Books....

..were the theme of the day!....the one that I finished reading this morning, the two that were delivered to my door, the one waiting for me to pick up at the library and two new recommendations from my book-loving friend in the Maritimes! Well.... if the weather continues to be this dreary, I will certainly not be at a loss for something to read!  

A grey cloud cover today - none of that glorious sunshine of yesterday...but I put the day to good use..much of it on the phone chatting with family and also friends in the Maritimes...and reading The Summer Book.

The Summer Book is not a recent book - it was written in 1972.. but it was recommended to me by a friend in cottage country who thought I would like it as I spend my summers on a tiny island and the book is about a six-year old girl and her grandmother who do the same, but on a unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland.. Well, yes...of course I would like that!  And I did; so many of the island experiences, sounds, and sights in it resonated with me..despite the story taking place in a different part of the world and in a different time frame. But it was about a lot more too - love, family bonds, tolerance, respect for nature and it made me nostalgic about my own childhood; so, in answer to the questions my book club journal always asks, Yes, I really liked the book and will recommend it.... especially to my sister and daughter who, I am sure, would also enjoy revisiting their childhood island summer memories!    

This comment by Barbara Tesio-Ryan (The University of Edinburgh) that I found in a review of the book really stuck with me... 

"This is why we read books like The Summer Book. To remind ourselves of who we used to be and who we want to become."