Saturday Morning Reading & Coffee Dates

by Audrey Camp

Jonathan and I are both avid readers. Though we continue to

debate who reads the better stuff

, we do agree on one thing: there are few things more comfortable or nurturing than sitting together, in a coffee shop or on the couch or in bed at night, reading side by side.


Reading dates are possibly my favorite "little thing" that we do together. Over the years, we've had our usual spots. In Livermore it was the Starbucks near our house in Springtown or Panama Red on First Street. In Dublin it was the Peet's Coffee on Tassajara. Here in Oslo it's the Åpent Bakeri on Inkognito Terrasse. Feet touching under the table. The rattle of porcelain. Pages turning. Jonathan's order (mocha) and my order (yummy pastry) don't change, but our books rotate on through. It's our life. Stopping to operate in tandem silence allows us to slow that life down and appreciate what we have here together. Now. Peace and freedom.



Clockwise from Top Left : Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert & Scientific American magazine; A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin & Women's Health magazine; Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder & Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein; Foundation by Isaac Asimov & Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller; The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg & The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss; Make magazine & Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver