The Bookshelf: Old Friends

In this brand-spanking new series here on M&M, I'll just be chatting about what I'm currently reading, what I've tossed aside, or what books I've recently picked up--generally what is on my bookshelf. I love talking about books, and I enjoy reading, although these days I don't read as much as I would like, and so I thought I'd do a little blurb about what I'm currently, or just recently read, or what I hope to read soon, to hopefully spark some interest. With that said, I've been all about revisiting old friends this month--either authors of whom I'm a fan, or just books that have been spending way to much time on my shelves without me even breaking their spines. I'm trying to do more reading since it IS summer vacation, and so I present you...

The Book of Images by Rainer Maria Rilke

This is a book I only just got around to reading after having purchased it from the Elliott Bay Book Company the last time I was in Seattle... 5 years ago. This poor book has sat in my "unread" section of my bookcase all that time, despite me picking it up on several occasions with the honest intent on reading it. In college, when I was toying with the idea of majoring or at least minoring in comparative literature, Rilke was one of the authors I was exposed to early on and took an immediate liking to his poetry. One of the greatest banes of my existence is that I never learned German, and so I can never fully experience the Rilke's poetry the way it was intended, nevertheless, I still think there is some magic found in the translations. What is so appealing is that there is just something sort of nostalgic and wistful in the way Rilke writes. I am a firm believer in having books come to you at the right time and even though it may have taken 5 years, the timing was perfect for me to be in the right place in my life to appreciate this collection.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I had been waiting to read Eleanor & Park for what seems like ages upon ages now. I am such a lover of YA fiction, and had heart just so much about this book from freaking everybody and I was greedy to get my hands on it. I finally picked it up back in November--along with Rowell's Fangirl and John Green's The Fault in our Stars--and while I plowed through the other 2 novels, I kept putting off Eleanor & Park. Granted, work picked up again and I was extremely busy, but also I just, again, wasn't in the mood for this particular kind of story of a young star-crossed lovers in the flush of their first love. But as soon as school let out for the summer, I found it was the best beach read for me. I have to say, though, that it wasn't as good as the hype made it out to be. Maybe I just had a lot of expectations going in, especially having delayed reading it for months which just allowed all those expectations to fester, but I felt like bot Park and especially Eleanor were two-dimensional for me--which I know is saying a lot given the storyline. There were plenty of good, bordering on great, moments, but on the whole it was just not as amazing as I thought it would be.

Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The author of this next book may be familiar to you, and it's probably because he is the author of the insanely popular and most beloved Little Prince. Yes, the little prince from the planet of endless sunsets, and a rose without a thorn, and the sheep without muzzles, and the countless laughing stars. de Saint-Exupery's writing has always enchanted me because it's so evocative yet deceivingly simple, and just so beautiful. de Saint-Exupery, beyond being a gifted writer, was also a pilot, and Wind, Sand and Star is a memoir of his crash landing and survival in the Saharan desert. I've only just cracked into Wind, Sand and Stars but already I'm yearning for adventure and far off spaces.

Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson's work is an old friend of mine, having read his other travel novel about living in England, Notes from a Small Island, and since I've been having just the worst hunger pains for travel in Europe recently, I thought the next best thing (probably not though) would be to read about it. In Neither Here Nor There, Bryson retraces his steps across Europe from a trip 20 years prior which takes him from the most Northeastern city in Europe to the straits of the bosphorous in Istanbul, and is full of tons of enough quirky and charming anecdotes to make a person pick up a backpack and made the same pilgrimage.

What are you reading?