the pace of words on a page...

{I love woman authors....good ones.}

"When Suzie introduced Helen, she told the audience that one of the best things about books is that they are an interactive art form: that while the author may describe in some detail how a character looks, it is the reader's imagination that completes the image, making it his or her own... .books educate and inspire, and how they soothe souls--'like comfort food without the calories'...the tactile joys of reading, the feel of a page beneath one's fingers; the elegance of typeface on a page.... people complain that they don't have time to read...if they gave up half an hour of television a day in favor of reading, they could finish twenty-five books a year...'Books don't take time away from us," she said. 'They give it back. In this age of abstraction, of multitasking, of speed for speed's sake, they reintroduce us to the elegance--and the relief!--of real, tick-tock time.'" - Berg, Elizabeth, Home Safe, p. 229

We went to the library today. Yes, we probably have over 200+books in our home on shelves, in stacks, in boxes, and we all revel over the fun of going to the library. Nicholas found three beloved friends, a trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson, that he has already read twice before, and hugged them to his chest, insisting, he had to check them out again and start all over on the journey. :)

We love books.

My latest reads: Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg (I have yet to read one of her books that did not inspire, move or change me in some way. They are comfortable and comforting, similiar to enjoying an early morning cup of tea, wrapped in a quilt on the front porch rocker.) Lahaina by Bodie Thoene and Change in Altitude by Anita Shrieve (another author I usually love, although this one was less than one of my favorites from her.) I did just finish a fourth book, by Nicholas Sparks, but it was so clumsy, artificial and just ugh....that I dare not suggest it. I have enjoyed many of his books, but this one...I just don't know. Not his normal caliber...what WAS the title? I am trying to remember, and I just finished it last week...True Believer...that was it...and he wrote a sequel to it, that got pretty poor review on Amazon, as well.

Anyway...on to the good ones... Home Safe...is about the relationship between mothers and daughters and finding yourself, as well as about writing, which I loved. A quick, easy, enjoyable read. I especially enjoyed her discourse on reading. Taking the time to read a book in our internet paced, movie-sequel world, is a slow pleasure.

Lahaina is an inspirational fictionized love story of the last princess of Hawaii, before it moved from an independent entity, with a King and royal family to becoming the 50th state. Enjoyable.

Change in Altitude, I read primarily because it was set in Africa, Kenya...interesting weave of the story line.

So that is what I have read lately, on the plane, at the pool, or in the quiet at night and have a stack on my nightstand..to continue my summer reading....

What are you reading?