<![CDATA[A Cottage by the Sea - Compassionate Reading]]>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 10:20:32 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[A Woman in the Polar Night, by Christine Ritter.]]>Sat, 15 Feb 2025 22:48:07 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/a-woman-in-the-polar-night-by-christine-ritterPicture
A Woman in the Polar Night, by Christine Ritter.
    From the dust jacket.
   In 1934 the painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable life in Austria and travels to the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen to spend a year there with her husband. She thinks it will be a relaxing trip, a chance to "read thick books in remote quiet and, not least, sleep to my heart's content."
      At first Christiane is horrified by the freezing cold, the bleak landscape, the lack of equipment and supplies…But after encounters with bears and seals, long treks over the ice and months on end of perpetual night, she finds herself all in love with the Arctic's harsh, otherworldly beauty, gaining a great sense of inner peace and a new appreciation fo the sanctity of life.
      Born in 1897…She wrote A Woman in the Polar Night on her return to Austria from Spittsbergen in 1934….Christiane died in Vienna in 2000 at the age of 103. 


    I'm loving this book, having chosen to ignore the cold, discomfort and lack of anything close to a gourmet meal, and instead to imagine the solitude and the simplicity of everyday living. Of course I ignore all the work they had to do just to keep warm, fed, and safe. Memories of my cottage by the sea, that's all I see. 
]]><![CDATA[The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, by Evan Friss]]>Tue, 31 Dec 2024 15:01:22 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/the-bookshop-a-history-of-the-american-bookstore-by-evan-frissPicture
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, by Evan Friss

     I loved reading about the history of bookstores in the United States, beginning with Ben Franklin, at age 12, working in his older brother James' printing office in Boston (my current hometown). Then there were those bookstore in NYC.  I remember taking the train to 'the city' and wandering about Brentano's. My daughter, who works at Barnes & Noble, keeps me updated on how corporate bookstores are fairing these days (very well). 
     Bookstores are personal; they are also complex entities. 
Friess discusses the current complexity of bookselling: buying from on-line bookstores, AKA Amazon; the current trend of independent bookstores, with a shout out to Parnassus, author Ann Pachett's indie; the current interplay between ordering on line and wandering about a bookstore and purchasing at the cash register; reading on devices; and more. 
     The Bookshop doesn't get into libraries; in fact, I don't think they are even mentioned. As someone who lives across from the town library and uses it as my main source of fiction and non-fiction reading, I wasn't disappointed. Friss sticks to his topic, bookstores, with engagement from beginning to end I'd say he has written a page turner!
]]><![CDATA[Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout]]>Sat, 21 Jan 2023 16:38:55 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/lucy-by-the-sea-by-elizabeth-stroutPicture
I want to recommend Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout, the fourth book in a series about Lucy (and William). That being noted, you don’t have to read the first three in order to immerse yourself in this one. Lucy by the Sea is a stand-alone, par excellence. Everyone, and I mean everyone, will relate to the context—lockdown during Covid. 
    There are many approaches to this book, many themes. I was most touched by a universal message at the core of each of Lucy’s encounters with others. People want to be heard: Lucy keeps it simple, responding with some form of, ’I know.’ People don’t want advice unless they ask for it: Lucy doesn’t offer any. 
    This book, however, is not filled with silence. We hear Lucy’s thoughts; her conversation with Self, unfiltered and honest.
]]><![CDATA[Reading three books at a time]]>Wed, 16 Nov 2022 18:13:38 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/reading-three-books-at-a-timePicture
Can we attain the habit of silence, solitude and simplicity if our practice does not include reading? Well, speaking for myself, it would be mighty difficult without reading.
    I usually have three books going: fiction, history, and something spiritual. Presently I’m reading "Dissolution: A novel of Tudor England," by C.J. Sanson, set during  the rise of Oliver Cromwell at the beginning of the dissolution of monasteries by Henry VIII. "The Pope’s War: The Secret History of Pope PiusXII," Mussolini, and Hitler, by David I. Kertzer is my history selection. "The Eremitic Life," by Fr. Cornelius Wencel fills the spiritual category. 
    Two of the three, Dissolution  and The Eremitic Life, satisfy my longing for silence, solitude and simplicity in the context of the monastic life I strive to lead. The Pope’s War, leads me to the streets of Rome and the country I love. 
    My longing for silence, solitude, and simplicity is best satisfied by a ‘real” book that I can hold in my hand. Audio books are not silent; e-books are not simple.
]]><![CDATA[Unbelievable: Trials, Truth, and the Trials of Democracy, by Jamie Raskin]]>Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:43:26 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/unbelievable-trials-truth-and-the-trials-of-democracy-by-jamie-raskinPicture
Jamie Raskin’s book Unbelievable: Trials, Truth, and the Trials of Democracy is the only ‘insurrection/political book I’ve read, but for sure it will remain on my top ten reads for the year, maybe for the decade. I recommend it, not so much for the politics, but for Raskin’s gift of eloquently expressing the sorrow and grieving he felt and still feels for his 24 year old son Tommy, who took his own life after a long struggle with depression on December 31, 2020, just seven days before January 6th.  It is a book of hope for us all.
]]><![CDATA[Pay It Forward, by Catherine Ryan Hyde.]]>Mon, 18 Jan 2021 13:30:16 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/pay-it-forward-by-catherine-ryan-hyde<![CDATA[Top 12 Reads for 2020]]>Mon, 04 Jan 2021 13:45:32 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/top-12-reads-for-2020

Here they are, my Top Twelve Reads for 2020. But then I’ve added another; just could leave out, Jim Defede’s The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander Newfoundland.

 Except for that late addition, my list only celebrates fiction. This year I needed someone else’s soap opera to relieve me of Covid and political non-fiction.

Cohen, Jon. Harry’s Trees 
Dugoni, Robert, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
Irving, John, A Prayer for Owen Meany
Kidd, Sue Monk, The Book of Blessings
​Krueger, William Kent. Ordinary Grace  
Lundberg, Sophia. The Red Address Book
Martin, Charles. When Crickets Cry
Montgomery, Jess. The Hollows
O’Farrell, Maggie. Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague
 Riley, Lucinda. The Shadow Sister
 Salzman, Mark. The Soloist
 Sullivan, Mark. Beneath a Scarlet Sky

 Jim Defede’s The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander Newfoundland

(As you watch this, a stray picture may appear. Don't ask my how it appeared or how to get rid of it.)
]]><![CDATA[The Storm Sister, by Lucinda Riley]]>Mon, 30 Nov 2020 13:33:19 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/the-storm-sister-by-lucinda-rileyPicture


   This is the second book in the series ‘The Seven Sisters.’ It isn’t essential that you read the books in order; the story of each sister stands alone. I’m glad, however, I stared at the beginning because I know I’m going to continue and read about each sister. 
     I absolutely loved Ally’s, from her life as crew member racing in Greece, to that of a musician in Norway. The story brought back memories of a trip with my parents to Bergen and a visit to Grieg’s home there. 
]]><![CDATA[Lions on Fifth Avenue, Fiona Davis]]>Mon, 23 Nov 2020 19:03:30 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/lions-on-fifth-avenue-fiona-davisPicture

   Oh, I’ve been reading, even though I haven’t been posting here. This book will have to be in the top ten on some ‘Good read’ list. A back and forth story of the same family connected with the New York City Public Library during 1913 and 1993. When you are finally allowed to spend time at the beach or hop on a plane, take this one along. No, don’t wait! The good news is that you can wear a mask and read at the same time.
]]><![CDATA[The Crow Trap, by Ann Cleeves]]>Sat, 10 Oct 2020 19:00:26 GMThttps://www.acottagebythesea.net/compassionate-reading/the-crow-trap-by-ann-cleevesPicture

     This is the first in The Vera Stanhope Mystery Series. I will give any book set in northern England a chance, and this was well worth it. How easy it was to imagine myself slogging through the moors with the unconventional detective Vera Stanhope and the other cast of characters. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series. (Years ago I dabbled in Cleeves’ Shetland Island Series; plan to go back to it.) 
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