LitMinds Blog and Interviews

Jenclair from Bossier, Louisiana describes herself in her blogger profile this way: "I am a 58 year old wife, mother, and grandmother who enjoys playing with fabric and plants."  We were impressed with her creativity!  She's done some real interesting quilting projects including "Garden Girl" (shown below) which we suspect is part self-portrait with her long flowing hair and book in hand!

In addition to the beautiful quilt creations, Jenclair finds she has a voracious appetite for books.  We were really pleased when she was one of the first book bloggers to join the LitMinds community, and so we invited her to tell us more about her blogging, reading, and quilting life in this interview:

1) Chinese Proverb:  "A book is like a garden carried in the pocket."   This is the quote that inspired the name for your blog, A Garden Carried in the Pocket. Why does this proverb resonate with you and how does it describe your personal experiences as a reader?

I don't remember when I first read this proverb, but it had immediate significance because books provide portable entertainment, pleasure, and knowledge. Like most people, I hate to be bored, but unlike most people, I rarely suffer from boredom because a book garden is portable. You can take a book with you anywhere, and then, the book can take you away into another world. We all spend a lot of time waiting in a variety of circumstances, a book can make the experience more pleasant.

2) You have eclectic reading interests but appear to gravitate towards the fantasy and mystery genres. What appeals to you about these book genres?

Escape. I began reading the classics early, majored in English, have a MA in English Lit, taught senior English, and now, I revel in reading lots of novels purely for fun--lots of mystery and fantasy. Actually, last year I read very little fantasy, although I've always loved it. This year, I happened to pick up The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente and found a revived interest in myth, fairy tale, folklore, and fantasy. Then Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings announced his Once Upon a Time Challenge, and I jumped in enthusiastically.

3) Your other interests include quilting and gardening and you keep another blog called, Bayou Quilts. A lot of people often describe quilts as telling a visual story. Can you share your thoughts about that? How does your enjoyment of reading connect with these hobbies?

All quilts are products of individual stories, but not all of the stories are visual. The process of quilting often provides the combination of busy hands and a wandering mind. Hands can be involved with needle and thread and thoughts can wander where they will. It is very relaxing.

Gardening also combines physical activity with the opportunity to think, to imagine, to ponder some of the questions raised by life in general and by what I read.

4) While you are a prolific reader, can you make a couple recommendations for books you read in the past several months that have really stood out in your mind?

• Voltaire Almighty by Roger Pearson
• Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta
• The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente
• The Bird Woman by Kerry Hardie
• The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor (in process, but marvelous)

5) As an avid reader, what do you like about the LitMinds community?

LitMinds generates "conversations." Reading the interviews, opinions, suggested titles, reading histories, and reading pleasures of others stimulates my thinking and my curiosity. Blogging as a whole transforms a solitary pleasure into a shared one. I think you've said it succinctly in the phrase "LitMinds community" -- a very nice thing to have.

You can find Jenclair's LitMinds profile here.