Reading now ....

It’s not normal for me to read two books at one time, but when I came across Beverley Nichols the other day in my cleaning frenzy, I was completely taken aback at having forgotten him. I read Merry Hall a while ago, and reviewed it here. The other books, the forgotten books, I recall setting aside for just the right moment in time to enjoy.Now is that time. I started out by reading Down the Garden Path with an opening so delicious that I hardly could contain my joy:

“I believe in doing things too soon. In striking before the iron is hot, in leaping before one has looked, in loving before one has been introduced. Nearly all the great and exciting things in life have been done by men who did them too soon. It was far, far too soon for Columbus to set out on his crazy trip to the New World. The ether was not ready for Beethoven when he began a symphony on a dominant seventh……”

Nichols’ first non-fiction garden book, Down the Garden Path, is just the most perfect book for reading in Springtime. The language, of course, is written in old British form, which I just adore. And, the gardens…. ah, the English gardens. I am in the middle of it so I will save the best for my review.

Moving right along.

Laughter on the Stairs. This is the second of three which continues the story of the renovation of the Merry Hall house and its garden (I was unaware, at the time of purchase, that Merry Hall was a trilogy. Treat for me). I thought I’d peruse a few pages just to get a taste in anticipation of it being the next book in-line, but I was so pulled-in that now I’m reading both books. Down the Garden Path in the quiet of my quarters after I’ve retired from the day, and Laughter on the Stairs, during the actual day itself. Imagine that. Reading in the light of day.