After Christmas

This week is going to be a balance of getting ready for class and reading, hopefully some creative stuff and a bit of reorganizing and cleaning.

A was good to get me books that were on either end of my book list - newer additions and ones that are getting dusty from being there so long. Although I am reading Cokie Roberts's Founding Mothers, I just had to begin the long-awaited Mourning Raga, the very last Ellis Peters volume I wanted to acquire. A claims they scoured Charing Cross looking for it but ended up getting it on Amazon. We both feel that Amazon is OK, but the greater charm is browsing and finding a book on a shelf to page through and savor, and greet as a long-awaited friend.

Only one volume for my Robert but he has been fascinated by the possibilities that lie within the pages of Forbidden Legos. ;-)

I think we are going to ship the new bookcase to the kids. I don't think R & I are up to another road trip to Minneapolis right now, and a UPS bill is considerably less pricey than the road trip.

I am already preparing my shopping list to Powells next month. Qualifying items must be used, hard-to-find or tuned to my own book aesthetic. You know what that is - the subject, often the author, the writing style, even the the type and layout and cover (yes, you can judge a book) all contribute to that aesthetic that sense of what you will enjoy.

Fall reads

The Borders sale is coming again, this time without A. :-(
I have just reread Montana 1948. It is spare and beautiful. I can hear his voice, I know the time and faces, the people are just like many I knew as a kid. The values, the accepted roles, the phrasings are familiar. Then as the story is played out you can feel the shock because it is so believable, as safe and ordinary as the lives were - the unthinkable was just below the surface.
(A different kind of storyteller altogether, Hitchcock spun his web of terror by telling stories about ordinary people as well.)

The Borders splurge

A and I don't really need to go to this sale - the Borders spring break sale for educators - 25% off. We can get books cheaper at Amazon, and the selection, obviously is much better. But it is a tradition she and I have shared for nearly 5 years and most likely we will not be able to repeat it, unless I go visit her during spring break.

She was excited and found some books she really wanted. I found an small atlas, inspiration from The Cake Doctor and a Collage Sourcebook and the missing books from a medieval series. Oh yes, and a lovely book by William Zinsser, On Writing Well that I have heard about lately.

We both agree that the DVDs and CDs are overpriced, but we had a great time.

My current read is a bio of Martha Gellhorn, and hopefully I can get through Osa Johnson's I Married Adventure before it is due. I am still listening to Daughters of Britannia. Strong women, indeed!

Audible volumes

I find that I am not listening to books as quickly as I did. But once I get the FM tuner working correctly in my Saturn that should change.
I did not realize that Prose's A Changed Man was supposed to be a satire, but on reflection, yeah I can see that.
I have started a non-fiction work, Daughters of Britannia, It is a look at the lives of the women - wives mostly who accompanied British diplomats and officers at the height of the Empire.

Transformation and evolution

My Robert built me two beautiful mission style oak bookshelves this winter. It is the first time in three years (at least) that books are not stacked on the floor.

I have purchased so many books lately and filled in the holes of collections that my passion for collecting has slowed a bit. I am beginning to look critically at what is on the shelves and to consider a bit of restraint and pruning.

The books on my list tend to be more obscure and expensive so I will buy fewer when A and I go to Borders later for the educator appreciation sale.

I went to Bookaholic yesterday to look for a world atlas - since I am reading a geography primer. The only one they had was not bad - being a National Geographic edition, but I was not prepared to spend 32.50 on a used half-price volume. I was also annoyed because they are evidently overstocked and would only take about a third of the books I brought in to trade. Guess I will see if I can trade online or donate at Christmas.

Current reads: finished L.R. King's Keeping Watch, now reading Why Greenland is an island, Australia is not and Japan is up for grabs, the aforementioned geography primer. In the meantime I need to read the latest Jane Austen mystery before we go to Springfield. A started it and left it behind so I should get it to her. Next in the queue is a bio of Martha Gelhorn.

Great online find: bookcloseouts.com Not as focused as Daedalus or inclusively trashy as Hamilton but some great finds - I spent 35.00 on 7 books - some that were flat hard to find new or used, some surprises. True, you can find a great price on used copies of almost anything through Amazon, but unless there is a pressing need I do not usually go that route.