I made it! And I am so glad that I did. What an amazing place the library is today. I took a big tote bag and retrieved my 9 books (The list of books I picked up is in this blog post.) from the shelf where they have the books that have been reserved that are waiting for you. Then I talked to the reference librarian for quite awhile and she printed out a number of things for me. How to put the apps on your kindle or phone so that you can download eBooks right from the website. You can also read magazines and newspapers that way. She told me about all manner of other resources, music, movies, audiobooks, and more. And she gave me some information about the goings on at the library as well as more information about the self-publishing program. I then kind of wandered around through the stacks of books, and just generally acquainted myself with this library branch which I had only been in once. I can keep the books for 3 weeks so I imagine I will go back every 3 weeks or so unless I decide to renew the books and take a little longer. There’s so much I can do via eReaders from home I won’t have to go real often especially since I’ve checked out so many books at once.
A bag full of books!
I came home with such a bounty I couldn’t wait to get the books in and go through them to decide what I would read first. As I did I evolved a plan for my summer reading. I listen to my audiobooks when I am doing activities like exercising, doing dishes, driving in the car, etc. Then I will have a fun mystery to read at bedtime. I am going to start with the next Seaside Knitters Mystery in the series that I hadn’t read yet, Murder At Lambswool Farm by Sally Goldenbaum. I have read the whole series except the last two and I picked both of them up today. This will be perfect bedtime reading, not heavy, and I am relieved to have a book to hold because I’ve been trying to listen to my audiobook at bedtime and I keep falling asleep listening to it and then have to try to find my way back to a place before I fell asleep! Now I can just put the book down when I’m tired and turn out the light.
Mid to late afternoon I take a rest or a little nap with the pugs in my big recliner. I wanted a special book to read at this time and I had just the book, a book I have wanted to read for some time, The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Jansson is the author of the much loved Moonintroll books (I also got 3 of those.) but her adult fiction is very special indeed. On the cover of this book is a quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh who wrote, “This small book is a complete experience… sharp, perceptive, earthy… a rare book that is a delight to read.” This book is hard to describe. Very short chapters that are more like singular tableaux, they could be watercolor paintings, they are exquisite. They don’t read like regular chapters in a book but come together as a story overall of a grandmother and her granddaughter on an island one summer. I read several “chapters” snuggled up with the pugs before taking a little rest.
And because I have wanted to read Jansson’s Moomintroll books for years I brought home three and will start with Moominpappa’s Memoirs. Neil Gaiman, whom I admire greatly, is quoted on the cover saying simply, “A masterpiece.” I will keep a Moomintroll book here beside me on my work table to dip into now and again. All kinds of books for a summer of reading.
So much is happening in this summer return to words, books, writing. Last night I wrote a story for Katya’s and my “700 Word Stories” where we each share a noun and use the 2 nouns as a title. We have written quite a number of them now but last night I wrote my story for our words, “Memory Book” and I was quite surprised to see what came up for me. I wrote a very poignant story about a woman in her 80’s who has never kept a diary but now, faced with a diagnosis of dementia, is beginning to write everything that she can remember about her life before she loses her life completely. I was so deeply touched by this character that it came to me that I may want to expand on the short story I wrote. A novella? A novel? I don’t know, but it touched me deeply.
It is my firmly held conviction that to write well you must read well, and varied, and many types of books. It is no wonder that I haven’t been writing anything more than blog posts for some time. I love writing these posts and will continue but I have always written more than this, it’s just that the last few years I have barely been reading at all. I am now diving into books like someone dying of thirst in the desert who has just found water, I have come home to books, to the library, and a huge change is taking place. Writing stories, reading them, reveling in words in every direction, this has been my life since I was a young girl. Today I packed up all my fiber work, it simply wasn’t time for that, perhaps in a few months. It is time to devote my time to reading and writing. I have begun, I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
Dear Maitri, I am so so so so happy for you and with you! How far is your library from your house? And you even stopped and talked to a woman about all the stuff you can do at home on the library site. I am soooo proud of you. YOU ROCK!
Look at all you’ve done these past few weeks even with some setbacks! Awesome <3
I would write more but I know you want to read.
I would love to read your story about dementia.
Much Love, Jean
Hey Jean honey, the library is just over 5 miles from my house, not as far as I thought, not bad at all. And yes, it’s been a lot, and I feel good about having done it. Even Stitch and Bitch, while it wasn’t the right fit for me, it was good that I went. And I am thrilled to have gotten out to the library today, it was wonderful! I can’t wait to start my new mystery tonight! 🙂
Amazing day for you. I have stopped writing in journals for years. I have stopped reading for pleasure, while dealing with drama and sadness. This is my summer to read also. I have books all over. I want and need to read for my soul. I have yet to check the library. Maybe when my stack is smaller I too shall venture into the unknown. I begin by writing again and then my reading. You are an inspiration. I echo your last statement, ” I have begun, I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.”
G-d bless you.
Lauren
Dear Lauren, I’m so glad you are reading now too. It helps so much, doesn’t it? And I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get back to the library but it is just fabulous, so much more than it used to be. And what are you reading honey? I’d love to know…
Bless you too, Happy Reading!
Maitri
i have written down Tove Jansson’s Summer Book. It will be fun to read a book you too are reading.
Yes, writing and reading, two sides of the same coin. Women of lettres (as the English spell it!)
It is a joy to write stories – to read stories – to be part of that creative energy which is so engaging and satisfying…
i wish you many happy hours curled up with a book – or a pen!
Oh Katya I am so glad you are going to read The Summer Book too! It is just beautiful. It will be so much fun to share it with you! And we are Women of Lettres indeed! And yes, so much joy in stories, writing and reading. I can’t wait to curl up with my book tonight, I’ll be there soon!
And what are you reading now dear sister? 🙂
M. xoxox
I was beginning to wonder if a book had opened you up and swallowed you whole! I’ve heard that can happen in libraries… 😉
I am still writing more than reading, in my Morning Pages, and Coloring more than writing these days! I have a book of “blank” mandalas that I visit with my set of colored pencils. I just finished a “summer solstice” mandala and am nearly done with a second one. They are great to look at when I need something other than a screen to focus my eyes on.
Perhaps the Reason-Season-Lifetime adage applies to hobbies and things as well as people. If that is the case, I would say Words are one of the Lifetime things. 🙂 Enjoy your reads!
Ah Victoria, I haven’t been swallowed up whole but I am DEVOURING books myself! 😀
And your mandalas sound like a wonderful creative outlet. It is so good to get away from the screens. And writing and reading are definitely Lifetime things for me. Writing and reading saved me as a girl, saved me all my life, and are just what I need right now. And yes, I will enjoy these books. I’m just about to curl up with my new mystery now!
Aaaaw, this post made me so happy! I love reading about books and libraries. We have an awesome library system here in Johnson County.
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed it Marge. And I love writing about books too. So glad you have an awesome library there. What are you reading these days? 🙂
Soooo many things. I read the Anna Travis series by Linda La Plante. I am almost done with the Nikki Galena series y Joy Ellis. I like British police procedurals. I am almost done with Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White, and Black in a young America by Catherine Kerrison. This last is nonfiction and is genealogical research and social history. I juggle 4 to 5 books with magazines, and periodicals weekly. I read my Bible and do a Bible study daily. So I’m pretty busy.
What wonderful books I’d say you DO keep busy! Good for you Marge! 🙂
Well done, and what a lovely bag full of books! You remind me of when I was a teenager, I used to take ALL our family’s library tickets (that’s 20 tickets) down to the library each week, I came back with loads of books for us all. That’s a lovely photo of you, and little Delilah is so cute! Enjoy your reading, I can picture you snuggled up with your pugs. xxx
Ah Jenny I love the image of you collecting all 20 tickets and coming back with your load of books for everyone. What a treasure trove the library is! And thank you for your kind words, and yes, wee Delilah is such a snuggle girl as is my wee boy Pugsley. We 3 have quite a sweet time all snuggled up in the chair and it was so much fun curling up with them last night with my new mystery. I loved it! This beats watching the news at night all to heck!
What are you reading these days honey? I’d love to know… 🙂
I’ve just started to read “The Art of Living” by Thich Nhat Hahn, it’s very good.
Oh Jenny I love Thich Nhat Hanh, what a beautiful, gentle spirit…