I have always loved to read, tucked in a chair, sprawled on the bed or the floor, backed up against a tree, floating in the pool. Here at the farm I have the choice of several porches, indoor and outdoor, equipped with rocking chairs and small tables whatever cuppa I have carried along with me.

But, the older I’ve gotten, the less focus I seem to have for longer periods of time, a weakened ability to dive into a book, leaving the world behind. It’s not a surprise: adult life is much more complicated kid life when someone else was doing most of the things that I do now: I helped a bit with laundry and cooking, but I had specific chores rather than wide responsibilities. And then there’s work, of course, that boxes in the number of hours available in general.

Honestly, part of the reason I managed a reading workshop when I taught middle school and fully supported the school’s “drop everything and read” program was that it meant my students AND me sometimes had 50 minutes of reading in a day. Teachers were encouraged to be good role models, and I was happy to oblige.

I am determined to get back to those days of reading for hours on end, immersed in a book, in a story, to the point where the world fades away. I can turn off that grown up voice suggesting that I could be doing much more productive kinds of things than “just” reading. Just, indeed.

And, there is nothing like a rainy day to curl up and read.

I have given myself over to One Good Deed, David Baldacci’s new book, which I hope is going to become a series. It is 1949, and Aloysius Archer has just been released after a wrongful prison sentence and bussed to Poca City where he is determined to get a clean start. Despite those plans, he quickly gets pulled into a murder mystery. Baldacci’s novel has all the elements of a classic crime novel, with gritty realism and snappy dialog. Archer is a compelling character who discovers his army scout training can come in handy when you are the prime suspect in a murder.

I’m also in the midst of two other non-fiction books but for now, you can find me curled up by the fire with Baldacci.