Reading into the Summer

After a very uncomfortable winter in the Midwest I am now relaxing with a book from the best seller list.  This is a very old practice for me and I have not selected a book from that list since I returned to college to complete my studies.  And that was a very arduous task that somehow seems to be an on going affair of my curious nature and learning process.  I can remember the days when the old grey matter was interested in reading anything that was printed, newspapers,magazines, comics, anything that was printed was fair game for me.  In those early seasons of my life- I was intrigued by anything that seemed to contribute to pop culture.  And if it was made into a movie that was all the more reason to read the book.  I can remember the arguments of some of my peers that read, 'it wasn't as good as the book".  This seemed to be the common claim.   I read some books that were good and some that were read because of the page count...ugh!  And sometimes the movie was better than the printed version.  And there were some that should I have read and not wasted my time on the movie version.  Or they were not made into films/movies until recently. My tastes seemed to evolve over the years but reading is now a practice to escape the past, present and not think about the future and this is one of those times that I am returning to in the practice of reading a novel.  And it inspires me to return to that pile of unfinished novels I put down due to some event,occurrence or some other pressing matter taking precedence over my time.  And I am appreciating my own developed interest in the narratives that seem to play with history, provide another perspective.   Because it is important to realize that one's own is not the ultimate, nor, can any others be omitted.  So, my summer will be engaged in the reading of books that I may not have finished or am interested in the subject.  So, as the spring seems to be moving into summer and the winter is but a bitter cold memory.  I am going to delve into the world of words, language, character, and purpose....dang.  So, my first read: In the Garden of the Beasts, Erik Larson.

A man with ambition seeking acclaim and to revive his academic career by becoming an ambassador to Germany during the rise of Nazi Germany.  The narrator feels his life is not as accomplished as it could have been due to those factors that some of us are familiar with in our own life. And I will spare the details because those side streets are ours to own and what the reader brings to the narrative is as important regarding the attraction some characters.  So, am fascinated with the descriptive detail that provides the mind's eye with the upwelling ideology of that era and how it was being used  in a time of limited media technology.  Hmmm...will attempt to provide more on that one later.