I love you, Maastricht

A cathedral of books in Maastricht, the Netherlands. I sipped coffee where the old altar stood, lost myself in the sweet silence of  paper backs and pages where pews were lined up. An old house of worship, converted, re-purposed, but still gently holding onto the reverence of its former life.

It is a beautiful place, in a beautiful city.

The Expat Book Club

So, I have a confession.

Ready?

I'm a major book snob. I blame it on my English teacher junior year of high school. After heckling him about the literary merits of Harry Potter (I'm not so much of a snob that I don't appreciate the Hogwarts gang), he told us that, reading was like eating. Dessert, every once in a while is great, but if you were to try and survive solely on sugary delicacies, you'd get a stomach ache. Not to mention, it wouldn't be very healthy for you. So, from that day on, armed with that metaphor, I viewed reading as feeding my brain. Confronted with a new book, I ask myself, is this literary spinach, or the book equivalent of a ho-ho.

So, when I found this book on my bookshelf at the Chateau, I was skeptical. I considered -please don't hate me - the Di Vinci Code a little over appreciated (this also to do with the fact that I majored in art history in college and couldn't get behind his far fetched art theories), so a book that was compared to this Dan Brown novel made me a little nervous.

It was awesome. And perfect for train travel - not too much of a mind bender, but something to keep you happily engaged as you watch the scenery rush past.

The Expat Book Club

Picture this: two fourteen year bookworms, sprawled out on the shores of Lake Michigan, reading for hours. This was typical Mary/Kelley behavior that summer. I was lucky enough to tag along with her family for a vacation that involved boating, sand dunes, and lots and lots of reading. I decided to tackle Daphne du Maurier's classic 'Rebecca' while my dear friend lugged around an impressively large, hard-covered book called 'The Eight.' Between our conversations about boys and books, I decided that I wanted to read this novel about chess, nuns, and historical intrigue.

And then, like most distracted teenagers, once that summer vacation ended, I promptly forgot about the book.

This Christmas, the ever wonderful Mary surprised me with my very own copy of 'The Eight,' not only bringing back memories of that blissful summer, but giving me an exciting read this past week. It was the perfect blend of action, adventure, history, love, and (I can't believe I'm saying it) math. And to make this girl appreciate math, well, that's saying something.

The Expat Book Club

One of the many perks of this job is that I get to pretend that I'm still in school. I love being in a community of learning! Each semester I wonder what would happen if I just audited 17 hours worth of courses, but alas, I do have a job to do and students to help.

This doesn't mean, however, that I can't shamelessly steal the reading list and experience at least a little bit of the classes. And that is how I found this most recent book. Lent to me by a student last semester (and never returned...oops!), this book was used for an anthropology course that looked at humans and the holocaust - not just from an historical perspective but from a psychological one - and attempted to answer a lot of really hard questions. The one this book deals with is forgiveness. 

Written by a holocaust survivor, the question is posed 'If you were one persecuted by the Nazi regime, would you be able to forgive them?'

Powerful powerful stuff.

The Expat Book Club

As I was packing my bags to return to Luxembourg this past August, I reviewed my bookshelf at home to see if there were any unread books I could take back with me.

And that is how I re-connected with Still Life by A.S. Byatt. I bought this book six years ago at Mac's, a used bookshop next to one of my favorite Cleveland restaurants. It was a mere $5 and quoted Toni Morrison's review on the back cover, so I figured it was a no-brainer.

I tried reading it, but for whatever reason, I never finished. As I was reading it this past month, I was glad I had waited a few years to really delve into this story. When I was 18 years old, I could have never imagined relating so profoundly to the main character from this book moving to France, being confused and turned around by a new culture, only to come out on the other side lovingly appreciating all its quirks.

This book is actually much more than just a little jaunt to France (she only spends the first quarter of the book there), but about figuring out life and all it's twists and turns.

It's great really.

The Expat Book Club

 

There are no words to adequately describe the wonderfulness of this book. Just trust me and read it tout suite.

 

"What is the Purpose of Art? To give us the brief, dazzling illusion of the camellia, carving from time an emotional aperture that cannot be reduced to animal logic. How is Art born? It is begotten in the mind's ability to sculpt the sensorial domain. What does Art do for us? It gives shape to our emotions, makes them visible and, in so doing, places a seal of eternity upon them, a seal representing all those works that, by means of a particular form, have incarnated the universal nature of human emotions."

~ Muriel Barbery

 

When I read that quote to pearrier, her immediate (and correct) response was 

"...you little art history sensitif girl."

The Expat Book Club

A friend gave me this book for Christmas, and really, I can't think of a better way for it to have fallen into my lap. This is simply because this book is all about sharing literature and the friendship and fellowship that blossoms as a result.

Another reason why this book tugged at my heartstrings is because the central story is about a group of people who find comfort in reading during an unspeakably hard time. I cannot profess to know even one smidge of what these people where going through (we're talking hard-heavy-horrible WWII German occupation stuff), but I can relate to loosing oneself in a good book. And the wonderful comfort that it brings.


"I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them into their perfect readers."

The Expat Book Club

I'm back! These past two weeks have been a whirl of activity, adventure and excitement. It is definitely time for a nap.

Before I go into all the crazy details of spring break 2k10, I wanted to share with you my latest literary obsession.

Given to my by another expat (in Kazakhstan, no less!) it has taken me all of two days to finish this sucker. It's amazing:

Read it.

The Expat Book Club

As most of you know, I'm an avid reader. I think this is why most of the time I don't mind taking trains and buses everywhere - it provides a great opportunity to dive into a good book.

A few weeks ago I started to reflect on Lent - how was I going to prepare for Easter?

I decided to give up secular literature and to replace it with faith-based reading. What could be a better way to submerse myself in the reason for the season?

 

My first book? The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Strobel approaches Christianity the way C.S. Lewis did a few decades earlier - a skeptic trying to make logical sense of Christian faith. 

One of my favorite parts? He visits a scholar from the one, and only, Miami University! Hearing him describe those lovely red brick buildings just tugged at my heart strings....