Books

I finished a wonderful book last night called Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn. It's a historical mystery with a dose of romance - just the kind I like best. :o) I picked it up at Walmart, not realizing that it was the second in a series (I don't like to start a book series halfway through - there's all kinds of things going on and I'm just anal that way) but that's okay because I really enjoyed it... I didn't really start reading mystery novels until I was in college due to a bad experience with a particular book that scared the heebie-jeebies out of me my sophmore year. I had sort-of inherited the book from my Mamaw Berty's collection after she died. Mamaw Berty was an avid reader. I mean, avid. Avid as in we still haven't read all of the books that we took from her house and she died in 2000. My father very forcefully put his foot down after the first two book trips home... :o( Anyways, Mamaw loved mysteries. The majority of her books was mysteries - classics and more modern series intermingled on her bookshelves and it was always a treat to just look. I can honestly say from personal experience that there is nothing better than finding another book lover and looking at what they have on their shelves. There's always the feeling that you might find something really good that you have never heard of or a classic that both of you like and can talk about. (Okay, insert nerd smiley...) Looking at Mamaw's bookshelves was wonderful - as a child I knew I wanted to read particular ones but realized I probably would not understand all of the nuances and references better suited for adults and not get the full effect. So I waited patiently. And now that she is gone it is hard reading them and wondering what her take on each particular one was. And now that I have graduated to mysteries, and historical mysteries in particular (Mamaw's fav), I feel so much closer to her at the end of each one. And miss her that much more.