The Ritual Master Hello dear friends ! It’s my second Thanksgiving on the channel, so I suppose this is the moment when last year’s idea officially becomes a tradition : since November is nonfiction month on BookTube, I decided to give thanks for some of the nonfiction books I read during the year, as an outsider’s celebration for a feast that I find to be profoundly uplifting. Autumn’s slowly turning into winter, but the crisp sunlight and remnants of colour make me reflect on the many blessings I received this year. It wasn’t one of the easy ones, but more than the challenges I faced, I wish to remember that this was a year of growing, a time to learn how to face hardships without losing my hope or my enthusiasm.
But first, let’s make ourselves a delicious cup of Milky Oolong tea so that we can have a proper chat. I think I’ve already mentioned this before, but there is no better time to drink oolong tea than autumn. It has a very low caffeine content and a smoothness that hydrates our tissues from within. The natural balancing ritual for the dry and windy autumn air. A true delight.
When it comes to my greatest pleasure of the year, my reading time, I have to say that despite the various events and challenges I faced, this was an exceptionally good reading year for me. I am thankful for the grounded feeling that my books gave me this year. However stressful or complicated my days seemed, I always found time to reconnect with my balanced, joyful inner self, that feels best while reading.
Stephanie Rosenbloom – Alone Time
It’s only natural that my first nonfiction pick should be one that speaks of those precious moments we grant ourselves when solitude does not equal loneliness. Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom is an ode to true presence. Her travels through the seasons between Paris, Istanbul, Florence and her native New York bring up subjects like dinning alone or going to a museum by yourself, discovering new cultures or simply paying attention to your own back yard. Backed up by studies on different aspects of solitude, her conclusions are not only comforting for an introvert as myself, but most importantly they are liberating. This is neither a travel journal nor a sociological study of solitude, but it is the best of both. Real life experience and trust worthy data, combined into a book that can benefit everyone, because even if our social needs are undeniable, there are far more people suffering from not knowing how to be by themselves than people suffering because of too much interaction. So maybe time has come to learn how to do both, and make the most out of all the experiences that are offered to us.
My Thanksgiving quote : When you’re not sitting across from someone, you’re sitting across from the world.
Ella Maillart – Ma philosophie du voyage
My next choice will come as no surprise, as I was already in a traveling mood. Ella Maillart was one of the great travelers of the 20th century, a woman of great determination and immense curiosity. From her native Switzerland she conquered the world by foot, by train or sailing, with an insatiable appetite for discovery. This collection of essays published in 2022 as My travel philosophy gathers writings found in her archives that are being kept at the National Library of Geneva, first time published and curated with an emphasis towards her reflections on travel more than her observations of the regions she explored. The reading is very natural, there are no great cultural references or historical facts to slow down the understanding. What truly inspired me was her personality, the way in which a woman adventurer envisioned travel and its role in our fulfillment. And we are talking about a woman explorer in the 1930’s. This particular book is not yet translated, but there are many travel journals of Ella Maillard to be found in English.
My Thanksgiving quote : I think that the importance of an expedition is not measured in the number of perfect moments we have lived, but in the alterations it has made to our character.
Edmund de Waal – Letters to Camondo
And for the pièce-de-résistance, I am reaching the limits of nonfiction, with imaginary letters between two very real men. You might know Edmund de Waal as an English contemporary artist, a master potter and an author. He has already dedicated writings to the history of his family, to his Ephrussi ancestors from the famous Ukrainian Jewish dynasty of bankers. With the invitation of creating an exhibition for the Camondo museum in Paris, de Waal started writing imaginary letters to the mastermind behind the Camondo legacy, Count Moïse de Camondo. The research conducted in the archives of this historical family of Jewish bakers that originated in Istanbul and arrived in Paris in 1869, showed close relations with the Ephrussi, and so, the imagination of Edmund de Waal found the perfect excuse for this jewel of a book. Reflections on melancholy, family and memory, art and the value of our cultural heritage, or simply the hard truths of history that leave deep marks in generations to come, this collection of letters reads like an essay of poetic beauty. The pages are interlaced with images from the Camondo archives and of the current museum, kept as it was on the day of Count Camondo’s death. This is a volume to be cherished and an invitation to see one of the best kept secrets of Paris. My version is the French translation, but the original is written in English and available in bookshops.
My Thanksgiving quote : It’s not that I don’t like being clean, it’s just that I’m drawn to dust. Dust comes from something. It shows something has happened…it marks time.
My three nonfiction reads I’m most thankful for this year. They have reconnected me to the joy of travels, they have delighted me in my moments of delicious solitude and they have opened the doors of museums and of history for my ever curious imagination. You can have a look at last years selection of nonfiction, and consider yourself invited to share with all of us, in the comments below, the books your are most thankful for in 2022.
Until next time, enjoy your reading and your rituals.
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