I realized a number of years ago how odd, random, and off beat my reading choices can be. Though I cut my teeth on Sweet Valley High paperbacks ($2.50 at my local Hallmark in the 80’s) I like to think my tastes in books have…developed.
As a younger adult I didn’t really notice my reading selection from an outside perspective until one day I tried explaining to a new friend what I was reading of late. It went something like this: “it’s called The Grandmother. Translated from the Bohemia. Written in the 1800’s. I don’t really know what it’s about. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. It’s about a grandmother who lives in the woods near her grandchildren and how she spends her days. I found it at a flea market. It looked interesting. It has a spinning wheel embossed on the front.” My friend started to question my sanity or maybe just my judgment. I then realized my sweet grandmother book had no real plot. I loved it anyway.
Years before this while roaming around Galway, Ireland in the late 90’s, I came across my favorite bookstore, Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop. There I found a sweet but small handful of small hard cover assortments of C.S. Lewis and something with Goat in the title. It would be years until I would read these. Since that day in late fall of 1999, I’ve gone back to this bookshop on every single return trip to Ireland.
I do love collecting books. I love curling up to read. It’s such a radical form of self care. I’m feeding my brain while also doing something for the pure enjoyment of learning and imagining new things. Especially before bed as it’s such a calming ritual.
Now, I know the New York Best Sellers List is a thing and it’s there for a reason. But I don’t want to ALWAYS read what’s on that list. I want to read the forgotten. The declared “not very good” by others just so I can find out for myself what exactly do “they” mean by “good”. I want to be taken places that aren’t talked about or thought about. Like obscure islands off the coast of Ireland during a time that’s so long ago that seals were hunted. I want to know things about how things used to be.
I’ve come to notice that the majority of books I’ve collected almost all have a stream of commonality; non fiction, Irish, the natural world, sometimes all three.
Here at this page I’m just going to share with you what I’ve read and my thoughts. Not spoiling anything. Hopefully. But just a fun place for me to share my latest reads.