Reading in winter light

Dear Reader,

The rain has been steady for three days now, the kind of Pacific Northwest rain that makes the windows look like they’re breathing. I’ve spent most of this week reading by the large window in my study, wrapped in a blanket that has seen better days.

There is something sacred about reading when the light is low and gray. The words seem to settle deeper. This month I returned to two old favorites — Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room — and found them both more devastating and more beautiful than I remembered.

I’ve been thinking about how certain books become companions during particular seasons of life. They wait for us to be ready for them again.

If you’re reading this while the days are growing shorter where you are, I hope you have at least one book beside you that feels like coming home.

What have you been reading lately? I would love to know.

With quiet gratitude,

Claire