So tomorrow my kids go back to school. For the tall kid, we’re a little BTDT since he’s going into seventh grade, but the short kid—he’s going into first grade. Full-time days. 8:50-3:15. There was much moping among the other post-kindergarten moms, who seemed to be lost and depressed at the concept of their children being gone all day. I nodded and made sympathetic clucking noises, but all the while I was thinking…Are you people freakin’ crazy?
I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for twelve years, and I can tell you I won’t be moping tomorrow. Won’t be lost and won’t be depressed. I plan to park my butt on the couch and…read. Okay, so if I’m totally honest, I’d say the short kid is a high-maintenance, highly-interactive kid and I know I’m going to miss having him underfoot at times. But the three days leading into the Labor Day holiday? I’m treating it as a total male-free vacation.
Just me, Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, Doritos and a big, juicy book.
I’ve noticed in the last several years, my reading tastes have changed. Well, not really changed, but been forced to adapt. Whether a book is romance or thriller or whatever, I want fast pacing, fast dialogue, and lots of white space. A literary Autobahn. I don’t have the time or attention span for leisurely, scenic meanderings through lush, detailed landscapes. But sometimes, like over Christmas break or—in this case—a vacation day twelve years in the making, I like to dig out a big, fat, much-loved book and immerse myself in it.
Some of my choices:
Anything by Laurie McBain
The first three books in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
Anything by Maeve Binchy
Gone With the Wind
The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The entire Little House on the Prairie series (while not lengthy or deep, they require a reverent and nostalgic frame of mind and are my very favorite for the act of peaceful savoring.)
So do you have books—either old favorites or in the TBR pile—that you save for special (child/husband/responsibility-free) times? Maybe they’re comfort books when you’re sick, or your favorites for curling up next to the campfire. Do you have any larger-than-life books you savor like that? I’m making a list because I’ve got 19 hours and 15 minutes to kill. 
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I reach for one of my old tattered favored copies of Kathleen Woodiwiss, typically The Flame And The Flower. It’s, as you said, a leisurely meandering through volumes of lush prose and I sink into it and lose myself. After hearing of her recent passing, I really want to grab it and pay homage to the master by doing a reread.
Don’t get too excited about sending them back to school. My little darling went back last week, and this week she’s home again—with the flu.
My TBR is out of control (and about to get more so—another box of 20 or 25 will be arriving Friday…), so I’m not revisiting many old favorites lately, but if I wanted something to chew on, I’d go Anne Rice (Vamp Chronicles 2-5) or Stephen King (The Stand or The Dark Tower series) or Dean Koontz (Watchers has always been one of my favorite books, Odd Thomas a new fave).
The Dream Thief is getting snatched out of the box and read Friday night. Otherwise, my TBR is kind of like a bakery: there’s something there to satisfy every craving, and I’ll know what I want when I see it.
I, too, am counting the days to a bit of freedom. My boys are going to preschool. Hey, it’s only 2.5 hours twice a week…but I’m going to savor every minute of it!
As a happy, childfree single (I lack the proper motherhood genes
), I don’t have special times for reading. But if I want a big, larger than life book, Dostoevsky is a good choice. As is George Eliot (Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda) or Thomas Mann (try to get The Buddenbrooks). Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles take some effort to get into, but it’s worth it.
Sometimes I love to read those old Gothic books like Mysteries of Udolpho, or some Dumas and Sir Walter Scott.
And if you want a big, entertaining read, try David Blixt, The Master of Verona – the backstory of Romeo and Juliet. Newly out last month, and he’s made it onto my favourite list with that book.
The first three Gabaldon books are a fun read, too.
Stephanie Plum!! When I want a vacation and a guilty pleasure, that’s where I go, New Jersey with Morelli, Grandma Mazur, Lula, and mmmmm Rangerrrrrrr.
Jilly Cooper. its not deep reading, but the vast cast of characters, the fabulous scenes, roaring humour, and smut, its worth an alone read. My favorites are Riders and Polo, since I am a horsey-person.
Every few years I revisit The Shire and Mordor. I also love re-reading The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (no, she’s not an orc). Oh, and anything by Dick Francis.
Gabriele, I’m glad to hear your endorsement of “The Master of Verona”. I’ve been intrigued by it ever since reading an interview with David Blixt. You’ve convinced me to buy it (I just saw “Romeo & Juliet” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival too). I agree about Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles being wonderful to lose oneself in (I read them the summer between high school and college). I’m currently in the midst of a reread of “Persuasion” but I’ve been wanting to reread “The Scarlet Pimpernel” after an interesting discussion of it started by a blog post I made on my website.
I homeschool, but I’m about to be kid-free for two weeks while she visits her grandma (my mom). Since we spend all day, every day together I think I’ll be going through withdrawal, but I’m planning on getting a lot of work done.
When I’m sick or feeling down, for me that’s the best time to pick up old romances – the shorter and simpler the better. On a day like that I can crank out three. I inhale Emma Darcy, Carole Mortimer, Janet Dailey (especially her Americana series). Ahhh. For larger than life – if you like fantasy – try Elfstones of Shannara. I could read that book a million times.
“The Movie Set” by June Flaum-Singer and anything by Anne Rivers Siddons…particularly “Colony” and “Kings Oak”.
I’m single and only get my nieces for one week in the summer, so I get to read every day(except the week I have the 3 nieces).I re-read the entire MacGregors’ series by Nora Roberts when I just want to relax and read books I’ve read before. I also will pull out Anne of Green Gables or the Little House series every once in a while. If I’m going through my TBR pile, I have many choices, so I just read the backs on the books until one yells for me to read it now.
I often go for fantasy when I have that blissful uninterrupted reading time. C J Cherryh’s Morgaine chronicles are mouthwateringly dark and tragic and suck you in so deep….
Otherwise it’s old faithfuls like Mary Stewart, or if I want to completely lose 2 hours of my life and end up crying, it’s anything by Kate Walker.
Comfort reads are Beth Ciotta and Kathy Love…
S.M. Stirling has two series that I keep re-reading. the Seas of Eternity series and the Dies the Fire series. the two series are interconnected atlernative fiction, a little romance thrown in. Really fun to read when you have some down time.