“oh how I love to read, she thought. ihe whole world gets bigger.”
— Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet The Spy (1964)
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i always was interested in detectives and spies, and books were a way for me to feel a part of it.
without any real danger, but just enough suspense…
on international book day
happy it’s friday
and have everything i need for my *book club with friends tomorrow.
(*we love books, sometimes read the same ones, and enjoy sharing our real life stories)
on my way…
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“it wasn’t until my fifth or sixth book where i realized i’m trying to do the same thing in every story I tell,
which is bring everybody together in the same room.”
-Kate dDiCamillo,
*kate is an american children’s fiction author. she has published over 25 novels, including Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tiger Rising, The Tale of Despereaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Magician’s Elephant, the Mercy Watson series, and Flora & Ulysses. John Newberry Medal winner.
while kate’s books are geared toward children and young adults, her books appeal to all ages. i find her writing incredibly beautiful and she is one of my favorite authors.
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photo credit: etsy vintage
how interesting to see how different cultures/languages might start their books. the last one is pure fun.
how do stories start in your culture/language?
—
how some have responded:
Hungarian tales mix a lot of them, but my favourite is like: “Once upon a time, where it wasn’t, far beyond the glass mountain, where the short-tailed piglet roams, there lived a(n)….”
My mother used to say “When Donkeys wore high hats and Hyde Park was a flower pot “
Romanian : “There was once, as if never, because if it weren’t, the story wouldn’t be told”
—
“we are the storytelling animal. “
-salman rushdie
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source credits: StoreyBook reviews, erma bombeck writers workshop
*celebrating world read aloud day
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“we have an obligation to read aloud to our children. to read them things they enjoy. to read to them stories we are already tired of. to do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves. use reading-aloud time as bonding time, as time when no phones are being checked, when the distractions of the world are put aside.”
-neil gaiman, english author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays
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art credit: ‘gnome’ by rien poortvliet, illustrator
is it just me,
or is a ‘sloth activity’ book
an oxymoron
and probably incredibly slow and boring?
—
“the kindest word to describe my performance in school was sloth.”
-harrison ford, american actor
what book would you want to add to this little library?
—
“without reading, we are all without light in the dark, without fire in the cold.”
-tamora pierce, american fantasy fiction author
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source credits: littlefree ibrary.org
this is what happened when a swedish library accidentally left a door open
The Gothenburg City Library in Sweden was supposed to be closed last Saturday, but staffers accidentally left a door unlocked. One might imagine that could lead to thievery or destruction, but what actually happened was quite the opposite: Residents simply used the library as usual.
The city said nearly 450 people visited the library that day and 246 books were borrowed. “Nothing was destroyed. It’s absolutely fantastic that you as a Gothenburger come into an empty library and treat it so lovingly,” operations manager Anna Carin Elf told radio station P4 Gothenburg, per the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Arvid Jadenius was among the visitors, alongside his wife and 2-year-old son, and didn’t know anything was amiss until he saw the news on social media.
“It felt good that everyone behaved exactly as usual, they borrowed books, read the newspaper, and so on,” he said in an interview with Göteborgs-Posten, adding, “The citizens of Gothenburg take care of their library. There is obviously a desire to be there.”
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source credits: P4 Gothenberg radio, Dagens Nyheter
last night i had the great pleasure of going to my favorite theater
where one of my favorite authors, ann patchett
was appearing
while on a book tour for her latest book, “tom lake’
which happens to take place in northern michigan
a place dear to my heart.
ann is a prolific novel writer
a wordsmith of the highest order
who has a way with the human story
always using her literary magic to somehow weave her characters together
in unexpected and wonderful ways.
she was funny, smart, down to earth, and very relatable
talking about her books, writing, book banning, life,
offering support for other authors and books she knows and loves,
because she knows it can make all the difference for them,
the joys and pains of book tours
and being an independent bookstore owner
(her other avocation).
when i finally had the chance to meet her
i handed her my very used copy of ‘bel canto’
my favorite book of hers
she opened the cover, signed her name, and wrote:
‘thank you for bringing a well-loved book.’
—
“i have been accused of being a pollyanna,
but I think there are plenty of people dealing with the darker side of human nature,
and if I am going to write about people who are kind and generous and loving and thoughtful, so what?”
-ann patchett
what a funny, sweet, sad, moving book –
a brilliant story of the enduring power
of human connection, forgiveness, and hope.
—
“we have all of this in common, yet most of us remain strangers, we never know what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine. perhaps we hurried past each other in a crowd today, and neither of us noticed, and the fibers of your coat brushed against mine for a single moment and then we were gone. i don’t know who you are. but when you get home this evening, when this day is over and the night takes us, allow yourself a deep breath. because we made it through this day as well. there’ll be another one along tomorrow.”
-fredrik backman (anxious people)
what a wonderful way to relax
ending a long day with a beautiful book
all about finding your comfort
settling in at last
not a care in the world
tucked into my warm cocoon
until
the book’s spell
works a little too well on me
and i am very suddenly and very rudely awakened
right out of my comfort zone
after falling asleep and dropping the book on my face
hard.
it should come with a warning.
—
“littera scripta manet – ‘the written word will remain’. that’s true, but it won’t be that much comfort to me.’
-christopher hitchens
I didn't have my glasses on.... 