Books

Winter is rearing its ugly head again and reminding us that we haven't yet reached spring. Hubby commented that if we needed anything from the grocery store, we needed to go before the weekend. I'd really enjoyed these past few days without snow or frigid temps. I guess it'll warm up to stay one of these days. But, at any rate, it was a perfect day to fix a nice pot of corn chowder for lunch.

We've been enjoying using the local library lately. I can't believe I only just got my library card after being back in the community for 20 years. I have a pretty hefty library of books that I own, and I enjoy reading them over and over. Now that I have a tablet, I have books I've downloaded there as well.

But there's just something special about walking into the library, with all those shelves and shelves of books – the look, the smell. Computers are used in place of library cards, and the Dewey Decimal System no longer exists. But so far I've been finding my way around fairly well – the 8-year-old granddaughter gave me a tutorial on the new library system last fall when we went to Grandparents' Day.

I'm looking forward to reading more books by a couple of my favorite authors. I want to do some research before I start checking those out, because I want to read them in chronological order. Both authors have recurring characters, so I want to go on both those literary journeys. It's been quite some time since I met both these authors, and I've amassed a partial collection for both of them.

If you enjoy mysteries and history and you've never made the literary acquaintance of the late Margaret Truman, I would highly recommend you check out her books. She wrote very compelling murder mysteries, each one set at some prominent Washington, D.C., location. You good a gripping mystery, as well as learning about our historical locations. Most of my knowledge about the Pentagon comes from the first book of hers that I read, Murder At The Pentagon.

The other mystery series where I need to “fill in the gaps” is the Kay Scarpetta series, written by Patricia Cornwell. Anyone who enjoys the current crop of forensic-based TV shows would enjoy these. The central character, Kay Scarpetta, is a Medical Examiner who has both a medical degree and a law degree. I wouldn't even want to guess at how many of those books I have on my personal shelves – and I also wouldn't want to start randomly reading the ones on the library shelves until I doublecheck which ones I have and the chronological order.

I've always enjoyed series books. The earliest one I remember, of course, is the Little House books. I wasn't far along in elementary school when I started reading them....probably second or third grade. The problem was that I went quickly through the ones in our room's library, then had to wait until I got into the next grade level to get to the later ones in the series! I realize now that those later books would've been a little difficult for such a young reader. I always enjoyed going back and reading those, even after I was grown and bought the set for my kids.

As I got a little older and was in adolescence, I discovered another series about a teenage girl nicknamed Tippy and her military family and friends. The public library had many more of that series, so I devoured them during the summer. I can't remember Tippy's last name, or any of the other characters other than her older sister Penny and her eventual husband Peter. But I learned something about life in and around West Point in those books.

I appreciate authors who have continuing characters – I don't know why I'm so attached to them, but I'll always choose a series over an individual book. I guess I just enjoy getting to know someone and make a long-term friend!