18 Comments
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Sandra Mosolgo's avatar

My late husband was a reader of many genres but his favorite was naval fiction from Napoleon’s time. I always bought new ones for Christmas.

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Joel J Miller's avatar

What a sweet memory. Thanks for sharing it.

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John's avatar

TERRIFIC POST

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Joel J Miller's avatar

Delighted you loved it!

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Mary H's avatar

I met my husband through the Mythopoeic Society, a book discussion group. We read aloud to each other (and our children) throughout our marriage. The first book he read aloud to me was Boswell's life of Johnson.

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Phoebe Farag Mikhail's avatar

I indeed fell for my now husband when he told me his favorite book in English was Pride and Prejudice.

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Phoebe Farag Mikhail's avatar

It was especially significant because his first language is not English, but he said this novel helped him most grasp the English language.

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Aberdeen Livingstone's avatar

This is oh-so-true. The number of subway crushes I've had simply because the guy across from me was reading a physical book ... men, take note!

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Ephie's avatar

You get extra points for that Adams Family GIF.

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Joel J Miller's avatar

LOL. I used to love that show!

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Ephie's avatar

I did as well. Part of my childhood television along with Bewitched.

I liked when someone set Wednesday’s well known dance to The Cure’s ‘A Forest.’

https://youtu.be/pndibm4GwEM?si=QDXzYNKs5T6XYEfr

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Thaddeus Wert's avatar

My daughter met her boyfriend in a Barnes and Noble. I guess that bodes well for their relationship!

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Joel J Miller's avatar

The signs are good!

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Mary Catelli's avatar

One wonders how it could be measured in practice.

And it is obvious that book-reading is probably only a lure to women who read. Then, that may be an additional virtue.

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Brian Dewey's avatar

LOL! I noticed the Dowd quote and Onion article earlier this summer, too. As a lifelong reader who is also happily married (25th anniversary just two months away!), I now wonder if I need to be “anti-performative” in my reading. I don’t want to be sending the wrong signals!

I wrote my brief take earlier this week (yours is better): https://bdewey.substack.com/i/171848585/books

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Joel J Miller's avatar

Haha! That’s excellent. And I love the idea of reading all of Austen straight through.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

If you like reading the same kind of books, so much the better.

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Joel J Miller's avatar

Yes! When Meg and I read the same books, we have really wonderful conversations.

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