Italian Journey

We are leaving to Italy tomorrow morning. I will be away for two weeks and are busy packing now. Packing clothes is easy, packing books is always a challenge. I have made piles for several days - guidebooks, travel books, novels, notebooks, moleskins, maps, books with background information for the book I am writing right now.......there are always so many books I want to bring with me. I put away a few, make new piles, then find new books I know I will be wanting while I am in Italy.

There is one book which is on top of my piles though, Italian Journey by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I haev had this book for some time and knew that now it is time to take it with me to Italy. And from the map on one of the front pages I see that Goethe visited both Roma and Terracina during his journey. So I will be walking The Appian Way following his footsteps.

Fanny Trollope

As soon as I had finished Dervla Murphy and her travel in Laos I started the biography about Fanny Trollope by Teresa Ranson.

Fanny Trollope didn't start her career as a writer untill she had passed her 50th year. She had spent a couple of years in USA then, with three of her children, hoping that life there would be cheeper than back home in England where her husband and oldest sons still lived.

Life never became what Fanny Trolloped hoped, but her experiences gave her more than enough stuff to write more than 50 books. Her novels and travel books became immensely popular.

I have read many of her son Anthony Trollope's books, now I want to look for Fanny's.

One Foot in Laos

Travel litterature is on top of my book lists, both for reading and for book collecting. And I tend to prefere (most often) books written by women. A few years ago I discovered Dervla Myrphy, and since then I have enjoyed many a trip with her.

A few years ago I visited Laos for a couple of weeks, and when I found Dervla's One Foot in Laos I knew this would be a book for me. For some reason or other I didn't read the book right away (my list of books to read is always looooong), but when I searched through my shelves on Match 8th, the International Women's Day, to find a few books written by women, this one cried out my name.

Dervla Murphy's courage has always fascinated me. I can never travel the way she does, mostly hiking alone deep in jungels (:-)), but I love to read about her adventures. One Foor in Laos is no exception. Murphy's books have no photos, a rare way today with the millions of blogs around, to read about travels without illustrations. She doesn't need photos though, her words make perfect illustrations in my mind, and sitting curled up in my sofa I can well see the butterflies, trees, creeks and tracks she describe.

Books as gifts.

Books are always the very best gifts I can get. Last Christmas I got a pile, and i have been working my way through their words and stories ever since.

A minute ago I finished Hunting and Gathering (why did they chose such weak title in Englsih? I love the French so much more, Ensemple, c'ets tout, and the Norwegian "Saman er ein mindre aleine" ) A beautiful and strong tale of loneliness and love. More than 600 pages which I hardly could put down.