“So many books, so little time”

Who knew that line came from Frank Zappa?  I sure didn’t, though I wholeheartedly agree with him.  My day is not complete until I read at least a few pages in a book—usually a mystery novel--before turning out the bedside light.  Oh, I read the newspaper every day, and like many of you, I read business emails and news all day long, but that’s just not the same as reading a good book.

I’ve been a voracious reader since childhood, and I know how fortunate I am that my parents read aloud to me and took me to the library.  I recall the Golden books like The Poky Little Puppy. Do you remember the Dr. Seuss books arriving in the mail?  I bet many of you also read the Bobbsey Twins or perhaps The Boxcar Children, depending on your age, and graduated to Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.

Just writing this brings other childhood books to mind:  Big Red, Old Yeller, Black Beauty, Beautiful Joe.  I guess we all went through a phase of reading books about animals, but I also recall The Five Little Peppers, Heidi and the Little House on the Prairie books. Many of these are still on my bookshelves. Perhaps it was my love  reading that led me to major in English. I enjoyed all of my literature courses as an undergrad, but treasured my time in the master’s program where I focused on British literature. Diving into Arthurian legend and discovering Mrs. Malaprop transported me to other times and worlds. To this day, I prefer British mysteries to any other. What fun to read a mystery that imagines the discovery of a missing Shakespearean play or references the friendship of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker. And if you are thinking, “Gee, get a life,” I also read all the Spenser and Elvis Cole mysteries set in modern day America. Lately, though, it’s the post WWI era that holds my interest, so the Inspector Rutledge and Maisie Dobbs mysteries are current favorites. While I’m not one to pick up a history book on WWI or any other topic, I do enjoy learning from historical novels. I had only a vague idea of the devastation of WWI and its impact on Great Britain until I read these books. The Death Instinct, a story based on the 1920 bombing of Wall Street, just arrived in the mail, and I can tell from the reviews that it will give me a similar feel for how WWI altered life in America. Before I move on to New York City, though, I'll need to finish The Messenger of Athens, a mystery set on a Greek island. I’m enjoying the descriptions of whitewashed cottages and bright blue doors with the Aegean sea in the background.  As The Cat in the Hat says, “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” I think he nailed it; don’t you?