Returning to the Familiar

A good book is like an old friend you keep coming back to. Nothing fundamental has changed, but you learn something new while taking comfort in the familiar.

My top 5 books to return to, in no particular order:

-"Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover's Courtship with Recipes" by Amanda Hesser, food writer for the New York Times. Upon my first reading of this book I tried a grilled cheese sandwich recipe that calls for a foaming pan of melted butter, thin-sliced white bread, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and a dash of grains of paradise pepper (an excellent midnight snack or an entire meal when combined with homemade tomato basil soup). Subsequent readings have prompted batches of lemon bars that make Alec's eyes light up, a simple cream sauce for chicken (one of the only recipes containing mayonnaise that doesn't make me gag) and a love affair with risotto that will last a lifetime.

-"Slummy Mummy" by Fiona Neill appears a piece of chick-lit fluff, but captures the bittersweet experience of motherhood with clarity and a dash of chagrin. The main character's risque near-affair confronts housewife boredom and desire for change, but ultimately celebrates the consistency of a good marriage. I connect with nearly every sentence and still laugh out loud even after several readings.

-"Animal Dreams" by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite contemporary authors. I discovered this book in AP high school English, and became entranced with the always poignant and often droll Kingsolver. Most of her books take place in Arizona, and her descriptions of the craggy desert landscape prompted an eventful spring break road trip during my first year of college. I took a tour of the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, to which I had just been accepted as a transfer student and fully intended to move there the next semester. Tuition ultimately proved too expensive, but every time I read "Animal Dreams" I'm reminded of the chances I took that year. When it feels like I'm backed into a corner I read this book and realize there's always another option.

-"Summer Sisters" by Judy Blume. Maybe it's a throwback to the days when I used to obsessively re-read "Deenie" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" or just that I sometimes enjoy complete and utter drivel, but this book is just addictive. The writing is nothing special, but if you've ever had girl-frenemies give it a try.

-Any and all Agatha Christie. I've got a good 40 or so of her mysteries that I rotate on about a yearly basis. When I don't want to deal with real life I simply grab one off the shelf, take a bath and immerse myself in a good murder. I rarely guess who the murderer is, even if I've read it before (I have a tendency to forget details about movies and books I haven't seen or read in a while) and since they're all set in WWII-era England there's little connection with modern life. Any Christie will do, though I'm partial to M. Poirot.