Posts Tagged ‘reading’
It’s here! Beach reading season 2018
I always love this time of year. The spring sunshine blesses us, and it’s time to start heading out to the beach once again with a good novel tucked in the beach bag. Earlier this week my younger son had a track meet in Ostia, the small city west of Rome and on the sea.…
Read MoreWhen I really don’t like a book…
I’m a big fan of books. Paper books, that is. I do far too much reading on computers at work, and when I return home or travel, I want to read real books, turn crisp pages, watch the number of pages accumulate as I work my way through a novel. Sadly for me, I don’t…
Read MoreAuthor Marguerite Yourcenar on why we read
“Books are a way of learning to feel more acutely.” – Marguerite Yourcenar Sage words from the French author (1903-1987) most famous for her novel Memoirs of Hadrian. Perhaps this author knows best, having so effectively written from the perspective of 1st Century AD Roman Emperor. Books have a way of opening us up to…
Read MoreAnother New Year, another Goodreads Reading Challenge
It’s that time of year again for those of us who love reading – time to set our reading goals for 2018. Every year I sign up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge, and 2018 is no exception. I’ve pledged to read 45 novels in the new year. I generally meet my challenge, but if I…
Read MoreMy 2017 in books
Okay, I admit it. I’m a book nerd. This is one of the reasons I so love taking the Goodreads Challenge each year, because I can enjoy my end-of-year 2017 in books overview. I love reviewing the books I’ve read over the year, and the pages (over 18,000!) I’ve read that aren’t technical reports or…
Read More‘Tis the season … to read!
Of course it is the season to celebrate our religion, to spend time with friends and family, to be thankful for what we have, to sit down to good meals, but I can’t help associating the holidays with also squirreling away quiet time to curl up with a good book (or two, or three, or…
Read MoreI met this year’s Goodreads Reading Challenge
Perhaps list-making and checking off items on a list is a silly thing, but I can’t help enjoying the annual Goodreads Reading Challenge. I’m an avid reader anyway and – oddly, perhaps – I’ve always made lists of books I’ve read, so the Goodreads Reading Challenge was a perfect match for me. I love looking…
Read MoreI love Provence’s Le Bleuet bookstore
Wow – I’ve found my my new favorite bookstore in France! We were on holiday in the Luberon valley of France this summer when we were told we had to stop off at the Bleuet bookstore in the charming little town of Banon. We were visiting towns around the region, and so when we stopped…
Read More(Feels like) Summer reading: Americanah
Okay, this weekend I had to take my son to the beach for a fun track and field workout session for him, but it also turned out to be a wonderful, relive-the-summer day for me. At Ostia, the beach nearest Rome, the massive summer crowds were gone, but the weather was almost as gorgeous as…
Read MoreRereading high school favorites…
With my oldest son in high school, I’ve enjoyed some of the ‘joys’ of returning to some of the old Classics I haven’t read since my own (long, long ago) high school days. Of course, many classics I reread regularly on my own, but strangely enough, for some others I apparently need a little push.…
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