Marking what’s precious, passing it on

I would guess that since I was in grade school, I’ve spent considerably more than half my waking hours reading books of one kind or another, and I’m grateful for the ongoing experience.

Mom, a reader herself, said one day, “Bill, you’ve got to stop burying your nose in books. By the way,” she added, “here’s one I thought you might like.”

And she handed over “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” I liked it.

After that, college, grad school, military service, teaching high school, more grad school and more teaching endeavors.

Books led me to Nantucket and, there, to Lynn. We married. Today she edits my gaffes and provides amazing books, like “These Precious Days: Essays” by Ann Patchett (Harper, 336 pp., $26.99).

Patchett is the prolific author of a wide variety of award-winning literary works — novels, nonfiction, children’s books — and co-owns a bookstore in Nashville. “These Precious Days” is a masterful collection of essays that pop off the page, crafted by a gifted, caring writer who captures the mind and the heart.

Writes Patchett, “Through these essays, I could watch myself grappling with the same themes in my writing and in my life: what I needed, whom I loved, what I could let go, and how much energy the letting go would take.”

Patchett: “Teaching made me a better reader and a better thinker. I became more conscientious about how I expressed myself, which in turn made me a better writer.”

Ruehlmann: My own experience was similar. I received a returned final exam paper from a high school student with the last word: “I liked you cause you dint give up on us.”

Patchett: “When I went to graduate school, hoping to be a writer, I had no idea that owning a bookstore was one of my career options. But I believe I’ve done more good on behalf of culture by opening Parnassus than I have writing novels.”

She confesses that she used to feel uncomfortable when people stopped her in the grocery store to talk about her books. But since Parnassus opened, they want to talk about the bookstore and what they’re reading. One introduced her daughter, who said, “I know you. You’re the person who owns all the libraries.” “Not exactly,” Patchett replied, “but you’re close.” She thrills to growing a new generation of readers by providing books to children who can’t afford them, and it warms her to watch children learn to love books by reading to the dogs who work in the bookstore.

Ruehlmann: By George, I think she’s got it! She wrote it. I read it. You will love “These Precious Days” by Ann Patchett, a writer as savvy and joyful as my dog Charlie is in the snow.