We’re excited to kick off our sixth annual Mother’s Day Blog series with a lovely piece by bestselling author Robyn Carr. Her latest book, NEVER TOO LATE, examines the lives of three sisters as they step beyond the roles of wife, mother and daughter, and discover the importance of being a woman first. It’s a theme that resonates every day, and especially as we celebrate the special women in our lives this coming weekend. Here, Robyn talks about how her own daughter shares her love of reading…although she most definitely does not appreciate Robyn’s tendency to spill accidental spoilers!
I didn’t discover my true passion for books as a child. There were definitely books that influenced me and I loved trips to the library, but I didn’t come from a big reading family. It was later --- after college when I was a young Air Force wife --- that I fell in love with books in a serious way, exchanging them with friends and neighbors, reading several romances a week. Shortly after that, while pregnant with my daughter, I began writing.
My children grew up with a writer for a mother in a house full of books. One of our favorite pastimes was to look at where other people kept books because our house had them in every room. Even the laundry room. And, of course, I read all the time. I read at stoplights. I could read and cook at the same time.
Now my daughter, who is grown with a career and family of her own, is a voracious reader. She often reads my manuscripts for me, and she has a very discerning eye. She is, in her own right, a very good writer, even though her career is in law enforcement. We ask each other for recommendations and share the suggestions we’ve gotten from others. It’s not unusual for us to read the same book at the same time, not always on purpose. Last winter we both had two of the same books on our “to be read” list and took them on a family vacation, so pool time found us both reading THE NIGHTINGALE and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. We decided to read THE GOLDFINCH at the same time so we could discuss it. It’s like having a very intimate book club. Not only has my daughter inherited my book addiction, she’s turning into her mother despite all her efforts not to --- just like me, if she doesn’t get her reading time in the evening, she’s a little cranky.
We have one problem. Or maybe I should say I have a problem. I have more time for reading than most people because it truly is part of my job, so I often finish first and have a reputation for ruining books for other people. Now not only my daughter but also my best friend won’t tell me what they’re reading until they’re finished. I’m notorious for saying things like, “Did you get to the part where the dog dies?” Really, I’m trying to stop doing that. It’s just that I get so emotionally involved!
I don’t know what kinds of gifts my daughter and I will get for Mother’s Day --- usually pajamas and flowers and gift certificates. But there is one tradition at both our houses: a day free of work or chores and hours of leisure time to spend relaxing and enjoying our favorite sport --- diving headlong into a good book.
