As an adult, I was mostly immersed in biblical literature, but as a child, books had always been a part of my life. Encyclopedias were the search engine of the time. You could find a wealth of information on almost any topic. I was ten years old when I wrote my first research paper, a 3 page paper about James Madison. It’s easy to remember which president because it was the first time I’d used an encyclopedia. I loved my sixth grade English teacher, Ms Keir. She would always read from Shel Silverstein’s, Where the Sidewalk Ends. I always leaned in when she read The Boa Constrictor and Sarah Cynthia Slivia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out, two of my favorite Silverstein poems.
At home there were a few novels lying around that I considered old fashioned and too sacred to touch, but I enjoyed browsing our colorful junior encyclopedias. There were no computers to search unfamiliar words, just our handy blue dictionary. A Sunday’s newspaper was a “must have” to get the local news, store coupons, and a listing of sale items at Aldi’s, Cubs and Jewels & Osco-our local grocery stores. I loved reading the comic section of the paper.
Near the Sunday’s paper were the coveted Jet, Essence, and Ebony magazines, the African American news outlet of the time. Summers were spent completing reading logs. Our local library awarded pizza coupons to everyone who read the required number of books. My husband’s family fostered a love of reading during his childhood as well. We have a few sets of his family’s encyclopedias and some novels. I even found a few of his family’s old magazines one day while cleaning out the garage.
Somewhere between adolescence and motherhood, I’d lost my desire to read. Perhaps it was due to college studies, starting a career and getting married. Although I wasn’t an avid adult reader, I understood the importance of introducing books to my children at an early age. We participated in story time at the library and checked out lots of books of their choosing. I purchased National Geographic and other periodicals, to encourage adventure through reading. I even bought a copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends. As my children grew older, the visits to the library became less frequent while the visits to the local book store became more regular. They perused the shelves for the latest book releases while I wandered over to the periodicals.
I had always loved history and that is where my reentry into the literary world began. I skimmed through the magazines to determine which ones were most suited for my literary palette. I was drawn to articles centered around book reviews and historical events.
Three periodicals grabbed my attention: Claremont Review of Books, The New York Review of Books and Oh Reader.
Claremont Review of Books introduced me to a world of "political thought and statesmanship.” Professors, editors, and journalists share thoughts on past and current events such as Tim Rice’s “Peg-Legged Penman,” a review of the Constitution’s Penman. I remembered Gouverneur Morris, the peg-legged man, when I studied the Preamble. The book review takes the reader beyond the prose of the man who penned "We the People” into the “study of his life and thought.”
I’d never heard of Belle de Costa Greene until I read Heather O’Donnell’s, “Ambition, Discipline, Nerve” published in the May 15, 2025 issue of The New York Review of Books. O’Donnell critiques The Personal Librarian. Greene, a black woman who passed as white, was the personal librarian to magnate, J.P. Morgan. She helped establish the Morgan Library and Museum (formerly the Piermont Morgan Library). “Passing for white gave Greene the freedom to pursue her intellectual passions at the highest level but foreclosed other possibilities.”
Oh Reader magazine is by far one of my favorite magazines. Essayists' personal stories explore a range of topics while weaving book references into the fabric of their storytelling. Aura Asiimwe’s essay Reading Stopped Me From Becoming a Murderer describes the harrowing moment her husband confessed to contracting HIV through infidelity. Citing the characters in Shakespeare’s Othello, Mary Karooro Okurut’s The Official Wife and Immaculee Ilibagiza’s Left to Tell, Assimwe explains how these books helped to overcome her “murderous rage.”
The essays and articles captivated my attention and aroused my curiosity. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. I began purchasing books that were mentioned in the articles including The Personal Librarian. I had a thirst that couldn’t be quenched and sought every opportunity to grow my personal library.
During my more recent travels, I came across authors like Nobel Laureate Jose Sarmago and Naguib Mahfouz.
I was awestruck after seeing the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the tallest church in the world, and sought to know more about Antoni Gaudi, the architect.
Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin was a name that grabbed my attention during my visit to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN.
I had so much fun attending the North Richland Hills Library book sale with other bookworms. My receipt showed a motley of genres ranging from biographies to historical:
Hiroshima by John Jersey
David Crockett by William Groneman III
No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy by Jim Proser
The Hornes, An American Family by Gail Lumet Buckley
Tell Me The Dream Again by Tasha Jun
Liberty’s Torch by Elizabeth Mitchell
My American Journey by Colin Powell with Joseph E. Persico
The Hearsts, Father and Son by William Randolph Hearst, Jr. with Jack Casserly
Another City Not My Own by Dominick Dunne
Billion Dollar Ransom by James Patterson
Just Mahalia, Baby by Laurraine Goreau
“Shout, Sister, Shout!” by Gayle F. Wald
Shopping at estate sales and consignment stores is a favorite pastime of mine. I usually search for household items but now I make sure to browse the bookshelves in hopes of finding good book deals like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I purchased this book for $5 at an estate sale.
My children noticed my perspective towards literature had changed and began inviting me into their literary space. I was asked to read essays such as Mother Tongue by Amy Tan and Johnson C. Montgomery’s The Island of Plenty. I accepted my daughter’s invitation to read Renee Watson’s Piecing Me Together and the Hunger Games trilogy and the prequels by Suzanne Collins. My son purchased Dr. Daniel Mendelsohn’s translation of the Odyssey for me in preparation for the movie. We discussed books and essays in great length, respecting each individual’s perspective.
Vocabulary.com is a great tool to look up unfamiliar words and it’s also useful in introducing new books. For example, if you type a word in the search field and scroll down to the bottom of the screen, you can see examples of how the word is used in a book or article. I added a couple of book titles to my library such as Octavia Nothing, primarily because the name was intriguing.
Listening to book enthusiasts on Youtube such as C-Span’s Books TV, Politics and Pros, and Great Book Prof keeps me well informed on literary trends.
There are several Facebook groups that can provide book recommendations based upon specific genres. I tend to lean more towards the classics and historical literature and other genres that resonates with me from a cultural standpoint such as:
Book Lovers
Historical Fiction Book Lovers
Friends and Fiction
Black Girls Read Too
Classic Literature
Black Girls Who Read
Books Humor
Lover of Books
Classic Reads
Over time, I compiled a To Be Purchase List (TBRL). To guard against impulse spending, I shared my eclectic TBRL with my husband and children as gift ideas for special occasions such as Mother’s Day and my birthday.
Knowledge had become pleasant. I enjoyed knowing that I had something to look forward to. Something to learn. A story, essay, article, history lesson waiting to be read. Reading hadn’t become just an adventure, but a gift to be enjoyed.
