The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Getting back to the point of my previous blog…

I am not quite sure what fostered my love for books. I suspect that it was my paternal grandmother. Every time she visited us she brought at least one book in tow. Every time we visited her, she would let me go through her built-in book shelves in the living room, and pick which ever book I fancied at the time.

I read my first Louisa May Alcott after having picked it from her shelves. I also had my first taste of William Shakespeare, as well as Edgar Allen Poe from those shelves.

I attended Iowa State University so that I could be close to my beloved grandmother. She lived in a little town in the northern part of Iowa which I was able to visit while attending college… via the Greyhound bus lines. While visiting my grandmother, I remember going to her small town’s library on many occasions. That was probably where I first was introduced to Agatha Christie, Victoria Holt, and Mary Rinehart Roberts.

When I look back at those times, and my grandmother’s absolute love for books, I can see where I possibly came by my love for the printed word… and hope that I have passed that love along to both of my children. (Actually, I know my husband and I have>>> They are both voracious readers.)

You know, it’s sort of interesting to take a look at your life and figure out why you do the things you do. I don’t mean why we do crazy, idiotic things… Those are just freakish mistakes that we make. I mean, for example, why do we… let’s say… READ?!?

I grew up in a household where reading was NOT important. It was not something that was pushed, emphasized, cajoled, expected… (You probably get my drift!) Yet, whenever my father was stationed at a new location, one of the first things that I did was to ask my mother to drive me to the local library. To my knowledge, I am the only one of the four children who showed the least bit of interest in reading.

I remember making my way through Edna Ferber’s classics (So Big was a particular favorite of mine) and Pearl S. Buck (The Good Earth was another favorite.) Followed by classics like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. I also went through a “reading stage” where I couldn’t get enough Greek/Roman mythology.

When I lived in Chile, since I spoke English (rather!) fluently, the English teacher let me read mythology during the regular English class time. (My parents sent all four of us to Chilean schools, where we were the only native English speakers.) Little did I know that Sister Serena was starting me on a path that would include a love for all television shows that deal with ancient civilizations!

(More on these ramblings later…)