Wild wonderful Wednesday

Once again, I am going to do something a bit different om this Wild Wonderful Wednesday. It is the first 5th Wednesday of the year (try saying that five times quickly!). And while we often have taken a walk somewhere, even if it is through our personal history (like this time), this month I would like to take you on a walk through our reading habits. 

Shirley and I both like to read or watch detective stories. Sherlock Holmes (in all versions, classic or modern), all of Agatha Christie’s characters (although the Belgian Hercule Poirot has a special place) and many other detectives make for fun and educative reading. We do not mind what the setting is. We have read Brother Cadfael mysteries set in the 13th century, Inspector Monk mysteries set in London of the 19th century, or Inspector Pitt mysteries set a bit later in the same city. 

On our last Home Assignment, David Cron took us downtown Los Angeles and mentioned a series with Detective Bosch which is set in LA (and we visited a building from one of the books). It was interesting to me that detective Bosch’s first name is Hieronymus. He is named after Jheronimus of Aken or Hieronymus Bosch, who was a Dutch painter from Brabant in the 15th century. The detective is not a painter, but the painter’s works are rather grotesque - which types of scenes detective Bosch often has to deal with. 

Last year I read a whole series about Owen Archer who is - can you guess - an archer who becomes a detective of sorts (or spy or apothecary) in the 14th century. It is wonderful how books can take you anywhere at all. The Foundation series from Isaac Asimov will even take you into outer space in the future. It’s science fiction, but it is basically a detective story. 

And these books have taken me to Canterbury, York and London. They have taken me to Shrewsbury and over the border into Wales. I have traveled with Maigret to Paris of the past or with Bosch to Los Angeles. Ray Bradbury has even taken me to Mars. Truly wild, wonderful destinations, all from the comfort of a nice, dry couch on any wet, dreary Belgian day. 

Where have you traveled in your reading? What do you like to read?  

Where Oh Where Wednesday: Redu

Years ago, when Stephan was a baby, we visited our friends who lived in Nottingham, England and together we traveled to Hay-on-Wye. This is a beautiful little village that has basically been turned into an antique book store. The whole village is full of houses which sell antique and second-hand books. We still have a copy of “Pilgrim’s Progress” which our friends purchased as a gift for us. 

Years later I read that there was the same kind of set-up in Belgium. We visited the town of Redu with my best friend when he came to visit. Most of the books are in French, of course, since Redu is in the French-speaking region of Belgium. Still, it is a beautiful, picturesque village - even if you don’t care about books. There are places to sit and drink a coffee or enjoy a pastry and the surrounding area is also beautiful. If you are not into books, the Euro Space center is just down the road. 

We have not been back to Redu in many years and I have always wondered if it is still the same. The landscape of books and reading has, after all, changed dramatically. These days we have e-readers and audio books. Do people still purchase second-hand books. I imagine that the market for antique books has remained the same, but what about books that are simply old? 

We still love the smell of books. We both still read real books (as opposed to e-books or audio books). We know plenty of people who fully enjoy their e-books and our son (who was present in Hay-on-Wye at that first acquaintance with this place) listens regularly to audio books. What do you do? If you are looking for a nice holiday destination and you are a book lover, consider either Hay-on-Wye (Wales) or Redu, Belgium.