Thursday, September 16, 2010
My 39th book this year was I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman. The book itself is probably not the best I've read of hers, but I was reminded that I love how she strings her words together, I simply enjoy how she writes, regardless of the storyline.
The afternoon stretched before them, inert yet somehow demanding, like a guest who had shown up with a suitcase full of dirty laundry.
Elizabeth wanted to know what she looked like when no one was looking.
A few lines from the book, there are many more but I'm too lazy to type them out. I enjoy Lippman's Tess Monaghan PI/mystery series, but her writing style, her piecing together of her prose, shines best in her stand alone fiction.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
There's a library across the street from my house, so I finally came to my senses and went in today and got myself a library card.
[Gasp! You don't have a library card!?]
It's probably been about 10 years since I went in to a library or had a card. I love books, so much in fact, that once I was out of school and employed, I could no longer bear to only "borrow" books, I fell into the habit of buying every book I read, of buying books on random subjects that I might've been mildly interested in. There's also the fact that the trusty interweb made it big, so when in earlier years I might have gone to the library to research something, nowadays I can just Google it. Case in point, we own tons of cookbooks, yet when I want a recipe for something specific I usually just find one online, I certainly don't go to the library to look it up.
So a a test run, I checked out 3 books on quilting (yes, I know, very exciting), the lady advised me that there's a 3 month probation period for new card holders and in that 3 months I can only check out 10 items at a time, once the 3 months is up (assuming I haven't taken off with the 10 items, or racked up thousands of dollars in late fees) I will be allowed to take out up to 50 items at a time. 50 items. I do not understand how anyone could need to check out 50 items, which are only in your possession for 21 days, all at the same time, but hey, I haven't had a library card in a while, maybe the times have changed. The librarian also advised me that they subscribe to 3 different quilting magazines (I was unaware that you could even check out magazines), so I guess I really have no excuse to go out and spend money on reference/quilting books or magazines (she says, knowing she ordered 3 used books from abebooks.com a few days ago). If I find a book I love or can't live without I can go buy it, otherwise the library is now my friend again. The exception of course, is that I know I cannot "borrow" fiction from the library, fiction is still something I must possess, even if nowadays most if what I buy is in ebook format.
Postscript: Though I was in a library, I still managed to buy a book - 75 cents for an out of print F. Paul Wilson novel to add to my collection :)
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