21st November, 2018
BOOKISH STUFF: Reading Retreats? Yay or Nay?
Have you ever been on a reading retreat? Or wished that you could go on one? I definitely have done the latter and that yearning is usually connected with a certain nostalgia for those times as a kid/teenager when you could spend entire afternoons reading without anybody bothering you. Well, you know: those time before adulting sort of got in the way.
Ever since I became a mum, squeezing in reading time has been a bit of a challenge. I can't really complain though as my job allows me to read (actually requires me to) and I'm quite good at managing my time, so I do think I get to read more than other working mothers. Still, that wish for some uninterrupted reading time never really goes away.
So I didn't hesitate long when one of the people over on Litsy suggested a reading retreat at Gladstone's Library in Wales for next spring. I know it is still more than four months till we go, but I'm already thinking of which books to take and can basically already envision us reading, relaxing and eating cake for two days. Sound weird to you? Naaaah, if you're reading this blog, you're probably like me so you'll get this. ;-)
Gladstone's Library is the only residential library in the UK (and supposedly even the world) which means you can use their reading rooms, stay in one of their boutique bedrooms (no TVs "to preserve the ethos of study and reflection"), sit in front of a roaring fire in the common room, take a walk in the grounds or have afternoon tea in their cafe. Check it out here: https://www.gladstoneslibrary.org/ And now tell me you would have refused the offer to go. No? Exactly what I thought. :-)