Illumination taken from An Island Garden
Anyone who knows anything about me knows that READING BOOKS is my all-time, all-year favorite pastime and pleasure. No one ever has to 'force' me to pick up a book or go into a library or bookstore! As the seasons of the year unfold, I often find myself reaching for certain books, indulging the desire -- and simple pleasure -- to read old favorites which for me, seem to echo the season we're in.
Here are two of my summertime favorites:
One
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Ever since I was a little girl, there was something about the ocean that called to me. Living inland, it's always a real treat to visit the west coast. I love the sound of seagulls and the crash of waves against stone walls. I love the smell of sand baking in the sun and air fragrant with water and earthy seaweed.
When I read Ms. Lindbergh's descriptions I feel I am there at the seaside with her. A wonderful read if you're sitting on a windswept sandy beach or if you wish you were!
I first 'met' this author and book years ago when it was highlighted in a summer issue of Victoria magazine. The book, originally published in 1894 and re-issued almost a hundred years later in 1988, is beautifully illustrated by Childe Hassam, American Impressionist artist. What a joy, delight, a simple pleasure to savor on a summer's day. Here's how Ms. Thaxter opens her lovely book:
So I'm off to do a bit of reading amidst the burgeoning of garden blossoms and birdsong. I'd love to hear about your own 'old favorites' for summertime reading!
When I read Ms. Lindbergh's descriptions I feel I am there at the seaside with her. A wonderful read if you're sitting on a windswept sandy beach or if you wish you were!
Two
by Celia Thaxter
Childe Hassam, Illustrator
Childe Hassam, Illustrator
I first 'met' this author and book years ago when it was highlighted in a summer issue of Victoria magazine. The book, originally published in 1894 and re-issued almost a hundred years later in 1988, is beautifully illustrated by Childe Hassam, American Impressionist artist. What a joy, delight, a simple pleasure to savor on a summer's day. Here's how Ms. Thaxter opens her lovely book:
"Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof. Take a Poppy seed, for instance: it lies in your palm, the merest atom of matter, hardly visible, a speck, a pin's point in bulk, but within it is imprisoned a spirit of beauty ineffable, which will break its bonds and emerge from the dark ground and blossom in a splendor so dazzling as to baffle all powers of description."
So I'm off to do a bit of reading amidst the burgeoning of garden blossoms and birdsong. I'd love to hear about your own 'old favorites' for summertime reading!
Happy Day,
Brenda
xox
Happy reading, dear. These two look lovely. Wish I could join you...
ReplyDeleteOh Brenda those are two of my most favorite books! I especially love Gift from the Sea and reread it a couple of times every year. My all time most favorite fiction book ever is: Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett. It is a wonderful, delightful story similar in some ways perhaps to Anne of Green Gables, but different and a little more adult, with characters that stay with you always. I think you might really enjoy it too. It takes place in a small town in Maine in the late 1800's. I keep a copy of the book in my car with me so that if I ever get stuck somewhere I have it to read. I actually made a trip once to Maine in the late 1990's so that I could tour her house in South Berrick, and see some of the places mentioned in the book. It was so much fun. I hope you are having a lovely early summer morning. Delisa :)
ReplyDeleteDelisa, I bought that book by Sarah Orne Jewett (Victoria highlighted it years ago in one of their issues)... and in one of my 'crazy' clean out and give away moods, I sent it to the library book sale. I regretted that move. Because it's not always easy finding copies of older books.
ReplyDeleteNow that you highlight it, I'll have to see if I can find it again.
Jeanette, wish we could sit and visit together too!
They sound like delightful books...I love reading too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely blog. Thanks for sharing reading ideas. I'm always looking for something new to read. :)
ReplyDeletePenny and Whispering Path... Yes, they are delightful books. And I agree, it's always nice to have get reading suggestions!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
I love Celia Thaxter! I haven't read Lindeberg (blush). One of the things that I so happily discovered last year was that she was a friend of Sarah Orne Jewett. When I visited Jewett's house, there, in her bedroom, was a charming watercolour by Thaxter! It made me nearly giddy because I hadn't realized they were friends... Don't you love love love how she talks about placing her flowers in colour gradation across her mantel? Oh, to have that range of flowers to work with...
ReplyDeleteI love Gift from the Sea. I take it out and read it at the beach every couple of years.
ReplyDelete