How It All Began

J's been traveling for work and, left to my own devices, I've been on a reading bender.  A backlog of posts coming!

From the latest, Penelope Lively's How It All Began, another reflection on why I read:

"Forever, reading has been central, the necessary fix, the support system.  Her life has been informed by reading.  She has read not just for distraction, sustenance, to pass the time, but she has read in a state of primal innocence, reading for enlightenment, for instruction, even.  She has read to find out how sex works, how babies are born, she has read to discover what it is to be good, or bad; she has read to find out if things are the same for others as they are for her -- then, discovering that frequently they are not, she has read to find out what it is that other people experience that she is missing."

Overall, I thought the book was lovely: it reminded me a bit of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand with its tone, meditations on getting older, and, well, quintessential British-ness.  I would recommend it for anyone looking for a light, engrossing summer read.

Travels to India

From Justice Sotomayor's autobiography, My Beloved World: 

"Traveling with Mami to Puerto Rico was a little like being around Rip van Winkle on the day he woke up.  She wore an expression of constant wonderment: everything surprised her by how much it had changed, except for the things that surprised her because they were just as she remembered them."