Tagged: bibliophilia

15
Jul
2025

THREE THINGS

I was looking for journal prompts, but thought: O! I can write a list. That is always fun, because I love lists. I wrote “So, without further ado” to precede writing a three things list, but then I had to stop and google the word “ado”. We don’t use it enough! It’s such a handy word! Did you know that it can mean all of these things? Bustle and commotion, unnecessary trouble, delay or fuss; or worry and excitement. That’s a lot of weight for a little 3-letter word to carry. So, without further ado: three things! Three things still...

10
Dec
2024

I GUESS THERE ARE NEVER ENOUGH BOOKS*

We only have one book left for the AIC book group, which is scheduled for discussion in mid-January. So last month the organizer sent out the request for book recommendations (feels like we just did this, but it was July 2023) and we all sent in 5 book names, and then we got the list and voted, and the results just came back in. It seems that a couple of regulars didn’t recommend any books, but of those of us who did, each of us got at least one of our recommendations onto the list. Unfortunately, this year, there are...

23
Sep
2024

THE ONLY WAY TO DO ALL THE THINGS YOU’D LIKE TO DO IS TO READ*

Karen Sommerfeld asked her followers on Facebook what present they had gotten as a child, that made the biggest impression on them or that they loved the most, and the comments section exploded with people reminiscing about Spirograph, Lite-Brite, Barbies, and various other things like bikes and toy keyboards and perfumed pens. I immediately thought of the giant Barbie head I got one year for Christmas that you could put makeup on and style her hair. Not terribly interested in either makeup or hair styling after that, but it definitely got played with. I had a Spirograph, too. And of...

12
Feb
2024

WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO

I’m recreating Karin’s resume so that she can apply for university in Copenhagen. I already recreated Martin’s a few months ago before he started job-hunting in earnest. I lost all the original source files when I upgraded to a new work computer a year or so ago and wasn’t thinking about where those particular files were saved. Karin’s been pretty much working steadily since she started as a referee for the soccer leagues in the village where she played, when she was a teenager. I’m not sure why she needs her resume for a university application, but it’s just as...

22
Jul
2023

EVERY VOTE COUNTS

We were asked to send in our book recommendations for the next batch of books for AIC bookworms in June. I lobbied hard to get the amount of recommendations down from 5 to 3, but was overruled, so of course I sent it in 5 as well, because why not? BOOKS! We got the total book list to vote on while we were away on our trip, so I couldn’t vote for the 9 books until right when we got back. It turned out that only 6 books got enough votes to automatically make the list and we had to...

06
Mar
2023

MOVE FORWARD, LEAN BACK

Once again, time has run away with me, and I’m guilty of posting all the time in my head, but not at all the past couple of weeks here. But I just thought of an interesting topic to write about, so here I am! I’m thinking about the difference in enjoying something new vs. enjoying something old. How often do you have to make the choice between trying something new or sticking with something familiar? I wonder what the percentage is of people who choose new over tried and true. When you pick a book to read, do you always...

26
Feb
2023

THE NON-FICTION LIST

I read a lot. And I have a LOT of books. Since I got my Kindle, the number of physical books in my house has dropped, since I don’t buy actual books anymore, preferring to buy ebooks instead, because 1) instant gratification, 2) no one will have to deal with them in the future when I’m gone, and 3) my bookshelves are full. Every year, the AIC hosts a “media” “sale”…quotes around those because it used to be more “media”, meaning that we allowed books, DVDs, CDs, games, puzzles, etc. But more and more it’s just books, and just English...

15
Feb
2023

MY TWO CENTS*

I’m leaving for the US in, basically, a month. I have a small stack of stuff that is going with me and several reminder emails to myself about things I need to get (mostly gifts) before I leave. Yesterday afternoon, Martin emptied out some container in his room and came in to give me some American change, and ask where he should put the others he had found. We used to have a huge plastic Coke bottle that was about a quarter-filled with coins from all around the world. Every time we were going somewhere, we’d have to empty it...

02
Feb
2023

A NEW MONTH, A NEW POST!

How can it be February already? I’m having flashbacks to my college roommate Chris’ F*ck February parties of the mid-90s, after we had moved to Chicago and were no longer sharing an apartment. She covered the floor of her apartment in beach sand, had blowup palm trees, and the required dress code was Hawaiian shirts and leis. Good times. Believe it or not, I STILL have symptoms: stuffed up head and coughing whenever I talk. It’s now February 2nd, so I’m officially in my second month of being sick, though today was the first day in weeks that I woke...

28
Jan
2023

CONVALESCENCE AND CONCENTRATION

Today is January 28, which means there are 3 days left in this first month of 2023, not including today since it’s already nearly 3:30 pm. I have been sick, more or less, mostly more, for all 28 of the days so far in this month. I am taking it super easy this weekend, with my goal to be better enough on Monday to get to Malmö for our first AIC monthly meeting of the year which is both a trivia night AND our annual media sale. I have 4 bags of books to donate, which have been gathering in...

October 2025
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