Habitual Reader Profiles - Page 1

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	Name: Clea Simon
	City & State: Cambridge, Massachusetts
	Vocation / Avocation: Writer
	Website: www.cleasimon.com

Why I'm a Habitual Reader:

From the first days of "Toad and Frog" through Narnia and Middle Earth to Hilary Mantel, Denise Mina, Sarah Waters, Roddy Doyle, and more ... books have been my constant companions, my escape hatch, my celebration all my life. I don't remember being taught to read, but I do remember sitting on my dad's lap, having him read to me and wishing that he would turn the pages faster because I'd already finished the page! Need I add, I haven't stopped yet?

My List of Ten: Books to Re-Read

1. A Place of Greater Safety
Author: Hilary Mantel
Mantel's fictional account of the French Revolution fleshes out historical figures in a way that makes the revolution, the Terror, and everything that came after understandable!

2. he Lord of the Rings
Author: JRR Tolkein
OK, so he stole from everyone from Norse mythology to Wagner. But Tolkein's synthesis of European mythology. Anglo-Saxon poetry, and his own WWI experience made for an incredibly rich, fully realized world. Each time I go back, I find more.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia
Author: C.S. Lewis
Many critics these days are focusing on the underlying theology of these child-sized novels. What they miss are the lovely characterizations that make these children and their animal companions come alive. Re-reading these as an adult lets you see the beauty in these simple tales.

4. Rebecca
Author: Daphne du Maurier
The mistress of mood's masterpiece of gothic romantic mystery!

5. Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Dated? No way! This comedy of manners could have been written by a dating expert today!

6. The Eight
Author: Katherine Neville
A contemporary thriller that mixes up math, high finance, mythology, and a dash of romance. Packed with action, too!

7. The Bull from the Sea
Author: Mary Renault
Renault brings ancient Greek mythology alive in a timeless and exciting book. I loved this as a teen and still re-read it as a "comfort book."

8. Phineas Redux
Author: Anthony Trollope
Trollope wrote fantastically funny, often biting social satires-cum-soap operas, almost all of which are great rainy day books. This one, in which the Irish PM Phineas finally finds love, happens to be my favorite.

9. Vanity Fair
Author: William Thackerey
How can a poor girl with no social connections get ahead? By flirting with everyone, lying, and cheating at cards, of course!

10. The Beekeeper's Apprentice
Author: Laurie R. King
This lovely mystery launched King's Sherlock pastiche series, but it's a great stand-alone, fun, mysterious, and lightly romantic, too!

Have you read any of these titles? Review one now.

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