The Content Reader

This is a book I read for my book club. We meet once a month in a nice restaurant in Brussels called 'Carpe Diem' to discuss a chosen book, in this case Harvest by Jim Crace. Here a summary: It is the end of the summer, the end of the barley harvest and the villagers are preparing a feast to celebrate the harvest. Three outsiders, two men and a mysterious woman arrive on the woodland borders and put up a camp. The same night, the local manor house is set on fire and the outsiders are blamed, although the village people know that some of the villagers themselves did it. The men are punished and the woman disappears. The present owner to the manor has hired a land surveyor to draw a map of the land. It is hinted that there will be a change from farming barley to keeping sheep. Then the new owner (a relative of the present one) arrives from the city with his men and creates a turmoil in the regulated village life. Three women are accused of witch craft. The safe and regulated life...

The spring is in the air! But as always when you think it is here the weather changes again. And, as usual, it seems that the best weather is during the week and when the weekend come so working people can enjoy a little bit of good weather it changes! For me, of course, it is not a problem these days when I can enjoy my walks also during the week. However, in the afternoon yesterday the rain stopped and the sun peaked out behind the clouds so my husband and I took a late afternoon walk in the forest close to us. La Foret/Zonienwood Another part of the forest The forest belonged, once upon a time, to the kings and queens of Belgium. However, these days they are common grounds. The really huge forest is now divided in four parts, more or less by a 'plus' shape of highways and the ring road. On either four sides of the 'plus' the forest is available for walking, jogging, biking, riding, having a picnic or other leisurely activities. The weekends all over the ye...