I went to the library today all by my lonesome. Such bliss. I got to peruse the new release, take my time browsing through the books, and I even spent some time up in the children’s section picking out books on trains for Simon. (All the Thomas fervor in my house has translated into, “Mama knows nothing about how trains work.” So I am trying to remedy the dearth of train info in the house.)
In the new releases section, I scored Myla Goldberg’s Wickett’s Remedy; in the interest of reading something fairly light out of concern for my sleep-deprived brain, I picked up a book called The Thing about Jane Spring. Jane Spring is about a successful, aggressive, and somewhat hardhearted attorney who can’t seem to get and keep a man, so she takes Doris Day as her role model because “Doris always gets the man.” She reinvents herself in the pastel and puffy image of Doris Day, complete with sunshine-yellow apartment, pink suits, platinum coif, and whispery voice. So far it’s light and very entertaining. It reminds me a bit of Elinor Lipman’s The Pursuit of Alice Thrift but I like Jane a whole lot more than I liked Alice.
I also bought three books -- for a buck-fifty. (My library sells its weeded-out books. I’ve gotten a lot of good stuff that way.)
The Jump-Off Creek – Molly Gloss. I have had Gloss’s Wild Life on my to-read list for ages. So I thought it couldn’t hurt to check out her other stuff.
Letters from Side Lake: A Chronicle of Life in the North Woods – Peter Leschak. No idea why. I just liked the blurb on the back: “…capture[s] vividly the great pleasures and rugged hardships that form the very heart of wilderness living.” I would have made a lousy pioneer woman (“What do you mean there’s no indoor plumbing and I have to haul cold water from the well to wash? And it’s not my damn job to keep track of *your* horse harness or *your* sunbonnet!”), but it amuses me to read books about the pioneering life.
Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman – Alice Steinbach. This book seems to be in the same vein as another book I read recently, really enjoyed, and which made me think about things I may not have otherwise, Joan Anderson’s A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman. Steinbach says, “I had fallen into the habit…of defining myself in terms of who I was to other people and what they expected of me.” Her travels around the world help her explore who she is and what she wants for herself from life.
Two nights ago I picked up Lisa Jewell’s One Hit Wonder. I read Ralph’s Party a while ago – on my maternity leave for Si, actually – and it was a good novel – at first glance, merely “chick lit” but upon actual reading, a decent book with great characters and not as predictable as you’d think. OHW is the same – I read half the book in one sitting and will finish it up after I finish Jane Spring.
Two recent requests from the library, although there are multiple holds on both of them so it may be some time before I get my hands on them:
What Do You Do All Day? Amy Scheibe
Everyone Into the Pool - Beth Lisick
Unfortunately there are enough other people in this town who also keep up on the latest literary trends and new releases, so I am way down on the list for one, and 2 of 3 holds for the other. The last book I had to wait this long for was Confessions of a Slacker Mom which I never actually got, and got sick of waiting for especially after Gina told me it wasn’t even that good.
6 comments:
Does your library take things off their shelves that don't get checked out? This book I like, Belwether, has a subplot in it about how this woman goes to the library to check out classics just so they won't get pulled.
The Big Deal Annual Library Sale has been shoved back due to Hurricane Wilma. Which is annoying on, like, 17 different levels.
-Joke, clearly annoyed
Was your title up there from Toy Story?
Ah, going to the library alone - true bliss.
gina - yeah, toy story 2. from the outtakes at the end. it's my fav quote from those movies.
david - i dpn't know how they decide to weed but they most definitely do weed.
We weed based on circs - if a section starts overflowing, we run a list from the past 2 years or 18 months or a year, depending on how crowded it is. Classics generally get saved, ratty editions tossed in the sale, lame dated items tossed in the sale...
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