Heavenly read!

Being a book lover means that I do have more books then any other item in this house. And I do have an issue with getting rid of some of them! Even when I don't have space for the ones that are finished! Every time when we walk into a bookshop P is so kind to remind me fondly of this fact! I then upload the picture of the boxes that are up in the attic and the stack of books that are waiting for me to be read! I then keep my fingers crossed, walk in hoping that I won't meet up with a new future read that is begging to be bought!

In some cases P is the best life guard to take along shopping but when it comes to books he seems to work only when I have forgotten my wallet or when I still need to pay some bills. Because I consider bookshops almost like therapy. I can feel at ease in there and start browsing through my life while I am glancing at titles.

So then I do come up with some very outrageously funny excuses to buy books:'I do need this book because I am in a mental crises!', is my most used one. While I walk with a new stack of books to the cash register I do keep telling myself that I do need these freshly printed pages because they are going to make my life better!

P only reads medical reports throughly and admits very openly that he will only scan books. He was able to finish a Harry Potter book in about 22 minutes and then very openly announced that he did not comprehend what the fuss was all about this little wizard.

'Once more Luke Skywalker meeting Darth Vader but then in a different dress up costume!'

I then keep my teeth clenched and just think:'Oh you, just don't get it about this book! Do you? Whatever!!' And then I turn the page of the book I just dived and got lost into! P is for me a lost case when it comes to books! But does he misses out on many meaning full stuff!!

There are even some books that do more then I asked for. It does not happen that often but when it does it is such a wonderful feeling and reading experience! Books that end up in your personal shortlist of best read ever. They can be part of your book mantra and spice up your walk through life.

So even when there is a major political crises going on I do feel in book heaven for the moment. I even end up going earlier to bed because of a 320 page pocket book that is calling for me. P then looks at me like I might be sick and wonders why I am heading that early upstairs. 'I want to read!!', is then my reply!

I was even that impressed with my present discovery that I started to post on my Facebook Status that I am hooked by a book. I still am and I even don't look forward to wrapping it up!! I am post phoning that rather unpleasant moment, knowing that I then will be graving for more but that I might have to wait for months to find that other 'coup the coeur'.

I even wanted to keep it a secret for a while what book I am reading but I am very generous and I do believe that reading can make this globe a better place. So I do happily share my latest book gem. In case you are still searching for the perfect holiday read, or you need to kill time while being stuck in an elevator or when you trapped at the airport because your flight is canceled due to volcanic ashes or when you have to wait for an important politician to make some very intelligent statement, or when you are posted before the oven for your cake to be cooked or while you are waiting for all parties to phone in for that most important conference call or when you are just bored this might be the perfect reading activity:

'The Elegance of the Hedgehog' by Muriel Barbery!!! I had met the book cover some time before but I had my doubts about it. But perhaps then it was not the right time to get my hands on it. Even the line 'over 2,5 million copies sold worldwide!', was at the time not good enough to get me over the threshold.

But now I could go on for hours and start spitting out tons of meaningful quotes but I am not going to do this because I just think you should read this one for yourself. In a few days I am going to write my personal review for my Visual Bookshelf and then I might mention a few quotes but still 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'.

And no, it is not a cook book and no it is not an other whodunit, or a For Dummies book, or life style book and no it is not a book with ready to use business advice, and it is not a guide book for your trip to France !! Nope!! This book stands for much more!

In order to convince you of reading this one I post here the very fitting words of the journalist of the Sydney Morning Herald:

Muriel Barbery .... commands the sophistication, polish and mental agility that often distinguish French fiction .... Barbery has a heart moreover one that knows that great art and the best philosophy may (just possibly) possess redemptive qualities, or at least make life bearable in a materialistic and self-indulgent world.

Enjoy this read at long as it lasts!! It will stay with you longer then you wish for! And this even before you have finished it!! Quite an accomplishment!!! Muriel, you rock in my personal book heaven!!!

P.S.: Chances are that it is will be even better if you read it in French!! But Alison Anderson did a very good job in translating this book!! She deserves some extra credit for this translation deed!!!