Books!

 Hey! I'm going to talk about books. Whenever we visited my grandmother she had paperback novels crammed into every nook and cranny. I mainly remember Mary Stewart, She developed the Romantic Mystery genre. Her main characters were smart women who found themselves in sticky and dangerous situations. I remember The Ivy Tree well. I read it until the pages fell out. She also had lots of books by Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. I've always loved the Romantic mysteries with occasional spooky stuff. I read anything I could get my hands on. My dad had a hardback compilation of old Popular Mechanics magazines. I read them over and over. We had a 30-volume set of gold-edged Encyclopedia Britannica. I just opened a random page and began reading. I read Dad's Matt Helm books, Travis McGee, Ian Fleming, Remo Williams, Alistair MacLean, and lots of espionage novels.

The next book that grabbed me and forced me to read it over and over was Lorna Doone. It's a historical romance with many villainous characters and others who come in to save the damsel who is badly in need of help. I still have the books somewhere. My dad appropriated it from his high school library. I read it for the first time when I was 10. At the same time, I came across Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This is another favorite.

Around this time I found The Gown of Glory. I really don't know why this book touched my soul so much. It was set in an 1881 small village. The book starts out with a young Calvinist preacher getting his first church. He and his new wife expect to move up to a bigger church anytime. This never happens. A wealthy young man stumbles across the small village and falls in love with the preacher's daughter. It was just a sweet book with an innocent feel.. I think it reminds me of my grandparents. My grandfather attended Mercer University and got a theology degree. Occasionally he preached. He always enjoyed battling the missionaries about religious history and doctrine. He was a good, kind-hearted person. Much like my grandmother.

Many of the early books I loved were set in Britain with adventurous heroines. I still prefer English mysteries and tv series.

As a kid, I loved fables, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, and all the Dr. Dolittle books. I read all of them that the school library had. Louisa May Alcott was also a favorite. My mom subscribed to the Nancy Drew book club for me. Every month I got 2 books a month. I read all of Nancy’s adventures. I moved on to Trixie Belden, the Hardy Boys, and The Dana Girls. Once I became a teen my mom subscribed to the Romance book of the month club. Then Harlequin romance club.

As an adult, one of my greatest pleasures has always been to go to the library and check out the maximum amount of books. Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And any kind of mystery my small-town library had. I eventually moved on to other genres.

When got a job at our very small branch library I was in heaven. I read everything on the shelves. Didn't matter if it was something I was interested in or not. I just devoured it all. Histories about bands I didn't care about, humorous compilations, read all about Phenix City, Alabama. Man, you should look up the history of that town. Wooowhee.

And when our system joined the Statewide Library System I could get books from all over the state, and believe me. I did. I had pages of lists of books to borrow. It was a whole new world. I had the maximum 50 books checked out at all times. And the maximum 50 books on hold. I discovered noir, horror, good authors, bad authors, and authors who had great ideas but couldn't quite get them right.

I was very lucky. I had a group of patrons who trusted me to find books they would enjoy. It’s been over 10 years since I left my library. I occasionally see the obituary for one of my patrons, and it makes me sad. I remember our shared love of reading. I remember the stories they shared with me about their lives. I remember the friendship these wonderful people offered to me. I met some quirky, amazing, and wonderful people. I miss these people. I also met some pompous blow-hards. I don't miss them.

I researched genres that I didn't care about so that I could get books for my people.

Luckily the Young Adult books being published were really good. They connected to my readers. So many choices. The characters faced real-life problems. Divorce, homelessness, bad parents, drug use, sexual activity, sexual identity. Books that resonated with teens, not the picture-perfect books their parents wanted them to read. I tried to find books the kids wanted to read. Anything to ignite the fire in their soul. I checked out books from all over the state for my kids. I took their recommendations seriously. If my kids liked them I tried to get the books for my library.

Books gave me comfort and solace when I needed them. A refuge from the storms life threw at me. I learned about other cultures. I absorbed so much from reading. I didn't go to college. I would love a degree in literature or just a good liberal arts education. But, I have learned so much from my books. My college-educated colleagues were amazed at the things I knew. Things outside of my limited life experience. How do you know what an Au Pair is? Agatha Christie, of course. How did you hear about poutine? A novel of course. What's a Furry? How did you know that? You really don't want to know.

They respected my knowledge of books and let me be in charge of advising patrons on reading material. It was a true joy to talk books with people that loved to read. There was some major drama at the library. But, it was the best job I ever had. When I started this I thought I would recommend some books that resonated with me. But, that will have to wait.

Read a book. Find something that sets fire to your imagination.