Scene of the Blog Featuring Alex of The Sleepless Reader!

A truly voracious reader is always on the look-out for recommendations and for kindred spirits, and as a result one of the best resources can be the comments on your own posts.

I have regulars here who are all known to me and loved, and I subscribe to their blogs, but when someone new takes the time to read something I've written and to leave a comment, I have to admit that I become very curious and check to see if the newcomer has a blog. This is how I met this week's featured book blogger, Alex of The Sleepless Reader. A comment was left; and I donned my deerstalker cap and hoisted my magnifying glass. The game was afoot!

The trail led me to a neat and minimalist design in which the content stands out clearly: in depth book reviews, reading lists, gift lists, and an eclectic mix of books. This traveling book blogger can now be found in Brussels, Belgium, enjoying its chocolates, Art Nouveau buildings and graphic novel mania. If you've never visited The Sleepless Reader before, I hope you take the time to do so, and please say hello to Alex while you're there!

While you're looking at Alex's blogging space, don't forget that you can click on each photo to view it full size.

My own little corner of the world is Brussels although I’m originally from Portugal. All the magic happens from that corner of the sofa you see over there. There are no desks in the house or a fixed computer, so that’s the nervous centre of my blogging and also reading, mostly by night after work. You’ll notice the can of Coke-Light, which fuels the whole endeavour and my Moleskine Passion Book, which I carry everywhere and where I note down any thoughts on the book(s) I’m currently reading.

Behind the couch you’ll see the biggest bookcase in the house. I have the firm belief that the harmony of my home rests on how my boyfriend and I decided to share the bookcases :) He gets the two right columns; I get the three left ones.  Only 3 of the cubes are “already read”, the rest is all TBR.

The same thing happens with the smaller bookcase, of which I get to use all but two cubes. These are my dedicated Jane Austen shelves, where I keep all her books, biographies, sequels and such, together with my collection of Pride and Prejudice in different languages. 

So far I have it in 26: Danish, Greek, Czech, Hebrew, Italian, Turkish, Romanian, Korean, German, Norwegian, Japanese, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), English, Chinese, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Russian, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, Farsi, Spanish and Swedish.

So if anyone out there has access to a different translation, I’m more than happy to make a switch with something on your wishlist! 

Over to you Cathy!

I know there are dedicated Austen fans who visit Kittling: Books, so I hope someone can help Alex! In the mean time, I'll be honest and tell all of you that when I saw that first photograph, I began to drool. That room has so much ambiance-- and I absolutely love those windows! I still find myself craning my neck trying to get a good look at the view outside the glass, and the apartment must look wonderful on a sunny day with the light flooding in.

How many of you own multiple copies of a favorite book? I have French editions of some of Diana Gabaldon's novels, but the rest of the books I own that are in other languages are single copies, like a children's book written in Lakota and several dictionaries for languages such as Gaelic, Apache, Navajo, and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Oh! I almost forgot-- I have Spanish and French editions of the Bible as well. Having Alex enumerate all the different editions she owns of Pride and Prejudice makes me want to do the same with one of my favorites!

Thank you so much for this glimpse into your creative spaces, Alex; they're lovely!

Don't forget to stop by next Wednesday when I'll be featuring another person from our wonderful, worldwide community of book bloggers!