Libraries, what a great concept

A library is such a wonderful place, to who ever came up with this idea I am grateful. Just take a moment and think of the concept.
You can go there and borrow almost how many books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and newspapers that you want. And all this for free. Or, you can sit there all day reading and no one would bother you.

Wherever I live I go to the library for some peace and quiet. In Washington DC I loved the Library of Congress. The tranquility of the large marbled rooms combined with the vast amount of books to borrow there were amazing.
In Honolulu the design of the library was great. It was built like the letter O, with a courtyard in the middle. During the hot balmy days, which are typical for Hawai’i, I sat outside in the cool shadow studying.
When I lived in Waukesha, they remodeled the library and when it was done, it looked sleek, modern and fresh. I loved the fact that you could get books and DVDs from other libraries in the county sent to your local library at your convenience.
The library in my hometown got a real facelift when it moved into the spacious halls of the old firehouse.

I must admit that my bias towards libraries might come from my mother who works at one and so am I at the moment. Every time I come to work I browse the shelves of returned books to find something interesting to read. This leads to my nightstand being overcrowded with books that I am about to read but it also means that I will never run out of books.

Yes, of course you can borrow e-books online and never have to set your foot in the library, but it won’t beat the feeling of going to the library and browse the many bookshelves and pick out just the one that looks great.
So to everyone, go visit a library and enjoy the free access to a wide variety of reading material. It is just a bike ride away.

As always check out my Swedish blog if you want at bokstolen.
Josefine

A recommendation from my current readings: In Cuba I was a German Shepard by Ana Menédez.

The Grande Première

A big Welcome to everyone.

I decided that this blog would be about books, simply because I love to visit the library and its vast amounts of books and I love being captivated by their stories. There is few things that gives me more contentment than follow a protagonist through happiness and sadness the whole emotional circle. I also enjoy recommending great books to others, as well as warning them from failures.
However much I like books, there is one problem. Once I start reading a book, I can’t put it down. No matter how terrible it is and how much I really want to quit and get on with the next, I can’t. I always feel that it will be better as I read along and I don’t want to miss that good ending. However, most of the time it doesn’t. This often means that I have struggled my way through many books that clearly did not deserve my attention. But then again, perhaps I learned something from just that one book that took me forever to read.

On my spare time I like to try my own hand at writing, and the most common advice given to any aspiring writer must be read, read, read. Therefore I go through heaps of books, good and bad and everything in between.

Now to a more serious subject, I want to dedicate these last few words to a Swedish author that passed away recently. Her name was Maria Gripe and she wrote beautiful Young Adult novels, which I read when I was young. If you haven’t read anything from her yet visit your local library and see if they have some of her books, they are translated into English and several other languages as well.

I hope to see you soon again. Here or at bokstolen, this blog’s sister site in Swedish and practice your Swedish.
Josefine