“Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.”  C. S. Lewis

I love this quote! It was in my Goodreads newsletter today. I had never heard it before as one of his quotes. I agree with him wholeheartedly! One of my favorite things to do is have a cup of hot tea while I’m reading in bed at night. So now I’ll probably think of Mr. Lewis when I’m having my tea as well!

One thing I’ve always wanted to do is find a local book club. I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but the thing I used to love about taking literature classes in college was reading and discussing books whether they be non-fiction or fiction. One of my favorite literature classes that I took was when I went back to college for awhile after having both of my kids. My youngest child was about one and a half; her brother is two years older.

The class was in the morning for an hour three times a week. My mom was not a morning person, so I found a friend from church who gladly watched my kids for me…for free. She was a lot younger than my mom and loved little ones. She already had grandchildren and was used to all the running around and changing diapers. She never had a complaint about them which was so wonderful. Sometimes I stayed at the college for an hour or two after my class to do homework, too. So I will never forget Gwen.

Anyway, the class I took was Asian American Literature. We read writing by authors who wrote from the cultures of Vietnam, China, Japan, etc. We discussed the Japanese-American internment camps, the Vietnam War, and many other things. But the book we had to read, discuss, and write an essay final on was called “The Woman Warrior” by Maxine Hong Kingston. It was a haunting but inspirational book. There was a great deal of it I may not have understood if it hadn’t been for the help of my awesome instructor, Steve Turnwall. He brought out things and explained them to where I really got into that book. As I read it, I took notes, wrote in the margins, and asked a lot of questions. It is the only book I will never forget reading in college, the one that has stuck in my memory all these years. So if you’ve never read it, check it out!

Reading is one of the greatest privileges I have ever known. My mom was an avid reader; she only enjoyed fiction, but also read the newspaper.  She and my dad sat together at the table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper every morning after they retired. I was living with them for awhile then so I will never forget that image. It makes me smile. They would discuss the local news and tell me all about stuff while I had my breakfast before going off to my classes. My dad only read the newspaper and T.V. Guide. Once in awhile he would look through baseball books, but I never saw my dad read a full-length book. He was more of a T.V. guy.

My mom read so many novels after she retired that she would go to the Goodwill store and buy bags of them. She would read through them and save them for a while. Then she would trade them in at a local used bookstore for more books to read! She went to the library a couple of times, but that was it. Apparently it wasn’t her cup of tea. But I remember that when I was in grade school she used the library regularly. She would take me with her, and we would check books out together. Back then we could only check out two books at a time for two weeks with one renewal. I have become spoiled with our local library. I don’t feel I have to hurry to read anything anymore. We can check out as many books as we want for three weeks with two more renewals! I know that’s a long time to have a book, but that’s almost how long it took me to read that enormous Georgia O’Keeffe biography last summer!

What kinds of books do you like to read? Leave me your comments! I’d love to know my readers as well. Have a great day and give someone you love a big hug!