Our "pink sofas" and how we were encouraged to be readers

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Earlier this week, I posted Susan Stamberg’s essay about getting hooked on books, and reading on her family’s “pink sofa,” a happy place where she devoured books. (Here's my sweet Jerry with our granddaughter, passing the torch on a pink-ish sofa.)

Reading about it got me remembering the place where, after dinner, my mother would read to me. The couch in our living room which was covered in a red, green, and white jungle print and was oh so cool and cozy when you buried your face in one of the cushions.

I wish I could say that there was some special place I would go alone to get lost in a book, but I wasn’t really that kind of reader. And I grew up in a house packed, floor-to-ceiling with books. But being read-TO was a special thing.

What are your earliest memories of books, where are you, and is there someone who’s your reading guide??

JENN McKINLAY: Mom read to us every night as littles and it was always the couch in the living room. Maurice Sendak, Patricia Coombs, Bill Peet, Dr. Seuss, and Judith Viorst were a few of our faves. When I started reading on my own–Hello, Nancy Drew!--it was in my bean bag chair in my room or outside under the dogwood tree in the backyard (parents were less likely to find me to do chores there).

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah, well, I remember my father reading to me, actually, and I can still hear his voice reading MANY MOONS by James Thurber. And all the Poohs.

I kind of remember Mom and fairy tales, but I def remember how much I annoyed her, since at the end, she would say "and they lived happily ever after," and I would insist to know what REALLY happened. Like, after that. Happily ALL the time?

(Which, funnily, was the memory that inspired my upcoming book. Just saying. Thanks, Mom.)

And yes, when I could read on my own, I remember Cherry Ames and Trixie Belden, and Nancy D, and we read up in the hayloft of the barn. In the house, we had a huge blue curvy Eames chair, which was perfect. I wish I still had it.

RHYS BOWEN: I’m sad to say I don’t ever remember my mother reading to me. I was raised mainly by my grandmother and great aunt since my mother always worked ( as a teacher).

I know they read to me because when I was about three I had memorized quite a few books. I sit on a bus pretending to read, knowing exactly when to turn the pages and people would be amazed. Is she reading that? I suppose I was always a bit of a show off.

Like Hank I loved all of the Pooh stories and could recite all the poems. James James Morrison Morrison etc.

Later my grandmother would read to me. I remember Ballet Shoes. Black Beauty and the Secret Garden as favorites. I read to myself in my bedroom up on the top floor of s big drafty house. First it was fantasy like The Faraway tree. Then the Famous Five.

My parents did not read. My mother was too busy and my father had no use for fiction. But I escaped to the library and found all sorts of wonderful things.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Moving around so much, I remember books, but not where I read them. I know my mother was passionate about reading-to, but I was an early reader, so my memories come from her sitting with my sister or my brother.

The first special reading place I can recall was one of the living room chairs in the house she bought in her mother’s home town. Happily, I inherited the mid-century beauty, and I still love sinking into its down-filled cushions.

Other than sitting in that chair, my favorite reading position was on my stomach - including, after bedtime, facing toward the hall light and undoubtedly straining my eyes, according to my grandmother.

Alas, you women who were “gifted” by the puberty fairy can understand why I had to give up reading this way around age 13.

My favorite reading chair now is an antique Stickley Morris Chair. Firm cushions, wide wooden arms perfect for holding a drink or a cup of tea - this chair is sixty years older than I am, but it’s definitely holding up better.

LUCY BURDETTE: So surprising Rhys that your parents didn’t read, considering what you’ve become! My mother loved to read, we often saw her with a magazine. I think with a job teaching kids and 4 of her own, shorter was better.

My dad often read to us–I still have my earliest hardback, The Scary Thing. I can’t tell you the author because it’s home in CT, but I can picture how I tried to write my name inside in crayon. My older sister and I usually retired to our bedroom to read after school. That’s still my favorite place to read (and write, which I know is bad for my body!)

DEBORAH CROMBIE: My grandmother was most definitely my reading guide. She'd been a teacher–now I wish I knew more about where and what she taught, but you don't think of those things as a child. We shared a room until I was about five and I think I have some vague memories of her reading to me in the double bed there. But then my parents built a separate suite for her and we read in the big, squashy armchair in her room.

Julia, we have two campaign chairs either side of a glass-topped chest in front of one of our living room windows, and I often will sit down with a book there.

HALLIE: Finishing up, I'd like to recommend a nonprofit that does a wonderful job supporting families who are raising readers. They do great work. RAISING A READER.

And please, share YOUR experiences with kids sharing with them the wonderful world of books.

Sesame noodle salad: A new lunch to share with old friends

 HALLIE EPHRON: Earlier this week I was seeing old friends for lunch and decided I'd much rather make something rather than go out. But what to make? Something healthy, could be mostly made ahead, and used mostly ingredients I already have.

I hauled out my folders of recipes that I've saved over the years, most of which I've ever actually made. And there it was, the recipe from The Boston Globe back in 2014, SESAME-NOODLE SALAD: spaghetti, raw veggies, peanut butter, tossed with a gingery peanut butter.

First I rounded up the ingredients and put them on the counter. I modified the recipe with vegetables I happened to have in the fridge and added some shrimp I had in the freezer.

Here's the ingredients for the DRESSING:
1 T soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1 tsp siracha
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp honey
A two-inch piece of fresh ginger finely chopped or grated
3 T smooth peanut butter
2 T sesame oil

In a large bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together until blended. Set aside

TOASTED SESAME SEEDS
3 T sesame seeds

In a small skillet toast the sesame seeds for 5 minutes until golden.
Set aside.

SHRIMP
Boil a dozen thawed and deveined/shelled shrimp in water for 5-7 minutes.
Drain and set aside.

VEGGIES
1 sweet red pepper, cored and seeded and cut into thin strips
1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed
1/2 cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup sliced daikon radish
(Or whatever else you happen to have on hand)

Prep the veggies and set aside

Noodles
8 ounces of thin spaghetti

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the spaghetti for about 7-9 minutes.
Drain into colander.

COMBINE!

In a large bowl, whisk dressing
Stir in veggies and shrimp; blend
ADD DRAINED SPAGHETTI
Toss gently to coat with dressing.
Top with sesame seeds

VOILA! Serve and enjoy. (We had it warm but you could put it in the fridge and have it later, cold.)

Where do you go looking for something serve friends, or do you stick with your favorite stand-bys or order takeout?

Vicki Delany: For the Love of Our Fictional Pets

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Today we're thrilled to welcome back Vicki Delany who, with a wink, calls herself a "one woman crime wave." And she truly is, having written more than forty books, including her latest, the new Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery, THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS.

Today she brings us some observations about that extra dimension NON-human characters can bring to a mystery novel. (No, we're not talking about robots.)

VICKI DELANY: If you live in the northern part of our planet, it’s cold and dark these days. The news of the world is glum, and people are recovering from their post-holiday highs, many not too happy when they check their credit card balance.

So, let’s talk about something fun: pets in mystery novels.

I believe animals add a lot to any fiction. It’s often said you can tell a great deal about a person by how they react to friendly dogs or cats. I don’t necessarily know if that’s true, but it does provide much used fodder in books.

 Certainly, anyone who snarls at a dog who just wants to be friendly, is unlikely to be a nice person. Unless they have a reason to be afraid of dogs, no matter how tail-wagging or small they might be. And that person would be unlikely to ‘snarl’ rather than cower in fear.

We know animals, cats and dogs in particular, have far more powerful senses that we mere humans do. Does that mean they can sense a ‘bad’ person versus a ‘good’ person? Probably not, particularly considering bad and good sometimes depend on your point of view. But again, logically or not, characters in fiction often rely on signals from their pets and this helps the plot move forward, Sometimes in the wrong direction.

Pets also provide much needed action to a scene. Imagine people sitting around a kitchen table talking over the case. That can get rather boring, but put a dog sniffing around looking for dropped crumbs, or a cat where it isn’t supposed to be, and you have some movement and action to accompany the dialogue.

And, again, a good opportunity to show how the characters interact with animals. Maybe that’s a clue!

A pet can add some humor, particular to lighter mysteries. In the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the shop cat, Moriarty, strongly dislikes our protagonist (and the ‘Sherlock’ character) Gemma Doyle.

Why is he antagonistic to her, who after all houses and feeds him, but friendly to everyone else? I see him as a master criminal trapped in an eight-pound body. She is the Sherlock Holmes to his Moriarty.

Unfortunately, being a cat there’s not much he can do about that other than occasionally try to trip her as she comes up the stairs.

Another way of using animals is to show a softer, perhaps kinder side of a character who might try to present a stern face to the world.

As Gemma is my interpretation of Sherlock Holmes as a modern young woman, she is sometimes blunt to the point of rudeness, scornful of others’ opinions at times, and inclined to interfere where she is not wanted. Too sure of herself, perhaps. I’ve tried to lighten Gemma’s character, soften her in the minds of my readers, with her loving interaction with her two dogs, Violet and Peony. Peony only came onto the scene, and into Gemma’s home, when his owner died and he was abandoned, and Gemma took pity on the little guy.

What’s not to love about that?

No matter the type of book, pets help move plots forward. In an earlier Sherlock Holmes Bookshop book, A Curious Incident, Gemma is walking the dog late at night when she sees a historical building on fire. And thus, the plot begins. Don’t forget what the curious incident was!

Walking her dogs gives Gemma time to think. She calls those late night dog walks ‘a two dog problem’ – comparable to Sherlock Holmes’ ‘three pipe problems.’

Of course, in cases where the pet has strong instincts about people, the writer has to use that very carefully. Otherwise, the moment the killer walks into the room, and the cat starts hissing, the reader knows who the killer is.

Violet, Peony, and Moriarty, don’t react like that, but the cat in the Lighthouse Library books I write under the pen name of Eva Gates, Charles (named for Mr. Dickens) does. Lucy Richardson is aware that Charles has strong instincts about people.

Sometimes she misjudges his reaction and sometimes she can be fooled. Did the bad guy slip treats to Charles and therefore gain his approval? You never know.

I love writing the animals in my books. Matterhorn, the Saint Bernard owned by Merry Wilkinson in the Year-Round Christmas books is a deliberate and amusing contrast to Ranger, her boyfriend’s Jack Russell terrier. If you’ve ever known a Jack Russell, you’ll know what I mean. Éclair, the labradoodle in the Tea by the Sea mysteries gives Lily plenty of opportunity to walk the BandB property at night, and her grandmother’s cat, Robert the Bruce, keeps a keen eye over goings on.

I love writing pets and I know many people can become very attached to the animal characters in books.

Do you have a favourite animal in fiction?

 HALLIE: I can't wait to see the animals our readers call out as their favorites.