Books, Tea, and Conversation

December 31, 2021 by Dawn Wink 5 Comments

As we enter the New Year, I am thinking of what books this year will hold! A favorite afternoon over the holiday season was spent cuddled-up amidst stacks of books and cups of tea. We each brought stacks of books that we’ve been reading and dove into conversation, over tea poured from the new/old Christmas tea set.

Mom and I read loved The Elephant Whisperer years ago. The late author’s wife just came out with a marvelous book The Elephant in my Kitchen, which had us re-reading the original. I tried to read Water for Elephants years ago and just couldn’t get into it. I picked it up again a few weeks ago and loved. Mom shares more on these books and calves, instead of elephants, in the kitchen here.

There is something particularly entrancing in stories about libraries and bookshops for we bibliophiles. The Lions of Fifth Avenue and The Paris Library are wonderful. The Midnight Library has one of the best titles ever. Neither Mom, nor I, could get into this book as much as we wanted to love. I do know people who have loved. Perhaps just not the right time and will be another Water for Elephants for me. Mom loved The Personal Librarian and The Librarian of Saint-Malo. My turn to read them now!

The library/bookshop collection grew by two books this Christmas, The Library of Lost and Found and The Bookshop of Yesterdays. More of Mom’s stack here:

We brought out our favorite Christmas children’s books. Oh, the memories of the kids in their jammies reading by the light of the Christmas tree! “Where is the pavlova book?” Wynn asked. And, our beloved Christmas Tea book.

Angus peeks over the gate.

I love historical fiction that elegantly weaves past and present—The Things We Cannot Say and The Fountains of Silence do this beautifully. The Things We Cannot Say weaves a mystery between WWII Poland and present day. The Fountains of Silence sheds light on the darkness of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain.

Right now I’m reading Fresh Water for Flowers, a novel which apparently took Europe by storm during the pandemic. I love this lens of whimsy on wardrobe. I may play around with this a bit.

Luke and Wynn’s stacks included:

Then we started pulling children’s books off the shelves and we were lost… More and more books accumulated to create a nest around us all.

This is what books do, isn’t it? They create a nest around us. Here’s wishing you and yours a year of great books!

I spent many wonderful hours writing in my journal by the lights of the Christmas tree. Looking forward to writing 2022 into being.