I’ll keep things short and (hopefully) sweet this time around: Here’s a link I saved about two years ago but never shared. Seems like the right time to share it now – April! The tulips are blooming! In a few weeks, the lilacs drift in.
Most everybody knows a book can go anywhere, any time, any place, and in (almost) any weather. There’s very little I find as soothing as a reading a book out in the sunshine – and if you agree, you might not need any nudges. But if you think reading a good book is only about cuddling up on the sofa to read while you drink cocoa and warm yourself by the woodstove (I admit, that’s nice, too) here’s another way to approach it.
You don’t need hot beach weather – you can do it by bundling up – hat! coat! warm scarf! – and finding a picnic table in a nearby park. You sit down, you breathe a deep breath, and you dive in to the printed page. You can even wear your mittens (gloves, better, for turning pages!) while the world your book conjures up appears.
Spring is unpredictable in the Pacific Northwest, On Monday, the day of the awe-inspiring total eclipse, it was cloudy and messy, windy as heck, no chance at catching even a partial bit of the magic of moon-over-sun. But now it’s Thursday. Today, I see a blue sky. The sun, uneclipsed, is shining. Outside I go.
Just finished Roz Chast’s I Must Be Dreaming. On top of the “Next Book” pile is James McBride’s Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. But I’ll turn back this afternoon to continue with the book I’m reading for the next Book Club discussion with friends, The Discovery of Slowness by Sten Nadolny – reading it slowly, of course. Savoring it. So far, wonderful. And brrrrrrrrrr again. A cold cover photo!
Where do you go to read outside? And what are you reading as the world begins to leaf out? Would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Ann Dalton
Bonny Becker
Julie Paschkis
Julie Larios
laurakvasnosky
Margaret Chodos-Irvine
Books Around The Table 
At a patio table, in the sunshine but by a very old, and favorite, tree! I enjoyed every picture, saying hello to warm weather, remembering the cold but nice to have it gone for a while!
Linda, isn’t it interesting to see that both comments so far about favorite places to read involve a nearby tree?(So do those paintings, come to think of it!) I think trees in a certain setting imbue us with a sense of calm – a good strategy for deep reading.
You’re right. I’ll never stop loving trees. I had a favorite maple tree at one of my grandparents’ homes & my grandfather helped me fix a reading place up on a forked limb. I don’t have a photo, of course, but it’s always a picture in my mind!
On the porch, on summer afternoons after the sun as has gone behind an oak tree and the shade covers the porch. I also like to go to the park near my house and read by the pond where moss tinged turtles are sunning on a log. They are very still but sometimes they’ll plop back into the water, the sound interrupting my reading in the most pleasant way.
oh, I love those moss-tinged turtles getting some sun! Thanks for visiting Books Around the Table, Joy.
Actually, I’ve started a poem now about those moss tinged turtles and reading, so thank you for your inspiration.
Excellent, Joy!