For a lovely walk along the waterfront, start down in Fairhaven (near Village Books) and head north. You'll end up at Boulevard Park and Taylor Dock! Boulevard Park & Taylor Dock: on the Old Bellingham Waterfront is a history of the efforts it took to see that this area became the beautiful park it is, and not some high-rise development. This is a well-researched and well written book ... not a surprise since the author is Brian L. Griffin, a local author and historian who has written other excellent books about this area. Great pictures, too. :-)

Some time back now, County Reader shared with me my first look at the magazine Mental Floss. Since then I've read other issues, plus a few of the books from it. The most recent one: The Curious Reader: a Literary Miscellany of Novels & Novelists, edited by Erin McCarthy and the team at Mental Floss just might be my favorite! It is a collection about about famous books with short biographies on the author. There are lists of books that influenced them, what they did about writer's block, or how a book differed from the movie. I loved learning where some of the books were written (parks, trains) and which authors loved cats. A great blend of detailed information and trivia.

Reading Hermit With Dog