“And indeed, what is better than to sit by one’s fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against the window and the lamp is burning?” …”One thinks of nothing,” he continued; “the hours slip by. Motionless we traverse countries we fancy we see, and your thought, blending with the fiction, playing with the details, follows the outline of the adventures. It mingles with the characters, and it seems as if it were yourself palpitating beneath their costumes.”
Monsieur Leon, in Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Part II, Chapter 2
(I’m almost done with Madame Bovary … and I’m loving it! Review to come soon!)
Where do you enjoy reading?
I usually read in bed, or curled up on a couch, but my favourite place to read is outside when it’s gloriously sunny and warm. 😀
I also read mostly in bed, but my favorite reading spot is in my comfy rocking chair with a blanket over me on a snowy day.
Madison has two huge lakes and I have reading spots at each one. James Madison park is only a few blocks from my house (I posted a picture awhile back). Monona Terrace is a little further away, but the view from the rooftop garden is awesome — http://www.stevewedig.com/images/monona_terrace.jpg
That quote is fantastic!! I can actually FEEL what that would be like. Here is a quote I used on my Purpose Statement for my grad school application, “The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I would have to say that I love reading in any “sequestered nook.”
I read on the couch most of the time. However, there’s this wonderful garden park that I like to visit. In the spring, summer and fall, I like to bring my folding chair and go sit under my favorite tree and read. The park is really nice and when I go there, I think: “This must be what it’s like to be in the Garden of Eden.” It’s that nice. I can’t hear the traffic, the grass is a nice shade of green and the flower beds are colorful and well-kept. Best of all, it’s a soothing kind of quiet, even when there are other people present. Very relaxing. Peaceful. I never want to leave. Sigh. . .
Thanks for weighing in…your reading spots make me want to go read, they sound so nice!
I love that quote. It’s so true!
I usually read on my couch in the afternoons, after work. I position myself so that I’m laying lengthwise, and my back is towards the biggest window, so that I can see pretty well by the fading sunlight. However, it’s the end of summer, so once fall rolls around a fire (and a nice, snuggly blanky) sounds pretty perfect. 🙂
Flaubert described where I most love to read. Add “oregon rain” to the wind beating againt the window and a Christmas tree and you have my favorite reading situation of all. And that’s where you can find me pretty much every evening in December.
Rose City Reader, sounds wonderful!