Howards End is on the Landing....

Currently reading (& loving) the newest book from one of my very favourites:

Sorry to have been posting about so many books lately but I just couldn't get out of 'book mode' without a mention of this...

Inside the cover:

'Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her collection again'.

She describes a book which is left lying on a shelf as a dead thing but also a chrysalis, packed with the potential to burst into new life. How often have you picked up a long ago read book which didn't hold much fascination or appeal when you read it only to have a completely different opinion on second reading due to your own maturity, life changing circumstances or emotional journey?

I really enjoyed Susan's literary blog which came to a sudden halt (after starting to read this book, I found out why) and she makes a really interesting point which I have been mulling over for the last few days. I would be interested to hear your views.

''The start of the journey also coincided with my decision to curtail my use of the internet, which can have an insidious, corrosive effect. Too much internet usage fragments the brain and dissipates concentration so that after a while, one's ability to spend long, focused hours immersed in a single subject becomes blunted. Information comes pre-digested in small pieces, one grazes on endless ready-meals and snacks of the mind, and the result is mental malnutrition. The internet can also have a pernicious influence on reading because it is full of book-related gossip and chatter on which it is fatally easy to waste time that should be spent actually paying close, careful attention to the books themselves, whether writing them or reading them."

Whether you agree with any of that or not, if you are a bookworm, (albeit the unfocused butterfly blog addicted variety like me!!) please read this - you won't be disappointed.......s