Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there - I hope you have had a wonderful day! I spent a great day with my Mom just catching up - my parents recently returned North after 6 months in Florida so this weekend was a bit of a reunion in addition to a Mother's Day celebration.
Reading was a big part of my childhood - I distinctly remember my Mom taking us to the library and reading us a book each night before bed. Eventually, I would go the library alone and was reading under the covers way past "lights out". Interestingly, I rarely saw my Mom read a book - she read the paper but not books so I never considered my Mom a reader. What I didn't appreciate then was that she couldn't fit reading into her demanding schedule of work, childcare and homemaker - reading became one of many sacrifices my Mom made for her family.
A few years ago my parents retired early and Mom found herself with more time than she knew what to do with so she began reading. Knowing how much I read, my Mom would ask me for recommendations and I discovered the joy of sharing books with my Mom. Our tastes are a little different but there is definitely overlap - we both enjoy books set in Ireland or by Irish authors so my Mom and I have shared the Irish Country Doctor series, books by Colm Toibin and Sebastian Dunne and many of Maeve Binchy's comforting novels. I recently read Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show and I look forward to sharing that with my Mom along with others by Frank Delaney. Mom also enjoys Dorothea Benton Frank, Jodi Picoult and Joanna Trollope - I like these too and am very happy to avail myself of her hand me downs!
Beyond hand me downs, however, my mother's and my shared love of reading brings so much more - it offers us a language in which we relate to each other as friends and peers as opposed to mother and daughter. I have discovered quite a bit about my Mom in our discussions about books - revelations I know would not have been shared in any other context.
Beautiful post! I love sharing books with my mother, too - her Mother's Day gift this year was Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, and she also went home with my copy of Doreen that I just finished for Persephone Week. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful tribute to your mom; thanks for sharing. I lost my mom 23 years ago :(
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice post. I can't remember seeing my own mom read anything more than a newspaper (while I was growing up). But she was raising EIGHT kids! She does like to read now :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sweet post. I enjoyed reading it and hearing about your Mom. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteHow great that you can share books with your mom in this way!
ReplyDeleteNow that you mentioned it, I realize one reason my mother didn't read was because she was so busy taking care of us! Very insightful :)
Wonderful post and nice way to spend your time with your mother..
ReplyDeleteYou might like this Irish memoir I reviewed:
ReplyDeleteFar from the Land
That is a lovely post. I remember speaking to my sister (who is a Mom) about passing the time on a plane journey by reading books, and she said she'd quite happily go on a plane journey and come straight back again if it meant some uninterrupted reading time!
ReplyDeleteHave you read any of the Sebastian Barry books set in Ireland?
Suzi
Suzi - thanks for stopping by. I love your site btw - I always like to read books on vacation that are set in the location I travel to so I will definitely check out your site again before my next trip.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Sebastian Barry yet but my Mom just read one of his books - Annie Dunne - and passed it on to me.