"We read to know that we are not alone."

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." - Charles William Eliot

When I read this blog post, I could totally relate.   My books are some of my favorite things, but there are times when I stare at my bookshelves and almost feel a little guilty that I have so many unread treasures just sitting there, especially when I continue to check books out from the library.  I just finished a book this morning that has been on my shelves for years, and I even started that book before reading Sankovitch's post.

One True Thing was the book I finished this morning.  I was inspired to read it because I just listened to another of Quindlen's books (see below), and I felt this past week was a good time to read this particular book that I have been avoiding for quite awhile.

Did you see the movie One True Thing?  It's with Renee and Meryl and is about a daughter who takes care of her mother who is dying from cancer.  The movie nearly killed me, so I have resisted reading the book, for obvious reasons.  However, this coming up week is the anniversary of my mom's death, so I have been thinking more about that than usual.  Not thinking more about my mom, mind you, because I think of her every day, but thinking more about the months leading up to her death and then the anniversary which is on September 25th.  I have this weird penchant for reading moms-dying-of-cancer books.  Randy frequently asks me why I do that to myself, and I have not been able to come up with an answer.  Recently, I was talking to a friend about One True Thing, and I realized that maybe the reason I like cancer books is that after your loved one dies, no one really wants to talk about it anymore.  It's not like I want to sit around talking about watching someone die from cancer, but it was probably one of the most profound and impacting experiences I have had, so it is not like it leaves me.  Maybe reading these books is a way for me to relate, connect, grieve, think, remember, cry, etc. that I don't get in my every day life.

I just finished listening to Quindlen's newest book, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, and I really enjoyed it.  It is about aging, and while I'm not venturing into my sixties like Quindlen, I am closing in on 40, so some of the things she discusses have been on my mind, to a lesser degree.  I liked the things she had to say about marriage and family, but I really connected with what she had to say about friendship.

Quindlen writes, "Ask any woman how she makes it through the day, and she may mention her calendar, her to-do lists, her babysitter.  She may say that she's learned to let unnecessary tasks ride, that she no longer worries too much about home-cooked meals or clean countertops, ... that she gets her reading done by listening to audiobooks in the car and sends email messages from her phone while she's having her hair cut.  But if you push her on how she really makes it through her day, or, more important, her months and years, how she stays steady when things get rocky, ... she won't mention any of those things.  She will mention her girlfriends.  The older we get, the more we understand that the women who know and love us - and love us despite what they know about us - are the joists that hold up the house of our existence.  Everything depends on them."

Does it get any more true than that?

After finishing Quindlen's book, I was super excited to listen to Carry On Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton.  Some of you may know her from Momastery.  She is hilarious, she is real, and she is inspiring.  I have been following her blog for a while, but I couldn't wait to listen to her book.  I was even more excited to learn that she read it herself.  She's a Christian, so some of her essays that had to do with God and Jesus didn't really resonate with me, but within those chapters she also talked about bravery and kindness.  Those are things that spread across faith and belief system and should strike a chord with whoever is listening.  I have been reading, seeing, hearing things about kindness a lot lately. I don't know if it is being talked about more, or if I'm just noticing better (sort of like now that I'm dreaming of driving a Honda Pilot, I see them EVERYWHERE.).  My personal goal right now is to be kind, think kind, act kind.  It's so important.

Somehow the next book I had to get to listen to is Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.  I'm not super thrilled about the transition from the two inspiring books I experienced to this one, but maybe it will be inspiring in a different way.  I'm not very far into it, but I am looking forward to "reading" what all the buzz was about.

Before the cancer book, I read the second to last Maisie Dobbs book.  I only have one left before I am caught up, and I am sort of dreading it.  I feel like I kind of know Maisie Dobbs right now, and I am going to be super sad when there aren't any future books to read.  For those of you who enjoy historical fiction and also like mysteries, I can't say enough good things about Maisie Dobbs.

Trey and I continue to read volumes every night.  Right now his favorites are Clifford books (hate them), Max and Ruby (they're okay), and fairy tales.  I have been reading him Max and Ruby and Mickey Mouse versions of fairy tales, so I was sort of shocked when I read him the "real" tales from Lucy Cousins' volume called Yummy.

Apparently, it's been years since I've read the "real" Little Red Riding Hood because I was not expecting what happened in this book.

Trey now calls this book the "bad guys book" and wants to read it every night.  Of course he does.

I'm at the reading moment that I love.  Finished One True Thing this morning and about to delve into a new book.  One thing I love/appreciate about Facebook is liking or following authors I enjoy.   Right now that includes Kelly Corrigan, Anne Lamott, Elizabeth Gilbert, Will Schwalbe (another cancer book), Joshua Henkin, and Cheryl Strayed to name a few.  I really like it when they make book recommendations.  Anne Lamott recommended Me Before You by JoJo Moyes which I am starting tonight.  Can't wait!

I got to read a lot during the summer which I loved, but I am looking forward to fall and winter.  There's something so cozy about reading when it's raining outside or next to the fire.  What's on your stack, reader?