Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading

How could a reader ever seem to run out of books to read? I think that would be an almost impossible feat with all the books that have been written and stored on the shelves of libraries. Whenever I have exhausted a favorite author and her/his books, other authors and books open up to me, either by word of mouth, or reviews, or just by my stumbling upon the books at a bookstore or library.

My one daughter-in-law is in a book club and mentioned she would be reading a book called, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, by Nina Sankovitch. I read the review about the book on Amazon, and then ordered it to my Kindle. The story starts with the death of Sankovitch’s older sister, Anne Marie to cancer. Three years later, Sankovitch still hasn’t come to terms with her sister’s death. Sankovitch decides that books were always a big part of her connection to her sister. She spends a year reading a book a day, and reviewing it. In reading the books she finds comfort, solace, and inspiration from the books. She gleans some tidbit from each one to help her come to terms with Anne Marie’s death..

In the end Sankovitch comes to realize and understand that her sister will always be alive in her life as long as Sankovitch is alive. And the bottom line of her year with books is to live and enjoy her life. The purple chair is where Sankovitch reads her books when she is home. Tolstoy is one of the authors that she reads.

The book actually made me come to understand my feelings better about the death of my brother. He lives on through the stories that I tell my children or that I write. He lives on in some of the books and movies that I brought back from his house. He is there when I see his New York Yankees hat and Mickey Mantle’s jersey. He lives on through the photos that I have. He lives on through his daughter, and hopefully through me. Those that are close to us, that have died, live on by us fully living and enjoying our own lives.

Sankovitch also listed the 365 books that she read in the back of her book. One of the books that she read was Tolstoy’s The Forged Coupon, and I now have that book on my Kindle to read. So, if anyone gets stuck on what books to read – try Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch, and maybe some of the 365 books that she has listed, might be just what you are looking for.