Friday night was Venice and Salley Vickers; what a wonderful combination. Salley was charming, learned, erudite and gorgeous; I think most of us (regardless of gender) fell in love with her on the spot! The evening also served as a reunion for those of us who had been on the Readers' Trip to Venice (see earlier post), and although it had only been a couple of weeks since we returned from Venice, it really felt like a reunion of old friends.
Saturday was more local: we launched Di Bryan's new book "Ditton Prior's - a settlement of the Brown Clee". It was a fabulous launch, with non-stop tea and cake at our famous round table and queues to the door for most of the afternoon.
And Sunday? Well, on Sunday I recovered from all the hyper-activity of the previous two days by (of course!) settling down on the sofa with a book to read. And what a book it was ~ The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac. At £6.99, published by Walker Books, I had picked it up in a vaguely interested way when one of my customers ordered it from me a week or two ago. Then in the mayhem of Saturday, I briefly picked it up at lunch time and was immediately hooked. For anyone to whom reading is important, this is a must read. Especially for parents, grand-parents, teachers, booksellers, librarians, teenagers, readers, ok! ok! you get the picture; everyone should read this book!
Its a book about the magic of reading, and especially the magic of being read to. It gets away from all the hype about books (books as conversation fillers at dinner parties, books as sacred cows, books as badges of intelligence and culture) and gets right into the idea of a book as er, something to read? Something that tells a story; a gateway that takes us to another world and in doing so brings us back to ourselves.
Beautifully translated from the French by Sarah Adams this book made me cry, made me smile, reminded me of books I had forgotten, reminded me why I am passionate about reading, and made me determined to tell everyone I know about it. Do not deny yourselves this treat: and when you've read it, pass it on.
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