sister/sister

I stopped by my beloved Peet's on Larchmont on Wednesday night to drop something off. First visit since I got back from vacation and all was well. On my way out I noticed two elder women sitting at one of the tables, reading books. One of them had her book perched on a silver wire book prop.

Turns out they were sisters! Emma, the oldest one and the same one with the book prop, is reading The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin. It was recommended to her by her sister who insisted that she read it, too. Emma had just started the book so her sister, Otilia, proceeded to describe the book to me. It's about a Turkish man in Venice trying to locate a painting by Bellini. It's a mystery and several murders take place. "Nobody wants the painting to be found and taken out of Italy so anyone who dares to find it pays with their life." They are not even sure of the painting even exists now but this man is determined to find out.

The sisters love this book because it is set in Venice. "We love reading about books that take place in Europe. We love to travel so it's nice to read about places we've been to. You start to remember the plazas, neighbourhoods, cafes, and museums. And if we've never been to a place it gives us an idea of where we want to travel next. For example, if a Count visits a certain museum or house I will make a note to visit it when I'm in that part of the world."

Emma and Otilia also enjoy mysteries, history, and biographies. "I like to read about the Kings and Queens" Emma tells me. "I especially love reading about Queens Victoria and Elizabeth. Spanish and Italian history are also some of my favourites. We also like to read about art." They even mentioned reading a number of foreign operas. These ladies are classy!



A friend of theirs recommended this book to them. He had seen it at the library and he knows both of their reading tastes so he picked them up a copy. Plus, it revolves around Italy and Turkey, talks about history and art, and is a mystery. All their favourites rolled into one.

This same friend also recommended Otilia's book, Mozart's Sister, since he thought she would enjoy it. Otilia was intrigued to read this book since it's a novel about Mozart's sister. "Few people knew about her. She was actually quite a talented musician herself."



Both Emma and Otilia live together in a home in Larchmont and often come to Peet's just to read. Both sisters agree that Peet's is an absolute treat. "Oh, we come here all the time because everyone is so nice! The customers are so friendly and the people who work here are so personable." Reading in a coffee shop suits them fine and isn't distracting at all. "I tune out any commotion, if any. And I really love that they play classical music here." They especially love coming on Sunday afternoons. Otilia shifts her body and points at that glass window. "If you face toward the window you can also see the most adorable dogs walking around the neighbourhood! Oh, they are so cute. We love them so." A.DO.RA.BLE! I wanted to hug them even more at that moment. They are just like me, scoping out all the dogs....and hip, young fathers.

I spent a good amount of time just listening to all their amazing book recommendations. They even started telling me about (Downtown) Los Angeles back in the day since I told them I had been reading a few books around this ol' city, particularly Dowtown. I will save all that for another post. They seriously read a lot. Otilia told me that Emma has over 170 books at home. "I recommend so many books for her to read and she's asked me to slow down since she still has so many to get to." I told them I was the same way. I buy/procure so many books thus I have a long line of books aching to be read. I need to read quicker.