Reading binge

 

"Double delight" - with a perfect attar of rose perfume.

I've been having a real reading binge lately. I've just re-read "In this house of Brede" (Rumer Godden) that I talked about a few blogs back. Really enjoyed it, practically read it cover-to-cover at one sitting, only interrupted by the necessity of going to work. Also read another Ariana Franklin "Grave goods" and another Sarah Dunant "In the company of the courtesan". Now on  to a Georgette Heyer I've never read "The unknown Ajax" and half way through "Parade's End" (Ford Madox Ford), so the old reading muscles are getting a very good workout. We've had horrible wet weather this week and it's forecast to continue, so I'll just keep going with the books. Just reminded of my Mum, who used to say "What do people do, who don't read?", and thankful that she let me read as much as I liked. Her own mother was convinced that reading was a waste of time, and once threw one of Mum's books into the fire! Horrible.
    Having thoughts about the ideal public library I would create if I had the werewithal. It would have the atmosphere of a gentleman's club, leather seats and beautiful art-deco reading lights. Admission would be by subscription only ("keep the riff-raff out" as Basil Fawlty would say). There would be no computers or Skyping, and you would have to hand your cellphone over at the front desk. Any infringement of a very long set of rules would get you a demerit, and if enough demerits were accrued, out you would go, banned for a year. There would perhaps be a coffee-room, which would also serve tea and classic baking treats, where people could discuss the books they had read in quiet and learned tones, but there would be no eating in the reading areas. There would be no taking away of books, but you could have them bookmarked and shelved for your next visit. And the Librarian's word would be final. The bookstock would all be classics from before the nineteen-sixties (when the literary rot set in, IMHO - that annoying concentration on experimental form at the expense of plot). It would be interesting to see if anyone would turn up!
  Think I'd call it The Bookery.