I love to read.  I have always loved to read.  And I love books.  Of course, there are some that I love more than others, but I am always one to give a book a chance, because usually I can learn something from the pages.  The first story I ever read on my own was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, at least that is how I remember it.  This particular edition was a little Golden Book with a Disney-like Snow White.  She kind of looked like my father’s mother, my Grandma Betty, and to this day I always associate Snow White with her, even though she has been gone for over 30 years.

Some stories are like that. Looking back on my blogs over the past few years, I realized that they are not really book reviews so much as some sort of experience I had with the book, or while reading the book. And it was that experience that made the book meaningful to me and became something I wanted to share.

One of my favorite blogs to write was “The Famous Husband Club” (November 2016). Centering on the women behind the famous men, these historical novels celebrated those wives who show a very different side to history, and more interesting lives.  Two women mentioned were Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein’s first wife in The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Charles Lindbergh’s wife in The Aviator’s Wife of Melanie Benjamin.  These are two gems I will always recommend to any reader.  After reading both of those books I devoured anything there was on Mileva Maric (not a lot) and Anne Morrow Lindbergh (quite a bit, thanks to her daughter Reeve being a writer and of course Anne’s own work).  I was my own Alice down the Rabbit Hole, a place I love to be when it comes to a really good book.

My most read blog was “One Woman’s Trash” (June 2017) where I sheepishly admitted one of my most embarrassing moments as the time I was reading a trashy novel at the City Pool and got caught. This confession led to the liberation of trashy novels everywhere as people came up to me in the street to show their support for the genre.

In “Jumping Off the Page” (January 2018) the literal translations of books was discussed, especially how many books being made into movies or television series were winning awards or becoming cult classics.  Think The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – now in it’s second season with the excellent lead actress Elisabeth Moss – or the book that may have started it all, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

Then, in “Does Anyone Read Poetry Anymore?” (April 2015) I listed my #4 reason to read poetry as “Poetry reminds us where we are. It also reminds us of where we have been.” This definitely speaks to why I love the poet Mary Oliver so much – because she says it better than anyone else when putting words to thoughts, especially to moments in time. And even though this is my last blog for the Library, as I will be moving on to another venture, I want to leave you, the reader, with words that celebrate all that living in the present can offer, and all that I wish for you.

So come to the pond,
or the river of your imagination,
or the harbor of your longing,
and put your lips to the world.
And live your life.
–Mary Oliver, Red Bird