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Tuesday, December 24, 2019

What I'm Reading (Or Not)

When I was sick last week, I took these photos of the books on the shelf next to my bed. Mostly I just read World War Z, but it was comforting to know I had plenty to choose from.
Most of these are from the thrift store, which I use as my personal lending library.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter is one of those past-its-sell-by-date bestsellers we get donated in heaps. I brought a copy home thinking I might give it a try. (Haven't yet.)

Some I've already read. I heard about The Salt Path on GZ's blog, I think. It's a travel memoir by a woman who, with her husband, walks England's 630-mile South West Coast Path after her husband is diagnosed with a terminal illness and they become homeless. 
I don't usually like travel memoirs; I started to skip the travel part and look for the personal reflections.  Worth it, though. [Guardian review]
^ Diary of a Bookseller's author Shaun Bythell enjoys portraying himself as a curmudgeon––he shoots a Kindle and mounts it in his  store, ha, ha. I found his book like his bookstore, as he describes it:
damp and chilly, with little natural light.

I still found his reflections on the trade interesting, but the only ray of sun I remember is when a man brings a Latin schoolbook to the counter, pointing out a schoolboy's signature inside--the man's father's. 
The man asks how much the book is, and Bythell gives it to him.

Roger Ebert's book should be called Good Movies. (A Christmas Story has it's charm, but "great"?) I enjoy reading the reviews, which are good.

A customer recommended Wild Trees, and HouseMate recommended Lamb, by "Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" (I am sensing she and I have a different sense of humor). 
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is one of my favorite books, and I reread it every few years. It's been a few--maybe I'll pick that up next.

Poor Frodo--I left him stuck in a marsh somewhere... I submit Lord of the Rings as a good candidate for abridgement.
From Goodwill to Grunge is about thrift stores. Sounds fun, but it's academic, so it's got a lot to prove.

Heh. Never thought I'd be reading books like Fundraising Strategies for nonprofits. But I am. Because it crisscrosses with doing social media for the store.
The psychology of it all is interesting.

2 comments:

  1. I really liked "Diary of a Bookseller" -- but I identified with his style of humor (having some curmudgeonly tendencies myself). I remember liking "The Rosie Project" too, but I don't remember a thing about it.

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  2. STEVE: I'm glad I read Diary--thanks for the rec! I didn't really like the author, but I do think his business is interesting!

    I liked "The Rosie Project" too--this is a follow up, "The Rosie Effect::
    the couple (scientist guy on the spectrum and free-wheeling Rosie) are now married. I haven't read it yet but hope it's a nice time-filler like the other one.

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