Family Reads

My mother-in-law came to visit recently and saw the tall, tottering pile of books at my bedside. “You plan to read all of those?” she asked incredulously. Truth to tell, that’s not the only pile of books in my house. There’s one beside each chair in the living room, one on the kitchen counter, and another beside the telephone. There are also gatherings of papers and magazines collected on various table tops and surfaces throughout the house. It doesn’t speak well about my housekeeping, I know, but it does speak volumes about what my family does. We read!

No matter how crazy and busy our lives get, each of us steals a few minutes daily to read for ourselves. Occasionally in this column I use my own family as an example, listing what is being read in our home that week. I hope that this exercise provides you first, the idea to stop and examine what is being read in your home, by whom, and how often; and second, a list of recommended good reads to take with you to the library or bookstore.

My daughter, a high school freshman, is without a doubt the busiest person in our family. This winter she has been caught up in the swash-buckling fever unleashed by the movie Master and Commander. Movies are great segway for readers leading us back to the original novels, in this case the wonderful series by Patrick O’Brien. But the books that Sarah found to read (OK, devour) are from a made-for-TV movie about Horatio Hornblower. These adventures by C.S. Forester predate the Patrick O’Brien’s series. Both take place in the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period when Britain ruled the high seas. Great drama, adventure, and accurate historical details make both series well worth reading. O’Brien’s books more graphically portray the cruelty of life on the seas and may be better for the mature reader.

Another book that Sarah read this winter is Breath by Donna Jo Napoli. A riveting novel for grades 8 and up, this story is based on the legend that in 1284 the city of Hamelin suffered a plague of rats. The townsfolk tried to rid themselves of the rats by hiring a piper to lead the vermin away. When the residents reneged on their payment, the piper led their children away as well. This book attempts to answer the question we have all had since 1284, Why? Napoli suspects that the mini ice age effecting Europe’s weather at this time created mold and fungi on plants. She believes that ergot poisoning and the psychotropic effects it caused may go along way to explain the Hamelin mystery.

A fantasy fan, Sarah is waiting for the next Harry Potter and reading everything in the genre in the mean time. Her suggestion to others who have read (or watched) Tolkien and Rowling and need something new, try Garth Nix. An Autralian author of many fantasies for young adults, Nix creates amazingly rich worlds and intriguing characters. Most popular is the series that includes the three books Abhorsen, Sabriel, and Lirael. Not to be missed are the Seventh Tower series or the Keys to the Kingdom books.

I have finally hooked my husband Marc on one of my favorite British mystery writers, M.C. Beaton. Her “cozies” include two series. One series centers on gangly, lazy, Scottish constable Hamish McBeth. Hamish is thought to be a country bumpkin by his superiors, but he brings his country wisdom, commonsense, and Scottish lore to bear on the crimes that occur in the small villages in his region of northern Scotland. The other series stars Agatha Raisin, a formidable sleuth by default. Agatha’s nosiness and bull-in-a-china-shop ways help her solve the mysteries that plague her Cotswold village while endearing her to readers everywhere.

Marc’s other read this season has been Hermits: Insights of Solitude by Peter France. This is a fascinating look at the eremetical tradition in Christianity, but also in other traditions. France looks at the starsy of the Russian Orthodoxy, the hermits of the oriental religions, and of Americans Robert Lax, Henry David Thoreau, and Thomas Merton.

I have found a delightful series of six novels that are pleasant company after a long day of work. A gentle, but predictable, family saga, the Elm Creek Quilts novels by Jennifer Chiaverini, are as warm and comforting as the quilts they describe. They begin with The Quilter’s Apprentice. Sylvia, a master craftswoman, agrees to teach Sarah how to quilt. Sarah's new relationship inspires an exchange of confidences; she learns about Sylvia's "family skeletons" while facing her own difficult relationship with her mother. Patiently piecing scraps of material, the quilters explore both women's lives, stitching details and solutions together slowly but with courage and strength. Sylvia’s family skeletons are fleshed out in subsequent novels, The Runaway Quilt and The Quilter’s Legacy. Quilters and quilt fans will enjoy reading about the history and techniques behind the many quilt patterns described in these and the other books in the series.

Now, dear reader, it is your turn. Look around your house and see who’s reading what. Make sure you take time to listen to your children as they tell you about their reading adventures. Plan family read aloud times as well as trips to the library. No matter how busy your family schedule, steal a few minutes each day to read with your child or to read for yourself.