Portrait of a Reader: Fiona J.

Welcome, Fiona! Please start by introducing us to yourself and your family.

I am a native Brit who’s spent 6 years living in Texas but I now call Northern Illinois home. I have been married to my husband, Martin, for 15 years. We are parents of 2 middle schoolers and a Yorkie terrier mix.

Yes, just look at her cute picture and imagine her talking to you with her wonderful British accent! Fiona and I prayed together for several years at our school’s Moms in Prayer group and I confess I loved listening to her talk and pray. An anglophile’s dream to have a truly British friend, right? So I’ll stop gushing about her Britishness now and talk about reading. Fiona, when did you come to see yourself as a reader and what kind of reader to you consider yourself to be? 

I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. My dad was an avid reader and I have fond memories of us visiting the local library together. Books are like comfort food for me. I guess that makes me a bibliophile.

So tell us what you like to read. 

Travel Writing is one of my favorite genres, along with biography, Christian Living and more recently, Historical Christian fiction. I also like to read one literary classic every summer.

Ah, yes. Classics. Fiona and I bonded over prayer and literature. What’s the last book you finished and what are you currently reading? 

Right now I’m reading “Praying Circles Round Your Children” by Mark Batterson and Lysa TerKeurst’s “Unglued” for a women’s book study. I just finished “A Proper Pursuit” by Lynn Austin.

Those are some great ones! Do you have a favorite time and place to read? 

Tucked up in bed is an ideal location for me to read at any time of day! We travel a lot so I always have several books on hand for long flights and road trips.

What is the most unusual circumstance/place in which you’ve been found reading?

I have been known to read at ball games, concerts and (somewhat foolishly), crossing the street in downtown Chicago.

Lol! That might even be more dangerous than those of us who admit to reading at stop lights and stop signs! Be careful out there! Do you read physical books, ebooks, or both?

Physical books are always my preference. I’m very old school and love the feel of a “real” book.

Do you buy your books, borrow them from friends or check them out of the library? (Or all of the above!)

Mostly, I check out novels and biographies from the library or borrow them from friends. If I buy a book it’s usually one I’ve borrowed and I’ve decided I can’t live without it.

There are just some books you have to own, aren’t there? Do you have any favorite foods or drinks that generally accompany your reading?

Always a hot drink – coffee or English tea. I try not to eat and read as I don’t want to mess up the book!

You might be more of a bibliophile than me with that answer! I try not to eat and read not for the welfare of the book, but for the welfare of my waistline! Finally, it’s true confessions time: have you ever forgotten something important (to fix dinner or that dinner was in the oven or an appointment, etc) because you were lost in the pages of a book? 

I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten something important, but I do discipline myself not to start a book when I think I might be tempted to forsake all my responsibilities for the day in favor of indulgent reading!

Good for you! It is so easy to get lost in the pages and forego all responsibility. There are times for that, of course, but too much of a good thing can be, well, too much!  Thank you so much for sharing a little bit of yourself with us today, Fiona. 

Happy Reading, Y’all!