NightReader

I know: The name of this blog is DawnReader, a name I chose seven years ago when I began, a name that's appropriate, for I begin my days (well, most of them) at the Open Door Coffee Co. here in Hudson, around 6:45 a.m., where I spend a couple of hours reading--often reading a book I'll review on Friday for Kirkus Reviews.

But I read later in the day, too. Late morning. Afternoon. And at night--in bed. I suddenly recall those famous lines from Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock":

For I have known them all already, known them all:

Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons ....

In my case, it's coffee cups and pages turned ...

I think I've been a NightReader most of my life. Oh, there was a period in my life (junior high/high school) when I didn't do much reading--anywhere (except study hall). Hey, I was preparing for my careers with the Cleveland Indians (catcher) and Boston Celtics (point guard)!

But at home we owned only a single TV set--in the living room with Dad as the Commander-in-Chief--and so there was not much else to do, alone in my room, than read. And so I did ... nothing too impressive, mind you. Biographies of cowboys and mountain men. Books about sports heroes. An occasional Hardy Boys. You know ...?

When I began teaching in the fall of 1966, I was overwhelmed with work, some of which I actually did. But I always reserved an hour for myself, just before Lights Out, to read. I still remember one of the first books I read that way, the fall of 1966: Catherine Drinker Bowen's Miracle at Philadelphia (1966), a brand new book about the writing of the U. S. Constitution. I was teaching English and American history to 7th graders that year, and I knew I needed some more "learnin'." (Actually, I needed a lot more of it!)

I just went on a search for my copy of the book--couldn't find it (which could mean all sorts of things). But mine looked just like the pic.

I maintained this habit throughout all of my teaching career--reading at night after my homework was over. And I've continued it since I've retired (twice).

I read from multiple books each night--ten or so pages from each. Right now, here's what's on my nightstand (and on my Kindle):

• Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, 2018 (he's coming to speak at the Hudson Library on Jan. 23; it's a long book--hope I finish ...)
• John McPhee's latest collection of essays, The Patch (2018)--I've loved his work for a long, long time
• Haruki Murakami's Killing Commendatore, 2017, a novel that's in a way a tribute to The Great Gatsby
• Wilkie Collins' The Law and the Lady, 1875, a novel about a young bride who discovers her husband has been accused of murdering his first wife (I'm slowly reading my way through all of Collins' novels--such an amazing talent)
• and on Kindle ...
• Ken Bruen's 2017 Jack Taylor novel The Ghosts of Galway; I got interested in the Taylor novels after streaming the TV series based on his dark adventures
• Michael Connelly's new one, Dark Sacred Night, that features both Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard (the point of view shifts throughout: Bosch gets some chapters, then Ballard--all 3rd person, just differing points of view) 

So (I just counted) I'm reading from six books each night--though (confession) not every night--just most of them. Sometimes I'm too tired, and I'll do just the Kindle books, but most nights I stick to the plan.

My eyes tire quickly these days, and I can no longer read for hours on end, so when the words begin to blur, it's time to stream some British detective/mystery shows ... and we're thrilled that Vera is back for Season 9! And then ... z-z-z-z-z-z-z

And up the next day to assume my DawnReader costume and head for the coffee shop!