Fem flotte bøker, og så ei til 📚

Vel, det var ikkje slik at me hadde supergod plass i bagasjen då me var ute og reiste i somamr, men litt plass til eit par bøker og suvenirar hadde me jo, tihi ;) Fem kjekke bøker blei totalen, ei av dei har eg allereie lese, ei anna er eg i gong med. Har lenge hatt lyst til å lese den fyrste boka om Endeavour Morse (eller Inspector Morse som dei fleste kjenner han som) av Colin Dexter, og eg fann faktisk The Last Bus to Woodstock i ei flott utgåve. The Story Collector av Evie Woods hadde eg også på lista, og Bookworm av Lucy Mangan er septemberboka i Mirandas The Comfort Book Club. Den siste dagen i England, var me innom vakraste Daunt Books i Marylebone, og der fann mannen min ei lita bok om bokhandlane i London, Å, for ei perfekt, lita suvenirbok som kan liggje framme!

 

Carley Fortunes This Summer Will Be Different, har eg allereie lese. Eg hadde den på lesebrettet, men då eg såg at den var på tilbod i den eine bokhandelen i Cambridge, berre måtte eg kjøpe den, for eg fall pladask for Lucy og Felix som møtast ein sommar på finaste Prince Edward Island. Tidlegare har eg berre lese bøker frå øya av Lucy Maud Montgomery, og sjølv om eg elskar Anne-bøkene, var det kjekt å lese ei ny og moderne bok frå den øya som stal ein bit av hjartet mitt. Karakterane og ikkje minst skildringane frå PEI, innimellom blei eg faktisk ganske rørt: "We park at the end of a red dirt road, take a path through the dunes, onto the beach. It’s as breathtaking as it was when I first saw it. Red sandstone cliffs rising high above the sand. Caves and crevices, carved by the Atlantic, shaped by wind. Swishing grasses and soaring gulls. I still can’t get over how massive it is. I knew PEI had beaches, but I hadn’t known they had beaches like this." (s. 56)

 

"It was a postcard-perfect fall day. The roads were lined with pumpkin stands and the yellow and orange leaves that still clung to their branches shone in striking contrast to the sky. Most tourists to Prince Edward Island visited in the summer. They roamed Green Gables Heritage House, stuffed themselves silly with lobster, wiggled their toes in the sand at Cavendish Beach, bought tickets to Anne of Green Gables—The Musical, golfed. But early October was so stunning, I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful time or place. The colors of the island always astounded me—how green the grass, the neon canola fields, the rich rust of the soil and sand, the purple streaks of lupines. But under the bright blue fall skies, everything seemed more vivid. It felt like after the clammer of the summer high season, the island began to flat-out brag. “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,” Anne Shirley said, and now I knew why." (s. 115)

 

"It’s amazing how small the rooms are, how outlandish the wallpaper. Even though I know the movies weren’t filmed here, I picture Megan Follows as Anne and Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla, churning butter in the dairy porch." (s. 135)

 

"The sand was pale white, stretching as far as I could see to the north, swaying dune grass and scraggly pines running its length. To the south was a rocky red cliff crowned with evergreens. We took our shoes off and walked up the shore, where it was quieter, the sand squelching strangely under our feet.
“It’s called the singing sands,” Felix said. I rubbed my toes back and forth, trying to make a melody. It sounded like an out-of-tune sea." (s. 183)

 

Og så må eg dra fram The Offing av Benjamin Myers. Av og til les ein ei bok som sit igjen lenge, som er vanskeleg å skildre fordi den gav ei heilt unik leseoppleving – The Offing var (og er) slik for meg. Boka handlar om seksten år gamle Robert som rett etter andre verdskrigen, drar ut på ein vandretur til fots, frå Durham til han ender opp hos Dulcie, ei eldre dame, i Robin Hood's Bay. Dei pratar om poesi, eter god mat (noko det var mangelvare på etter krigen), Robert hjelper Dulcie med vedlikehald, det er svømming i sjøen, det er meir prat og det er stille. Eit varmt venskap oppstår mellom desse to ein etterkrigssommar ved kysten. Eg brukte ei stund på å lese ferdig boka, men fyrst og fremst fordi dette er ei sakte og stille bok der det var godt å ta meg god tid. Som med boka frå PEI, er det også her vakre skildringar, og eg har skrive ned fleire sitat som trefte meg litt ekstra:

"‘Thank you for the lack of conversation. Silence is indeed golden.’

‘You’re welcome,’ I said.
‘You don’t say much, and I like that. There is poetry in silence but most don’t stop to hear it. They just talk, talk, talk, but say nothing because they are afraid of hearing their own heartbeat. Afraid of their own mortality.’" (s. 52)

 

"Where did life go?
Every day I find myself asking this one same question of the mirror, yet the answer always eludes me. All I see is a stranger staring back." (s. 11)

"‘And I didn’t say you were. Romance needn’t mean love hearts and red roses, you know. Romance is feelings and romance is freedom. Romance is adventure and nature and wanderlust. It is the sound of the sea and the rain on your tarpaulin and a buzzard hovering across the meadow and waking in the morning to wonder what the day will bring and then going to find out. That is romance.’" (s. 75)

"The rain was many miles out, yet here in the garden it had fallen suddenly still and noticeably silent. No birds were calling. No distant dog barked. The muscle in my neck throbbed with an almost electric pulse. Butler raised his gaze again.
‘They call it the offing,’ said Dulcie, quietly.
I climbed down from the chair. She gestured down the meadow.

‘That distant stretch of sea where sky and water merge. It’s called the offing.’" (s. 79)