A Quote

Several years ago I came across this while reading.  I liked it so much that I used it for a while as a signature quote in email.  I no longer do  that but I frequently pull it up and re-read it.

      Fagerlien said,..."Every adventure results in a whole shipload of
     books, a whole library...."
        "And every library results in a new adventure," came Mazzini's
     modest attempt at rousing himself from silent and nodding
     agreement.  But Fagerlien maintained his demeanor and had the last
     word: "Or in a tourist."

                    Christoph Ransmayr--
                       _The Terrors of Ice and Darkness, a novel_
                       translated by John E. Woods from the German
                       _Schtecken des Eises und der Finsternis_
 
I like it for three reasons:  I am a reader, I am a librarian, and I am a tourist. When I travel I always seek out libraries and  bookstores.  If there are none, I always manage to find someplace to browse books--flea markets, street vendors, gift shops, tourist bureaus, hotel lobbies, variety stores, gas stations--all sorts of places have books.                                                                                                                                            

Monday

                                                
                                                    

                                                    OR are you reading at all?

Yesterday I finished the amazing (as in 5 * amazing) An Unnecessary Woman. This got so deep in my head that I couldn't start another book, nor could I finish any that I had laid aside. A quote from the book says it all:

      “I thought I’d be reading a new book today, but it doesn’t feel right, or I don’t feel like it. Some days are not new-book days.”

I did some online housekeeping and watched a NCAA basketball game.

So what about today?  Another quote  (this book is full of great quotes and quotations):

    “Reading a fine book for the first time is as sumptuous as the first sip of orange juice that breaks the fast in Ramadan….I adjust myself in the reading chair, pull  my legs up. It’s going to be a long, voluptuous ride. The problem is to find a "fine book." 

 The protagonist in the book is surrounded by stacks of unread books and she usually takes the one on the top of a stack. It's usually the most recently acquired.

I am also surrounded by stacks of TBRs.  My stacks have a few added dimensions:  Library books, review copies, and the Kindle.  Library books are stacked by date due, ARCs by date of publication. If it's already been published and has tons of reviews, it's apt to sift to the bottom since I'm not good at writing reviews.  The Kindle has books I own, library books, and a dreaded ARC or two.  I love the Kindle but I don't like electronic ARCs.

So what do I do today?  I've already scooped the snow off the back steps and tossed down the ice melt, prepared a grocery list, and I'm in the comfy chair. 

Best option for today is probably non-fiction or short stories or may re-read some of the classics that are mentioned in An Unnecessary Woman.  Is Spinoza my answer? Project Gutenberg here I come!  Or not.

Maybe the Bill Gates recommended The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger. Sounds easier than Spinoza.

Sigh, maybe I'll go to Peapod.com and start another grocery list.      

Getting started--Again!

Why do I keep doing this?  I just deleted two previous attempts at blogging on this site alone.  Then there were the two (or was it three) on LJ, a few on now defunct sites.  (I've been using the Internet since 19idon'twanttosay.)  The only ones I stuck with were work related obligations.  Those were quite successful.

What do I want to do here?  Write about my reading adventures.  Not necessarily book reviews.  I don't like writing reviews.  It takes too much time away from my reading.

Not a log of what I'm reading.  Goodreads is fine for that.

It's other stuff about reading.  Things like:

Today I found out that it is Robinson Jeffers' birthday.  So I pulled "Not Man Apart" from my little library to re-read.  I haven't looked at it in years.  There's always something new to discover when you re-read poetry.  This was promising because the pictures would take me back to California and Big Sur.  Nice, because it's snowing here in New England.

Midway through the book  I came to the poem "Gray Weather" which concludes with the Lines:

             In the cloudy light, in the timeless quietness,
             One explores deeper than the nerves
                    or heart of nature, the womb or soul,
             To the bone, the careless white bone, the excellence.

I stopped reading and looked out the window to the field  beyond my house.