I am already having the best October ever. We had good news in a medical situation at home, I had a job interview that seemed to go really well, the UMD Bulldogs hockey team swept their season opener in style, and I entered into the first vacation I’ve taken in 84 years. Okay, not that long, but let’s just say I’m overly overdue.
And, as if things couldn’t get any better, it was a great week for North Shore Reading Roundup with three responses from readers who touched my heart, made me smile, made me think, and made me so grateful for this gig. Writing about reading has been a dream, and each of you who reaches out, even just to let me know you’re out there enjoying this column, is helping to make that come true.
The first letter I received this week came from Louise Johnson from Two Harbors. Yes, you read that right. While I was watching my inbox, I should’ve been watching the mailbox. Johnson sent her note over in cursive and ink to let us know that she enjoys the column. Taking the time to sit down, write it out, and send it with a stamp really made her note feel personal in a way that’s getting rarer these days.
She mentioned she read Where the Crawdads Sing, a book by Delia Owens about Kya Clark, a girl abandoned in the marshes of North Carolina who learns to survive on her own. The story follows her from childhood into adulthood, weaving her isolation and resilience into a murder investigation years later. It’s a novel about nature, loneliness, love, and the ways people endure.
“I enjoyed the look into how others grow up and survive,” Johnson wrote.
I also really liked Where the Crawdads Sing. I felt it was a unique and atmospheric story, one that lets the marsh breathe around you. The plot builds slowly and beautifully, even when it turns dark, and Owens layers vulnerability and strength into Kya’s world in a way that stays with you.
Johnson is currently reading Gaelynn Lea’s It Wasn’t Meant to Be Perfect after recently seeing the author at a presentation at the Two Harbors Public Library. The memoir by the musician and disability advocate is about growing up with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, discovering her voice through the violin, and navigating a life shaped by creativity, challenge, and purpose. Her reflections on identity, artistry, and acceptance offer the kind of grounded encouragement that seems to land exactly where people need it.
I think Lea’s message might be something I could use right now, and I’m appreciative of the recommendation and inspiration.
Yafa Napadensky found inspiration to write in after she saw I had posed the question in a previous edition about books you return to and reread. Joe Friedrichs had just written in to recommend Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, which he was reading for the fifth time, and it sparked my curiosity to know what books others have found worth reading again and again.
Napadensky reported from Grand Marais that her book club read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury this August, a book she had suggested as “easy summer reading.” She had originally read the book in middle school, or her freshman year of high school, and the book club members provided positive feedback around the book.
She shared that the book is written from 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding’s point of view of growing up in the summer of 1928. Bradbury, who published many novels, short stories, essays, poems, plays, and screenplays, wrote Dandelion Wine over several years in the 1950s as an expansion of a short story he published in 1953. It is loosely based on Bradbury’s nostalgic memories of his own childhood summers in Waukegan, Illinois.
“The book is full of the wonder of youth as Douglas is growing up in an idyllic small town where kids play outside all day until they are called in for dinnertime. It’s the summer where he records what is happening around him, including the first time of the summer that he went berry picking, ran barefoot, etc.,” Napadensky said. “That summer he realizes what it means to be truly alive and he also starts to face the concept of death.”
Ahh, nothing like coming back to a coming-of-age book. Napadensky advised that Bradbury’s vivid descriptions are ones she finds she can easily picture in her mind.
“It’s full of magical moments as childhood innocence begins to change into awareness of the world beyond yourself in young adulthood,” she said.
Napadensky also shared that Bradbury, who is known as a science fiction writer, has said that his only science fiction book is Fahrenheit 451, which surprised me. It’s the one Bradbury book I’ve read. I double-checked the long list. Not only should I add Dandelion Wine to my TBR, but I should also add Bradbury as a whole.
Which brings me to a question that Napadensky thought it would be interesting to ask you NSRRU readers: Are there any authors who have written over a dozen books and you have read all or most of what they have written?
She pointed out that people who read authors like Agatha Christie and mystery writers probably have a number of authors they follow, especially those with series featuring the same character. She mentioned US writers as varied as Willa Cather, Wallace Stegner, Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, and our neighbor to the north, Margaret Atwood.
I’ll go. I have many, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to think of them all. Stephen King is definitely on that list. I’ve spoiler-alerted in the past that we would need to eventually talk about my love-hate relationship with Stephen King. For now, we’ll just say he delights and disappoints me consistently, but keeps bringing me back and back. Though I’ve read many of his books, there are still so many to pick up from the prolific writer.
Much like James Patterson, who is another I return to over and over. I find his books to be easy reads, fast-paced, and I like to pick them up when I need to have a break from more serious work. I enjoy his Alex Cross series but will read just about anything Patterson, and he certainly writes just about anything.
He has kids’ books, non-fiction books, novels, novellas, graphic novels… my friend who once worked as a librarian said that you would have to travel the entire library to put away all Patterson’s genres from the return cart.
I’ve read every Fredrik Backman out there, aside from his newest release. I’ve read much of Jack Kerouac and his associates’ works. I’ve read a lot of Jodi Picoult and Kristin Hannah books. In the last couple of years, Freida McFadden plot-twisty novels have kept me from being able to get anything done around the house. Once I start one of her books, I’m done for.
I’m going to kick myself after turning this one in; I just know it, because there are so many favorite authors… oh! Brian Freeman. His Jonathan Stride crime novel series that takes place in Duluth is another favorite. I should look up Freeman and see what he’s been up to.
Great question, Yafa. I hope we get many responses from our readers.
Another wonderful response we received took my breath away and has had me reflecting on this column and the effects we can have by sharing what we love with the world.
Bea Rose enjoys NSRRU but also found somewhat of a lifeline within it. Back in August, the Reading Farmer had recommended Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy, which she described as “a super fun quickie with a happy message.” In need of just that, I ordered Sipsworth from the Mail-A-Book program through the Arrowhead Library System.
When I brought my thoughts back to NSRRU, I mentioned that the book was achingly sad but, in the end, that happy message was one that I have continually thought of since finishing the book over a month ago.
It’s the first recommendation Bea Rose has picked up due to our column, and she said that she could really see herself in the main character, who was struggling with grief and loneliness. Bea Rose’s beloved service dog recently passed away, and she found herself struggling with much of the same.
“I have been isolated, untouched, and had the doggy door slammed in my face,” she said.
But she has found some strength in Sipsworth, a therapist, and her friends who raised and trained her dog, Fran and Richard Greelis. Richard is retired from the Bloomington, MN police force and is the author of Copbook: A Memoir, which Bea Rose called a “good read.”
She certainly found a good read in the story of the lady and a mouse whom she comes to care for, and the community that forms around them.
“Sipsworth helped me to get up and find the strength to stay in the arena of life,” she said. “I will be on the rollercoaster of grief until…, but like Sipsworth, I will take life one breath at a time.”
Bea Rose recommends books that sound life-changing in other ways, such as Natural Healing: The Total Health and Nutritional Program by Jack Soltanoff, D.C.
“It’s about biochemically reprogramming your body for health. It lays out the daily plan—5 days on and 2 days off—you can eat whatever you like (non-consecutive days), but you are asked to drink lemon water every night before bed to help achieve a more alkaline balance,” she explained. “Breathing, exercise and dry brushing are also included.”
And Bea Rose may have answered Napadensky’s question even before she realized it was going to be asked when she brought up Paavo Airola, Ph.D., who has a number of books she says are “worth reading.” She also mentioned Peggy Brill as having an awesome program for women, The Core Program.
Bea Rose will be reading The Story of a Beagle Who Changed My Life by Kristin von Kreisler soon. The title came to her in a divine way, at 3:30 in the morning, appearing for her on Thriftbooks.com, as if picked out for her specifically.
“Too funny how the universe works,” she said.
It really is.
There’s something powerful about recommendations. They’re tiny acts of connection. One person saying, “This meant something to me, maybe it will mean something to you.” Sometimes they entertain us, sometimes they teach us, and sometimes, like with Bea Rose, they help us stand back up when life has knocked us flat. Books travel between people in ways we don’t always see, and the right one at the right moment can feel like a hand reaching out.
So NSRRU readers, what authors are you returning to time and time again? What recommendation changed your life? What books do you like that help us learn to care for ourselves? All bookish thoughts are welcome at sarahwritesnsj@yahoo.com.
