Books.

I have had a lifelong love affair with reading.  Newspapers, magazines, internet articles, but more specifically…..books.  I’m not talking about e-books, but books “in my hand”.  A new book with just the right font size, just the right ability for the pages to stay open, and long enough for me to get fully engaged in the characters and their lives is a wonderful thing.  Going to the library for me is like a mini holiday.  I could spend a lot of time in there looking for just the right book to take home with me.

I can remember as a child reading in bed every night – a now life-long habit.  I would be told I could finish the page, and my parents would be back.  In my head, if I could finish the page and then turn to the next one before they got back, technically I was still finishing the page.   Anything to read just a little more.  We always had a light on in the hall, and my “trick”, although I’m sure on some level my parents must have known, was to wait until they went downstairs, and then turn around the wrong way on my bed so the hall light would shine on my book, and just keep reading.  Back then, some of my favourites were the Chincoteague books by Marguerite Henry (wonderful stories about horses), Joy Spartan by Ruth I. Johnson, and of course the Scholastic books.  It was always so exciting when book ordering time came around.  I was usually allowed to purchase one or two, and making that choice was excruciating!

As I was thinking about this, I realize that now, as an adult, I have a book shelf in just about every room of my house.  In my bedroom – both my husband’s and my nightstands are full of books, and the irony is that my husband hates reading.  Ha, ha.  I also usually have a small stack on my dresser of books in waiting.  My husband’s office (remember – he doesn’t like to read) has TWO bookcases in it.  All mine again.  Mysteries, fiction, devotionals, life stories…..lots of wonderful books.  The spare bedroom has a bookcase full of children’s books that belonged to my kids, and are now being enjoyed by grandchildren.  The kitchen has a specially made bookshelf as part of our cabinets that holds cookbooks (pictured below). Again, I much prefer a book in hand to looking at a recipe online.  That being said, I have printed favourites out, and put them in a binder.  The living room has another bookcase, filled mostly with piano music, but there are some devotionals and children’s books in there as well.  In the rec room there is another built-in bookcase filled with more children’s books.

I have so many favourite authors that it’s really hard to say that any one is my ultimate favourite.  Over the course of time I hope to share some of these favourites with you, and today I’ll start with one that happens to be sitting near me.  Keep in mind, these are my favourites, which won’t necessarily mean they will be yours.

So today, let’s talk about Steven James and his remarkable series, “The Patrick Bowers Files”.  These books are gripping, fast moving, suspenseful, and a really good read.  The baseline for my husband, when I tell him about a book, is “Would it make a good movie?”  Oh yes, these books most surely would.  Now be warned, this series is about an FBI agent, Patrick Bowers, on the hunt for various serial killers, so as you can imagine there is suspense and some gore (serial killers are not nice ).  If you are easily frightened you might want to peek around corners for a while when you finish.  Picture Criminal Minds, the television show, in print.  There is a little relational stuff in there, a little romance, but a whole lot of action as well.  It is smart writing, and if you enjoy the crime genre, you will love these.  The series is eight books long, and all named after chess pieces – The Pawn, The Rook, The Knight, The Bishop, The Queen, Opening Moves (a prequel, but to be read in this order), The King, and Checkmate.  The length of the series was a plus for me too.  It gave me a chance to get invested in the recurring characters and spend a length of time with them.  I liked this series so much that I read the books one at a time as they were published, and now I have purchased them so I can reread them in order without interruption, for better story flow.

There you go.  If you are stuck inside on these cold days, looking for something new to read, and love this type of book, start the series and let me know what you think.  Another huge plus for me is that they are very clean books – no explicit sex or swearing – so there is nothing to detract from the story.

Next week – time to share a recipe!  But in the meantime, I think I’ll make a cup of tea, find a comfy place to sit, and read a book.