Time Enough At Last

Remember this? In one of the best Twilight Zone episodes ever, Burgess Meredith plays a bank teller with a passion for books who cannot get enough time to read. He is down in the bank vault when a nuclear warhead hits and destroys everything. Long story short, he is alone with all of the books in the library scattered around him - time at last to read all he wants with no one to interfere - until he breaks his eyeglasses in true twilighty-zone irony.

Anyway, I remember this story every time I find a good new book to read. Reading is one of my tiny islands of pleasure; a mini-mental vacation. I rarely get the time to read, but now that the weather has turned cold and nasty, Liberty is back in school and I can sneak time in between working and household chores, I am once again back into my favorite pasttime.

I'm especially excited because Stephen King's new novel just hit the shelves called "Duma's Key," set in Florida, no less. I know, I know. Lots of people think that King is all blood, guts and aliens. He often includes that in his stories, and I was never a fan of his until I read his book, "On Writing," which are his thoughts on the craft with a brief memoir thrown in. I loved this book and I became fascinated by him and read, "The Stand," his 1200 page epic novel of what happens to our culture after a major flu virus hits and wipes out most of the population; "Bag of Bones," an incredible and scary love story, and then last year I read, "Lisey's Story." If you have not read Lisey's Story yet, you need to. It's an experience, as are all of King's novels. His writing is so good that you are able to really get into the psyches of his characters, you come to care so much about the people in his stories, you really don't care when he stretches the boundaries of sanity. In fact, you come to appreciate him for it. He makes you think about his books for a long time after reading them. I'm usually hooked by his first sentence.

My other favorite authors have not written anything in awhile. I hear that Pat Conroy has a 700 pager that is due to come out this year which I am awaiting with baited breath. After reading "Beach Music," I didnt think there was another novel as great...then I picked up "Prince of Tides." Dear God, the movie paled in comparison, in fact, it really just was NOT the book. He is probably my favorite author next to King.

Haven't heard anything from Anne Rivers Siddons since her last wonderful novel, "Sweetwater Creek." She's a great Southern writer - I learned so much about saltmarshes, tidal creeks, the old Gullah culture, and "pluff mud." Then there's Sue Monk Kidd who, after "The Secret Life of Bees," left me aching for another novel in that same type of genre as "Fried Green Tomatoes."

Rosemund Pilcher, a Scottish writer famous for novels such as "The Shell Seekers," and "Winter Solstice," a book I never wanted to end, another favorite of mine.

This summer, I read "Evening" by Susan Minot which was a good novel, but the movie was even better - still not a great movie - but with Meryl Streep and her daughter, Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter, Clare Danes, Toni Collette, the gorgeous Patrick Wilson, and Glenn Close, how could you not love it? Sometimes I will watch a movie over and over again just for the sheer mood it invokes. I think I did that with "Something's Gotta Give," a fabulous soundtrack, by the way.

Anyway, my ramblings for a cold, rainy morning. I'm going to my reading corner now. May you find a good book to lose yourself in this Winter.

See ya!