A Lifetime of Reading

In high school and college, I read historical novels in my spare time. I remember Dear and Glorious Physician about St. Luke and Look to the Mountain, which takes place during the American Revolution. It’s one of the finest historical novels I’ve ever read. Taylor Caldwell wrote of Luke; LeGrand Cannon, Jr., of the Revolution.

Of course, in the convent, I read only theologians. Afterward, however, I returned to historical novels. In the late sixties and early seventies, I read the three authors that some literary critics consider the finest historical novelists of the 20^th century: Robert Graves (Ancient Rome), Mary Renault (Ancient and Classical Greece), and Michael Shaara (the Civil War)

In college and later in graduate school, I read the classic novels by English and American authors such as Melville, Steinbeck, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, George Eliot, Evelyn Waugh. However, by the time I left the University of Minnesota with a graduate degree in American Studies plus a strong minor in Black History, I was weary of “great” literature—of deep and abiding themes that run like dark and golden threads through the tapestry of time. I wanted to read books I didn’t need to ponder for symbolism and character and plot development. I wanted simpler things to read.

Since then, I’ve discovered several women writers who explore the dynamics of families: Anne Tyler, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, Anne Quindlen, Elizabeth Strout, Alice Walker. I’ve also come to enjoy memoirs such as those by Frank McCourt, Rick Bragg, and James McBride.

In the 1990s, I discovered that some of the best novels being written were by mystery writers. In the past twenty-five years, I’ve begun to read mainly mysteries by such well-known authors as Louise Penny, Chris Nickson, Julia Spenser-Fleming, Deborah Crombie, Anne Perry, Charles Todd, Margaret Coel, William Kent Krueger, Laurie R. King, Martin Walker, Alan Bradley, P. J. Tracy, Daniel Silva, Donna Leon, Alex Grecian, Tony and Anne Hillerman, Paul Doiron, Jane Cleland.

I enjoy the puzzles that mysteries offer and delight in solving them before the last chapter.  In addition, some of these authors write historical mysteries. So that’s a Win-Win for me!

Through the years, when health issues have dragged down my spirits, I’ve tended to look for writers who offer a world that is not as complex as the one in which we all now live. Not as complex or frightening or dark. Back in the 1970s, I found that James Herriot’s books about a group of Yorkshire veterinarians lightened my spirits.  

His books spoke to me of simplicity, goodness, the power of laughter. Some would call them “feel-good” books. That is, they don’t deal with the major issues of our time like racism, injustice, sexism, inequality, terrorism, abortion, war. They end happily. That’s what I sometimes crave—a happy ending.

Three writers who fit the bill for me now are Patrick Taylor (the Irish Country Doctor series), Jan Karon (the Mitford series), and Effie Leland Wilder (a retirement village series introduced to me by blogger Arkansas Patti).

In one of Karon’s books, her main character, an Episcopal priest, looked at the countryside and thought, “nothing terribly dramatic ever seemed to happen. Life appeared to flow sweetly, without many surprises or obstacles to overcome.” That appeals to me when life becomes overwhelming.

The truth is that besides my writing, I mostly laze through the days and evenings, reading for pure enjoyment. When I want to challenge my brain, I read non-fiction about history or politics. Both give me grist for the mill of my mind.

What about you? Any authors to recommend?

Peace.