My Life in Books: Resh and Jennifer

This is My Life in Books, Series Six, Day Three! Today’s bloggers are:

Resh, who blogs at The Book Satchel

Jennifer, who blogs at Holds Upon Happiness

Qu. 1.) Did you grow up in a book-loving household, and did your parents read to you? Pick a favourite book from your childhood, and tell me about it. 

Resh: I’ve heard my mother loved books and was a incurable book worm in her younger days and my father loved medical thrillers and Russian classics. But I have seldom seen them reading; probably work and kids really took a toll. However, I have grown up seeing my retired grandfather spending long mornings, reading books in three languages.

I had a childhood of listening to stories from my grandparents and mother rather than being read to. I was quite happy to read on my own. One of my first beloved series was the St. Clare series by Enid Blyton. I used to fantasise going to a boarding school, having a girl gang and eating midnight feasts (Also about having a twin, but that wasn’t very realistic).

Jennifer: I come from a family of readers. The house was filled with books, we took regular trips to the library where I checked out the highest number of books they would allow (eight, which I thought was a ridiculous limitation) and my mom read aloud to us for years. I am grateful that I seem to have passed on a love of books to my own children. It’s a good thing;  I would have to disown them otherwise!

My favorite book for years and years was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It is worth noting that in the U.S. Little Women now refers to both volumes – Little Women and Good Wives – in one edition. I read a copy that was given to us when I was very young, maybe 6, but then, when I was in 2nd grade (about 7) I found a copy in the classroom library and realized the copy I owned was abridged. I was simultaneously horrified and thrilled. How could anyone cut parts out of a book?! But now I had more of a book I loved. However, the teacher thought it was too advanced for me and didn’t want to allow me to read it. I was a painfully shy child but I still remember standing there and arguing with her until she finally gave in and let me take it home. I raced through it and then proceeded to reread it multiple times a year for years and years to come. In fact, I just read it again last year. Comfort reading at its finest. 

Qu. 2.) What was one of the first ‘grown-up’ books that you really enjoyed? What was going on in your life at this point?

Resh: I started off early with the grown up books (Dickens, Austen and other classics) in my childhood and read children’s books much later in life. I was completely enthralled by Pride and Prejudice that I read in a pocket abridged version first when I was eight, and then discovered a much bigger, unabridged novel at a store some years later. I loved it! The drama, the anguish of ‘will-they-won’t-they’ and of course the Bennett sisters. Nothing much was going on in my life then, except homework, school and dance classes.

Jennifer: My mom loves Jane Austen and used to read Pride and Prejudice over and over. Yes, we are not only a family of readers but also a family of rereaders. Anyway, I picked it up one day and read the first page. I remember that I thought it would be boring but after that first page, I was hooked. I have loved Jane Austen ever since. I don’t remember how old I was but I think I was 9 or 10. I was a very typical little kid but if there was a book anywhere near me I was going to read it no matter what it was. My parents didn’t put many restrictions on my reading except for banning the romance stories in the back of my grandmother’s women’s magazines. It’s all right. I snuck and read them anyway. It was my one act of rebellion.

Qu. 3.) Pick a favourite book that you read in your 20s or early 30s – especially if it’s one which helped set you off in a certain direction in life.  

Resh: I read The God of small things by Arundhati Roy in my late twenties and ended up loving it and re reading it every year since. Roy brings alive the Indian-ness with her cleverly written words, plays around with time jumps and writes the most lyrical and beautiful descriptions. It took my breath away.

Jennifer: I had a bit of trouble with this question so I am going to cheat and use a book I read before my twenties but also reread regularly after that. It did indirectly change my life. When I first met my husband we were both on vacation in Switzerland. I remember walking through the town doing all the usual getting to know you chat. I thought he was a nice guy but I wasn’t looking for a relationship.  Then he asked me what I liked to do in my free time. I said I liked to read. Instead of the slightly baffled expression I frequently saw when I mentioned books he looked interested and asked me if I had ever read James Herriot’s books. I had and I loved them. I immediately decided this guy deserved a second look. Twenty-eight years later I still think that was a wise decision. 

Qu. 4.) What’s one of your favourite books that you’ve found in the last year or two? How did you come to blogging and how has blogging changed your reading habits?

Resh: I discovered Elizabeth Taylor through A Game of Hide and Seek and I was a wreck when I finished the book. It was such a satisfying read, with beautiful prose and emotional enough to crunch my heart (Yes, I cried).

I started blogging as a distraction when I was at a not-so-good phase in my life. It opened me up to so many new authors, old and new, and amazing translated literature. Probably my before-blogging years stopped at Amazon lists and mainstream authors. Now I am picky and forever in the hunt for good books and under rated gems. Also, it introduced me to digital platforms and magazines that churn out such excellent pieces.

Jennifer: I had an immediate answer to this question. It is One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes. I love it. It is the story of one day in an English village after WWII has ended. It is lyrical and insightful and absolutely perfect. I think everyone should read it. I reread it (of course I do) and every time I am a little afraid it won’t be as good as I remember and every time it is even better. I came across it when I first discovered book blogs.

I was puttering around the internet looking for books to read because I was very frustrated with my small-town library. I came across a few blogs (Simon’s was one of the first) and discovered a whole category of books I had never read or heard of. So many of the book blogs were British and thus reviewed many books I was not familiar with. I was introduced to Elizabeth Taylor, Dorothy Whipple, E. H. Young, Mary Hocking and many more.  It has deeply enriched my reading life. After a little while reading blogs, I started to think that I wanted my own. I spent a long time dithering about it but I am so glad I finally did it. I enjoy the whole process of blogging and it is fascinating to encounter so many people who love books just as much as I do.

Qu. 5.) Finally – a favourite that might surprise people!  

Resh: I’d recommend The Wonder by Emma Donoghue set in 1800s Ireland. A family claims that their ‘miracle child’ hasn’t eaten food in four months and a nurse is summoned to observe the child. It is a mix of faith, superstitions, folklore and psychology — the reader melts into the narrator— and is an absolutely immersive read.

Jennifer: My kids say I am very predictable in my reading habits and they assume any book I read is set in England during WWII. That isn’t quite true. As proof, I give you To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. It has time travel, Oxford, references to Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, a Bishop’s bird stump (!!) and lots of nonsense. I absolutely adore it. Doomsday Book, which is set in the same world of time travel and Oxford, is much darker but is also very, very good. 

What sort of reader do you think would choose these books? And which book would you recommend they read?

Resh on Jennifer’s choices: I think this reader is a lot like me. They can’t be boxed into a particular category of books. They enjoy a bit of everything, realistic stories or something totally different . They might be unpredictable in their reading choices and are always after books that surprise them. I also think they like books set in old worlds more than the contemporary one.

I think they would love Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It is an alternate historic novel set in 19th century England with magic but as a subject of study, ego battles between magicians, Napoleonic wars and over 200 footnotes that add to its delight.

Jennifer on Resh’s choices: This was a very interesting collection of books. I have only read two of them, Pride and Prejudice and A Game of Hide and Seek, so I had to look up descriptions of the others. This reader seems to be someone who likes to immerse themselves in a world and experience how people lived and felt. Emotions seem very important to them. Maybe they are a person who likes to know why people feel a certain way and what life was like for them. Character is more important than action. All of these books portray a certain time period or way of life from boarding school to life in an Indian family. I feel as if this reader is probably British because of the choice of the Enid Blyton books. I am recommending a favorite book of mine that I have read over and over through the years. It is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith which is viewed as an American classic. It is the coming-of-age story of Francie Nolan, a young girl in Brooklyn during the early years of the twentieth century. You are pulled in to her life and emotions and the descriptions of the time and place are evocative. I think it will appeal to this reader.