Garlands member Roberta Rood, a retired public librarian of 25 years, moved to The Garlands with her husband (and “live-in IT guy”), Ron, from Maryland to be closer to their family in Chicago.
Roberta reports that “The Garlands large residences gave us room to spread out and offered a nice office space for my bookshelves and computer,” important considerations given the size of Roberta’s book collection and time spent writing her prolific book review blog. Started in 2008, Roberta’s blog, aptly named “Books to the Ceiling,” was a post-retirement inspiration. “I wanted to continue recommending books to people like I did at the library’s information desk,” she says, so she expanded her audience to the World Wide Web, where followers have appreciated her insights for the last 16 years.
Roberta also offers her knowledge in person at The Garlands, where she recently shared her enthusiasm for mysteries and true crime in a class based on a similar program she taught through John Hopkins University. In her free time, Roberta also occasionally blogs about her grandchildren and the fact that she is “happily gardening, enjoying her leisure time, reading up a storm, and (of course) buried in books” at her new Garlands home.
Roberta recommends:
Roberta offers a diversity of reading delights, from fiction to nonfiction, with an emphasis on true crime and mystery. Follow her at robertarood.wordpress.com.
The Pale Horse
by Agatha Christie
This lesser-known Christie novel had Roberta mesmerized. “In the words of critic John Curran, the mystery offers ‘…a genuine feeling of menace over and above the usual whodunit element.’
Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories
by Joan Silber
“This collection of contemporary and historical stories is one of the most harrowing works of fiction I’ve ever read.”
You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War
by Elizabeth Becker
“This recounting from the female perspective of three extraordinary journalists who covered the War in Vietnam was revelatory and riveting.
Roberta’s Garlands-grown cucumbers and tomatoes are almost as prolific as her blog, shown here on her Garlands home office computer featuring a favorite book review post.
