I know what you’re all really interested in is how many books I read during my internment… I read 25 books during my 65 days in California. The number is pretty low considering my boredom level but the first six weeks I was in so much grief and exhaustion that I really didn’t read much. The Hobbit and Anne got me through that time. Thank you to the lovely people who sent me books; Corrine, Dyan, Heidi and Stephanie. I appreciated them so much. They are definitely my love language. I also had some people send me ebook credits, which I used.

Delia and I read together every night and were able to finish the book PAX, which was terribly sad but we were already pretty sad so it didn’t make a huge impact and we read through Anne of Green Gables together. I think she listened to the first two Little House books at least twice (not the first listen of those) and listened to Mathilda and Alice in Wonderland for the first time.

I loved the newest Katherine Reay book that Heidi sent me, I will not tell you the title because then you’ll look her up and read anything by her. It was perfectly balanced between substance and light heartedness.

A sweet, lovely, wonderful friend of mine took the time to read The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown to us via Marco Polo. Her jovial and engaging seven year old daughter joined in and added so much entertainment! The story hauntingly paralleled our own journey far from home and separated from our family and we enjoyed it in a way we definitely wouldn’t have if we’d read it right after reading the first last year. Thank you Mindy for doing that for us!

Stories Matter. Many of these books took me out of my present circumstances to help me escape for a little while, but a few of these books gave me hope and encouragement. Anne and Bilbo and Gawain and Ros gave me friends when I had no one with me and showed me that light can shine in the darkest of places.