The Book 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff is one of my favorite books. Ann Bancroft starred in the movie of the same name and it too is one of my favorites. 
The book is a series of letters from Helene Hanff, which she always signed (Miss) Helene Hanff in her letters to Marks & Co. in London England. 
The setting takes place in an apartment in New York City and the topic is Helene’s love of old books. 
She writes to this lovely book store in London England to purchase special editions. Frank Doel of Marks & Co. starts to adore Helene’s letters and the two develop a wonderful relationship. 
During the course of the book as you read the letters you feel that you are observing as a beautiful relationship evolves and you learn about the history of the two settings. The wit and clever writing style leaves you begging for more. Here is a sample of what is inside:“Thank you for the beautiful book. I’ve never owned a book before with pages edged all round in gold. Would you believe it arrived on my Birthday? I wish you hadn’t been so over-courteous about putting the inscription on a card instead of on the flyleaf. It’s the bookseller coming out in you all, you were afraid you’d decrease its value. You would have increased it for the present owner. I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages some one long gone has called my attention to.”
I was thinking about our world of blogging. We sit at our computers and write letters of sorts to people we have never met across the globe. 
We get to know a little about where they live through photos and words and start to care about these people. Swaps arrive in parcels from clubs and small groups sharing common interests. 
Each blog is designed to reflect the author and many times it feels as if you just went on vacation for a while. 
As in Helene Hanff’s letters, I find myself like Frank Doel looking forward to reading blogs belonging to my favorite people, and discovering new ones.
Thank you for being you. Tommy Dorsey sets the romantic mood of this era. The song for this post is Manhattan Serenade.
What a beautiful post Karen! Thank you for being you too!
What a lovely sentiment, Karen, and you are so right. It is exactly like visiting a different country to visit blogs. I love how we all inhabit unique places in the universe. Isn't it fun???
All of your posts are lovely, and I always come away with a smile on my face.
I'm going to end this by saying the word, Nine, which is code to you. ;-)
Have a lovely weekend. I'll miss you on Pink Saturday. I'll be without computer access for a bit...
XO,
Sheila :-)
Thank you for this lovely, thoughtful post. Now I want to read the book. And there is something mysterious and wonderful about entering in to some one else's world this way. Thank you for sharing yours.
This post is one of the reasons I love blogging. I now have a new book and movie to read and watch. I would never have know of either one without your lovely post Karen.
Hugs,
Penny
I love it too!
My friend insisted that I read it before my trip to London.
I sent it to my 85 year old mother and we refer to it often.
I am doing a series on my top 5 favorite books noww (on my blog) too. So many books so little time!
Awww, you're welcome! And, thank you for all the ways you make Blogdom such a beautiful place. This is the second time this week that I've read about this movie. I really want to see it very much now as you might imagine!
Love your post for today.
Beautiful!
Thank you for sharing the photos in this post...so inspiring.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Hugs, Sharon
What a beautiful post-letter to us - blogger friends. Its lovely - Thank you Karen!
I didn't read 84Charing Cross Road, but movie trailer shows it is a beautiful book and Halene Hanff is a very interesting woman.
Thank you for being you too Karen!
I always admire your talent and your personality!
Have a wonderful weekend!
I do miss the days of letters in the mailbox, they still give me a sense of excitement when I see one! You are right though, when you say blogging is like a letter, we share our daily lives and dreams and accomplishments. Still, I wish there were a way to find these posts in our mailbox.....Karen, I just had a thought. My mother just doesn't use the computer but I could print out each post and send it to her in the mail! Wouldn't she love that! Thank you for this post, it gave me such a great idea:>)!
Wow..this was the best breakfast I could ask for. Lovely.. and a smile in my heart. I so enjoy this.
Great post! I am going to try to find this book, also...I love hand-writing letters, embellishing cards, etc. Computers are not almighty! LOL
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