Reading for Pleasure

Life has been stressful lately with the aftermath of moving and adjusting to a new home, house and property issues, Angel's cancer follow-up, a death in the family as well as another member terminally ill and yet another with failing health, and enough pain for both me and my sweetie to drive us into physical therapy for relief. Overlaying all of this is the constant background worry about where we are headed with the economy, climate, and oil resources.

When I sit down to read these days, I have no desire to read about the problems facing our society and world. I don't even really want to read about the solutions or what I can do about it, especially since so many of the projects already on our list are on hold until outside temperatures are cool enough to work and we save enough to buy materials that can't be scavenged.

When I sit down to read, I want an escape from the worry and stress. I want to become engrossed in a book, transported to another world, at least temporarily. I tend to read a wide variety of fiction; as long as it is well-written and interesting, I'll usually stick with it, although I do avoid horror. I have a vivid imagination and enough dark thoughts of my own - I don't need to feed them with other people's dark visions!

I've volunteered several times at libraries and found it was a great way to stumble across interesting books. If I find an author that I really connect with, I'll read everything they've written. When an author I like also has short stories or "novellas" published in an anthology, I get the added benefit of sampling other authors that may send me reaching for the books they've written.

Some books seem to draw me back to reread them every few years and those books are ones that have been gathered from used bookstores over the years to live in my home. I'm partial to Anne Rice - particularly the vampire books, Anne McCaffrey, and Jean Auel. The last two authors often feature strong female characters, which I think is a strong part of their draw for me. J.A. Jance's mysteries with Joanna Brady are good reading, too, especially since I think she nails the character of southeastern Arizona.

I've found, though, that I don't like just any mystery. I need something to connect to. In the case of Jance, it is the familiarity with the region. Another mystery author I enjoy is Diane Mott Davidson, not at all surprising since her lead character is a caterer with a strong affinity for good coffee, chocolate, and rich foods. I wish she existed in real life and cooked for me!

Our bookshelves also sag under the weight of books by Bill Bryson, Kurt Vonnegut, and J.R.R Tolkien, although I'll admit I don't connect with Vonnegut's writing nearly as much as my sweetie.

But, back to cruising the library for reading material. Lately I have simply browsed the bookshelf with new releases to find books; it narrows down the selection so I am not overwhelmed by too many options. Fantasy has been a very strong draw in the past few months, perhaps because it really does take me into a completely different world where I can briefly forget about the problems in this one. I've found a few authors and books I can recommend if you like that genre.

Ilona Andrews - I've enjoyed everything she's written so far and eagerly await coming books. She has a novella in an anthology with three other writers that were enjoyable (but whose names escape me at present).

Gina Koch - I believe she's only published one book so far, but it was fresh and well-written. Her website promises more to come with the same characters.

Glen Cook - I have unfortunately not been able to find his books in libraries very often for some reason. I had most of the Garrett, P.I., series from a thrift store and made the mistake of not holding onto them.

Jim C. Hines - I'm currently reading one of his books and expect to seek out his other publications.

If you like anthologies, check out Pandora's Closet. It has 19 very short stories in it which will let you sample a wide variety of authors. If you're smart, you'll make a note of which ones you like instead of just returning the book to the library like I did.


As you know, I don't accept merchandise from sellers in return for hawking their products. I have reviewed products (and books) in the past, but they are simply things that I have come across on my own. I generally ignore emails from sellers offering to send me free merchandise in exchange for a review, although sometimes I'm nice and respond to let them know of my policy.

Such was the case recently when I was contacted about a new novel with an offer to be sent a free copy if I would do a review (positive or negative - whatever I wanted) about it during the author's book tour. I declined, but said I'd check it out of the library since it looked interesting.

Hot House Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin was an interesting read. The story unfolded gradually, like the petals of a flower, leaving me wondering from chapter to chapter where the story was going next. It follows an unhappy woman working in the New York advertising scene on her journey to find herself and what she truly wants from life. The journey takes her to the rain forests of Mexico where she is completely out of her element.

I thought the first half of the book was well-paced and engaging. By the second half, though, it seemed to be racing towards the conclusion and the process of her transformation felt rushed. While the reader may be happy with how things turn out, there may also be a certain level of puzzlement over how it happened given earlier portions of the book. Still, it's an enjoyable read with thought-provoking elements that may leave you wondering whether your own life is on the right course. And you may end up headed down to the local plant vendor to check out the exotic offerings.


I know there are some folks in the prepper world that think every minute of our time should be spent learning and practicing how to live in a world with less resources, but I think we need to feed our minds and our souls as well as figuring out how to feed our bodies. If you find, like me, that you need some distraction from contemplating TEOTWAKI, head to your local library and check out some books!