June 13, 2011

A READING STATE OF MIND

Authors write books in a mood and about moods. I suppose that’s why I have several tomes lined up beside my armchair with bookmarks sticking out of them.  Some take me into realms of thought; others are an opportunity to kick back and allow myself to be taken to a special place where I can escape.

I bought Carola Dunn’s latest mystery several weeks ago but have yet to open — though I cast it a greedy glance now and again, the way I might covet bonbons in an open candy box. But my mood is not yet right. I’m fixed upon the launching of my next novel and on making repairs that the house requires. I want to read her mystery when the sky is cloudy and I’ve worked in the garden until the rain has chased me inside. Then muddy, tired and with no recourse but to enjoy myself, I’ll snuggle into my chair and begin her well-spun adventure. I know it will make me smile and tease my brain, so I will need an unfettered mind as I attempt to solve the mystery before the final page.

Like Francis Bacon, I believe “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some to be chewed on and digested.”  Each book requires a state of mind to do it justice.