Am I right in thinking that bookshops will be opening on the 15th? So exciting! ‘Vellichor’ is one of my favourite words. It is a noun that is defined as ‘the strange wistfulness of used bookshops’. I am looking forward to being able to just stand in a room surrounded by books. Have you chosen which book you might like to buy first when this does happen? Please feel free to share your suggestions . At the moment, I think I am going to go for ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. I’ve been wanting to read it for a while now, and it keeps popping up and being referenced in other things I’ve been looking at. I really hope everything is going well with you!
We are getting through these book clubs so fast! I can’t believe we are already on number nine, but the first one does seem like an incredibly long time ago now. Although, I feel like I do need to apologise. So far, we have only included fiction and I have definitely ignored and missed out on a great selection of non-fiction books. However, I am going to start to set that right today. This week’s book is, ‘The Silk Roads’ by Peter Frankopan, which is definitely the best world history book I have ever read.
Firstly, can we take a moment to appreciate how beautiful the book cover is… This book is written from a wonderfully refreshing perspective. Instead of writing a world history from a European standpoint, Frankopan chooses to write it from an Eastern view, suggesting that the centre of the world lies to the east. During a time as complicated and confusing as the one we are living in now, it can be so helpful to remind us of where we lie in history. Whilst reading this, I found it so amazing to be shown how comparatively recently the British have been on the scene. To properly understand the present, it is important to know the past. Although, looking at events unfolding around us, repeating the past is not enough. Here is a quote from this book: “A talent for following the ways of yesterday’, declared King Wu-ling in 307 BC, ‘is not sufficient to improve the world of today.”