There is no such thing as too many books.

librarycrowdedmed

 

… on the shelves and on the tables, on the  floor and on the broad window-sills, were books; they reached the ceiling on the shelves; they wainscoted the walls to the height of several feet all round the room; small volumes were piled on the narrow mantel as far up as they could go without toppling over, and the tables were loaded also. Aisles were kept open leading to the door, to the windows, and to the hearth, where the ragged arm-chair stood, and where there was a small parade-ground of open floor; but everywhere else the printed thoughts held sway.

Anne by Constance Fenimore Woolson

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Discovering a Centuries Old Library

TravelingWithDead

In the end she turned the key but left it in the lock, and stepped cautiously through the door she had opened into what had probably been a dining room but was as large as the ballroom of her aunt’s house in Mayfair. It was lined floor to ceiling with books: goods boxes had been stacked on top of the original ten-foot bookshelves, and planks stretched over windows and doors so that no one square foot of the original paneling showed and the tops of the highest ranks brushed the coffered ceiling. Yellow-backed adventure novels by Conan Doyle and Clifford Ashdown shouldered worn calf saints’ lives, antiquated chemistry texts, Carlyle, Gibbon, de Sade, Balzac, cheap modern reprints of Aeschylus and Plato, Galsworthy, Wilde, Shaw.

Traveling with the Dead (James Asher #2) by Barbara Hambly

 

*****

Need I say that the name Balzac grabbed my attention! There is another great quote from later in the book when one of the vampires says, “We follow families, names, neighborhoods for years, sometimes decades. To us, chains of events are like the lives of Balzac’s characters, or Dickens’. The nights are long.”

I was unfamiliar with the name Clifford Ashdown. Research showed that it is a nom de plume used by Richard Austin Freeman and John James Pitcairn for books on which they collaborated.

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Weekly Update – April 25

ReadingMyLibrary

FangirlI’m currently reading my third library book for April, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. My next library trip will be Tuesday, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to finish another book before May 1.

*   *   *   *   *

This week’s topic:

Share how often you visit your library.

My library use over the last thirty years has been sporadic since I moved way out in the country. The libraries have been small ones. For twenty years, the nearest one was a 45 minute drive and it was only one room in City Hall. But it was actually a good one for me since the librarian enjoyed series mysteries. I wonder if her choices formed my taste for these. It’s possible. Before this I read more science fiction than mysteries. Currently I am much closer to a library, but it has limited hours. Part of the year I visit twice a month, but in the summer, between the heat and not having air conditioning in my vehicle, I probably only visit twice over the course of three months.

How about you? How often to you visit your library?

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Weekly Update – April 18

ReadingMyLibrary

This week I finished Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris, my second library book for April.

Earlier today it was a joy to participate in the #ReadingMyLibrary chat on Twitter. It was hosted by Stefani in conjunction with this Challenge. Samantha, Eden and Leah were the other major attendees.

This week’s topic:

Why you love libraries or why you love being a librarian.

One thing I took away from the #ReadingMyLibrary chat was about audio books. I forget about them and, in fact, don’t even know where they’re located in my local library. It’s great that the catalog is online and so easy to search. I found two audio books of interest to me:

LookingForAudio

Looking for Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky

I watched that old television series from the sixties. It was possibly the first nighttime soap in the US and I was riveted. I must see what this book is about!

WaterAudio

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is the other audio book which caught my eye, possibly because of the movie which I’ve heard of but not seen.

I love librarians because they are so anxious to assist. They’ll show me where to find the audio books in a flash!

 I love libraries. It is always fun to browse when I have the time. Books, books and more books. What’s not to love?

#ReadingMyLibrary Challenge Weekly Update – April 11

ReadingMyLibrary

I just finished the first of three books I checked out last week, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling. Next up are Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris.

This week’s topic:

Books you would like to suggest to your library

Zahi

Most of the books I would suggest that my library purchase are non-fiction. There are several wonderful books by archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass. I was first aware of Dr. Hawass from a television special over a decade ago and over the years have seen him several times on The Discovery Channel. I have two of his books, but they are expensive and not always readily available used.
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