Dear Book Collector,

If you’re like me, your lack of reading is not for lack of interest —it’s for lack of time. However, one of the charms of winter is a fresh appreciation of home and hearth. A cup of tea or coffee warming the hands or your favorite music playing in the background of your sleepy thoughts finds you quickly planning your evening around the comforts of your coziest chair. I think the cold and dark of such nights was created for the stationary adventures that reading can bring.

Even if half-fingered gloves are necessary for page turning, there is no bliss like a timeless piece of literature tilted upon your fleece covered lap: the promise of another character met, another twist of events and another chapter finished.

Some folks laugh at me for insisting that certain books and movies must be reserved for specific seasons. However, if you were to scoff at this manner of preference, I would insist that you read one of the following classics while winter is still with us:

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
I consider this a personal favorite not only of the brilliant works of Charles but also out of all the classics I’ve read.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Not only are the train rides in the snow quite melancholy but nothing says winter reading like the Russian novel.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Fanny’s long letters to home offer warmth and mirth to what would otherwise be a rather long winter.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Every one can enjoy the adventures of childhood and still gain all the richness of the adult allegory.
It is a great series to read out loud to the young ones or to the cat.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
It is a cleverly and tenderly knit story that will leave you feeling quite pensively cultured.
After completing the big old classic, make arrangements to see it on stage —the music is lovely.

Take advantage of the snow days and the home-bound evenings. Grab the next book that is patiently waiting on your next-to-read stack. Let me know if there is one that you don’t have. If we don’t have the book in stock, I’ll gladly order it for you.

Enjoy the remains of the day (another excellent winter read),

Sarah Fricks
The Gloved Page Turner
sarah.fricks@wku.edu
(270)745-5798