Land of the Blessed Virgin

Day 323 of the "What are you reading, and why?" project, and it was a busy day at the bookstore, and I have a general answer to the "Why?" question right now--which is, "Because I have time!"  That is, to cuddle up with a book or hunker down with a stack of books during a little holiday time off work or while visiting, etc.  This is based on the stacks of books that locals and out-of-towners were buying at Babbitt's today!

But a really interesting other answer was "to have something to read between games in the high school basketball tournament," an answer I understand because I read between matches at volleyball tournaments.

This woman will be reading a collectable copy of The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions of Andalusia, by William Somerset Maugham.  Not the copy pictured here, with its very lovely illustration, but a skinny red paperback from Alfred A. Knopf.

Turns out this is something my mom could read on her new Kindle if she wanted to, but I imagine she won't.  And I feel honored and lucky now to be able to imagine this lovely woman reading about Andalusia and other women of Spain in between whistles on the bleachers....