When you’re a child, this time of year is full of magic and wonder. As you get older, the holidays can become more nostalgic than enchanting, with more sentiment than thrill. Finding that old spark isn’t impossible, but it’ll take more effort to revive it and perseverance to maintain it.

The ever growing stack of my “to-read” books has had Amor Towles’ “A Gentleman in Moscow” for about a year now. Several friends, whose literary opinion I respect, raved about this novel and one of them even bought me my copy.

Perhaps like many people, summer is a time for me to finally read those books I’ve been wanting to get to. While this summer began with determination to dwindle the stack of my “to-read” books, that stack has ended up bigger than smaller.

There are always seasons in life when you feel the need to get away from your day-to-day, and I have found myself in just such a season.