Where
would a book blog be without at least one post on (drum roll please)
Books on Books?!
Fahrenheit
451,
by Ray Bradbury. A classic (and the subject of a paper of mine at
WSU for a favorite professor who was also a Bradbury fan). It is the
future and books are not only banned, but burned. The reasons for
this sound eerily familiar (and remember, this was written in 1953):
People
embraced the newest media, the pace of life accelerates. Books are
abridged 'edited' to accommodate a short attention span or because
minority groups protested over the controversial and/or outdated
content so the government decided it was best just to burn the books.
Join Guy Montag as his attitude is changed when he meets an unusual
young woman, and starts reading some of the books he burns.
Dewey
Decimated, by Charles Goodrum. The title made me laugh so I was
delighted when I also liked the book (not always the case, sadly).
It takes place in the Warner-Bok Library, which is a stand in for the
Library of Congress (where Goodrum worked). Since the author is a
research librarian he includes all sorts of behind the scene
information which adds wonderful details to the mystery. Good
characters, too. It is the first of a series.
A
fuzzy memory of a book with a list of books on the inside of
the book jacket sparked a futile google search and then a frantic
email to Terry, who recommended the book to me so many years ago.
Success! She remembered the title! A Gift Upon the Shore, by
M.K. Wren. Whew! I remember two woman, in a post-apocalyptic world,
who were trying to preserve a stash of books (the ones listed on the
book jacket), but that's pretty much it. Sounds like a re-read is in
order. :-)
Although
I have no coffee tables I do have several 'coffee table books' (which
will appear in a blog in the future). Home With Books: How
Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries, by Estelle
Ellis, Caroline Seebohm, and Christopher Simon Sykes however, fits
best here. Wonderful pictures show how those of us who cannot live
without books shelve, display, and organize our books (not one,
decorators on HGTV take notice, by color, or with books removed for
dustables.) (See blog from Feb 25). What sort of furniture to we
put with our books? Cozy chairs? A desk or work table? What sort
of lighting? A most enjoyable book whether you carefully read all
the essays, or just look at the pictures.
It
Takes a Village Books: 30 Years of Building Community, One Book at a
Time by Chuck and Dee Robinson is a story of a journey, that of
creating a wonderful book store and gathering place here in the
Northwest Corner of Washington State. It was a learning experience
for sure! They dealt with issues such as censorship and privacy, met
authors (lots of them!), and presidents, as well as other independent
book owners. I think my favorite bit (or perhaps just the one I
remember as I keyboard this entry) was when the question was asked as
to how to get people coming to the store for events etc., they were
told to have MORE events ... the question was not IF something was
happening that day or evening, but WHAT was happening.
Escape
from Mr Lemoncello's Library was a recommendation from Constant
Reader. This 'tween' book, by Chris Grabenstein, is the story of
twelve 6th graders who have been chosen to spend the night in Mr.
Lemoncello's Library. In the morning, when the doors fail to open,
they have to follow bookish clues and solve puzzles to discover the
escape route. (Among other things, the kids get an introduction to
using the Dewey Decimal system).
In
need of a job, Clay takes the grave-yard shift in a book store that
is open 24 hours a day. There are few customers and the regulars
don't buy so much as exchange books. What are they doing? Mr.
Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robert Sloan is an adventure of
real books, e-readers, computers, a secret society on a quest,
readers, programmers ... all in all a clever and witty
adventure/mystery story.
The
Little Bookstore in Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community,
and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book, by Wendy Welch. Wendy
and her husband, Jack Beck, had always wanted to run a used book
store. When the perfect house came on the market in Big Stone Gap,
Virginia, they pretty much bought it immediately. Learning as they
went along, (you'll laugh a lot), their store 'Tales of the Lonesome
Pine Used Books' grew into a much loved center of the community.
This is a warm and wise memoir, and happy proof that even in the age
of the e-reader a small book store can survive.
Reading
Hermit With Dog
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