Immersed in Books
One of the pleasures of being a reader is the feeling of being immersed in the world of books. Books give me so much comfort, and sometimes life leaves us needing some comfort. This week has been a good reading week and a busy life week. Here are a few bookish things that have been going on:
Last weekend my husband and I explored a fantastic bookstore in Savannah, Georgia: The Book Lady Bookstore. When we walked in I fell in love; I also felt like this is what my house could look like in a few years. I mean there were books everywhere. Books in bookcases and on tables and even stacked in piles along the floor. I came away with three books, and believe me, that is indicative of incredible self-control. I bought another copy of Madame Bovary (one of my favorite novels, and I feel I can't have too many copies of it). This was a pocket-sized Oxford Classics edition with a really pretty cover. I got a first edition of Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights by Susan Straight, and a short story collection by Elizabeth Jolley. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have run across these three books in any other bookstore. I love the way a small, independent bookstore can reflect the taste and sensibility of the people who work there.
This week we were fortunate to have writer Kim Purcell visit our school for a day. Purcell is the author of a YA novel, Trafficked. Naturally, I wanted to read her book before her visit. I zipped through this book in just over a day (I actually got up at 5:00 a.m. and finished the last twenty pages the day of her visit). The novel is about a teenager from Moldova who travels to Los Angeles to be a nanny for a Russian family, only to find herself a slave, with her safety and emotional well-being at risk. I really liked the main character, Hannah, and thought the book was well-written and fast-paced. Trafficked was nominated for a SC Young Adult Book Award, which is one reason why Purcell came to our state. I thought Purcell did a great job of relating to our students, and I enjoyed her presentation very much (more on that in a separate post).
Finally: I finally, finally read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. Yes, it lived up to the hype. There were a lot of things going on around me, but somehow I managed to immerse myself in Green's novel (and the world of Hazel and Augustus). I officially love John Green. I guess that makes me a nerdfighter.
So, even when the world is whirling around me at its own crazy pace, I can always slow the world down by immersing myself in the world of books.
How do you immerse yourself in books? Do you find a little out-of-the-way bookstore and browse for an hour, or do you sink into your favorite book?
9 comments:
I so agree with you about The Fault in Our Stars - it's a magnificent book.
I'm so glad to know that TFiOS lived up to the hype for you! I haven't tried it yet, but it's waiting patiently on my Nook.
Whoa - was TFiOS your first Green? or did it just solidify a fondness? just curious... I must check out Trafficked - original, fresh and current? or is all that redundant? I like YA when it wakes me up to something I feel I should know about but don't.
I like to immerse myself in a bookstore, but I more often find a coffee shop and settle in with an engrossing read.
@bermudaonion-It's nice when a book actually lives up to the hype, isn't it! I'm so glad I finally read this book.
@Andi-Read it! Now! Or maybe save it for when you are in a reading funk, but TFiOS is beautiful!
@Care-I started out with Looking for Alaska--I kept hearing about that book from my students. Now I am a solid John Green fan. I thought Trafficked was good, but I haven't read much on the topic. One of my students read it and did a book talk, and she really loved it.
@Susan Bybee-of course, the ideal is a bookstore that also has a coffee shop!
I have not had (taken) the time to really hang out in a book store in a long time. With books coming in the mail and onto the Nook I rarely need to go and with so many book already waiting for me to read them, I can't really justify buying any. But I do miss spending that time amongst all of those old friends and new ones I haven't met yet!
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