Kid in a Candy Store

Just got home from paying visit to Waterstones, a staple UK book store. I’ll be going back there soon. As I went about scanning covers, reading blurbs, skimming epilogues, and having a general indecisiveness about what I actually wanted to buy, three things dawned on me.

First, I love bookstores. Libraries, too. I could stay there for hours, just picking up whatever title takes my fancy and flicking through.

Second, I only just realised why wandering a bookstore hasn’t been an activity I’ve considered much this year, besides the odd airport—everything’s been in a different language! Foreign publications are still fascinating to look at, of course, but there is a barrier to entry. There isn’t quite the same pick-up-and-read appeal.

Not necessarily a sudden realisation, but something else I was also reminded of—I haven’t really been adding to the books section of this blog as I might’ve hoped. I’ve been reading plenty, and enjoying many of those books, but just haven’t quite gotten around to writing about them. In time, possibly. Maybe when I’m bored on a train. Perhaps not.

Besides returning to Meditation for Mortals yesterday, I’ve also been making a dent in Yuval Noah Harari’s second work, Homo Deus. Lots of food for thought. Ideas I definitely want to explore further. In an entirely different vein, I also finished The Four-Hour Chef and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat in the past month. At first glance, the two seems diametrically opposed. Yet, upon closer inspection, the similarities in simple communication, skill distillation, and a steadfast commitment to mastering the basic, bedrock techniques, actually makes this quite a synergistic pair.

Anyway, I digress. Flights home are booked now. I really hope to continue reading habitually once life kicks back in. Lions looking to make history tomorrow. No shortage of things happening. A quiet moment with a book always provides a great chance to step away from it all.