"My Life in Books"

For the past couple weeks, I've been a fairly loyal viewer of a program on BBC 2 called "My Life in Books" brought to me courtesy of my local cable company.  The program has been hosted by British TV personality Anne Robinson, who in her better-known role of TV game show host on "The Weakest Link," is the British rival of the late Leona Helmsley for the title of "Queen of Mean."

I should mention that HWMBO has always enjoyed "The Weakest Link." I have never been a fan.  Despite my dislike of Ms Robinson in her game show host persona, however, she has done a bang-up job with the British celebrities that she has interviewed on "My Life in Books."  She has asked them about the books that they have read and most enjoyed at various periods in their lives.  It has been a very interesting set of interviews and has inspired me to write down several titles to follow up with myself.  I, for one, am sorry to see the series end.  I've really gotten "into" it.

Like so many, I cannot even begin to imagine a life without books or reading.  Thus, it has been a major treat to see and hear so many personalities from stage, screen, journalism, politics and other careers talk about their own relationships with books.  Sometimes these relationships are not always as literary (or even as "stuffy") as one might believe.  One went on at great length, for example, about Barack Obama's books, "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope."  Among their "guilty reading pleasures," others have cited Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, and - one of my own great, if guilty, pleasures - any of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books.   I challenge anyone to read Stephanie Plum's bounty hunting and "sleuthing" adventures without laughing out loud.  Stephanie is often accompanied by her sidekick, Lula, ex-lady of the streets, her sassy Grandma Masur who attends every wake possible at the local funeral parlor, and two hunky suitors, Ranger and Morelli.  It's literally impossible in my experience to read more than a couple pages without cracking up.  It was gratifying to see that Stephanie has even won over the legendarily staid and proper British.

In these days of electronic media, of IPads, Twitter and Kindle, to mention only a few, it is still nice to see that actual books, that is, paper pages between covers - either in hard cover or paperback - are still very much appreciated.  I am very happy if electronic media will make reading more accessible to those who might otherwise never sit down with a book.  But for me, there is no pleasure quite the same as tucking oneself into a quiet corner to read a book without benefit of batteries or cords.  That is nothing less than sheer bliss!