by Rain Trueax
We
took down the last of Christmas-- the tree-- on Epiphany, which seemed
an appropriate time given the story of the Wise Men. At
first our home seemed incredibly sparse without all the greens, but
I've settled back into it. I love this simple little house and feel
grateful many times just walking into a room that is so us. It is full
of art and furniture collected over many years with no idea it'd end up
here when it was purchased. It's not finished as in changes may come,
but that's the beauty of life. We can change.
Earlier
this week, I got curious regarding how many books we had together read
in 2020, our way to escape into other worlds. My husband and I began reading aloud,
taking turns, last January and it has proven a good experience.
Previously, Ranch Boss (need a new name for him that relates to the desert since our son is running the ranch) had
done very little reading aloud; so it was a new experience for him,
which he came to like. We often talk over what we read when we are
finished with the snippets. People did this for many centuries, once
books were available (before that maybe they related myths), but then
other entertainments became more appealing. I think this is one that
bears a new look as a way to share. It might seem odd that a romance writer would choose all nonfiction, but I think it's really very typical and the ways we do research.
Our
choices were all nonfiction, some originally published as articles in
literary or nature magazines. Many were kind of memoirs-- sharing a
small part of the authors' lives. They are set in the Southwest with a
couple of exceptions. Most we had already owned. A few led us to buy a
book that carried on a theme. A couple I had to buy that I knew I owned
in Oregon, but a used version was cheaper than asking our son to find
them and mail them down here. I didn't think to write titles down as we
finished them last year but we searched them out. They are not in order.
Two of them we mailed to our son for him to read (the first two below).
The Happiness Equation
The Dude and the Zen Master
The Desert Year
The Hidden West
Chulo
Taos Memory
Home is the Desert
One Life at a time, Please
Book of the Hopi
Pumpkin Seed Point
The Desert Smells like Rain
The Dancing Healers
The Theft of the Spirit
Kindling Spirit.
I
was surprised to find we had read 14 with one more that we started in
December but didn't finish until the new year. I might write more about
it-- unless something else comes up for next Saturday.
I too read a lot of nonfiction. I've never kept a list of the books I've read, but you've inspired me to do that.
ReplyDeleteRain: Reading aloud to each other is a lovely idea. I know a local couple who download ebooks and read aloud. They've practically gotten rid of their TV. When my siblings and I were young, Mama gathered us around in a circle and night and read from books such as "Bread From Heaven," a story about a missionary who went to Africa. I still remember parts of that story. But most of all, I remember the warm, cozy feelings that blanketed me when Mama read to us.
ReplyDeleteI used to read to our kids and enjoyed it; then they learned to read and wanted to do it themselves :). It has been a really good thing for us especially in such a troubled time. It takes us somewhere else. I had never kept track of the books I read but will at least with the ones we are reading aloud. It's been fun
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