Books for my Mom

My wonderful mother was widowed six years ago, and moved to a retirement home last year. After a lifetime of working, raising four children, and running households in three countries, she no longer needs to cook meals or do housework in her new apartment. One delightful result is that she has more time to read than she has ever had before, which she is enjoying. One of my great pleasures is supplying her with books. Of course she has, buys, and borrows books on her own, but because I read so many reviews and go to bookstores and libraries more often than she does, I have more opportunities to find books for her. One of my best sources is the monthly Friends of the Library book sale at my beautiful local library. The sale is filled with huge quantities of books, all donated and only very slightly used, nicely organized and shelved, the vast majority of them for sale at only a dollar or two per book. I often leave with a pile of 10 or 20 books, a few for myself but mostly for my mom. The next time I see her, I deliver a bag or two full of carefully chosen books. I know her taste fairly well. And even if I mistakenly choose a book that she has already read, or doesn't care for, at a dollar or so, she can simply pass it along to a friend or to the small library in her retirement complex. I have always given my mother books for Christmas and her birthday, but this new, more regular choosing and giving of books is a happy experience for both of us.