In celebration of Mother’s Day, I wanted to share with you three books that helped to get me hooked on reading as a child. Many readers have stories of picking up books intended for a more mature audience when they were young and how those affected them (Flowers in the Attic, anyone?). My mother’s bookshelves were a bit more tame than that (or she just hid that sort of reading behind cabinet doors). But, I did pick up a few books as a kid, under the radar, that I remember vividly.
Hope for the Flowers – Trina Paulus
This short book, bright yellow with a cover perfectly suited for it’s 1972 publication date was one that I picked up as a very young girl, thinking that it looked like a picture book, which it is. But this allegorical book with themes of revolution, and risk, death and rebirth lives in my memory even now. The book is still being published, and with it’s original, fabulous cover. It’s a light, inspirational book that would be a good gift for graduates or friends making life changes. The first book I pulled from my mother’s shelf, it wouldn’t be the last.
Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
My mother absolutely adores all things Gone With the Wind. She loves the movie and watched it many times while I was growing up; she purchased Scarlett and Rhett Christmas tree ornaments; and she requested to be escorted at my wedding (mother-of-the-bride’s privilege, y’all) to the movie’s theme song (for curious minds, it’s called Tara’s Theme). So, picking up this behemoth novel, felt like trying to find a roadmap to my mother’s way of thinking. My memories of this novel were less about the story (which I already knew) and more about searching for some key to my mom.
The Thorn Birds – Colleen McCullough
The Thorn Birds mini-series, starring Richard Chamberlain (let’s face it, he was king of the mini-series back in the day) and Rachel Ward, came out when I was 12 or 13. I watched every single minute of it, staying up past my bedtime for the five or so nights that it aired. Mom must have mentioned how the made for TV mini-series needed to dial back some of the mature themes, which set me surreptitiously combing the shelves for the original. And, as much as I enjoyed the mini-series, this may have been the first time that I really understood, yes, the book IS better.
I don’t know whether my daughter grabbed books off my bookshelf or which ones those might be (my bookshelf rotates much more than my mother’s did), but I hope that in them she found some inspiration, insight, or just plain entertainment among the pages.
HAT TIP: Picture from dinneralovestory.com
Well-Read Neck 