These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

This book of essays is filled with intensely personal stories from the author's life. No one is safe, and she acknowledges that. She has written about her spouse, her marriage, her family of origin, and her best friend from graduate school in the past, so people in her present are fair game for reflection and sharing. The reader feels invited in, like the author has included you in the circle of warmth and friendship that exudes from her writing. It’s clear that Patchett forms deep and lasting friendships; the tone of the stories that she relates, the generosity of spirit they convey and the fact that we often hear of the same people through the years in various essays all speak to this being true. To her credit, Patchett, while forthright in describing her relationships, is never unkind. She speaks of all these people with great fondness, and she shines the same light on herself and her character that she shines on others. This is wonderful to read, and like the bookstore owner that she is, she left me with two book recommendations that I immediately took out of my library to read.