I would love to have a balcony like that. Not cheesy at all. If I were you, I would not only be reading there, but writing and playing guitar and mediating. I'm very jealous.
I'm working for one of the city councillors for an nearby ward and it's basically canvassing, organizing meet-and-greets and addressing questions and concerns via email. You really meet the strangest people when you're out campaigning. I had an married man proposition me twenty minutes into our discussion about what he wanted the Councillor to do about the traffic in his residential area. It was rather unnerving too, considering he came to the door in his boxers...
Pretty gross.