Encounters with Inscriptions

When Kristin Czarnecki lost both her parents within nine months, she sought solace in books, but not just any books. In Encounters with Inscriptions, Czarnecki writes about the books inscribed and given to her by her parents over the years—an array of novels, short stories, poetry, nature writing, cultural criticism, and a cookbook. As she explores each book, Czarnecki focuses not only on loss but also on the complexities of childhood, on family and friendship, and on the rewards of a life spent reading. She recalls falling in love with poetry for the first time, realizes how the Troubles in Northern Ireland shadowed her adolescence, reflects on the legacy of her mother's feminism, and comes to know her father better while reading an author he loved. Throughout, she communes with her parents once again in the books they wanted her to have. Czarnecki's beautifully written, wide-ranging memoir will appeal to fans of books about books, those mourning lost loved...