Category: Reading - A Cottage by the Sea

Curbside library pickup

6/18/2020

I picked them up!! My library books. My pickup time was between 10 and 11, and I was there. Every hour the librarians place on a cart the bags* of books for the ten people who scheduled that pickup time. After grabbing mine at 10:30, four bags remained. At the end of the hour any remaining bags will be taken inside and bags for the 11-12 time slot will be brought out. If you miss your appointment, you have to reschedule.
My selection: two mysteries, one non-fiction, one cookbook, and one CD.
* Note the recycled the grocery stores bags.

A bag of books from a friend

6/13/2020

My library is opening for curbside pickup next week. The librarians are in the process of gathering books from my On Hold account. Hopefully on Tuesday I’ll receive an email asking me to schedule a pick up time. Books from the Minuteman Library Network won’t be available, but those owned my library should be ready for me.
With this news, along with the bag of favorite books a friend gathered for me yesterday, I figure I’d better get reading. My first read from the bag has got to be Murder at the Kennedy Center (1989) by Margaret Truman (1924-2008) . I recall my mother commenting that the president’s daughter (of all people) was writing mysteries, and, that she was quite good. I’m sure my mom never read any, nor have I, but it’s time to begin.

Pandemic reading

5/26/2020

My reading habits have shifted a little since this pandemic took over. I can still look across the street and see my personal storehouse of books, but the library is closed. Frequent emails tell of plans to open as soon as it’s safe for librarians and members. No question, curbside is the new way to go, not just for food establishments and retail shops, but also for libraries.
For fiction I’ve settled on three mystery authors: Richard Kent Krueger, Henning Mankell, and Martha Grimes. I rotate, round and round and round, finding the next read in the series from the several book services my library has made available, and occasionally purchasing one on my Kindle.
For non-fiction my ‘reading’ is auditory, via YouTube, Great Courses, podcasts, and T.V. news. However, curling up on the couch with a good mystery, is my pandemic default.

Reading is a constant

7/16/2019

One of the constants in my life is reading. Constant when silence, solitude, and simplicity are interrupted in small or big ways, and constant when all is calm. There is always a book on the table. Of the books i took out the other day on Touch a Truck Day, I’ve read two, discarded two, kept one, and taken out another. For me this is easy joy because I live across from the library. But wherever I might live in town, it would be an easy drive. Not so in the city; carrying five or six books home on public transportation would be a challenge.
Then there is the beautiful truth that libraries are free. I’m aware that my library habit doesn’t support the economy the way that book buying does, but with all these freedoms, I read more .
Retreat into a book and you’ll always have a hold on silence, solitude, and simplicity.

Books and trucks and the library

7/10/2019

What a surprise to see that this is my first post of the month. It’s been busy here at Camp Fisher but now things are back to our usual silent, solitary, and simple routine. July 4th festivities and company have departed. All good. In fact they make this quiet time more precious and appreciated. I definitely like a change of pace.
   Earlier this morning, from our open widows, I could hear the whistle of the little train at Truck Day over at the library. Well, when we took our grandkids it was called “Truck Day,” but now it’s “Touch a Truck Day.”
    I just went over; took a few pictures outside, and a few books from inside--random books from the stacks. New books don’t seem to appeal to me these days. Maybe it’s because the characters are younger than me—younger by many, many years. Maybe I want stories set back when I was younger. Regardless, I wanted a good novel so I pulled a book from the shelf, read the dust cover, and made a choice. I came home with five.
      I’m very grateful for libraries and that I live within hearing and seeing distance of one.

Reading and silence

5/6/2019

I’m still reading, but not with the fevered pitch of a few years ago. I’m up to 23 books on my 2019 Goodreads Challenge, just 57 to read my birthday goal of 80. I’ll get there, and if I don’t, who cares? I don’t, Goodreads doesn’t, and certain you don’t!
At the moment I have four books going:
• The Overstory, by Richard Powers (502 pages of deep reading)
• Power and Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, by Stephen R. Hawkins (reading slowly, chapter by chapter)
• The Book of Dreams, by Nina George (good read at the end of the day)
• Kushner, Inc.: Greed, Ambition, Corruption, by Vicky Ward (the news speaks for itself).

Some books (the last two) I can ready while watching Boston sports teams. Tonight the Sox, Bruins, and Celtics are all paying at the same time, so flipping the channels may slow down my reading. ‘Mute’ will be my setting of choice, which is my little way of staying in solitude.

Librarians' Choice

1/28/2019

Right across the street at the library I’ve discovered a new source of ready-to-read reading selections: the books on the Librarians’ Choice shelf. Librarians and readers have a built in basis for friendship, and what do readers do? They share book suggestions. The shelf is another way of doing this.

Reading, 2018

1/1/2019

Here are the most memorable books that I read in 2018: six nonfiction, seven fiction, listed in alphabetical order by author.
    Choosing is not hard. During the year I highlight any book that I think might make the list, and when I gather them together, there they are.
      I didn’t reach my 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 78 (my age), coming up short by 5. Last year’s goal was 100 and I was 10 over. Why the difference? Maybe I spent more time listening to the news and watching the Red Sox.
     My 79th birthday was two days ago, so I’m picking 80 books to accompany me this year.. I’m not obsessed with reaching the goal, although unlike my age, I do have some control over it.

NONFICTION
• Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court
• Irving, Debby, Waking Up White: Finding Myself in the Story of Race
• Jeffs, Rachel, Breaking Free
• Orlean, Susan, The Library Book
• Smart, Elizabeth, Where There’s Hope
• Stevenson, Bryan, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

FICTION
• Backman, Fredrik, Us Against You
• Carroll, James, The Cloister
• Honeyman, Gail, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
• Olsson, Linda, A Sister in My House
• Picoult, Jodi, Small Great Things
• Shakfak, Elif, Three Daughters of Eve
• Beha, Christopher R., What Happened to Sophie Wilder

Life is good--Wheaties, Vermont and books

8/5/2018

      Oh, the lazy days of summer. A slow pace for this blog. Here’s a little catch up.
     Most important is Wheaties. Thank you thank you to the several friends who have bought me a box or two. For now, the shelves have been replenished, although with the old design. I have not idea what to expect when these are consumed. And, how long will that take? Which gets me wondering how long those little wheat flakes sit in a box—months? Years?
     Last week my husband and I spent two night in Vermont, and this weekend we return for a family reunion. Thankfully the three and a half hour drive is primarily along winding roads through idyllic New England towns.
     Some friends just sent me long lists of books they are reading, so tonight, as I listen to the Red Sox beat the Yankees for the fourth time in a row, I will go on line and see what books I can get from inter-library loan.
     Life is good and for that, I am very grateful.

Simple and profound

7/11/2018

     I’ve had a few days of relative solitude since the active July 4th week. For me, I don’t crave solitude because I need to get away from it all, although that is sometimes an added benefit. I need solitude because it restores me so I can get back into it all. Too much of a good thing, be it time alone or time in community, and it becomes not a good thing.
     What I’ve just written sound simplistic, you might say, and I might agree. Nevertheless, I seem to need to clarify that for myself, and so I do, here in public. Sometime I can’t tell the difference between my simple thoughts and ones that might be profound.
     Back to my reading, both simple and profound.