I think it’s quite fun to find books left behind by previous guests when visiting cottages and inns or the like. I read these dog-eared editions during our stays and imagine who left them behind. Improvised bookmarks hint at the previous reader’s characteristics or lifestyle.  A grocery list, a store receipt, the glossy corner of a magazine page.

The ultimate discovery is a book with notes in the margins. It’s like passing secret messages in class.

Such a book recently entered my life, not while travelling, but rather via a used bookstore in my community. Their copy of The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence caught my attention. Over the years, I’d seen her name listed among the literary greats and The Stone Angel was a title highly spoken of. So, I bought it.