a love affair

Ever since I was a wee little one, books have been a huge part of my life. My mother tells me that I pulled newspapers into my crib as a baby- even then I was seeking out the written word. As a child, I could more often be found curled up somewhere reading than riding my bike or running around. I clearly remember escaping the teases of other children at a day camp by finding a shady spot under a tree and entering the world of my book. To this day, if things are getting rough, I often turn to a good story to distract me or give me time to unconsciously think my problems through.

I love that a book can move me- to shed tears, to explode in unadulterated laughter, to tremble with worry. I know that I am loving a book when I find myself thinking of the characters when I am not reading-- as if they were off doing their own things while I made the kids breakfast or folded the laundry. If I actively miss the characters, if they become as real to me as the people I know, then I know I am drawn in. One of the most amazing set of characters is in the book The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I first read this book a few years back, and as I read the final chapters, I found myself lying on the couch, sobbing out loud. I mean crying so hard that it actually scared my son! The people had become so real for me, their happiness and their subsequent pain too much to bear. I loved them. I mourned for their losses. I ached with sorrow after reading the last words. I've since only reread it once, and it was again so real, so painful, so intense. I'm not sure that it makes much sense to say it, but it is one of my favorite books ever. It caused such an incredibly intense emotional reaction in my head and in my heart, that I felt connected to the characters, even if they exist only on a page.

This is all coming out because I just finished a book for an online book club, and my mind is racing from the events and characters and actions. The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea is an incredible book. The words leap off the page at you- there are passages that are hauntingly beautiful- you wonder how a person could have thought to bring those exact words together. The story itself is epic- although it only covers about 20 years, it feels as if you have read of this character's life over 90 years. I was drawn in by the realness of the characters- the way their strengths and their weaknesses and their beliefs and their actions and their ideals ebb and flow. There is no quick way to describe this story, no succinct phrase to illustrate how I feel after reading it. Suffice it to say that these characters will live with me, moving in in my head and my heart with all those from other beloved books. I am happy to report that there will never be too full a house.