... So Little Time

One of many stacks or shelves of books I want to read or that I have started but have yet to finish. If only I could manage to not add a new book until I'd finished one I already had. I've yet to learn to plan my reading around public libraries; I do not like the prospect of waiting a year for a book to get to my name in the queue. And I am not the prolific reader that older son is. He reads while walking down the street and would, if he could, read while running. (Do not point him in the direction of a treadmill, please.) I justify my stacks and shelves by reminding myself that there are worse or more expensive habits to have than collecting books.

All Too Familiar

Some people brought their kids to the protest on Monday, and this one reminded me of all the times I spent reading at adult events as well as all the time my own kids spent doing just that. I have a hard time understanding why some people do not read for pleasure. How narrow their worlds must be!

Into the Trap

Meet Gizmo, store corgi at Blue Whale Books, one of many used-book stores here. It never fails. We go in to pet Gizmo, and we buy books. You'd almost think they'd planned it that way when, in fact, we need no excuse to enter such a store and make a purchase. Petting the corgi is just a fringe benefit.

And Now for Something Completely Different

I don't have a good track record of supporting presidential candidates early on. Yeah, I backed John Edwards for a while, and Bill Bradley. I still think Bradley would have been a good president, which is why his new book is in the reading queue after the one I showed yesterday. Culture shock? Yeah, after the Bloggess, it will be.

Probably Not the Next Best Seller

As the cover notes, this is the limited spring edition ... catalog. Older son thinks he got this because, after ordering quite a quantity of firearm accessories and ammunition from Cabela's, he joined their affinity program. I'm not sure we'll be able to bring ourselves to simply recycling this. I may have to confiscate it for use in some sort of creative enterprise that will pay tribute to just what an awesome catalog this is.

Going Viking

What I'm reading right now, the sixth of Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Tales." It has swords and actually uses the phrase "go Viking," so what's not to like there. I think what I like about historical novels is that they make things seem so much simpler in the past. One's social class defined the attainable possibilities; there were not a lot of options from which to choose. It was often a good day to die for a warrior. Life or death. Success or failure. Simpler, at least in a way.

And What Have You Done Today?

Today I have entered a photo in a National Geographic contest looking for photos that convey the essence of Montana and finished putting together these quilt blocks made of seven years of Odyssey of the Mind/Destination Imagination t-shirts. I am also making progress in Jo Nesbo's The Devil's Star and managed 45 minutes skiing to nowhere before dashing into town for a hair appointment that wasn't. I'd rest on my laurels and finish the book, but if it's Tuesday, it must be karate this evening.

Hmm?

Chinese food on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eves is another family tradition; this was my fortune from last night's dinner. Perhaps this is not the time to say that my Christmas presents included an unsuccessful attempt by the sons to purchase one of the guns sold after my dad's death. Let's just say that if I encounter the problem of having too much free time, I have several new books, fiction and crafty, and several new yarns with which to fill it. And a new gun, a near duplicate of the one that was Dad's favorite.

Falling into the Pages

I get in severe reading moods, when that is what fills every free moment. I started The Fifth Woman yesterday while donating platelets and finished it this morning. Now I've started One Step Behind looking forward to tomorrow morning's wheel alignment. Nordic mystery has sucked me in yet again.

You Expected Fiber Maybe?

Yes, today was my day to work at the Fall Fiber Festival. I came home, though, to the book I've been waiting for. I can't remember why I started following its author on Twitter, but when she posted the first 78 pages of this online recently, I read the first two and was hooked into pre-ordering. Its retrieval from the mailbox was greeted with squeals of glee. I shall now try to save it for the three flights I will take a week from tomorrow to get from Richmond, VA to Great Falls, MT.

Old Friends

I am organizing bookshelves. Knowing that we have more books by Edith Pargeter (aka Ellis Peters), I went to the garage in search of them. If I had had my camera in hand, today's photo would be of the horror variety, the horror that is the upstairs of the garage. Some people have a junk drawer. We have a second story to the garage.

Works in Progress

It only takes a day to build a bookcase but more than a week to fill it. Then, once all the bookcases are up and filled, comes the organizational step. I'm so not looking forward to that even with the help of librarything.com.

Booking It

Two new bookcases in the library-to-be will not be enough to clear the upstairs of the garage of all the boxed books it contains. It's a start, though.

It Was Free Margarita Night, Too, Yesterday

A mere smidgen of the books at Capitol Hill Books in Washington, DC. This is but a small, small, SMALL part of the second floor; there is also a basement and a ground floor. One must navigate oh so carefully around corners and between shelves because there are books piled everywhere, beside bookcases, atop bookcases, in between wall studs, everywhere. While I came away with two books, I chose not to participate in Free Margarita Night, faced as I was with a several-hour drive home late at night.

Happy Birthday, Jean!

My kids want me to be more of a badass. What more can I say than that the item between the books is a 50-round magazine for Miss Timmi, my second rifle. I never thought I'd be a gun owner, but I am and actually enjoy shooting, but only at targets.