Time to Read

Enforced time at home to heal has meant reading at a level and speed unknown to me for a long time. I spent several winters in bed as a teenager with the effects of nephritis and devoured every book I could lay my hands on. A weekly visit to the Doctor for tests brought with it the joy of a visit to the library to borrow another 15-20 books. I seemed to eat them, probably the basis for my wonderful general knowledge which so annoys people today. I always have several books on the go at once, a talking book, I have just this minute finished  Stolen Innocence by John Batt and was devastated to read on Sally's website that the experience overwhelmed her and she died of acute alcohol poisoning. I instantly deleted the book and have just opened the next one. I  am still reading Forty-Something Phoenix on my Kindle and have two actual books on the go also.

A wonderful friend gave me Street Fight in Naples for my birthday two years ago. To my shame I thought it was a novel and relegated it to the "I will read one day" pile. Desperate for something different with reasonable sized print I looked at the sub-title; A book of art and insurrection. Written with the extensive help of Italian and other archivists, the reason she gave me the book as a gift, it seems, after reading only a few pages, to be the history of the city of Naples. This thoughtful gift has been gathering dust and could have been a much loved book by now. I do have one query, why are the covers shown on websites so different from those of the books which sit here beside me as I write.

As for travel; I have recently been told about a website called www.airbnb.com on which people list accommodation available in their homes. After several years of international travel I am truly surprised that I have never heard of this website before. Now if only I could figure out where the suburbs are in Brisbane so I could make a booking!