Literature

Yes, I know you don't come here for book suggestions but I had a summer of good reading this year.

Summer?

It has all come to mind with the lovely lovely literature festival that happens at this time of year.

As a child I was a big reader but life at the moment does not give me much chance.

I am not complaining, it's all happy and hectic but with only a finite amount of time something has to go and it's is reading. Given the choice between reading and making something, the making wins. It is the thing that gets squeezed in between.

Over the summer I made an effort to read more.

Somehow I ended up with books from charity sales or somewhere and some time to read.

I read The Thoughtful Dresser. I had read a chapter of it before but came back to it and thou roughly enjoyed the discussion though it.

I moved on from there to Julie and Julia having watched the film and as is often the case with these things the book was much better.

From that I went onto The Bookseller of Kabul. This is the book that made the summer of reading. I kept wondering why no one had told me to read it. I have always been fascinated by life in Cnetral Asia and have quite a large book selection of books on the area. It's the combination of history and a life different from mine.

From this I went to Desert Flower by Waris Dirie. Again a memoir about a life very different from mine. About a strong woman. Really enjoyed and at the Same time horrified by it.

Finally finished the summer with Falling Leaves. a memoir by Adeline Yen Mah. Another strong woman.

It was only at the end of the summer I noticed the trend. All inspiring. I find the way that other people live their lives fascinating. As long as they are women. I seem to have very little interest in reading books about or by men. I am not about to start a burn your bra rant bit I do feel I needed to read these books.

Mostly I read a book and move it on but some of these will remain on my bookshelf until I find the next person who need to read them. If it is you then leave a comment.

I think my next books will be chosen using Good Reads. Brilliant. Takes the guess work out of it.

As I said it is the literature festival and I went to a great talk on Modern Art by Will Gompertz. If I had time to read that one would been the list. I would break the rule of women only authors as I find his approach to art really, well, approachable.

Next week is a talk on the Arts and Crafts movement and another on the British in India. Going to the festival makes it all feel a bit more like I have a life.

Of course I have a life, a life lived fully but this is how I make it feel like that.

The poster right back up at the top is from a printer who is at the festival. He very kindly gave me the same print but on cloth.

The needle is itching to sew into it

You do meet the nicest of people at these things

Mind you you I picked up a book at the festival that told me that people only blog because no one will pay them to write and then a friend gave me a book with this in.

Naff photo but the word says WHINE.

Is someone trying to tell me something?

Or should I not flick through books in shops that I have no intention of buying?