What I'm Reading
Ask me what I'm reading and the answer will include at least three titles. I keep what I call a book book (the ink and paper kind) close at hand. This is usually a novel, but occasionally I try some nonfiction. I always have an audio book going too. Listening to murder mysteries keeps me from getting bored on the rowing machine or while sweeping up the never-ending dog hair (thanks, Alfie). Last but not least there's the book I'm reading to my husband Curt. Yes, that's right. I read aloud to him. Once an English teacher, always an English teacher. The true inspiration for this comes from my favorite author of books for kids, Kate DiCamillo. She advocates for this practice, not just for kids who haven't yet learned to read, but for everyone. The magic of a shared story connects us to one another in a unique way.
My Reading List
Current "book book"
Hungry for Home: A Wolf Odyssey
This unforgettable book has been in my family’s library for more than a quarter century. I first read Hungry for Home: A Wolf Odyssey when it was hot off the press in 1997, and I recently had the pleasure of revisiting it. The novel follows Marta, a wolf living in Montana, as she attempts to return with her pups to their home after being relocated by well-intentioned naturalists. The reader is invited into the wolf-world as she navigates hostile territory, trying to keep herself and her offspring alive. The story evokes a full range of emotions, but without being sentimental or anthropomorphizing the animals.
Originally published by Simon and Schuster in 1997 (which coincidentally is the year my novel In the Company of Whales takes place), Bowen reworked the novel for young-adult readers and Bloomsbury Publishing reprinted it in 2006 under a new title: Wolf: The Journey Home. It was nominated for the 2006 Teens’ Top Ten award by the American Library Association.
Rereading her book, I was struck by the similarities in Bowen's wolf tale and my whale tale. Both center on animals in trouble; both weigh the impact of human intervention. When is it a rescue and when is it interference? Both novels were inspired by real events happening right under our noses. From her book, readers can learn so much about wolves and their importance in the wider ecosystem; from mine I hope readers will gain a deeper understanding of orcas and why their dwindling numbers matter.
Current audio book
The Covenant of Water
Ever get to the end of a novel, pause, and then start again on page one? I have, and if it weren't for the fact that the audio version of The Covenant of Water is over 31 hours long and I am well past my youth, I would do just that. I'm declaring this my favorite read of 2025.
Three generations of a family living on the Malabar Coast of India between 1900 and 1977 have suffered a strange affliction: in each generation, at least one person in the family dies by drowning. Many have tried to uncover the cause of what they refer to as “the condition,” but until granddaughter Mariamma puts her skills to work, it remains a family secret.
There is so much going on in this book—layer upon layer—as it explores the caste system, faith and doubt, love and loss. I can’t begin to summarize this MASSIVE novel. The copy on the dust jacket expresses what I would say if I were more articulate and able to boil down my reaction to a few sentences:
“...The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today.”
I recommend the audio version of this book, especially if you are like me and are intimidated to the point of being frozen with fear when considering a 724-page brick weighing over two pounds. More importantly, the author Abraham Verghese is the reader. While this is not always a recipe for success, Verghese is a talented dramatic narrator. His voice is warm and carries genuine emotion.
Current read-aloud
The Way of the Hermit
Maybe with the way things are going in the world, this book will appeal to you as much as it did to me.
Ken Smith recounts the story of his four decades living alone in a cabin he built himself in the Scottish Highlands. He fishes and hunts, grows vegetables and fruit, chops firewood, and even makes his own wine. There are brushes with death—storms and a fire—and all the animal (and insect) encounters you can imagine, and lots of beautiful scenery. But mostly this book has left me fully grasping two truths.
First, I could never do what he did. No matter how romantic the idea is, I would be dead in a week.
But second, while I will never be a hermit, drawing wisdom and knowledge from years of solitude, I can escape modern life now and then to recharge and appreciate the beauty around me.
In the prologue, Smith writes:
Let’s be honest, you didn’t buy this book just because you were curious about me, did you? You’re here because that small part of you, the hermit that sits within us all, wants to know if there is something more, and if it can be done. Well, it can.
My Past Favorites
"book book"
Where the Past Begins
I found this treasure—a first edition copy of author Amy Tan's memoir—in a Little Free Library that I pass on my walks through the neighborhood. Tan's childhood was not a happy one, but reading about her life and where she finds inspiration is, well, inspiring! I especially loved Chapter Two: Music as Muse where Tan allows the reader into her thoughts as she creates a story in her mind while listening to Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3. It reminded me of listening to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf in elementary school, and the way each character's particular motif and instrument allowed me to "see" the story unfold in my imagination.
The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan's first novel, was my introduction to her work. I was deeply moved by the story and proceeded to read The Kitchen God's Wife, The Bonesetter's Daughter, and Saving Fish from Drowning. Her children's book The Moon Lady is magical and haunting.
audio book
The Late Lord Thorpe
I just finished listening to this mystery on Audible. It is the 11th DC Smith Investigation book in the series by Peter Grainger. He is a prolific author. Since his debut in 2012, he has also written five novels in the King's Lake Investigation series, three Willows and Lane books, and three standalone novels. That's almost two books a year!
Lord Thorpe is dead, found in a swimming pool after a party, and the cause is ruled a "death by misadventure." A very British way of saying it was an accident. Lord Thorpe's sister isn't buying it. She hires David Smith, a retired police officer now working for a private detective agency, and he is up to the task as usual.
Nothing like solving a murder along with the Detective Constable while I scrub the kitchen sink and sharpen my knives. Bwahaha! I confess that when it comes to recorded books, mysteries are my favorite. I get swept along in the plot twists and surprise suspects, and before I know it I've cleaned the whole house! In general I don't try to multitask, but folding laundry and listening to a skilled performer read an exciting story aloud to me are two activities that are made for each other.
read-aloud
Hello Beautiful
Propped up on pillows with a down comforter for warmth during the cold month of January in Minnesota, I've been ending my day reading this lovely book to my husband Curt. Ann Napolitano has pulled both of us in with her storytelling and true-to-life characters. Hello Beautiful has been called an homage to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, one of the books I name when talking about books that inspired me to be a writer. The closeness of the four Padavano sisters, their loves and passions, and the hard times they face have much in common with the March sisters.
Written in a "close" or "deep" third person point of view, Napolitano alternates chapters between Julia, William, and Sylvie most of the way through the story which takes place in Chicago covering events from 1960 to 2008. A fourth POV character chimes in about two-thirds of the way into the novel.
This is the first novel I've read by Napolitano and it won't be the last. Families in all their forms are endlessly interesting to me. Having grown up with seven people around the dinner table every night, I love books that shine a light on the conflicts, the humor, the chaos, and the connection found at home.