Reading

I have spent the last 4 days in sloth and torpor; and I love it. After Christmas and before New Years has to be one of my favourite times; with luck I spend it reading, on the sofa, in front of the fire. This year was a feast and some lovely coincidences. I started with a lovely and charming book by Donia Bijan, "Maman's Homesick Pie" followed by a short typescript by my mother in law, "A Trip To Persia" [1971].  My mother in law happens to be an amazing woman who turned 100 years old last fall and so it was great fun to then read "The 100 Year Old Man, who climbed out the window and disappeared", [Jonas Jonasson] one of the funniest murder mysteries I have read. And I keep dipping in and out of "Paintings on Paper, Josef Albers in America". So many friends have talked about this book and it is gorgeous. Then I might do an essay from "Madness, Rack, and Honey" [Mary Ruffle], then a few more liquorice allsorts,[ discretely hidden behind the stack of books].

A lovely stack of christmas reading

A Lovely Stack of Reading

Is there anything more pleasurable than a stack of books waiting to be read? For years one of my biggest fears was running out of books. The stack would get low and panic would set in. Now, I could happily re-read most of the books on the shelves and find them new again. And, thank goodness, I have friends who read, not sure if they ever sleep, but they sure do read and are especially good about lending. So the coffee table is piled high and I am starting with the Rose Tremain, one of my favourite writers. If you haven't read Music and Silence, do;  it's a gem. With the show opening tonight all my major commitments are done for the moment so I intend to spend next week reading and cleaning up the studio and gardens. Maybe, even the house.

My lovely stack of books