When I was born, I slept in a bookshelf

03/05/2026

Introduction

When I was born, I slept in a bookshelf. Not because my family was so poor that they couldn't afford a baby stroller. On the contrary, they wanted the best baby stroller available for me. But at that prehistoric age, online shopping with almost instant delivery simply didn't exist. To get something really good, you had to put in a lot of effort and even pull some strings.

So I was already born while my relatives were still on a quest to get that nice sky-blue stroller for me. But surely, not having it wasn't a reason why newborn me couldn't enjoy those fine August days in the fresh air.

The solution was found: a wooden bookshelf turned out to be a perfectly cozy place for a baby to sleep in the garden shade.

I don't know how it works, but I still blame it for my lifelong addiction to reading and love for the smell of books and flowers.

By now, I've read enough to no longer remember all those books. But there are a few of them that have left a solid trace in my mind and heart.

One of my basic settings is a strong desire to structure and bring order to everything that can be structured and ordered (even my own thoughts — that's the biggest challenge).

So, it's high time to create this list — just in case.

Absolute Favorites

  • Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  • The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

  • The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

  • Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

  • The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

  • Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

  • Goya by Lion Feuchtwanger

  • Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving

  • Hearts of Three by Jack London

  • Delicacy (La délicatesse) by David Foenkinos

  • Verdi: A Novel of Opera by Franz Werfel

  • Ali and Nino by Kurban Said

Books with an Aftertaste

  • The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

  • The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

  • Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado (also known as The Sandpit Generals)

  • Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace

  • The Spanish Ballad by Lion Feuchtwanger

  • The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon

  • The Favorite by Valentin Pikul

  • And the Dawns Are Quiet Here by Boris Vasilyev

  • Desert Flower by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller

Easy Reading for Keeping Your Rose-Colored Glasses On

  • The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

  • The Little Book of Lykke by Meik Wiking

Poetry gems I once came across

  • If— by Rudyard Kipling

  • The Lovers' Litany by Rudyard Kipling

  • Vowels by Arthur Rimbaud

  • Silentium! by Fyodor Tyutchev

On my to-read ASAP list

  • The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa

to be continued…



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