urban hermit

Library Heaven

When I was young and lived in apartheid South Africa there were only two places my mother would let me go alone. One was to the next street to visit my best friend Carol and the other was to the library. I would usually cycle down and take out Enid Blyton. I was a big Blyton fan and as I'm dyslexic and came to reading with difficulty I have a soft spot for her as without her seemingly exciting plots I never would have perservered with decyphering the symbols.

After coming to Scotland my passion for reading expanded expotentially. It was wet, I'm completely disinterested in healthy outdoor pursuits (because I'm SANE) and burying myself in a book was a excellent way to leave the misery of exile and outsiderdom.

I read so much that I ran out of books in the Blackhall Library junior section and had to get and adult ticket when I was 10. I then read a huge amount about the history of 19th Centuary Britain and Death in Venice because had been put into the teenage section by accident.

I last took out books in early 2004. I have a terrible habit of taking them out and not returning them and running up monsterous fines so I start buying them again on the grounds that it must be cheaper.

Anyway I'm delighted with my haul this evening which I realise would have cost me £60 to buy.

The River Cottage Year by Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall. Yummy photos and food. Though I should keep it out for a year so I can try the seasonally arranged recipies

A detective book by Donna Leon - I have a weakness for detective books. Something about disarraying the world and putting it to rights? Set in Venice I read one over the holidays - I could almost smell the canal.

A History of the Port of Leith - the place rather than the pub Peter goes to. I've lived here 5 years and my sense of history is rather sketchy.

The Gay Metropolis a history of New York which is fascinating and I've already read. Now you understand how I read my way through Blackhall Library Junior section. I devour books.

I now devour words online and I'm sometimes struck by a snobbism that 'reading books would be better'. I'm not sure. Both are escapes. So I lounged on the bed, read, failed to cook 'properly' and only roused myself when the phone rang.

posted by m @ 10:26 PM