A woman of a certain age who has three cats underfoot, and has the dream of filling her passport with stamps. Books, classical music, tea, cats, movies, art, fancy needlework, and anything else I can think of.
An abridgement of the Tale of Genji, with about a dozen chapters of the original, translated by Seidensticker. A great way to be introduced to what is considered the first novel ever written, without being intimidated.