Since my post on April 6, I haven’t been able to really concentrate on a book. I read Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise, which turned out to be Christian fiction, a genre I have not read before. It was fine…not so preachy but more about trusting God and being in community. Feisty, quirky characters, each with a secret.
Then, I stalled out. Some of it certainly has to do with the it being Spring…there is a TON of gardening to do. I am tackling a huge flower garden space and trying to help my husband with the vegetable farming as well. I did listen to The Camel Club, the first book in Baldacci’s series. I also listened to Messenger of Truth on my recent trip to Baltimore.
I visited The Book Escape, the book store on Federal Hill that I visited last year. This year, I snapped a picture. And found some interesting books, too:
- Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner
- Lyra’s Oxford, Philip Pullman
- Building a Bridge to the 18th Century, Neil Postman
- The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
- Innocent Traitor, Alison Weir
It’s a great place to browse with treasures on every shelf. And it’s that experience–browsing a bookstore–that digital editions cannot replace. Scanning the shelves, taking in titles and authors, reaching up for a volume, skimming the book jacket, flipping through the pages. Thinking about authors and series and then seeking them out. No search function here and that’s a good thing since the pursuit may provide an interesting diversion. The goal of bookstore browsing is not always to find the exact book but instead to find a book. I had no intention of buying any of these books; instead, I found them, intrigued by titles or author names. I’ve got rural writing on my mind and have been dabbling in Ivan Doig and Wendell Berry. So, Stegner seemed a natural choice. And a serious one, compared to my more recent reading.
So, after nearly a month of just dabbling in books but not getting into anything, I picked up Baldacci’s Stone Cold last night and finished it about an hour ago. My first full book in some time…and it didn’t last long enough to really answer the what next question? It was a quick reading fix but still leaves me wondering where I want to head with my reading. I have several of Ivan Doig’s books in both analog and digital format, ditto for Berry. They would be a good fit with our current agricultural undertaking.
Or I could take the easy road and finish off the Camel Club series…
