Books as Friends

"I never feel lonely if I've got a book - they're like old friends. Even if you're not reading them over and over again, you know they are there. And they're part of your history. They sort of tell a story about your journey through life." -Emilia Fox, brainyquote.com



How do YOU feel about books? For some of us, a book is nothing more than something we pick up while we are waiting for something such as an airplane or a doctor's appointment. For others of us, a book is something we treasure, a good friend that speaks to us in words that no one else can articulate. I enjoy sharing ten titles of books that I've read at the end of each of my posts, because it allows me to share a bit about my journey with books, my friends for many, many years. I've read good books, and I've read "bad" books, but I don't think any of them has been a waste of my time. No matter what the story is about or how poorly written a book may be, I enjoy the words for what they are. Granted, there are stories that I connect with more than others. The stories that inspire me with their unique stories and well-written prose and organization are the ones that I enjoy the most. They are my BEST friends. Whether the book is non-fiction or fiction, it becomes a part of my history as it stretches me to think, to ponder, and to explore new ideas. One of my dreams is that I could have a library of my own, a place where I can keep all of my books displayed near me. I don't like to sell my books for 25 cents at a yard sale - that seems so wrong to me. But sometimes our house needs the space for other things so I must do the difficult thing and try to "move out" a few of the books. All I can hope for is that someone else will enjoy and appreciate the book for what it is.

I'm so blessed to be in a family that values reading. My parents and my grandparents before them were avid readers, especially my parents and Grandmother Cruse. Grandmother Cruse loved to read books by the poet laureate of Kentucky in 1954, Jesse Stuart. She gave me some of his novels and short stories so I, too, was able to enjoy these treasures written by a man who was born in Greenup County, Kentucky. If I remember correctly, Jesse Stuart sent a typed letter to my grandmother about fifty years ago, and she definitely saved it because I remember looking at it.




I have discussed some of the books that I consider to be the top ten best novels ever written, but I haven't spoken too much about the non-fiction books that I have read. While I rarely read a self-help book or a book written by some dysfunctional celebrity, I do read memoirs. Some of my favorite biographies and auto-biographies are A Girl Named Zippy, She Got Up Off the Couch, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less, Little Heathens, My Life in Orange, Dewey the Library Cat, An Hour Before Daylight (Jimmy Carter), Unbroken, and The Boys in the Boat. Oh, and I enjoyed reading How Starbucks Saved My Life. Some of these books have received very little publicity, but I consider them to be some of the very best that I have ever read. Have you read any of them? If so, did you enjoy them? Did they give you food for thought? Incidentally, a few years ago I emailed the author of Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression. Surprisingly, the author, Mildred Armstrong Kalish sent me a timely response. She was living in a retirement community in California at the time of her writing. It meant a lot to me that she took the time to respond to my comments, making her even more admirable.

This week I finished listening to the novel, I've Got Your Number, by the British author, Sophie Kinsella. I enjoyed listening to it in the car and got a lot of laughs. I've read several books by this author, as I noted in my last post. I'm almost finished with Mean Streak by Sandra Brown (not among my favorites) and will soon begin reading a book from the library, Some Luck: A Novel, by Jane Smiley. I also picked up another book on cd from the public library, V is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton.

Here are the next ten books in my card catalog:

1. The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
2. A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
3. Teaching Youth the Bible by Louis B. Hanks
4. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
5. Every Woman's Hope by Lisa Harper
6. Crossings by Walt Harrington
7. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
8. Tinyburg Tales by Robert J. Hastings
9. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
10. Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes

Some of you have been reading my posts since August of 2014 so you've heard me talk about a lot of different kinds of books.Also, you've seen my lists of books that I've read in the past 30 years. So, after knowing all of that, what can you conclude about me?

Happy reading,
Melissa