Discriminating Reader....or Snob!

My absolute favorite place on a rainy day is a cuddly corner with a book.  Perhaps it's the dampness that gives the smell of the paper and binding more savor.   However on any warm, sunny day, one will find me on my patio swing running my fingers along the printed page.  Do I make my point?  I love to read!  Books become my friends.  As a child, my grandmother would not allow a pencil near while I was reading.  Now, old enough to make my own decisions (and mistakes), my friendship and affection is evidenced by my notes and underlinings in most every book on my shelves.

I remember the first chapter book I read:  Maida's Little Shop by Inez Haynes Gillmore.  After that I experienced the mysteries of Nancy Drew, and the adventures of The Swiss Family Robinson, Anne of Green Gables, The Jungle Books and Alice in Wonderland.  From there I transitioned to biographies because my mother enrolled me in a Book-of-the-Month Club--mostly sugar-coated versions of the lives of famous people.

As a teen my preferences changed, but I still remember looking in the windows, crawling into the rooms, sitting at the dinner tables, and riding the horses, mules, elephants and camels in each and every life--real or fictional.

Now as a mature adult, I see I haven't changed all that much.  I continue to live the lives of the characters!   O, my reading tastes have acquired discrimination--full disclosure here:  I am a book snob!  I refuse to use the Best Seller List for recommendations since I think it mostly represents the low-level-crap that Americans read.  I use my friends, whose recommendations I respect to lead me to new authors and stories.

I read more and more history--the problem with aging is that history books must lean toward antiquity to take in the new and interesting....you know, events I've not actually lived through.  Since I've always been a fan of Maslow, I also enjoy taking in ideas related to self-actualization.  And I love slice-of-life stories. 

A couple of years ago, I found a new author who is now at the top of my list for interesting, beautifully written, and amazing storytelling:  Kate Morton.  She and her family live in Australia, and her writing takes place there and in England.  I've read four of her books:  The Secret Keeper, House at Riverton, Distant Hours, and Forgotten Garden.  After reading one of her books, a line of anticipators form who excitedly await her next novel.  Her books often probe three generations within a family--going back and forth--with the end tying every nook and cranny of detail together. 

Another author whose next work I am anxiously awaiting is Shilpi Somaya Gowda.  Her first novel--Secret Daughter--is a beautifully written story of a couple in the U.S. who is not able to have a child; and a young child in India who awaits a home.  What complicates the tale and warms the heart of the reader is the story of the mother who had to give the daughter up.

Both of these authors offer wonderful insights into cultural practices of now and times gone by.  What books have you read recently?  What authors do you recommend?  Are there any discriminating readers among you?  Would love to share ideas!