Maeve Binchy

I love Maeve Binchy's books. I am rereading all of them and I am so sad to discover that I am missing one - Scarlett Feather. I need to read books in the order the author wrote them, even if they are not part of a series. I think you can also see the author's growth when you do this. This is the second time I read her books and I just love the way she writes. Her characters are so real and when I finish a book I feel sad to say goodbye to them. Anyhow, this year I did something so out of character for me. I was thinking back to when I really started loving reading as an adult. I of course loved to read most of the assignments in high school Literature Class (yes, I had some Cliff's Notes too). I did not become an avid reader though until I graduated college. My sister Pam, the one that died two years ago, she was the one that got me reading for pleasure. I think she had me read Where the Heart Is. I loved it and started to devour books. She was amazing though when it came to books. There were hardly any books she had not read and reread. She used to just consume them. She read so quickly and understood it all and made connections and it was dizzying to witness. I remember calling her and she would be bummed because she would have checked out fifteen books for two weeks and had finished them in one. Who the hell reads fifteen books in a week?! Anyhow, back to Maeve (as Pam and I called her). I was not able to read when Pam died. I felt at first that it was somehow betraying her doing it without her (when someone dies you lose all logic). Then I just could not read the titles on the shelves without crying because every one of my books was either recommended by her or a gift from her or borrowed from her. I sort of felt that words lost all their meaning when Pam died. Well one day (actually the second anniversary of Pam's death) I made myself get out Maeve's book. I read it and loved it and I started rereading her books. I also sent her a letter. This is what was so out of character for me - I don't do fan letters or anything like that -ever. I did it though. I sent her a letter thanking her for sharing her gift of writing with me and especially with Pam. I don't know if she ever read it but even if she didn't I meant every word.