2011: A Year in Review

Posted on January 1, 2012 by pagesofjulia

Well! I have tended to appreciate other bloggers’ wrap-up posts, so I thought I’d join in. This was my first full calendar year of blogging (I began in October 2010) and I definitely read more books this year than I have in a number of years, maybe ever. Although I’ve always been a big reader, this year was exceptional for several reasons: working in a library filled with tempting books; blogging about them; discovering audiobooks for my commute; and taking on a book review gig with Shelf Awareness, to name a few. (See some of my SA book reviews here.) I read 139 books this year.

Here are a few statistics…

  • 17% were nonfiction
  • 46% were by female authors
  • a whopping 63 of the 115 novels I read were mysteries; 10 were historical fiction and 11 were classics, the rest a smattering of short stories, drama, poetry, romance, fantasy, and “other.”
  • 38 were 100-300 pages; 80 were 300-500; 15 were over 500 pages, and 6 were under 100. Husband asked how many pages I read this year, so for his sake we’ll estimate, using the midpoint of the ranges (which may throw us way off but what the heck), and say I “read” some 50,580 pages this year! (keeping in mind that some were listened to and not read…)
  • 31 books, or 22%, were audiobooks – look what good use I made of my commute/driving/gym time!
  • 60% of the books I read came from the library! the vast majority came from the library where I work, with just a few coming from the Houston Public Library. another 24% came from publishers for review, leaving only a combined 22 books that came from my personal collection, books I was loaned, books I purchased, or (those treasured few) books I was given as gifts.

What fun.

Of these, I did of course have favorites… you can refer back to my premature Best of 2011 post of December 1, to which I’ve since added 11/22/63 and The Home-Maker, for an unwieldy list of 22 (!) books I loved this year. What can I say, I’m full of gushings. In honor of this Year in Review post, I have culled it down (painfully) to my Favorite 11 Books of 2011 (thanks Thomas for the idea, and for sending me two (!) of the books on the list*):

Whew! That’s a year! I see other bloggers discussing reading goals for 2012, and I don’t really have any to contribute… I think I’m going to pass on reading challenges this year. (You may recall that of the three I signed up for in 2011, I completed two and quit the third. I also participated in several readalongs: the Maisie Dobbs series, Gone With the Wind, and Their Eyes Were Watching God.) If anything, I’m most tempted by the TBR Double Dare (to read only books already on my TBR shelves from now til April 1…!), because my house is so full of books I want to read that I feel like I’ll never get to them all! But even if I didn’t encounter new books through my job that I want to read and probably should so I can talk with patrons about them, there’s my book review gig, which I love. So. No challenges. If anything, I’d like to make a dent in my TBR shelves at home; and part of that dent-making may come in the form of giving books away unread. Sigh.

My real reading goal in 2012 is to continue to read a diverse selection of new and old books; to continue blogging; and most importantly of all, to continue enjoying it. The day that reading feels like work will be a sad day, and the day I need to take a break; here’s to not finding that day in 2012!

Do you have reading goals this year? What challenges have you signed up for? (Don’t twist my arm…!) Did you do a year-end post that I may have missed? Please do share!

Filed under: challenges, musings | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

take the day off, kids.

Posted on December 25, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I’m giving you the day off here (which has nothing to do with me taking the day off ;)). I’ll be spending my day with family and relaxing. We’ll return tomorrow to our regularly scheduled programming. Happy Holidays, friends.

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The Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on December 17, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I would like to thank TBM, of The 50 Year Project, for thinking of me for the Versatile Blogger Award!

This is kind of a fun way to receive the award, since TBM would have been one of my top choices for it in return. I enjoy the travel photos combined with books and movies.

Here are the instructions:

  1. Nominate 10-15 fellow bloggers
  2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination
  3. Share 7 random things about yourself
  4. Thank the blogger who nominated you
  5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award Pic on your blog post

In nominating other bloggers, I’d like to be very low-pressure about the chain-letter-style requirement to keep passing it on; not all bloggers are interested in that, which is totally cool as far as I’m concerned. I will go ahead and name some other blogs that I feel are deserving – take the compliment! And pass it on if you like, but only if you like. No pressure.

So here are seven randoms facts about me:

  1. I am afraid of roller coasters and driving fast. But I do some things other people find frightening, like racing on the velodrome and mountain biking.
  2. I usually dress my pasta with salad dressing instead of red sauce. Weird, right?
  3. I like little dogs better than big ones.
  4. I never learned how to walk in high heels.
  5. I rode my bicycle to my wedding, as did Husband and my parents and the majority of our guests.
  6. I’m a morning person.
  7. And because it’s been the focus of my life lately: I recently had knee surgery and can’t wait to get better and get back on my bike!

And here are some blogs I enjoy for their versatility:

  • My R and R is actually a tumblr so I don’t know if that counts precisely, but I’m making this award my own. 🙂
  • Coffee and a Book Chick blogs about books (what can I say, we lean that way here at pagesofjulia) but life & personal things as well, and I like the new “A Walk About Town” meme.
  • My Porch does some great book blogging, and social commentary, and I never get sick of seeing pictures of Lucy (Thomas’s dog).
  • TERRIBLEMINDS does some book blogging, more writer’s blogging, social commentary, plenty of curse words on all subjects, and lately blogs about his baby sometimes too – I don’t always get excited over reading about people’s babies, but he’s so delightfully irreverent about it all.
  • write meg! blogs about reading, writing, and life.
  • books i done read is too hilarious to miss, ’nuff said.
  • cakes, tea and dreams is a displaced Texan who blogs about books as well as life’s small but important details.
  • The Feminist Texican [Reads] focuses on books addressing feminism, gender issues, and Mexican-American/border/cultural topics, but also an interesting range of subjects beyond that; I’m always interested to see what book-I’ve-not-heard-of-before she’s going to cover next.
  • useless beauty is another hilarious blog, purportedly covering quilting/knitting/crafting stuff, but in actuality just a hilarious look at many aspects of life in Cambridge (which turns out to be surprisingly foreign to this Houston girl. or maybe that’s not surprising at all?).
  • So Far From Heaven is definitely well-described by the word “versatile” – go check him out.
  • Finally – not that she needs my accolades – who could forget The Bloggess? Also laugh-out-loud funny.

Thanks again, TBM! Keep up the good work, yourself!

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A Walk About D-Town

Posted on December 15, 2011 by pagesofjulia

A Walk About Town is a brand-new meme hosted by Natalie over at Coffee and a Book Chick. I liked the idea the first time I saw it, but wasn’t sure my life would be exciting enough to warrant a weekly post! This week I do have something to share, and Natalie, I love the idea. I’ll do my best to be exciting enough to keep up. 🙂

Last weekend I took a road trip with one of my very oldest, best friends, Barrett. You might recall that I am still recovering from knee surgery; when we left on Saturday, I was 8 days into recovery. So we took a borrowed wheelchair with us, and Barrett used that as an excuse to rent us a big ol’ Cadillac for the drive! (I wasn’t ready to drive my car yet, and it’s too difficult to drive for me to wish it on Barrett; and he drives a Vespa.) On Friday night we had been to see another friend play in Sunward, a band from Dallas. It was their very first Houston gig, and a bunch of old friends turned up for it. So we dragged a little bit on Saturday morning, but did get off, in the Cadillac, with the wheelchair, headed (by coincidence) for Dallas.

We had an uneventful drive and hooked up with another friend Jimmy for an evening that started with sushi and sake (SO good) and then took us on to the Polyphonic Spree Christmas Extravaganza. This awesome and totally unique (one might even say weird) band, complete with choir on risers and often staging as many as 30+ members, hadn’t put on a Christmas show in 3-4 years, so it was a neat reunion for us. The first set is Christmas music for the youngsters – and this was preceded by We’re Not Guys, a band made up of four girls, three maybe middle-school age and one I feel sure was in grade school! They weren’t terribly complicated musically but it was impressive as hell. Anyway, then came the Spree’s Christmas set, then the Syncopated Ladies performed – this is a group of ladies of a certain age who do a dance routine. And then we got the Spree rock set – and I have to admit, I was getting stiff and uncomfortable in my wheelchair by then, and maybe didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have. But they do put on a show, with lots of positive energy, and I love watching ALL those musicians rocking their various instruments, and singing along. It was a neat thing to experience again, as it’s been several years since I’ve seen the Spree live.

From there we let Jimmy take us on to a dive bar whose name I’m not sure I ever caught – I think it started with an A – where I got a way comfier seat, and could elevate my knee; Jimmy brought me all the cans of Lone Star my heart desired, and a local classic-country band called the King Bucks was rocking out. And strangely – considering that the Spree had been the point of the trip – that was my favorite part of the evening.

The three of us stayed up too late catching up, and then started our day on Sunday with brunch and (for me) mimosas, then on to a decent beer bar in Jimmy’s neighborhood for the final moments of catch-up time with Jimmy. (Barrett and I had a 5-hour car ride together still to come.) It was action-packed – I never got Husband on the phone the whole weekend til we were halfway home! – but so good. I’m just sorry Jerko wasn’t able to join us in his own town (he had another gig Saturday night). I can’t wait to do it again. Thanks Barrett for driving and Jimmy for hosting; good times! I did find just one picture, only because I shamelessly stole from Barrett who hopefully will not sue me. This is Tim Delaughter (formerly of Tripping Daisy), the lead for the Spree, amid the confetti:

Thanks Natalie for the idea for today’s post. And what have you, lovely readers, done lately that’s interesting?

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Sunday Salon

Posted on December 4, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Sunday Salon: Dec. 4, 2011

Hello everybody. It’s been a while since the last Sunday Salon (ahem October! wow!) but I do have some news to share with you today.

Here’s the big thing that has been ruling over my life for months now: my knee. I hurt it originally back at the end of June; did some PT for a while that seemed to help immensely, got back on the bike and even did a few races, but then when I started running again it got much worse again. The original injury came back and then some, with some new symptoms presenting. I finally ended up on crutches because I couldn’t stand to walk on it anymore, just in the last few days before my knee surgery on Friday. I have been feeling fairly well controlled by this injury; it effects every part of my life and makes everything less enjoyable; rather than navel-gazing I’ve been knee-gazing. But now… it should finally be at an end! This past Friday the 2nd, I had arthroscopic surgery. We didn’t find the torn meniscus we expected, but did a bunch of repair to damaged cartilage, and I’m told I should be back on the bike soon – but I’m also told I will never be a runner again. 😦 This is sad news, as I had deferred my January 2012 half-marathon entry but hoped to run my first half-marathon in January 2013. Now, apparently, I will not. Those who know me at all, though, will know that riding and racing bicycles is THE most important thing in my life that doesn’t live and breathe. So, what a relief that I’ll be riding again soon! How soon, you ask? You’ll have to wait and see, along with me. My check-up appt. is this Thursday and we’ll know more then.

So. This week I’m laid up around the house, and you know what that means: lots of books! And movies, too. Movies are rare events in my life and I’m sort of looking forward to the opportunity. That, and I want to finish a painting I’ve been working on, and do lots of snuggling with the little dogs. (Well, the snuggly one at least. The other one looks lovingly at me from across the room.) Husband is working from home all week so I’ll be well taken care of.

At present, I’ve just finished reading (for review) The Chalk Girl by Carol O’Connell. You’ll have to wait a bit for the review, to be published in Shelf Awareness closer to the book’s pub date of 1/17, but I will say: I had never heard of O’Connell or her serial character Mallory, but boy was this book a hit! I’m recommending it. Wait to hear more.

As you know, I’m also reading Their Eyes Were Watching God as part of the ongoing Readalong (check back tomorrow for the second installment thereof). I have Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky going on audiobook, but that’s most likely on hold during this week off. The rest of my reading time is deliciously available, free and uncommitted, and I’m considering the next Sharon Kay Penman in line for my attention, Here Be Dragons, as well as the copy of The Home-Maker that Thomas sent me a while back… or some of the Papa books I’ve been saving… oh, the TBR shelves overflow, the possibilities are endless! I honestly don’t know where I’ll turn next. What would you read if faced with a week off??

I’ll be chugging along here, kids. Thanks for checking in and tolerating my knee-gazing.

What are YOU up to this Sunday?

Filed under: sunday salon | Tagged: | 3 Comments »

ABC’s of Me

Posted on November 22, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Hey, thanks Jo of The Book Jotter for being the one to introduce to me this meme! I shall play along. While I often let personal details drift into this blog, I have maybe never done an intro post; and the “About Julia” link above is admittedly brief. Without further ado, the ABC’s of pagesofjulia.

Age: Just a few months away from 30 now, and just a few days away from knee surgery and feeling my age… :-/
Book Size: Mass market paperback is best because most portable (and lightest), but whatever format the book I want to read comes in is fine!
Chore That I Hate: Toilets!
Dogs: My two babies, Ritchey and Hops:

Essential Start to My Day: Berries with my breakfast, please!
Favorite Color: Green.
Gold or Silver: Silver. Gold, yeck!
Height: 5’9″
Instruments That I Play: Took piano lessons for some 6-7 years but that’s all gone now… I have a djembe I used to like to play but it’s been a while on that, too. I like to drum on whatever’s available though.
Job Title: Librarian. Because I’m in a one-librarian library, I have no specialties or modifiers; just, Librarian.
Kids: Noooooo!
Live: Houston, Texas.
Milk: Soy, please. I’m moderately lactose-intolerant.
Nickname: Occasionally Jules or JJ but mostly, no.
Oldest Living Relative: We celebrated my grandfather’s 90th birthday last year, and he’s going strong…
Pet Peeve: Probably bad cell phone manners, like answering mid-conversation or in a place of business or on a date or IN THE LIBRARY.
Quote From a Movie: Oh heck, I’m not much of a movie-watcher. How about when Alabama said to Clarence, “I think what you did was so… so… romantic!”
Right or Left Handed: Right.
Siblings: None.
Time I Wake Up: 6:00 to go straight to work; 5:00 to run before work; 4:00 to ride my bike before work; on the weekends 6ish to go ride, or 9ish if I’m sleeping in (rarely).
Underwear: My, this IS personal, isn’t it? No.
Vegetable I Hate: Bell peppers and olives! Ew! Love most of the rest of them, though.
What Makes Me Run Late: Husband. 🙂
X-Rays I’ve Had: Ankles, foot, knees, back, neck, wrist, teeth, nose, and skull! (Not all from the same incident.)
Yummy Food That I Make: I like many foods that I make. 🙂 Husband has been known to request curried carrots, spicy plum chicken stir-fry, and ginger chicken and rice. I like my chili-stew and corn pudding, and gazpacho, yum.
Zoo Animal: Monkeys of all kinds!

That was fun! Care to share any personal data with us today? Get to know your fellow blogger?

Filed under: musings | Tagged: | 8 Comments »

Sunday Salon

Posted on October 23, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Sunday Salon: Oct. 23, 2011


Happy Sunday, folks! How’s your weekend been?

I got in some good mountain bike time this weekend: local trails yesterday at the Anthills and then a little bit of the top of the dam (gravel road), and then today out to Double Lake for a few laps with friends. And I’m getting excited about heading up to the Dallas area next weekend to do a 6-hour race at Solvaca Ranch!

I’m reading quite a bit too… I declined to join the 24-Hour Readalong, as much fun as that sounded like. Right now I’m finishing up Lee Child’s The Affair (the brand-new Reacher) on audio, and have just started The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon – it’s a lovely book. But I wouldn’t have done well as a 24-Hour Reader. Yesterday post-ride we spent some garage time getting one of my bikes ready to post online for sale, and then a friend came over and we watched a movie – just a nice, quiet Saturday.

We’ve been listening to a lot of Drive-by Truckers lately (surprise surprise, what else is new! one of our favorite bands) and thinking about maybe going to see them in the next few months, in Philly or maybe at New Year’s in D.C. (Alternate New Year’s plan is to go out to Terlingua to ride some of our favorite trails!)

I’ll be doing slightly fewer reviews for Shelf Awareness in the coming months, which is good because I’d been getting pretty busy with that. This frees up a little more time for choosing my own reading – and that free time is, sadly, being sucked up mostly by reading for the Where Are You Reading? Challenge. I may give up without reading all 50 states; we’ll see. At any rate I don’t think I’ll sign up for this one again. It’s been fun and interesting just keeping track of where I do read; but I don’t really like having to go out of my way to read for location. I’d rather just pick and choose what I want to read. Although I’ve certainly found some good books on the way.

It’s been a good weekend and I’m just so glad to be riding my bike again. I’m looking forward to racing next weekend (and still feeling the glow of having won some good money a few weeks ago), and hope that if I keep working on it, maybe I’ll have a good spring season ahead of me next year.

What are YOU up to this Sunday?

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shrine to Papa

Posted on October 9, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I’ve been working on this little project for a month or so now, and it’s finally ready for its photo shoot.

First of all, I have limited bookshelf space (I’m sure you’re shocked). When I read Paul Hendrickson’s Hemingway’s Boat recently, I enjoyed being immersed again in one of my favorite literary and historical figures. It had been a little while since I’d read any Hemingway (or anything about Hemingway), and it was like coming home: it was comforting and comfortable to return to a subject I know and love. It also inspired me to make some purchases.

First, I decided I wanted a smallish bookshelf to dedicate to the Hemingway theme. I thought maybe it could hold all my books by Hemingway, and about him, and also the works of his friend or those authors I’ve picked up directly because of a Hemingway connection (Stein, Fitzgerald, de Maupassant, Beryl Markham). I cleared it with Husband and he even agreed to come shopping with me. It took a little looking, but I ended up with this charming piece.


I was prepared to do some decorating…


I bought this print from the Hemingway House in Key West, and took a second shopping trip to find a beat-up real-wood frame for it. Again Hemingway’s Boat gets credit: I was taken by this picture in my reading of the book, which to my memory is the first time I had ever seen it. I like that it shows him in his non-writing leisure time, in pursuit of an activity he loved, and I like that he’s wearing his glasses in it, which he was not in the habit of always doing. Sorry it’s not a better picture of the picture…


And don’t laugh at me, but this is my own portrait of Papa, a copy of the famous Karsh portrait.


Top shelf, with antique fishing reel donated by Husband. (It’s not specifically accurate to Papa’s fishing, we don’t think, but it sets the mood, if you will.)


Bottom shelf, with four new purchases inspired by my reading of Hemingway’s Boat. They are the four on the right: memoirs of life with Hemingway by his son Gregory (Gigi), by Arnold Samuelson (“the Maestro”), by longtime friend A.E. Hotchner, and by Valerie Hemingway, Gregory’s ex-wife (who was originally a secretary or assistant to Papa). I have not read these books yet…

As you might see, I ran out of room for the friends, so Stein et al reside on the “regular” shelves again. And there’s not much room for the collection to grow, on my Hemingway shelves. But I’m very pleased with my end result: a special space that honors my favorite author on his own. As for growth, I suppose these shelves will begin to look like the rest of them, with books stacked in front of or on top of other books. It’s all organic.

Do you have a special space or special shelves reserved for a particular author, genre, subject, or other beloved group of books?

Filed under: musings | Tagged: , , | 9 Comments »

Sunday Salon

Posted on September 25, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Sunday Salon: Sept. 25, 2011

I’m riding: Today I’m headed up to Chappell Hill to ride the hilly road with my former coach and great old friend Carl. Yesterday I finally got back on some good trails at Huntsville State Park with Husband and two buddies. It was great to be back on the trail!

I’m reading: Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings; and in the car is Without Fail by Lee Child on audio.

I’m thinking about: Losing some weight and getting faster again on the bike, now that I finally seem to have beat this knee injury! I’m thinking that the fall race season is out of the question (as is January’s half-marathon), but maybe I can do some marathon mountain bike races over the winter… some cyclocross… some spring racing… and our buddy Leach is starting to talk us into some off-road cycle-touring this spring.

And on another note, I’m thinking about reducing the number of books I read for review, at least for a month or two, sometime soon so that I can try to catch up on the Hemingway reading I’m building up and getting excited about. That’s a separate post, to come soon.

I’m listening to: Well, I’m listening to audiobooks mostly when I’m by myself, but every time I set my iPod loose I discover old favorites that I’m not paying enough attention to: Jewel, the Doors, the Descendents, Aretha Franklin, Daft Punk, Fishbone…

Lists I am making: What to do (and what not to do) to achieve my goal of weight loss and FASTness.

Around the house: Buying berries and doing laundry, mostly, nothing new. Well, that is, in addition to a little Hemingway project already alluded to, which will get that separate post.

From the kitchen: Curried Quinoa Salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, feta, green onions and zucchini. And berries.

The dogs are: Three, right now, since we have one that we’re dog-sitting. Ritchey, especially, loves his “dog beer” toy that we got him in Key West; we love it less when we’re trying to nap (Husband, yesterday) and he gets it squeaking really loudly.

Funny event: Getting excited about Doomsday Wrestling next weekend!!

Musical event: Have my eyes on an upcoming Gourds show just down the street from us here in Houston at Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar; couple of Drive-by Truckers shows that we’ll have to travel to in the coming months; and Husband is going to a Kyuss show with some guys. I think I shall sit that one out. Oh, and I’ve got the percussion concerts on my calendar over at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. I hope to see some marimba this fall.

What are YOU up to this Sunday?

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the Hemingway House

Posted on September 11, 2011 by pagesofjulia

All right! You want the details.

The Hemingway House at 907 Whitehead in Key West was Papa’s residence from 1931 until 1940ish. He bought the house with his second wife, Pauline, and left her to live in Cuba (in sort of a gradual manner, which is why I say 1940ish). Pauline would live in the house til her death in 1951, and Ernest would continue to use it, on his odd visit to the island, from that point until his death in 1961. It’s now a museum, with the Hemingways’ original furniture and books largely intact, we’re told. One of its more famous features is the population of polydactyl (six-toed) cats that still roams the grounds freely; they have forty-something today. Papa had one original cat, Snowball, who eventually populated the place pretty thoroughly. (Our B&B, the Wicker Guesthouse, also had a few polydactyl cats gracing its grounds, just a block from the Hemingway House. One assumes they’ve taken the island over for their own, to some extent.)

Our photo tour begins with a cat. Husband was rather good at making friends with them.

That’s Husband’s hand there.

Most special to me, of course, was the connection to Ernest Hemingway’s life and writing. This is his writing studio, in a separate building, up a flight of stairs: at this very typewriter (says our guide) Papa created much of his best work, including my personal favorite, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Husband was careful to also record the urinal in Papa’s workshop.

More cats… did you hear me say FORTY-SOMETHING on the grounds? You could literally trip over them.

This is Husband’s lovely photo of the outside. Thank you, Husband! The House’s website has a number of pictures of the exterior from different years, which are nice to see as a series; I know from these pictures, for example, that it was not so lushly vegetated when Papa bought the place. (The other side, not pictured here, is a veritable jungle.) I have to keep going back to study all these exterior shots to try and convince myself that he was really here, right here where I am now… what a special thing to experience. On the morning we left Key West, I went back to stand and study the house and try to feel his presence.

But! Our trip didn’t end with touring the grounds. I’m always looking to have more Hemingway books – by, and about. I had saved up a little list of the holes in my collection, so that I could try and do some buying at the Hemingway House’s bookstore. I didn’t find everything I was looking for – their biographies, for example, were just the most well-known ones (Baker, Meyers, Lynn, Reynolds) who I already own. (I’m searching for some that were cited in Hemingway’s Boat, including Samuelson, V. Hemingway, P. Hemingway, Hotchner…) But I did fill a few holes:

That is, I bought four books by EH himself: Men Without Women, The Nick Adams Stories (a posthumous collection), To Have and Have Not, and The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War. (The Fifth Column was his one and only play, and I’ve never read it!) I also got Bernice Kert’s The Hemingway Women, which I’ve read references to for years. All in all, a good haul!

I had a very special time visiting a place where Papa himself lived and walked and worked. This was my first, but hopefully not my last trip: I want to see the family home in Oak Park, IL, and also the finca in Havana if they ever let us go.

As an aside, here’s another literary connection: at the start of Tripwire by Lee Child, my other hero Jack Reacher (who actually has a bit in common with Hemingway, at least as he wanted us to see him… hmmm) is making his living by digging swimming pools – by hand – in Key West. Husband also being familiar with this fact, our running joke was to ask each other every time we saw a pool (and there are a lot of them!) whether Reacher had dug that one? Good fun. 🙂

What about you? Have you made any literary pilgrimages? Do you have any in mind?

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