“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
Finally we have some rain! After our snowless winter, they are predicting possible drought conditions this summer so any rain is welcomed. For some reason, though, the rain makes me lazy. In my imminent future I see movies about climatic upheavals and a nap in the darkness of the afternoon. The animals are already asleep.
It’s cold this morning, but I don’t care. The house is warm and cozy. When I was young, this was the sort of day I’d stay in bed and read by the light of the bed lamp hanging off my headboard. It was a quiet time when I could be by myself. I’d follow Nancy and Trixie as they solved cases and feel bad for Heidi looking for her grandfather. One of the joys in life is finding and reading a great book for the first time. Sometimes I’d read the whole book in one sitting hour after hour. I’d close the cover and hold the book for a bit still savoring every word. My mother used to tell me to take my time, but that was never possible. Once a book grabbed me, it didn’t let go until I’d read the last word.
My love of books and reading has never changed over time. When I was younger and backpacking through Europe summer after summer, I’d bring 3 or 4 books. When I’d finish one, I’d carry it until the next stop. Staying in a hostel was the best opportunity to trade, and I found myself trading for and reading books I probably wouldn’t have otherwise read. That was the fun of it.
In the old days, Peace Corps used to give volunteers book lockers, cardboard boxes which opened into small bookcases. They were filled with paperbacks. In mine, left by a previous volunteer, was The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I devoured all four books and would never trade them to any of the volunteers passing through town. I knew I’d go back and read them again. Before I went up-country to live after training, I visited the university bookstore and stocked up with more paperbacks, all of them printed by Penguin Press. They were trade material. My town had a library and most of the books were by British authors. I read Ngaio Marsh, Ruth Rendall and the wonderful Dorothy Sayers for the first time. Such joy!
Despite having and using my iPad, I still cherish the printed word and love holding a book in my hand, and I still sigh when I’ve finished a book I loved.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Africa, Bolgatanga, book, booklocker, Ghana, Hobbit, IPad, Ngaio Marsh, Peace Corps, rain, reading
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March 31, 2012 at 11:44 am
Cold, windy and snowy here this morning and now it’s cold windy and sunny. The wind really destroys any attempt of making any longer walks. But I bought the Tintin dvd yesterday so I’ll watch that later today 🙂
I read a lot of book as well and still do, but I’ve also always read a lot of comic magazines, not the fairly cheap ones like Superman and Donald Duck but many like Tintin. Big, thick and rather expensive but worth every dime. Long stories that sometimes could continue in another magazine.
Even though the sun is shining it isn’t inviting so I think I’ll take my second nap for the day 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
March 31, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Christer,
I figured I’d just answer my comments then head upstairs for a nap.
Snowy! I’ll take the rain; however, it did snow a bit further north, but it is 38° here so too warm for snow.
I have a couple of TinTin books so I know what you mean. They call them graphic novels here.
March 31, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Graphic novels! Now I’ve learned something new. We really don’t call them comic magazines but I couldn’t find the right word when translating 🙂
Christer.
March 31, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Hi Kat,
I have always been a ravenous reader, too. As a teenager, I blazed through the Hobbit and two of the Ring books before I realized that there would be no more after the third. I slowed way down and savored the rest of book three.
Dorothy L. Sayers is my most favorite British mystery author. Every year or so I re-read Gaudy Night. A friend gave me a very old edition of that title for my birthday one year. I read it immediately because I had to get my DNA on the pages.
Earlier this week the Harry Potter books finally showed up as ebooks with a very nice price point on the full package so I bought them and now am on a Harry Potter marathon. I wouldn’t buy them as real books. Much too thick and heavy for light reading. 🙂
Enjoy the day. I’m spending mine reading.
March 31, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Hi Caryn,
I am so envious that you get to read Harry Potter for the first time. I remember waiting for every new novel and standing in line at midnight for the very last one. I was with a friend, and we got smart and left the middle of the very long line at the bookstore and went to Stop and Shop which had no line and plenty of books.
I love Dorothy Sayers and every now and then I reacquaint myself with Lord Peter.
Happy reading! Say hello to Harry for me!!!!
March 31, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Hi Kat
I admit that I am both iPad addicted and dependent but I have not given up the pleasure of a real book. Similarily I have not given up the CD for the MP3.
Although my reading tends to be rather dry, I have been thoroughly enjoying the Philip Kerr “Bernie Gunther” books. Had you or any of the Kataholics been anywhere near Mexico last week, you would have spotted me on a lounger next to the Mango Deck knocking down copious amounts of Corona (and I don’t drink) and finishing “if the Dead Rise Not”
Next up is Ben MacIntyre’s “Operation Mincemeat”, I a little behind on his works and he has just published a critical praised book on Spys on D Day (ordered for amazon uk and sitting at my sisters house for our arrival for the Olympic Games)
Glad to be back 🙂
Hedley
March 31, 2012 at 1:51 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I have converted most of my cd’s to MP3’s just so I can post them on Coffee,but I still use my CD’s and love to sit and listen, especially outside on the deck.
I don’t know the Bernie Gunther books so i did a quick look-up on line and found a chronoological listing so I’ll order the first one as the synopsis sounded wonderful.
I will sometimes buy a book for my iPad and read it here if I can’t get to a bookstore, but I remain a fan of real books over the iPad; however, I loved the convenience of having my iPad with me last summer and will do the same, order several books, this summer.
Welcome back. You were missed!
March 31, 2012 at 2:05 pm
I have the ipad3 replacing my original version and it’s retina screen is wonderful. I did rent a movie (Senna) for the Mexico trip and that was great. I do down load many CDs for my iPod/iPad but like the music system in the house that lifts the quality of the sound out of the CDs.
I am glad to be home and very much appreciate the friendship (s)
March 31, 2012 at 2:17 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I do not have it yet though I am eagerly hoping to buy it in the next month or two, and your description is making me even more impatient.
You did have me just a bit worried!
March 31, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Cold windy and rainy here. People are joking that Boston has had a warmer Spring so far then the Bay Area. . A good Caturday to read and rest, and read and rest.
Lily Dark and I both wave with mittens on our paws.
March 31, 2012 at 5:53 pm
Lily-Lori,
Boston is always warmer than here on the cape in the spring, and I envy how much faster spring comes to the city.
Ot has gotten a bit warmer here-from 38° to 41°. I’m thinking socks and mittens sound right.
March 31, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Books are wonderful, but I love reading digital ones because you can make the print size whatever is good for your old tired eyes. I am going to get the new iPad in the next couple of weeks. My problem is that of storage. I have run out of book shelf space as well as CD space and I would rather carry several books and hundreds of songs at the same time on a digital device and store the rest on a hard drive.
March 31, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Bob,
I give my books to my library. They add ones they don’t have and sell the rest as a fund raiser.
I have begun to run out of CD space, but I hate to give them up-too difficult to do.
March 31, 2012 at 6:59 pm
I’m the opposite. A good book makes me drag it out and sometimes I even re-read a previous chapter just to get it going again. I can have a book I like in the reading work stage for a week or more. I think my record was 18 days. But every Christmas passing around books was what broke the indoor blues when it was too dreary to do anything outside. It’s different here in Florida. The book passing is just me and wife now and her mysteries don’t do it for me. I have a passion for books like Drift, new by Rachel Maddow, which I can’t wait to read. It may take me a few weeks!
March 31, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Z&Me,
I could never have that much self-restraint. My books go to my neighbor then to my sister then to the library where they live a long life being read by so many other people.
April 1, 2012 at 10:03 am
Don’t forget Edgar Wallace. We read every one of his books available at the Bolga Library. Did you know the architect for that library was an African-American, J. Max Bond Jr., who lived in Ghana for four years in the 1960’s? This was the same library where Kevin managed to pull over a full cart of organized books when he was two.
We get many of our books at the still-good shed at our dump.. Our town library also has a book sale during Spring Gala day in May, when they clear out some of their overstock, as well as donated books. After 12 p.m. we can buy a big shopping bag of books for one dollar–Buck-A-Bag. After we read them, they get returned to the still-good shed for recycling to others. I have to mark the inside front cover with initials so I don’t re-read some of them.
I am currently reading “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight”, a Fuller book about her childhood in Tanzania in the 1970’s, somewhat disjointed but very interesting, and a bit imperialistic.
April 1, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Bill,
I didn’t know about the architect, but I knew the library was a wonderful building and different than most. That was my refuge for those endless nights at the start of my first year. I considered myself lucky that such a place was in Bolga. I didn’t check it out when I was there last summer, but I will this summer.
I too get books at the dump’s recycle center. When I buy one, it passes through people then some go to the recycle center but most go to my local library.
I finished the Hunger Games trilogy a few weekends ago and a few books I had haning around, but right now I need a library run,