September Thoughts & the Reading Life...

The days are beginning to grow shorter as the twilight settles in around us. It's good this time of year and all around us the fields are turning that golden color as they sit a while longer, drenched in the moisture from an early morning rain. The overcast is burned away and a spectacular, clear blue sky lights up the afternoon as only it can do this time of year in northern Illinois!

Shadows have begun to take on that autumn slant, growing longer as if to say: "Things are changing soon. Get ready!" The cooler temperatures are very welcome, but the warmth of the summer sun isn't ready to "give it up" just yet. A sweatshirt or light windbreaker is the order-of-the-day. We revel in this glorious weather, yet there is something calling to us that seems to strike our thoughts with gathering up our reading materials for the coming foul weather days that lie ahead. 


As I write this beside my bookcases, I relish the days ahead when I can get into the new Jack Reacher adventure. Anyone who hasn't discovered author Lee Child is missing a fantastic writer.

There's also the last two John Sandford "Prey" novels that I've been holding off on for some time.Storm Prey & Buried Prey will be two of the very first "rainy day" books I'll enjoy digging into in the days ahead. Another writer I discovered this summer was Pat Conroy, author of the powerful The Great Santini. I look forward to reading that, as well as his other well-known book Prince of Tides.

Other authors of fiction who I look forward to reading and re-reading include Stephen King, Homer Hickam, John Grisham, James Patterson, and David Baldacci. Of course there will be plenty of non-fiction fare as well. Cleopatra: A Life and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Locks are right up there near the top of my list.

My shelves are crowded with so many books I've yet to read, and there are more yet that haven't made their way to my shelves. My reading life in the rainy, chill days and nights that are lurking out there, soon to find their way to our doorsteps, promises to be an exciting one. I will be sharing my thoughts and impressions on these pages in the days ahead. For now, we enjoy the golden remaining vestiges of a wonderful late summer.