LUCY BURDETTE: Do events in the world or the time of year change the kinds of books you’re reading? The answer is, yes of course, for me. However I didn’t realize it was an actual trend called healing fiction. I first noticed these books in a bookstore in Copenhagen last June. I bought one of them for my sister for Christmas (thinking I’d read it first of course.) Then when this title was released: We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, how could I resist? But I definitely find myself reading more light-hearted mysteries—Rhys’s We Three Queens is perfect—and light women’s fiction/rom com. (For that I highly recommend Laura Hankin’s One-Star Romance and Kristan Higgins’ Look on the Bright Side.) I can read darker mysteries, but it helps if they have characters I know and love, such as the books of Ann Cleeves and William Kent Kreuger.
How about you Reds, does your reading change when the world feels dark?
RHYS BOWEN: Absolutely! Having been so stressed about John and the election and the future I’ve found myself rereading books I know have happy endings and are definitely escapist like Mary Stewart. I loved REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES and am waiting to read the sequel to the House on the Cerulean Sea. Right now I’m starting THE SALT PATH. A travel/ inspirational journal set in Cornwall
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I tend to re-read when life is stressed, unless it’s a new book I’ve been excitedly waiting for. (At this time of year, I highly recommend Goodreads Most Anticipated Books list. I guarantee you’ll find something that will give you the strength to carry on until the release date.) I love revisiting the works of Rosamunde Pilcher, Lois McMaster Bujold, Eva Ibbotson and more recently, the delightful Murderbot novellas by Martha Wells. There are books that get better every time you read them, and I cherish those!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah, it really doesn’t, I have to say. I am still in my lane. BUT I did read a fascinating article in the Boston Globe today about the top ten books taken out of the Boston Public Library in 2024. Nine out of 10 were by women, AND the librarian was quoted as saying the most-borrowed books “centered on women’s experiences” and “stories of human resilience.” And also: “readers gravitated toward narratives exploring real-life challenges–heartbreak, mental health, family dynamics, and personal growth, but particularly women’s stories.” (Lucy are you finding some ammo here??xxx)
HALLIE EPHRON: Women authors are definitely having their moment. I keep finding “TEN BEST…” lists in which more are by women authors.
I’ve been so stressed that I’ve resorted to rereading my favorite children’s books. Starting with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and moving on to Peter and Wendy and on to Alice Through the Looking Glass and on to Wind in the Willows. I’ve never been able to read dark books. With the exception of Stephen King. Somehow he always sounds as if he’s got his tongue planted firmly in his cheek when that snake comes bursting out of the bathtub drain.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, definitely, Lucy, both for reading and watching. A friend just recommended a dystopian sci-fi series to me and I said, "Nope, no dystopian, thank you." Ten years ago, maybe, I'd have been all in. Now I pretty much want to read life-affirming and hope-affirming things. And books with characters I love, even if they are sometimes difficult and prickly. I adored Remarkably Bright Creatures, which was recommended to me by my daughter. I reread, too, and Hallie has just made me want to pick up my copy of The Wind in the Willows.
JENN McKINLAY: I saw a hilarious reel the other day where the woman asks, “Are you in your granny era, where you just want to read fantasy, do cozy crafts, and watch Pride and Prejudice?” *pause* “Me, too, come on in.” It was very relatable, but I don’t have specific comfort reads. I read in all genres (because I write in all genres) so it really comes down to the author’s voice and the story for me. I also don’t reread very often - too many stories, too little time.
How about you Red Readers?
Not particularly . . . I tend to pretty much ignore what's going on in the world or the time of the year when I curl up with a book . . . usually I'm excited to read that particular book, so I simply let myself get lost in the telling of the tale . . . .
ReplyDeleteYou've got great concentration!
DeleteHealing fiction is perfect! During dark times, I gravitate towards comfort reads. And I am adding all of the books mentioned to my to be read list for 2025. Books give me hope for the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments from all of the JRW! I agree with what Joan said about getting lost in a tale. That is why I love to read books.
Hope for the future, we all need that!
DeleteNot really. When I read, whatever is happening in the world cease to exist until I'm done with my current reading.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's one of the best things about a good book, isn't it, Dru? The outer world falls away.
DeleteI almost never read dark/depressing/scary mysteries, and like Jenn I don't reread, although Hallie now has me wanting to crack open my antique collection of Oz books.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my reading changes that much in hard times. I am reading Louise Penny's latest right now, The Grey Wolf, which is as dark as I get. I certainly don't write dark, and that's where I spend half my day every day. But I might have to check out We'll Prescribe You a Cat!
I can't really read or write too dark. Interesting though, we are watching the new season of Shetland. There is plenty of violence in the story but we can't let go of the scenery!
DeleteHANK, where did you read that about BPL checkouts? I didn't see it in the Globe's Arts section. Thanks!
DeleteI reread Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, but right now I'm reading lighter things - Backman, Colgan, etc. Am currently enjoying an epistolary novel (love those), Letters from Skye. I've put the first book in the Japanese series on my TBR list which grows daily!
ReplyDeleteJenny Colgan is reliably happy reading!
DeleteI am amazed by people who do not reread. I have books I have reread for over 50 years. When I'm stressed I have always gone back to these, many from childhood: all of Laura Ingalls Wilder, all of the Little Britches books (sort of a male L.I.W., set ca. 1910), all the rom-coms of Georgette Heyer, all of Mary Stewart, all of Dick Francis (I don't read the dark sick ones he published with his son after the sad death of his wife), all of Sue Grafton, all of Susan Howatch. When I'm working outside in summer, I listen to audiobooks and here, too, I often repeat, just to have a familiar soothing voice in my ear all day. Ralph Cosham narrated both the first 10 Louise Penny books and a number of Dick Francis... perfect for my jangled nerves. Suzanne Toren is a newer favorite. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteI should have clarified: I am amazed and impressed by people who don't reread. This would include my entire book group. My friends all buy and read new titles every week, often on Kindle, and keep few books in the house. They are all extremely well-read. I am always intimidated. Oh, stress, maybe I should go down to the basement and re-read Nero Wolfe...
DeleteDon’t hide your Nero Wolfe from the light…it would be bad for the orchids! Selden, I too cannot understand people who don’t reread. Elisabeth
DeleteBut I am not impressed by them…perhaps I am a just careless reader, but I always discover something new in a reading. Elisabeth
DeleteNew in a re-reading, Elisabeth
DeleteHa ha about the orchids, Elisabeth. We have so many books that I paneled three walls of the basement with bookshelves. That's where our TV is also, with comfy sofas.. and a dehumidifier. I don't read down there but that's where my comfort reading lives when not being reread in the bathtub. :)
DeleteI do not re-read either--my stacks are too high!!
DeleteI will reread a book for Book Club - usually. I give all the books I read a sentence to remember and a number out of 10. That often decides whether I will reread the book for this book club. The last one was a definite no to rereading, but others have been eye-opening at what I missed the first time.
DeleteI reread books that I love, but since discovering JRW and FCF, I don't do it as often as I used to. I always find something new or probably something I forgot when I read a book again.
DeleteI am digging into my Kindle library, trying to get to books that I have been meaning to read for a while. I started reading The Good Man by Gabriel Valjan and can hardly put it aside. But it is a dark story set in a dark time. So, I am balancing that with Holiday romances and cozy mysteries. I have a Jack Reacher book out of the library that has been patiently waiting for me to turn a page while I have been indulging in spicy romances. Right now, all I crave is happy endings, but my stack of books has some grit, too. World events are certainly influencing my choices, but I am also mixing in some tougher subjects. I intend to resume re-listening to Debs' series and also to Rhys's Royal Spyness series in January, maybe James Benn's series, too. Those are books that I consider to be comfort reads.
ReplyDeleteNo, my reading habits have not changed. But since I read several books at the same time, I do read different subgenres of books so I am not mixed up.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, Grace. I do tend to read more than one genre at a time, too.
DeleteI have been making notes on the books I read since the pandemic when I increased the time I spend reading. This year, I also started keeping a journal on the books I listen to. I do refer back to my journal fairly frequently.
Interesting co-incidences…I’ve pulled Remarkably Bright Creatures off the shelf several times in the last few weeks. Just haven’t gotten to re-reading yet. “Life happens when you’ve made other plans.” Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteInquiring mind needs to know from those who never re-read: do you never look at a painting or sculpture more than once? Or re-watch a movie? TV show? Or go to a revival of a play? Or listen to a piece of music…any kind or music more than once? For me the experience of re-reading is the same as any of these. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteSo interesting Elisabeth, somehow reading doesn't feel the same. I'll have to think more about why that is...
DeleteElisabeth, I have watched the movie CASABLANCA many times and love it more each time.
DeleteSame with certain artists - like Paul CEZANNE, DIEGO RIVERA & FREDA KAHLO, and music -- love Billy Holliday, Louis Armstrong, Chick Berry, Buddy Holley, up through the 70's music.
But, Anonymous, do you re-read books? Inquiring mind still wants to know. Elisabeth
DeleteOh sorry Elisabeth - that was your question. I re-read books constantly!
DeleteListening to a song multiple times is not the same as rereading an entire book. I am interested in all the new books available to read. I do not need to reread for comfort.
DeleteThat's so interesting..but I agree, it's not the same. I have read very few books again--and if I do, it is only as a writer trying to deconstruct how the author accomplished what they did. I am not interested in reading a story again, no matter how much I loved it.
DeleteAnd I have never re-watched a TV show. (Have i? Well, maybe like a random Seinfeld or Friends, just by chance in a hotel room?)
Movies, yes, that's somehow different. I have watched many of them multiple times!
I am definitely doing more comfort reading these days. A recent one was Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Rhys. The Salt Path looks wonderful; a great reminder of the wee bit of the Southwest Coast Path that I did last year.
ReplyDeleteI thought for sure I would start my re-read of the Murderbot Diaries over the holidays, but haven’t gotten there yet. I used to re-read a LOT; not so much now, too many TBRs.
I am ready for my granny era!
I am a re-reader and, like Hallie, during tough times, I retreat into my favourite books from childhood. The stories are set in a world that no longer exists and I enjoy being in that far-away familiar place.
ReplyDeleteAh, a kindred spirit! And you always know how it's going to end...
DeleteI pretty much just escape from the world with any book. I do find, however, that I need to mix it up from dark to light. I call the light ones palate cleansers.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent analogy.
DeleteI don't believe I have the kind of reading needs that make me read a specific kind of book depending on the time of year or events going on. I can generally read a cozy mystery and then follow that up with a serial killer thriller with no problem.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing affecting my reading choices would be my particular mood at any moment I'm set to pick a new read but that's just my own rising and falling level of grumpiness which is an inborn trait rather than keyed by most outside forces.
LOL Jay for your inborn grumpiness!
DeleteGreat topic, Lucy! I find that I am seeking out more books that give me comfort and joy. Right now the book I am reading is perfect: Close Knit by Jenny Colgan. I am also slowly doling out rereads of William Tapply's Brady Coyne series, like a reunion with old friends.
ReplyDeleteLove, love love that book by Jenny Colgan. I don't think I've ever read the Wm Tapply series so I will remedy that.
DeleteMy two favourite categories of reading are mystery and science fiction. I joined my Book Group to broaden my reading. While I was a sales rep for WWNorton I read mostly advanced reading copies of their books (not much mystery or sci-fi). I am now rereading some mysteries and buying and reading new ones mostly. I want escape. I loved “Mostly Bright Creatures”! That one I read as an ARC and then again this summer for book group. Lucy, “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” is on my TBR list!
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear about your job as a sales rep!
DeleteOh, yes, agreed--LOVE to hear about that!
DeleteI would say yes, maybe to changing my type of book. I read ebooks in bed, and like something that is not mind challenging. Right now, I am reading The Golden Son (Gawdi) (Book Club and only available as an ebook) which is really interesting but hard to read with only half a brain functioning at that time. I am also enjoying DeLeon’s book 3 Swamp Sniper, which just gives me pleasure. On my audible read is Lucky Loser – I suspect it will take me a while to get through that. To give us pleasure, we both like tv’s All Creatures, and the Yorkshire Vet. There is just something about watching animals and what they bring that raises our pleasure sensors. My holds list says only 6 weeks until I get We’ll Prescribe You a Cat.
ReplyDeleteI am about to start reading seed catalogues – how is that for looking forward? (This year’s project vegetable – try a yellow standard tomato. Suggestions accepted)
Seed catalogues are such fun! Can't recommend a yellow tomato, but our favorite plant last summer was one shishito pepper plant. It gave and gave and gave!
DeleteFour seed catalogs arrived in the mail over the weekend, Margo! It's time to start planning the garden, for sure.
DeleteI love this post, and all the lovely book recommendations. I find that when times get tough, I will read to educate myself. I just re-read Everyone Who is Gone is Here, Jonathan Blitzer's amazing book on immigration. I want to be ready for the coming dark time. I also plan to read Timothy Snyder's new book, On Freedom.
ReplyDeleteFor comfort reading, I've returned to the Flicka series by Maureen O'Hara or Here Be Dragons and Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman. Julia, I LOVE the Murderbot books.
what a good idea to read to educate about immigration. Have you read Solito by Javier Zamora? I've had it on my list forever.
DeleteI'm definitely going to read Solito this year! I also want to read Jacob Soboroff's book, Separated.
DeleteGillian, I also reread Mary O'Hara's FLICKA books. When I was eleven I was sure I would someday live on a ranch in Wyoming! (Selden)
DeletePaula B here: So there is one book that scared the dickens out of me at first read years and years ago, Catherine Coulters, The Maze. I have read it a few times since. i save it for “those” times when I feel powerless and cranky. By the end of the book, the main character arc just chases the helpless feeling away and I’m back on track again handling life as it comes, well as much as anyone can these days. I usually read cozies and non-fiction on subjects I’m curious about. Todays pile into which I will very likely spend time with each are: Stretch away Pain by Prevention magazine, Native Spirit by Denise Linn and the fiction is Flash Back by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen which I can’t believe I haven’t read before. I may recognize it when I get into it. So another reread it will be. Do any of you pick up a new book to discover you’ve read it before? At any rate, it’s stacking up to be a perfect day. Thank you all for your comments. I totally love this group and read it every morning with my coffee.
ReplyDeleteThank you Paula, we love having you and your coffee here in the mornings! Now I'm off to look at Stretch Away Pain...
DeleteInclude me in the light subject matter and re-reading comfort books--all of Dorothy Gilman's work--not just the Mrs. Pollifax books, the Brother Cadfael series, any Mary Stewart, and many others. I also turn to nonfiction--nothing political--science, psychology, history, animals, for example.
ReplyDeleteLOVE Mrs. Pollifax!!!!
DeleteThis is reminding me of the stack of books my mother always had on her bedside table. Cookbooks. And she never set foot in the kitchen to cook. I have her copies of The Joy of Cooking and the 2-volume Gourmet cookbook. But they live in the kitchen with corner dog eared and pages grease spattered.
ReplyDeleteSounds like she just loved food!
DeleteLike mother, like daughter!
DeleteI just read The Tucci Table from cover to cover. It was my Christmas present from my daughter. Now if I would just cook some of the recipes!
DeleteNo dystopian fiction for me, either! If it's chosen as a book club topic I often just pass, because I can't deal with it these days. It means I didn't read Ready Player One and Station Eleven, but I'm okay with that.
ReplyDeleteRereading used to be part of my world, but not since I started hanging out in author blogs! Way too many enticing suggestions piling up, with fewer and fewer years ahead to read them all. However, if I ever run out of TBR backlog (highly unlikely) I can reread thousands of ebooks and paper ones.
In the past couple years, in response to the craziness of the world, I have read/listened to a lot of Sonali Dev and Kristan Higgins. Neither are mystery authors, and they both write about a core cast of mostly related characters, except in different venues. Higgins's stories all take place around NYC, while Dev's are centered on Indian Americans, and usually swing between LA and India.
I love them both as well. But Kristan Higgins is mostly setting books on Cape Cod now, which is glorious!
DeleteI'd forgotten about those, Lucy. You're so right!
DeleteFrom Celia: So many books - but suddenly I do have time. My question is how to use it well. Yesterday I finished my first hard cover, the latest Stephanie Plum, since I can't remember when. Over the past months I have read very light books on my Kindle app. Or picked through my old familiar friends. But on Rhys recommendation I just downloaded The Salt Way. Perhaps I will get back to Cornwall finally.
ReplyDeleteI have nearly finished it, Celia. The prose is wonderful. You’ll love it
DeleteStephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) is always a fun escape. Particularly like her side kick Lula! She's a hoot.
DeleteOh I've gotten so many good recommendations today. Will check out Jenny Colgan who I'd never heard of and the Book Remarkabely Bright Creatures.
ReplyDeleteI love R. Pilcher, PG Wodehouse (he is so funny!), I have re-read all of Lucy's Key West mysteries, a few of Jenn's fun library series, Rumpole of the Baily series - which are a hoot (by John Mortimer).
I recommend Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Very short but beautiful writing.
thanks for rereading and for the recommendations!
DeleteI love childrens books too.
ReplyDeleteWinnie the Pooh
Wind in the Willows,
Wizard of Oz
Peter Pan,
Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit)
Even though it is current I love Harry Potter because I feel transported to another world.
Shel Silverstein
Where the Wild Things Are...
so many!
I listen to the Wind in the Willows on the Calm app to put me to sleep. Chapter one, over and over:)
DeleteOh, great idea, Lucy. I'm going to download on Audible.
Deletehttps://www.npr.org/2024/12/29/nx-s1-5234258/most-borrowed-library-books-2024
ReplyDeleteI heard a story on NPR about the top ten best selling books in 2024, and eight are by women. The two by men are a kid's book, by the wonderful Dav Pilkey, and the only nonfiction book, Atomic Habits. Really interesting for the immediate future: four of the ten are Romantasy, and two are by Colleen Hoover, who writes contemporary romance/social issues novels. The readers of these last two categories skew to younger women, which is great news for the future of published fiction!
ReplyDeleteWomen have long been the driving force behind reading - yesterday I heard a man at Barnes and Noble give a passionate discourse on ACOTAR (if you know, you know) so I think Romantasy is becoming multi-gendered :)
DeleteInteresting question! I have to say yes. I've been reading more romance and cozy than thriller and suspense. I've also been watching Hallmark. I'm loving Rhys's suggestion and downloading Mary Stewart - with a side of Phyllis Whitney for me. Comfort food for the eyes.
ReplyDeleteLucy, once again Blogger has removed my contribution. I may have capitalized the name of a book, which seems to be a trigger.
ReplyDeleteIn my earlier statement, I said that I am influenced by world events and have been reading a lot of Holiday romances and cozies, but some grittier books, as well.
I do reread and re-listen to books, but not as often as I used to.
Sometimes Blogger just decides people are spam. It is inexplicable.
DeleteI mix up genres as I read. I prefer happy endings or at least satisfying ones! I do reread books as the mood strikes me. I've had too many unread books lately to do that though. I have to remind myself that I am the captain of my ship and can pick where I go next in my reading.
ReplyDeleteThe state of the world is more likely to influence my non-fiction reading rather than my fiction reading. My fiction reading covers a wide variety of genres, and I tend to have several books going at the same time, but I always have a mystery or thriller in the mix. As to rereading, I’m gradually going back through Sue Grafton’s alphabet, and am currently at “G”. And, yes, I sometimes find myself reading a book that I realize I have read before!
ReplyDeleteI’m intrigued by the title “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” so that goes on my TBR list!
What a fun idea to re-read those! Are they still fun? Do they hold up? I have them all on a shelf right beside me...but they are now kind of...art. And inspiration.
DeleteYes, my reading tastes change with dark times and/or my mood. The latter is common among all readers, I would think. I know I go on my TBR list on Good Reads or look at bookshelves, in a library or at home, and decide what I’m in the mood for.
ReplyDeleteSince early November, I’ve felt like living in a Hallmark movie town. Like Karen, I can’t do dystopian fiction because I fear we’re about to enter dystopian reality. I am currently reading cozies and traditional mysteries by authors I enjoy like Paula Munier, Louise Penny, Paige Shelton and, of course, my friends, the JRWs! — Pat S
My reading tastes dramatically changed about 11 years ago. While it was the best job I ever had, I was working an average of 14+ hours a day, and commuting by train for four hours round trip. I discovered a romance novel set in my favorite place, the CA Central Coast, and, although I was a romance snob and had never read that genre, I took a chance. Since then (and even though I retired four years ago), I've only read books where I can escape, and especially love series books: romance, rom-com, women's fiction, along with cookbooks and biographies. A few years ago, I discovered cozy mysteries, and those hit all the marks for me: humor, FOOD, location, great characters (yes, thank you, Hayley Snow, I'm on book 7 right now). My Kindle and bookshelves are packed, so I'll be escaping even more in the coming year(s). Oh, and last month I re-read The Phantom Tollbooth, because I needed to reconnect with the Princesses Rhyme and Reason. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHuh. My comment vanished. I like to mix up my reading. I try to stay away from weepers though. What I choose to read has nothing to do with what's going on in the world. And I will reread favorites if the mood strikes.
ReplyDeleteYes, the state of the world and my world do affect what I read. I can't read really dark books now, and like you, Debs, no dystopian sci-fi, which usually is bleak and hopeless. Rhys and Debs, I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures, and Rhys, I've started The Salt Path, too, but I had to put it down to read books (mainly from the Reds) that I've missed over the last nineteen months. I am looking forward to getting back to The Salt Path, as the fact that it is a true story makes it even more of an incredible story. The follow-up book to it is The Wild Silence, which I also want to read. I have reread two books, which I usually don't make time for, but I read them both to my son at the cemetery. The first one was one of my favorites, and while it's categorized YA, it's a book for all ages teen and over, and it's entitled Whirligig by Paul Fleischman. The second was a favorite of Kevin's and is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Douglas Adams. I probably wouldn't have read any science fiction if not for my son's influence to do so, and in the rereading of this Adams book, I was delighted to rediscover the author's superb use of language. As I said, I'm now trying to concentrate on the Reds I've missed--Lucy, Rhys, Hank, and Jenn--plus being behind a book on Catriona McPherson (one that just came out) and Annette Dashofy and Wendall Thomas. The one author those of you who know me well won't believe I'm behind on is Elly Griffiths. And, I've put Edith's (Maddie's) first book in the Dot and Amelia series coming out in March on my reading list for next year.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I'm here, I'm wondering if any of you have watched the series (think it's Netflix) Atypical. It's about an eighteen-year-old boy on the autism spectrum (high functioning) and was on from 2017 to 2021. Jennifer Jason Leigh starred as the mother. I've just started watching it and am hooked on it. It's part drama and part comedy. It has a lot about being brave to try new things for all the characters and some unfortunate flaws in one character.
What a wonderful post this is! You're lengthening my TBR list, but what a treat. I wouldn't say I've changed my reading choices so much as expanded them. I'm loved We'll Prescribe You a Cat which prompted me to check out similar works. I highly recommend What You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, and Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. The word that comes to mind when reading them is "gentle." They gently nudge you into thinking about situations in different and more positive ways. At the same time, I am also deep into Ann Cleeves' books as well as Andrea Penrose. They are the books that are dependable in keeping my brain churning and entertaining me as well. I read Black Out and Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow. The are excellent books, set in Berlin in late 1939 and I have to admit it felt a little too much like where we are right now in this country. Let's say it was, for me, eye-opening and terrifying all at once. So, perhaps the times are impacting how I view historical works set in Germany during WWII. Nevertheless, I still would grab the next one as soon as it is published. Maybe it is acting as a tutorial for me. -- Victoria
ReplyDeleteLight Rom Com mysteries are my lifeline now although I find CIA mysteries and TV series enticing. We just finished watching the first two seasons of LIONESS. Unbelievable! Now, we are focused on The Agency. Both shows really question my take on what I am reading in any media format and they are certainly keeping my brain engaged! PBS shows on Sunday night also take me back to a lighter time.
ReplyDeleteMy mood does influence what I read. Sometimes I can sink my teeth into serious works, but when the world is fraught, I need lighter, more entertaining works. My librarians say I have eclectic selections. My Kindle just offered up Hank's ON THE HOUSE. I don't know how it came to be there, and how I've not read it before, but if feels like a gift for New Year's. A college prof. said anything worth reading is worth reading twice, for deeper insights, but I seldom do so, with so many new books to make time for. I have found, though, that after a few years' passing, a book feels new again, so I'll never run out. <3. -- Storyteller Mary
ReplyDelete