Beautiful Books of Place, People, and Pieces of Life
I reread the Emily of New Moon series, by L.M.Montgomery. And honestly, it made me wonder why I’ve been reading so many fluffy regency novels that aren’t that filling. It reminded me that I want to read the Anne of Green Gables books to my girls after we finish the second Harry Potter book. It reminded me of that fresh, rose colored glasses feel of thinking I have the best life in the world. And it isn’t that Emily’s life in the books was that great. There was actually a lot of (needless) suffering. But she never played the victim. And above all, she did the best with what she had: not only that, but she made the best of what she had beautiful. She worked to find and hold the beauty.
I know I am in a special place in life. A special phase of life where I get to make a home, and I get to be close to my family. My girls are young and everything is magical for a 6 and 9 year old, if you take the energy to have the adventures instead of rely on the screens. And so I started another blog: Thursday Tours. Touring special places/things, people, and pieces of life. I’ve started going back through past writing, and realized I’ve been in this phase before—in 2011-12 I did a lot of writing of home while in Brazil. So I’ve tried to capture some of the best of that time on this blog as well. Who knows where it will end up? But Rachel of Windermire street is looking and savoring and appreciating.
In my L.M.Montgomery inspiration, I went online to find more books like hers. I’d love to read more “Green Gable-like” things set in our today times. Easier said than done, but that quest led to me remembering many past beautiful books, and a couple of new ones (thank you library!). Once I start a list, it is hard to stop, but I think my favorite books are books that leave you better than they found you. They leave a good feeling when you close the last page. They are not wasteful or belittling life, but adding to it. And the best books seem to have a very powerful sense of place, people, and pieces of life: where LOCATION is stressed, the CHARACTERS are brought to life, and MOMENTS are captured in timeless ways. Here are my 20 favorites (in bold are memoirs, or something close to it, and the two at the end were ones I just found during this search):
L.M.Montgomery (so many books!): Prince Edward Island, main characters
C.S.Lewis (Narnia series): Narnia, main characters
Karina Yan Glaser (Vanderbeekers series): 141st Street NYC, the Vanderbeekers
Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist, the Pilgrimage): Middle East/the Caminho, the main characters
Jane Austin (many books): regency era England, main characters
Julianne Donaldson (Edenbrooke): Edenbrooke in regency England, main characters
J.K.Rowling (Harry Potter series): Hogwarts, Harry
David Benioff (City of Thieves): Russia, Lev (Note: this is not for the faint of heart and covers hard, adult themes)
Markus Zusak (The Book Thief): Germany in WW2, Leisel
J.M.Barrie (Peter Pan): Neverland, Peter
Catherine Marshall (Christy): Appalachia, Christy
Trevor Noah (Born a Crime): Africa, himself
Apricot Irving (The Gospel of Trees): Haiti, herself
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie series): Prairie, herself
Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. (Cheaper by the Dozen): New Jersey, Gilbreth family
James Herriot (many books): rural England, himself
Alexandra Fuller (Scribbling the Cat): Africa, herself
Cheryl Strayed (Wild): Pacific Crest Trail, herself
J. Anderson Coats (the Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming): travel/Pacific Northwest, Jane Deming
Katherine Rundell (Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms): Africa/England, Will
Honorable mentions: I love books by Kate Dicamillo, Shannon Hale, Gail Carson Levine, Kathleen Baldwin, Louisa May Alcott, and the specific books of the Little Prince and Star Girl, but I think these focus MORE on PERSON rather than PLACE, whereas the ones mentioned above, I never closed the book without wishing I could go to that place (even if it was made up, or only existed as it was during that time period).
If you are looking for a good, beautiful, leave you better than before TV show that focuses on place, check out “Somebody feed Phil.” Every episode will have you wanting to go to that place to try out their amazing food and be excited that there are lovely people who live everywhere. I hope you find beautiful places in your own life that inspire you to try to write and capture them well.