Reading Room: Morgan Garvey Reflects on Reading, Books

Avid reader and Southampton resident Morgan Garvey says books by authors Cormac McCarthy, Brené Brown and Emily St. John Mandel have changed her life. (Photo: lawellphoto.com)

This month, Buzz residents share which books have impacted their lives and why in Jennifer Oakley’s One For The Books. Below, Morgan Garvey talks more about her love of reading. 

No matter where she is, it’s a sure thing that Morgan Garvey will have a book close by. “I listen to books on audible.com while I walk around Rice, drive or work around the house,” says Garvey, a stay-at-home mother of three. “I always have a few books going in print and I often buy hard copies of books that I listen to and love because I cherish my book collection.”

A self-described lifelong reader, Garvey notes that she upped her reading game after college. “I have always loved to read but I really started reading for pleasure when I realized that my business major left me with little knowledge of history and literature,” she reflects. “I started reading a lot of the classics with a new perspective since there were no tests to be taken! I even once convinced my old book club to read War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy) with me while I was at home with my first baby!”

Garvey decides what to read based on authors she already enjoys as well as suggestions from her book club and from Brazos Bookstore, a local shop walking distance from her house. “I can walk in there and they will tell me what’s new and getting good buzz,” Garvey notes. She and husband Dr. Patrick Garvey read to their children: Mary Elizabeth, 10, Will, 8, and Charlie, 5. “I read once that people who read literary fiction are more empathetic, and that made a lot of sense to me. Reading definitely gives me empathy and insight.”

Check out One For The Books by Jennifer Oakley for more on reading plus a list of book recommendations from Buzz residents.  Also, be sure to check out our new Book Buzz blog, produced in collaboration with the Houston Public Library, Harris County Public Library and the Bellaire Library. Share your favorite books with us in the comment section below.