Seasonable Books

Some books have seasons. Yes, it is true any book suitable for summer can be just as suitable for winter, but there are certain books I prefer to read in the summer and others I prefer to read in the winter. For example, I still have vivid memories of reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, The Longest Winter, to Alan during a particularly stormy winter. Even though the winter in her book was so much more severe, nevertheless, while we read we were cozily wrapped in afghans and staying inside while the harsh winds blew outside our windowpanes. Now reading this book on a sultry 92 degree summer day would not be half so credible. Those are the times I love to get absorbed in books such as Gone Away Lake or Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright. The mosquitoes and long stretch of days without school conjure up reality as I sit reading to my girls on wicker chairs while drinking iced tea with lemon; in other words,"I'm living it". And is not this what a good book intends to do for us?