the new one. It was thought provoking.
“Secrets of a family album” is made up of snapshots of adult family members and Grandpa. Grandpa, who is in his 80s, longs to be called by his given name. His son and his wife, with whom he lives, are struggling with retirement and their adult children are struggling with being adults. One of the funniest chapters is entitled “Grandpa’s Death, Another Non-Event”. I’m not totally devoid of compassion, Grandpa isn’t actually dead, he is remembering lying in the grass as a child “...If it was compulsory for people to lie on the grass, weather permitting, once a day and watch the sky, he thought, we’d all be happier….He drifted off…” The discovery of Grandpa in the grass is a comedy of errors. The book is mostly about love. Loving others and liking and loving oneself.
The child and I are planning on replenishing our summer reading. I’ve worked my way through the pile of books I had been stockpiling in preparation for hammock time. She has done the same. The child is a very strong reader, who, like me, either likes a writer or doesn’t.
She likes Meg Cabot’s books for older adolescents and has decided to venture into her adult line. The child has promised me I can read them after she is finished. She is most kind to me.