Tagged: bibliophilia

18
Nov
2018

LIVING ON IN LIBRARIES

I’m reading a fantastic book. A book about books, what could be better? It’s fascinating. It’s technically about the worst library fire in American history, when the Los Angeles Public Library burned in April 1986, but it is also about the idea of libraries, the history of them, the purpose and updated use of them and how they’ve changed from a modern-day viewpoint, and the love of books in general. The first chapter, which details the spread of the fire and what it consumed, and how much it destroyed actually almost brought me to tears. The thought of all those...

06
Sep
2018

WHERE’S MY “I VOTED” STICKER?

It’s that time of year again, when we vote on books for the AWC book group after sending in our nominations. There are around 15 or so regulars and when each of them sends 3-5 book recommendations, it makes for quite a long list. We had 35 to choose from this year and the 9 winners were announced today. We actually have one book left from last year’s list, that we will be discussing next week and I just realized I’d better get going on it. I often wait until quite close to the book discussion date because if I...

30
Oct
2017

HELLO WEENIE

I just activated a new member for the AWC: a guy from Texas who has been in Sweden for 10 years, and has heard about us since before he moved here, but never thought to join because, well, duh. It’s a WOMEN’S club. Right? Except, no, not really. It’s not just Americans and not just women, though we only have a handful of men at the moment. We’ve talked about changing the name for years, but no one seems to be able to agree on a new name and the one I would have liked has already been taken by...

27
Aug
2017

BOOKS BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS

We survived the party, but I will write about it tomorrow. For now, books! I realized that I had not posted about the book group recommendations and winners and figured I would just write a book post first, since I have been lame and not posted anything for a couple of weeks. Time just gets away from me, you know? I just finished reading The Mermaid’s Daughter by Ann Claycomb and loved it. I immediately went and searched for more books by her but alas, that is the only one so far. Before that, I read My Life With Bob...

10
Feb
2016

MOSTLY BOOKS

It’s that time of year again: book voting time! I just checked and it was actually all the way back in November 2014 that we lasted voted on a “year’s worth” of books for the AWC book group. And we’re not actually done with those books…we still have two to read and discuss, one in early March and one in mid-April (stupid Satanic Verses, which I didn’t vote for and hated and was really aggravated that it got voted in and guess what, I am hosting that one. And I refuse to read it again. So there). Once again we...

15
Nov
2015

THREE THINGS

When I can’t think of anything to write, lists are always handy. I already did two things, so here’s three! Three things from my to-do list Get Martin’s US passport renewed Mail my US voter registration application You guessed it…clean the Tank of Death & Despair Three things I’ve already done today Vacuumed Showered Watered plants Three books recently added to my list of books to buy Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller Radiant by Karina Sumner-Smith Three really good books I’ve read recently Uprooted by Naomi Novak Bryony and Roses by T....

08
Oct
2015

SAVORY

I would have thought it was fall because I saw my first sugar beet on the side of the road just a few days ago (since then I’ve seen several), but the weather has apparently decided to fast forward toward winter. It’s been really cold, and gray, and windy as all get out. Two nights ago, the winds were so fierce that the leaves were literally leaping off the trees. Lawn furniture was blown about. The house shook with the gusts and kept waking me up. We’ve seen huge flocks of geese flying the wrong way south, honking their heads...

28
Jul
2015

SLIDING

I went to the mall this afternoon to check out a couple of opticians…I need to get new glasses, not necessarily because they are no longer good, though they’re no longer perfect, but because the frames aren’t holding together anymore and the film has worn off the glass in spots on both sides. It’s not noticeable when I’m wearing them but I’m sure it’s time to consider new ones. The problem is that I really like the style of my eyeglass frames and now I have to find new ones that I like enough to spend a fortune on, because...

13
May
2015

PUT A PEONY ON ME

It’s raining again, and the lacy tracery of spring leaves against the branches of the trees is filling out into that one-color summer green already. At least I haven’t had to water the pansies but once since I planted them. I’m home early for a long weekend, though I was home sick all day yesterday, so it turned out to be an even shorter week than I anticipated. Tomorrow is Ascension Day which we have a holiday for in Sweden and my company gives us half-days off before holidays as well as the “pinch” day for Friday. Nice! Martin: *because...

04
May
2015

MEANDERING

I just finished reading All the Light We Cannot See and it was SO good. So so very good. In fact, I might start over reading it again. Or I might do that thing I do (and you do, too, admit it), which is download and devour everything he’s ever written. Which is another novel and 2 collections of short stories. I’m actually a little wary about the short stories, because I’ve found that, much as I love them, they don’t seem to stick in my brain the way full-length books do. And then I buy them again, forgetting I’ve...