Welcome, Overnight Visitors

One of my early morning routines is to check on this blog at Sitemeter. I am alerted if anything has gone wrong or right in the night. Also, I can see in a general sense who has been reading the posts while I slept. What I particularly like about the early morning list is its international flavor. This morning's list has a really good mix of visitors from around the globe.

Here are a few overnight highlights:

Someone in Bulgaria read my review of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah.

Someone in the Philippines read about the Thomas Ford library staff tour of the Marion E. Wade Center, a special library focusing on C. S. Lewis and his friends.

Someone in Switzerland read my review of A Country Year by Sue Hubbell.

Someone in New Zealand read my review of An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina.

Someone in Australia read my review of the 6th edition of Genreflecting by Diana Tixier Herald.

Someone in Belarus read about the new Saturday edition of the Chicago Tribune Books Section.

Someone in Hong Kong read my review of The Good Women of China by Xinran.

Someone in Turkey came to the blog's main page.

Americans are often criticized for being ignorant of the rest of the world. We sometimes fear people from other countries who we assume have different beliefs and values and want to keep them away from us. We really do not know what interests them. What I think my overnight visitors show is that we have much in common. We are all reading.

It is time to look beyond our nationalities and consider ourselves citizens of the world. It is easy when we go out via the Internet. It is also time to share some more good books. Everyone is invited to read.