The Christmas haul, enough to last the first part of the winter (I hope).
One of the good things about Christmas is that if you are lucky like me, you have sons and they give you books. The other good thing is that there’s a week before New Year’s when nothing much happens, giving you plenty of time to read.
As you may be able to see above, this year’s haul was an interesting mix. I haven’t read these yet, but from the titles and book jackets, I’m looking at American history of 100 years ago in Oklahoma, a couple of excursions into the history of scientific discovery (physics in one case and the Mayan civilization in the other), and finally the icing on the cake of books — another escapist yarn about the invincible knight-errant of our time, Jack Reacher.
It’s hard to beat a collection of gifts like these. And it’s my great good fortune that I can settle down — maybe even near the fire — and dig into these treasures.
The drawback of books, if you can call it that, is that once you’ve read them you have to find a place to put them. This can be a challenge when the shelves are already groaning with the offerings of many Christmases past.
But that’s a trifle. It’s nothing compared to the pleasure of cracking open a book for the first time and seeing how — and more important, whether — the author has found a way to hook you in. (hh)
When the words on the page get blurry, you can look into the fire and rest your eyes.
To the next adventure!!!!
The gift of a good page turner is always nice to receive.
My dear Mr. Hering,
we await your book. your biography is certainly worthy of a tome. we look forward to your story.
We solved the problem of what to do with read books by going to e-books. Being a printer for 40 years, I felt a little like a traitor, but we now have hundreds of books without the clutter.
Our home is filled with books and the requisite sagging shelves. It’s all part of making it a home — even with the dust on some of them… :-)
I also received and eclectic group for Christmas:
The Complete Far Side (2017)
(Huge compendium of ALL of Gary Larson’s asingle-panle deliciously perverse humor!)
Grass Roots (2017)
“The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America” (The history of marijuana laws in the USA..)
Thought We Heard the Angels Sing (1943)
“The Complete, Epeic Story of the Ordeal and resuce of Those Who Were With Eddie Rickenbacker on the Plane Lost in the Pacific”
Blood Aces (2014)
“The Wild Ride of Benny Binion. The Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker”
Too many books, too little time… :-)
I also love to read and have many books sitting on shelves. A couple of resources have helped avoid adding to those; regular visits to the Albany Public Library and the monthly book exchange at the YMCA, read them then take them back. This month I picked up three more Jack Reacher novels. When traveling I take my Kindle.
Reached the point in life that we don’t want more “stuff” as gifts. Refrigerator art from the grands is OK. We’ve been gifted with memorabilia dating to 1840. Placing that will be a challenge.
Books are friends. Some given to libraries. Some will puzzle our heirs. A tiny number destroyed because the premise was despicable.
Mom kept many books and craft softbacks for which she spent many thousands.
Bookseller P offered$2 per title for 1pct of the collection. Friends of the Albany Library were only interested in hardbound books. Gave the lot to StV and didn’t look back.
The point is — pick out what you want done so you don’t gift your heirs with an insoluble problem
Happy New Year – enjoy!