Reading in Reykjavík

"There is something about reading which takes you beyond the constrictions of space and time, frees you from the limitations of social interaction and allows you to escape. Whoever you encounter within the pages of a book, whatever lives you vicariously live with them can affect you deeply – entertain you briefly, change your view of the world, open your eyes to a wholly different concept of living and the value of life. Books can be the immortality that some seek; thoughts and words left for future generations to hear from beyond the grave and awaken a memory of another’s life." Joe Simpson, The Beckoning Silence .

I came across this a couple of days ago: It was during the first days of my librarian career that I found copies of Harlequin books in the drawer of my little metal desk. The previous librarian, who was less than a week away from being discharged, informed me that the dogeared pages of those romantic books would always be hotly sought after by soldiers. “Be mindful of those Harlequins,” he briefed me. “Never let soldiers bring them to their barracks. Or it will be YOU who gets into trouble.” My Little Library in Anatolia by Kaya Genc (follow the link to read the whole article

"To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful, ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry." Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962)

T he time to read is any time: no apparatus, no appointment of time and place, is necessary. It is the only art which can be practiced at any hour of the day or night, whenever the time and inclination comes, that is your time for reading; in joy or sorrow, health or illness. George Holbrook Jackson (1874-1948)

Sunset, taken from my parents' front yard. 3 image HDR merge, tonemapped. "To me, the light of the sun, the day, and life itself, would be joyless and bitter if I had not something to read. " Leo Allatius (1586-1669)

All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape. Arthur Christopher Benson (1862 – 1925)

"Luckily, I have trained myself over the years never to go anywhere without something to read, just in case someone turns up late, the meeting ends early, or I'm inadvertently imprisoned for thirty-five-years and put into solitary confinement. I'm actually quite worried about those people you see on long train journeys with nothing to read, just staring blankly into the middle distance. What the hell is going on in their heads, then? Perhaps they've got excellent memories, and they‘re just remembering a particularly good book they once read, which saves them having to carry one round. Because there‘s a danger in carrying a book round: you might leave it somewhere before you've finished it. I once left my copy if Get Shorty in the back of a drunken farmer‘s Jeep in Costa Rica when I was only two-thirds of the way through, and it completely ruined the trip. The rainforest is a much duller place without Elmore Leonard." From McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy...

   've traveled the world twice over, Met the famous; saints and sinners, Poets and artists, kings and queens, Old stars and hopeful beginners, I've been where no-one's been before, Learned secrets from writers and cooks All with one library ticket To the wonderful world of books. Author unknown

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors. Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

"Explaining the moment of connection between a reader and a book to someone who‘s never experienced it is like trying to explain sex to a virgin." Sara Nelson on the phenomenon when a reader gets sucked into the book. Bibliophilic book number 11. Only one to go. Not that I‘m counting ;-) Year published: 2003 Genre: Memoir At the end of 2001, Sara Nelson decided to set herself a reading challenge, a simple book-a-week affair for one year, and keep a diary about it. The result was this book, which most readers should be able to, on some level, to enjoy. Although she is a seasoned, professional writer of book reviews, this is not a collection of reviews or even of literary theory or analysis, but more of a meditation on and a revelling in different aspects of reading, interspersed with snippets of information about whichever book she was reading at the time each essay was written. She covers issues most readers will be familiar with, like trying to turn a non-reader in...

Woody Allen once said that the advantage of bisexuality is that it doubles your chances of finding a date on a Saturday night. Having a bifurcated reading brain—one part that likes „junk“ and one that reveres „literature“—is the same kind of satisfying. You don‘t have to be any one thing and you don‘t have to think any one way. And should you happen upon different kinds of people in different situations, your pool of conversation topics is twice as deep. From the chapter „Double-booked“

The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them . Samuel Butler Very true. This would go well on a bookmark used only in the classics.

One sure window into a person's soul is his reading list. Mary B. W. Tabor

Read to me - Jane Yolen Read to me riddles and read to me rhymes Read to me stories of magical times Read to me tales about castles and kings Read to me stories of fabulous things Read to me pirates and read to me knights Read to me dragons and dragon-book fights Read to me spaceships and cowboys and then When you are finished- please read them again.

The fact of knowing how to read is nothing, the whole point is knowing what to read. Jacques Ellul

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Richard Steele

To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time, is to meet an old one. Chinese saying

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904-1991)

To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all of the miseries of life. W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)

"Book lovers never go to bed alone." Unknown