u/RMKHAUTHOR

Would love to read this one again, but my TBR list is longer than the Empire State Building

name: Livraria Sá da Costa

Recently I came across a house that was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It was absolutely packed with books, thousands and thousands of them, room after room, especially in the basement just rows and rows of old dusty boxes with books.

I took a bunch of videos while walking through the house, mainly to document the condition of the property, and these are some screenshots from those videos where you can see just a bit.

A little side note for context: one of the companies I work with we purchase abandoned houses, or houses that are in terrible condition, restores them, and eventually flip them. We ended up putting an offer on this house, although we have no idea yet whether we’re going to get it or not.

While I was there, I asked the agent showing me the property if I could take a few of the books. He said he has no problem with that. He actually told me I could take as many as I wanted.

What usually happens with houses like this is that once someone buys the property, the house gets completely gutted and almost everything inside gets thrown in the trash, regardless of what it is. I would have taken more, but I was traveling out of state with just a backpack, so I only took what I could.

It was pretty surreal standing inside this abandoned house surrounded by what felt like someone’s entire lifetime of books. If we end up getting the property, I definitely want to go through the collection before anything gets thrown away. I’d keep whatever books I’m personally interested in and try to donate as many of the rest as possible to Little Free Libraries or anywhere else that could use them. There could be all kinds of interesting stuff buried in there.

So I suddenly have two uninterrupted hours with this e-reader

I came across these street book stands while walking around Athens, Greece. I don’t see many like this back home in the U.S., but I’ve noticed they’re much more common in Europe. There’s something really nice about making books part of everyday street life.

Odyssey reading never looked so good, I am so excited to read it again here in Greece

65% through and fully committed to doing absolutely nothing else

Book Lovers Paradise, NYC

McNally Jackson has become one of my favorite places in New York. On that sofa, I’ve written tens of thousands of words for the novel I am working on.

Currently re-rereading The Odyssey in Robert Fitzgerald’s translation, obviously. What’s your favorite translation?

Was lucky enough to pick up this awesome book recently

Today marks six consecutive days of writing my new novel. It may not sound like much yet but every day I show up is another step toward finishing this novel.

I’ve started writing too many novels and dropped them halfway. I’m not doing that with this one. I told myself NO WAY I am doing the same thing with this one. For the next 30 days, I’m writing at least three hours every day (so far I been consistent to write around four). Once everyone in the house is asleep, wife, kids, goldfish, turtle, I start writing, and I keep going until I can’t.

I’ve outlined around 39 chapters so far (obviously that would change at some point), averaging about 2,500 words each. So far, I’m three days in and have written 14,516 words, around 5,000 words per day. The plan is 20 days of writing. The rest of the month is for editing, putting final touches and polishing.

Not going to lie, Wispr app helped tremendously. For me speaking is much faster than typing. Native Mac app for converting words to text is not as accurate for me. So I've been doing that for a good chunk of the novel and then going over after completing the chapter and editing that out.

I’m going to finish this thing in 30 days. No excuses. No BS. And if anyone out there needs motivation, let this be it guys. If you won't do it, nobody is going to do it for you. 

Who remembers a few months ago, before the hardcover edition came out, when the paperback was almost impossible to find? It had gone out of print, copies disappeared everywhere, and people were paying a couple hundred dollars for a copy.

I recently picked up a first U.S. edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung. While the original Chinese edition was first published in 1964 this American edition was issued in 1966 and I think it’s an interesting piece of Cold War and publishing history.

If you’re flying and planning to spend the flight reading on your eReader, never pick an exit row. I made that mistake and won’t do it again.

Not only are the seats way less comfortable than I expected, but they also don’t recline because of the emergency exit situation. Trying to read upright for a few hours on EXTREMELY uncomfortable chair was surprisingly miserable.

If reading is your main in-flight entertainment, I’d happily trade the extra legroom for a seat that actually reclines and somehow cushy. The saddest part I had to pay extra for that as well.

Just a heads-up for anyone booking flights.

I love traveling and luckily with my work I do a lot of that. One of the biggest reasons is that I finally get uninterrupted reading time. There’s something about a book, a plane seat, and a few hours in the air that makes it so easy to get lost in a great book.

Its said this store inspired J.K. Rowling to write Harry Potter when she was living in Porto teaching English. The winding staircase, stained glass ceiling, carved woodwork, and overall atmosphere make it feel like you’ve stepped into a fantasy novel.

It was definitely one of the most beautiful bookstores I’ve ever visited. Of course I had to buy a few books including Harry Potter and of course I had to share this with you.

Small disclaimer: all the photos in this post were taken by me. Apparently I have to say that now, thanks to certain individuals in the comment section.