Not long ago I awoke in the middle of the night and realized immediately that it had arrived. The air, when I had gone to bed, was still faintly sultry, the air of evening that comes after a day of golden, soft sunshine. But when I woke in the dark I felt how the temperature had dropped, and the air smelled of autumn. It was like learning a secret, the rest of the city asleep around me, while I felt that I was the first to learn: autumn had come swiftly, quietly, to town. The moment was brief and delicious, and resonant with sudden memories and sensations that pulled me back into the comfort of sleep, and when I woke it was still there, the edge of the chill, but even more – the faint smell of this change in the seasons.

It made me want to read.

There is much said about the "Summer Read," which suggests beaches and lounging and porches and hammocks. But this autumn, for the first time, it came to me that I seem to prefer to read in darkened, cozy places. I don't like to read on a beach. I like to read in messy coffee shops, or on subways (which, believe it or not, can sometimes feel quite cozy), I like to read at night in strange hotels when it is raining outside, or in my own kitchen, late, as I eat peanut butter crackers. And now that it really is autumn and getting dark earlier, it seems the joy of reading has come to me as it came to me when I was a child: that sweet tugging on the senses, come here, come here. It is surprising. I would have thought -- I have always thought -- I am a person who likes to read, and the where and the when didn't matter.

Who knew?

Maybe it is because I am at a stage in life where my schedule is not as regulated by domestic needs as it was when I was raising a family, and all reading was done hungrily anywhere I got the time. Now – even while I still feel there is never enough time, never – I will pop onto the couch with a quilt, and tell myself, Oh, just fifteen minutes and I will get back to work, and then pick up one of the many open books lying around. The loveliness of this! The glory of it, as I snuggle down. Through the window, I see the low clouds of autumn that seem to keep me blanketed inside and safe, while I read the stories of people who have felt this, lived through that, and I do not mind that winter will unfold its own carpet one of these days.


Elizabeth Strout is the author of Abide with Me, a national bestseller and Book Sense pick; Amy and Isabelle, which won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize. In 2009 she was honored with a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Olive Kitteridge, a collection of connected short stories about a woman and her immediate family and friends on the coast of Maine. She can be found online at www.elizabethstrout.com

As I look back over my long history as a reader, memories flood in regarding specific books and book-related events. A few stand out:

• The Scholastic book catalog that used to arrive periodically in my elementary school classroom.My parents were extremely supportive of my reading, and would let me choose as many as I liked. And oh, the day my books arrived! Heaven!
• A Mother Goose story book I discovered in the library when I was in sixth grade. Although it was far too "young" for me, I loved it, particularly a story about a young woman who killed her sister. The body turned into bones, which someone made into a harp, which then sang of the sister's perfidy. It was actually rather morbid.
• OK, I've got to admit it. My folks were "rubbish pickers." They loved to find really cool stuff in other peoples' trash (don't tell them I told you). One of the best finds in the world was a complete hardback set of Beverly Gray mysteries (she was kind of like a college-age Nancy Drew). I wish I still had them, as they'd likely be worth a lot of money now.
• Taking a Bible in to school to read, and being told to take it home again as it wasn't "appropriate" for the classroom. (I still can't believe that happened.)
• Reading The Adventures of Robin Hood (over and over and over again), and dressing up like one of the Merry Men for weeks on end.
• Learning about opera from a series of library books that not only told the story of the opera, but had the musical themes notated. They were easy enough that I could play them on the piano.I fell in love with The Magic Flute and Carmen long before I ever saw an opera staged.
• Discovering Shakespeare in story synopses in my grandmother's set of The Book of Knowledge (something else I wish we still owned). I can still see the sketches of Lady Macbeth descending a staircase by candlelight, and the two princes in the tower from Richard III.
• Reading Jane Eyre with a flashlight under the covers late into the night. (Well, it felt late to me at the time!)
• My first "dirty book." My poor dad brought home A Stranger in the Mirror by Sidney Sheldon for me without apparently knowing what it was about.It had been languishing in his office's Lost & Found for months, and he thought I might like it. I think I was in junior high at the time, and was shocked – and fascinated. I did not, by the way, tell the folks what I was reading.
• Reading Stephen King's Salem's Lot, and then having to sleep with the lights on for a week.

An endless supply of quotes exist telling us we should do what we love in life. Though many are cliché, I found myself rooting around for just the right one after hearing Alexander McCall Smith read from his latest book, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. Having read most of the books in his No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, I was eager to see and hear in person the man who brought me the much adored Precious Ramotswe. As I entered the Borders bookstore in Ann Arbor, it was evident that I was not alone.

Since I probably haven't had the pleasure of listening to someone read to me since kindergarten carpet time, it was with happy nostalgia that I sat cross-legged and elbow to elbow on the bookstore floor, listening to the cadenced voice of Mr. McCall Smith. Bewitched by his lilt and laughter, he quickly transformed the packed room of overwrought adults into a sea of sunny, eager faces as he read his favorite passages from Tea Time.

Now if you haven't read any of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency books, it would be prudent to inform you of their beautiful simplicity. Sprinkled with charming formalities, this modern day series lends itself an air of forgotten sophistication and decency so integral to the traditions of Botswana. The detective, Mma Ramotswe, cheerfully runs her laid-back operation with both cunning and disarming common sense. In signature McCall Smith style, these modest mysteries quietly play themselves out while the background literary score pays tribute to the deep-rooted customs and ways of Botswana.

Referring to himself as a "serial novelist" in the Q&A portion of his appearance, the author made no apologies for the multiple series he now has moving through the markets, and quite frankly we don't want him to. With three series in addition to The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, the prolific McCall Smith claims to write on the road, in the air, or wherever his travels take him. When asked how he keeps all of his characters straight, a broad smile takes over his face as the question inevitably cues up their images. Like a proud father, confusing his creations is not a problem; he knows every nuance of his characters including voice, personality, strengths and vulnerabilities. Clearly born out of creative love, McCall Smith regards his characters with a wistful and paternal adoration only solid nurturing can bring about.

Taking in the vibrant crowd, I sat marveling as each brief pause between questions brought about the fervent waving of hands, showcasing that age old "pick me! pick me!" determinism. One such hand belonged to an enthusiastic, heavyset woman in the front row. Quite overcome, she tearily thanked Mr. McCall Smith for making Mma Ramotswe a "woman of traditional build." She said that having Precious Ramotswe portrayed as a heavier woman "made her feel beautiful again."

Equally poignant was the comment shared by a dark, lovely woman, dressed in her bright yellow Sunday best. Waving throughout the majority of the appearance, the author finally chose her to end the session. Beyond pleased, she broke into the traditional greeting of Botswana, charming both Mr. McCall Smith and the audience at large. We listened intently as she thanked him for portraying her country in such a positive light. She added that her people constantly hear about America and that it is nice to be able to share the beauty of her homeland with others.

As I made my way home, I realized that this excursion meant to satisfy my curiosity had actually shaped itself into something far more humanitarian. Rather than self-promotion, Mr. McCall Smith seemed absolutely delighted to simply share both his words and our company. As readers, we wonder about the author behind the works that move us, and hope deep down that the real life version measures up. We give ourselves over to the imagination and creativity of others, also with the hope of finding growth and inspiration. For me, Alexander McCall Smith's sunny, engaging manner simply validates the importance of pursuing our passions in life. After all, as philosopher Albert Camus once said, "But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?"

Suggested Links
For a biography of Alexander McCall Smith and links to excerpts of a number of his books, visit BookBrowse
For an extremely comprehensive bibliography listing books by publication date in the UK and USA, BookBrowse recommends fantasticfiction.co.uk

Freelance writer Megan Shaffer has both her Bachelor and Master degrees in Education. She currently works in the schools of Birmingham, Michigan where she shares her love of literature. When Megan is not in the classroom, she is actively involved in the local literary scene and maintains a blog about new books and authors. Megan's reviews at BookBrowse

There was a time when I used to enjoy having two or three books on the go at a time; but increasingly I'm becoming a one-book-at-time reader. Worse still, from the point of view of my credibility as the editor of an online book magazine, I prefer to wallow in the books I read, rather than speed reading them just for the sake of being able to say that I've read them. For me, books are not trophies to add to my 'have read' list but experiences to absorb. I can read very fast when I have to but it's not an enjoyable experience because, although I come away knowing the plot and able to hold my own in conversation, I have not 'heard' the book in my mind, so I've missed out on the cadence of the author's writing, and the rhythms of the characters and places portrayed.

Bowker (the agency that issues ISBNs in the USA) estimates that about 290,000 books are published each year - and that's just in the USA. Even if you were to split these books up by category and decide to focus on, say, just the 40,000 or so adult fiction titles published in a year, and then you divided that number in half because most books are published in at least two formats (each format requiring its own ISBN and thus counting as a different book), and then divide it in half again on the basis that half the books shouldn't have been published in the first place, and then in half again because at least 50% of the remainder wouldn't be of interest to you anyway, you're still left with over 5,000 books - and that's just the output of one fraction of one category in one year!

So the next time you find yourself saying 'too many books, too little time' - take a deep breath and relax because whether you read a book a day or a book a year you've read less than 1% of the books published each year - so you may as well take the time to enjoy each book to its full and not worry about the other 99%+ you'll never have time for!

Having said that, considering that the general rule of thumb in the USA book industry is that 1/3 of the books bought are never started, and a further 1/3rd are never finished there is definitely room in most people's lives to be more choosy about which of the millions of books in print they should spend their limited time and hard earned money on - which is where BookBrowse comes in. Our simple mission is to wade through the mountains of books published each month in order to identify some of the best and most interesting, and then to give you the information you need to decide which of these are right for you - so you can spend more of your time reading books that you really enjoy, and less on books that you never start or, worse still, put aside unfinished.

Davina Morgan-Witts, BookBrowse editor

I'm not a joiner by nature, but when my place of employment started a book club, I thought, what the heck, I should get to know my co-workers better, and resolved to attend. And so I appeared at the appointed hour in the appropriate conference room.

Looking around the room that first meeting, I saw to my horror that more than half of the attendees were members of the senior staff who wouldn't know me from Eve. I wondered if I was in the right place.

"Excuse me, is this the book club?"

"It's not a book club. The word 'club' connotes exclusivity. We're a book group."

Uh oh...

I should have realized off the bat that this wouldn't be the fun, gossipy kind of book group so many people enjoy.  Something's gotta be fishy when Management sponsors a book club.  Somehow I missed the announcement that its focus would be "diversity."  (I found out later that someone had set a goal that the company would hold a certain number of events each year to sponsor diversity in the workplace, with some percentage of employees attending at least one event annually.  It was all very political.) 

Well, I proceeded to meekly take my seat, my copy of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down in my hand.  (Good book, by the way.)  It had to be the most uncomfortable book group meeting in history.  None of the senior staff had apparently read the book, and the few of us "normal" employees present were too intimidated to express any opinion whatsoever. Fortunately, the senior staff, having met their diversity requirement, abstained from attending future meetings.

It was never a very robust group.  We had six regular members, but only three typically showed up at any one time and I don't think we ever really gelled.  It was pretty sterile and far too business-like. The book selections gradually became less and less appealing, until the whole thing was on the verge of collapsing under its own weight. 

Fortunately, times change.  The non-reading senior staff members have mostly retired, and the four of us who stuck with it dropped the whole diversity requirement in favor of selecting whatever we're in the mood to read (and absolutely no one commented about the change, so I guess it wasn't all that important after all).  New employees have joined the company and subsequently joined the group – which is still a "group" and not a "club" – and recently someone has started bringing food to the meetings.  Now if I could just convince them to meet off-site after-hours (say, at a nearby pub) I'd be all set.

BookBrowse reviewer Kim Kovacs is an avid reader in the Pacific Northwest. All those rainy days give her the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of books that span many genres. Browse Kim's reviews.

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