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Victoria is a widow and mother of four, residing in St. Louis, Mo. She has an estate sales business, something she totally enjoys doing. Along with a new business of Fine art, therefore the Pro-Q Fine Art net address. You might wonder when a mother of four and a business woman has time to write. toon meer Victoria find?s her greatest moments of time, in the early morning before the patter of little feet, now larger feet, hit the floor. She tends to wake with some new insight that just can?t wait to be on the printed page; therefore this has turned into her most cherished time of the day. Having a high school education, a real estate license, endless knowledge from the School of Metaphysics, an Art Director, a purveyor of children, and never-ending hours spent learning the art of decorating; there are no titles at the end of her name. She is although, like many, a graduate of The School of Hard Knocks and Intuition, which for her have always been her best teachers, along with the guidance of her wonderful father, family and friends. When I began this book from a dream in late 1995, as mentioned in the prologue, it made me wonder more about how fascinating our minds are and can be, if only one would explore the possibilities. I would like to encourage you to write down your dreams, date them, look into a dream interpretation book, ask questions, search your soul, you will find a delightful covey of insight that you never knew was there, but you must open your mind to let the knowledge in. Victoria (Bowker Author Biography) toon minder

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It may be rude, but whenever I visit someone for the first time, I look for, and then at, the bookcase. Is my host a kindred spirit? As Antonia Fraser writes in her introduction, there is a “deep division . . . between those for whom books are an obsession, and those who are prepared, good-humorously enough, to tolerate their existence.” In this book, we get the chance to peek at the books Tom Stoppard, John Fowles, and others couldn’t imagine being without.
The project began as a way for the ubiquitous British bookseller W. H. Smith to celebrate its bicentenary in 1992. A quarter century later, it reappeared, with a share of the profits earmarked for the British charity Give a Book.
The book collects essays by 43 authors (five added for the second edition). The entries are arranged chronologically, starting with Stephen Spender (b. 1909) and ending with Tom Wells (b. 1985). That’s a span of three-quarters of a century, so the surprise lay more in the books mentioned throughout this collection than in the sudden appearance in the last essay of Harry Potter.
The authors were asked to describe their early reading and identify what did (or did not) influence them. They were also to say what they now enjoy reading and were asked to list ten favorite books.
Many favorites were named by nearly all. While some (Alice, Treasure Island, Jane Austen) were mentioned invariably favorably, I was heartened that other celebrated books were praised by some and panned by others (not even Winnie the Pooh escapes). I guess I need to be reassured that having your own likes and dislikes is okay.
The Brontë sisters pose a special case. Listed by many as favorites, they nonetheless seem to have a lot to answer for. More than one female writer cited an adolescent fascination with Rochester and Heathcliff as the starting point of a series of relationships with Mr. Wrong.
Since the book was sponsored by a British bookseller, it would be carping to complain about how “British” the result is. Lewis Carroll and Robert Louis Stevenson I knew, but Enid Blyton and Richmal Crompton don’t seem to have made it to my neighborhood growing up. And there were several essays by authors whose early reading took place in Nigeria, Syria, the Indian subcontinent, and other locations. These were among the most interesting.
It’s inevitable in such an extensive collection that the entries were uneven. I wasn’t surprised how good the essays by such as Margaret Atwood and Jeannette Winterson were but also became curious about writers I’ve never heard of such as Jane Gardam and Rory Stewart. On the basis of their essays, I’m curious to check out their books. Some of the others previously unknown to me can remain that way if their contribution here is a fair sample of their writing. Nevertheless, if I’m wrong about Paul Sayer, for instance, whose writing struck me as stiff and pretentious, I hope someone will enlighten me.
Most authors identify themselves as having been avid, even addicted readers in childhood. While I’m sure obsession can accomplish a great deal, I began to grow suspicious of those who claimed that at age 12, after having absorbed Jane Austen, they soon conquered the complete Dickens. At times I suspected that memory may have augmented the achievement. Then there were those who boasted of their non-book childhood homes and their late start at reading. I believed some of them but also wondered whether some others were posers.
All in all, the book delivers what its title promises: the pleasure of reading. It’s the kind of book you can enjoy while commuting. After reading what these writers write about reading, it struck me that perhaps these two activities can no more be separated than can inhaling and exhaling.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
HenrySt123 | 1 andere bespreking | Jul 19, 2021 |
I enjoyed finding out what pleasure this collection of authors got out of reading, why they read, what their first books were and what they recomended. Excellent.
 
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GeoffSC | 1 andere bespreking | Jul 25, 2020 |

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