Do you ever feel mildly guilty that you enjoy reading so much? Do you categorize it as “dessert,” something you should save “time calories” for, a delicious end to the day?
Let me disabuse you of that notion, friend! (The reason I’m able to use the word “disabuse” is because my vocabulary has been broadened by my reading. Just saying.)
Reading is not only a great get-away, a lovely respite from world news, it’s a Teacher with a capital T. And you don’t only amass a prodigious vocabulary, you learn about other cultures and other points of view. Reading (fiction, in particular) builds your empathy, increases your tolerance, broadens your understanding, and strengthens your imagination. All of my claims have solid scientific evidence backing them up. No kidding. So now, I ask you, who of us doesn’t need to read?
In the Immediate Past
I’ve been on a roll lately. Reading outstanding novels is sort of my thing. Here are a few I highly recommend:
The Maid: A Novel by Nina Prose
I love quirky characters. (And I’ll prove this beyond doubt when my novel comes out.) So, I adored Molly, the main character. She struggles with relationships and has a hard time understanding social cues. But Prose does a great job of drawing Molly as a whole person, not a weirdo (is that a socially/politically correct word to use these days? Am I allowed to say weirdo? I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.) It’s a murder mystery set in a boutique hotel in New York. Molly’s a maid who takes great pride in “see(ing) dirt where others don’t.” I’ll say. She discovers a dead body. The unfolding story is charming, well-paced, and fun to read.
I don’t typically read mysteries, but this little gem has me reaching for more.
The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
The premise of this book hooked me: What really happened during the eleven days in 1926 when Agatha Christie mysteriously disappeared? It took me a minute to accept that the book’s narrator–Christie’s husband’s mistress–knew more than she could have, and I wasn’t always sold on this semi-omniscient POV. But, somewhere along the way I settled in and accepted the author’s choice. The book is more of a study of perceptions and personalities, motives and misunderstandings than it is a mystery, although it does have the flavor of an Agatha Christie novel.
The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe
Another historical fiction so close on the heels of The Christie Affair? Yes. I make no apologies. This book is also based on a real person–Anita Hemmings, a black woman who passed for white in order to attend Vassar. The author does a great job of laying out the moral issues without preaching her opinion and writes so well that I shared Anita’s anxiety over getting caught. I rooted for this remarkable woman and spent valuable reading time learning more about her. Always the sign of a good book. I’m really tickled it’s going to be a movie–“A White Lie” (which is an outstanding title, if you ask me.)
What’s in My Future?
These are three books I have loaded on my Kindle, aka My TBR headliners. Check them out here:
The Lobotomist’s Wife
Hotel Portofino
The Beginning of Spring
Which one should I read next?
Ann Boyd
So man of these already on my “books to read” list! Thanks for the recommendations! Im ready to knock out some summer reading SOON! (Post wedding ha ha)