Joy in Reading

Time for summer reads!

Photo by Dan Dumitriu on Unsplash

Reading sparks joy! Many of us feel that we have more time to read in the summer. This may be because we can take a book with us as we travel (wait, you only bring ONE book with you when you travel? What if you finish it? What if you don’t like it? What if you lose it? What if you suddenly realize you already read it?). Lately, I’ve been traveling with my Kindle because I can then have 150 books at my fingertips.

But at home or locally, I like to have a real book in my hands. The picture above reminds me of a trip to the shore on Cape Cod with my family when I was a teenager. I had finished the book I had with me, so in a nearby bookstore, I bought Along the Shore, a collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. I’ll never forget reading seashore stories by one of my favorite authors, while sitting by the sea and getting sand between the pages and between my toes. The quintessential summer read!

For our online book club here at “Tea, Talk & Tattered Pages”, our summer read is The Awakening of Miss Primby Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera. Have you started it yet? Have you read it before? I’d love to hear your comments. I’ve not read it before, but it comes highly recommended. Tell us your thoughts on it so far! (no spoilers, please)

As I read the prologue, “The Arrival”, it reminded me of two other books that I’ve enjoyed in the past: Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson, and Stranger at Killknock by Leonard Wibberley. The first one features a woman in a small town who needs money, so she writes a book anonymously about her fellow townsfolk. It’s charming, slow-paced, character-driven, another great summer read. The second is about a mysterious Man who shows up in a small town in Ireland and leaves it better than He found it. I wonder how this book will compare to those small-town reads?

Photo by Brittney Weng on Unsplash

One of my favorite recent reads is The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. The book charmed and delighted me, and I later found out why I loved it so much. I had thought it was because:

• it was about World War II

• had well-drawn characters

• a good storyline

• was engaging and interesting without ever getting too heavy

• a feel-good story all around

I later learned that the author intended it as a love story of reading. Although there is a light romance too, it’s mostly about how a young woman falls in love with reading. Hearing that caused fireworks to explode joyfully in my head - THAT is why I enjoyed the book so much.

I wonder, in what way are you all cultivating your love of reading this summer? What other books are you reading? Currently, I’m on this one:

I’m loving it! So many authors have talked about finding your passion (Tony Robbins comes to mind) or your dazzle (Ramona Zabriskie) or your legacy (John Maxwell), but this author approaches it from a Catholic but also humorous and perceptive perspective. (Perceptive perspective, that’s fun to say three times fast.) She acknowledges that it may not always be the right season for you to pursue your blue flame, and it might change as you go through life. She explains how to identify Your Blue Flame and insists that it has to be something that helps others.

Another current read is:

This book is very engaging and an easy read. Reading a few paragraphs can inspire me for the day. I read it as a teenager, but now it has deeper meaning. The author, Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, ably points out how many of us ignore the Holy Spirit. The Father is the Creator and we speak to Him through the Lord’s Prayer, the Son is our Redeemer and our Brother, but we don’t really talk about the Holy Spirit except at Pentecost.

He lives in our souls by sanctifying grace, and is there to comfort, to illuminate, and to kindle our hearts with love. I highly recommend this book too!

Sarah Mackenzie, author of Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakeable Peace and The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids, encourages her readers/listeners to “be nurtured by your reading life.”

Here’s a quote from her Read-Aloud Revival Podcast #238: How Books Make Us Better, Happier Moms: “It’s so easy for reading to become another thing on your to-do list, but when we make reading a source of joy, of respite from our busy lives, it’s like running into a clear creek on a hot, dusty hike. Nurturing your reading life nurtures you, which in turn helps us to be better moms, better homeschoolers, better parents, better women.” [Or men!]

I encourage us all to nurture our reading lives this summer by reading books that uplift, entertain, inspire and rest us. Make time for reading. We can live without it, but it won’t be much of a life!