Tolstoy and the purple chair : my year of magical reading

 by Nina Sankovitch. Reading was paramount in Sankovitch's Evanston, Illinois, home, so she turned to books for solace in the wake of her oldest sister's cruel death at age 46. While Sankovitch knew she could rely on books for wisdom, for succor, and for escape, she realized that as the mother of four sons, and as an attorney on hiatus, she needed structure to cope with her grief. Hence the book-a-day project. Nestled in her beloved old purple chair, Sankovitch read a book each day, primarily novels, then reviewed each title on her book-exchange website, Read All Day. She now recounts the year of magical reading in a beautifully fluid, reflective, and astute memoir that gracefully combines affecting family history--her parents immigrated to America after surviving WWII in Belgium and Poland with expert testimony about how books open our minds to the complexity and entirety of the human experience. Sankovitch's reading list in all its dazzling variety is top-notch, and every ardent reader will find her perceptive thoughts about stories, remembrance, resilience, and book bliss incisive and affirming. --Booklist (Check Catalog)