Grass Roots Books and Music

Several weeks ago two local poets came to read in Grass Roots. I hadn’t had the chance to sit down and enjoy a reading in months. As I listened to their voices fill the room, I relaxed into a state of easy bliss. As the evening passed I found that I was deriving as much joy from simply being read to as I was from the actual poetry itself. Perhaps this contentment comes from the many hours I spent in rapt audience to my parents’ ritual nightly read-alouds, I’m not sure. But I do know that listening to human voices breathe life into written words is one of the most comforting pastimes.

I do a lot of reading aloud (since I'm always coming across passages I want to share), but I don’t as often get a chance to listen in. Lately I’ve been daydreaming about some of the books I’d like to have read to me, particularly by the authors themselves. Here are a few…


The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William KamKwamba – because I'm reading it right now and I love it and I love KamKwamba's voice. It is so evident that Kamkwamba comes from a tradition of oral storytelling – he is magnificent as he describes his parents and childhood. I’m only a quarter of the way in, but I’m spellbound.



The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen – for the obvious reasons if you open the back flap and see the author's fine blue eyes. Well, and the fact that this was one of the most intriguing and fun books I read this year. All variety of unusual maps and diagrams fill the margins of the pages – if somebody reads this book to you, you'll need to peek over their shoulder, for sure.


The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry – because Berry's fiction is some of my favorite and last week a trusted customer told me that this is Berry's best. I've never heard Wendell Berry's voice, but I suspect it adds even more depth to his stories.





And my Two Favorite Poets: Mary Oliver (from her Poetry Handbook) and Maurice Manning (from his Bucolics) -- because I’ve heard recordings of Mary Oliver and I love her reading voice, and because I’ve heard Maurice Manning read in person before and it was sublime. Transcendent? Sure.




What book would you like read aloud to you by its author?
Take our poll at right.
~April