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“Spend Some Time in a Book”

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By Barbara Gastel | June 5, 2017  |

Greetings again. I hope you’ve had a good month.

Summer has arrived here in Texas. Our regular school year has ended, and summer classes have begun. A few days ago, while taking a walk, I saw a sign near a school. It read, “Have a great summer! Spend some time in a book.”

The message reminded me of two favorite posters. One says, “A book is a present you can open again and again.” The other says, “Books fall open. You fall in.”

I love the feeling of getting lost in a good book. In fact, an extra reason that I like international travel is that long plane flights are wonderful chances to read. I’m glad that my work includes such travel.

Last year, returning from Sri Lanka, I read Adventures in Human Being, by physician Gavin Francis. This book consists of excellent essays relating to various parts of the body.

Last month, going to Bangladesh, I read Lab Girl, by scientist Hope Jahren. In this outstanding book, Jahren tells the story of her education, her work, and more generally her life.

Some excerpts ("previews") from these two books appear in Google Books and elsewhere. Also, some other writing by Gavin Francis is openly accessible. And many quotes from Lab Girl appear online.

Google Books also contains the full text of many books. Another source of free online books is Bartleby.com, which includes many books no longer under copyright.

During travel and otherwise, reading can transport people to new worlds. If you like reading, I hope you can soon “spend some time in a book”.

Until next month—

Barbara

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