A Month of Reading
August 1, 2010

In her column this week, Nicki shares the story of Carol and John, two passionate readers who due to certain circumstances are finding themselves with more time to read than ever before.

Also due to circumstances not altogether dissimilar, I am also facing a time—albeit limited to August—where I will have more time to read. I have no intention of placing expectations upon myself as I do for my Great [Thanksgiving/Memorial Day] Weekend Reads, but on Friday night last I found myself eagerly perusing every single shelf in my bookcases, letting my gaze settle and even rest upon each title for a few moments. I wanted to see the books as individuals, to remember my reading of it or the time I bought it with such feeling as exciting new books bring.

My time off is not voluntary even though it is welcome. It is unpaid. That is not good. It is in fact stressful because I am doing a variety of things to try and make up the loss of income. But having the time to myself, knowing that in thirty days I do have a stable job to go back to, is nice.

So rather than mourn or complain I am choosing to see this as a gift. I plan to spend much of my time reading, though there are other things that are going to take my attention. Bringing in money. Creating new pages for BiblioBuffet. Having breakfast al fresco nearly every day rather than only one or two days a week. Visiting my parents several times. Starting—and maybe finishing this time—the Rosetta Stone jigsaw puzzle, the hardest puzzle in the work. Perhaps even cruising our local independent bookstore, something that hasn’t happened for months.

Already I am nearly finished with The Darkest Jungle, the story of the failed Darien Expedition. Up next, simply because it is immediately underneath my current book on the nightstand is Mencken: An American Iconoclast. I’m looking forward to that as there is much I don’t yet know about this hard-living, no-nonsense journalist, though I know enough to both admire and despise him. After that, it’s hard to say because I don’t feel like making plans for anything. I’ll eat when and what I feel like when I am hungry. I’ll read what and when I feel like mentally dining on. I’ve got the time to go beyond my job and the website, and I intend to give myself the gift of reading for hours on end as Carol and John—and I hope you, on occasion—do.

Upcoming Book Festivals:
One author festival and two book & paper fairs are literary highlights next weekend. First, the Steinbeck Festival celebrates its 30th year with events that begin on August 5 and run through August 8 in Salinas, California. This year’s theme is “Steinbeck: Journeys Around the World.” Normally celebrated just in California’s Central Valley, the theme lends itself perfectly to the world, and for the first time will be celebrated in literary locales throughout the world.

Events in Salinas include talks, tours, film, exhibitions, and visual and performing arts. It’s an amazing number of offerings over the four days so for details I recommend going to the website and looking around. Special events include Cup of Gold: A Wine Journey Through Steinbeck Country; Circumnavigate the Globe Through World Cuisine; The World in Mind (a photographic exhibition); and much more. There are varying levels of ticket prices depending on what you want to do.

Next up is the Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair in Denver, Colorado, opens Friday night August 6 from 5:00-9:00 pm with a special Preview Party. The cost is $10 and includes a free wine tasting, live jazz, a cash bar, and the opportunity to shop early. On Saturday, August 7, the price drops to $5. (The website has a coupon you can print for $2 off; it can only be used once and is limited to one per person.) In addition to the vendors, you’ll find events, speakers, trivia events, and more.

And finally the Granite State Book & Ephemera Fair, now in its sixth year, will be held on Sunday, August 8 in Bedford, New Hampshire. It runs from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; admission cost is $6 for adults; $3 for those aged 12-21, and free for those under the age of 12. In addition to all the exhibitors who will offer rare and unusual books, maps, prints, autographs, broadsides, historical documents, letters, postcards, manuscripts, and more, there will be appraisals for a small charge,

The Pub House:
McSweeney’s began in 1998 as a literary journal edited by Dave Eggers, focusing on works rejected by other magazines. Since then it has gone on to publish quite a few well-known writers and has become one of the most popular literary magazines around.  Their book division has published nearly three dozen books that have won awards and attention.  Four imprints make up this division: Rectangulars is our new fiction series, featuring original works by writers varying wildly in style and subject matter, but all pushing the form forward; Believer Books collects works from some of the magazine’s most popular contributors, and also publishes foreign language books in English for the first time; the Collins Libraryoffers handsome reprints of forgotten classics; and the Irregulars is the humor line offering irregular books of irregular content appearing at irregular intervals. Most of the Irregulars aim to be funny.

I saw The Clock Without a Face at a book festival earlier this year. It was clear that it was something special. It’s a mystery the reader gets to solve that could actually result in finding one or more of the twelve emerald-studded numbers buried in the U.S. The Lunatic at Large was a Victorian novel reprint about Francis Beveridge, resident of Clankwood, home of the “best-bred lunatics in England” who, during one of his escapes, lands by the side of a German noble traveling in a strange land and becomes his tutor to disrupting English customs and entering English society.

Imaging Books & Reading:
These are indeed real books located in a Prague castle. What fascinates me about them is not only their age but the spine designs. Many of the books have flowers, one has a rainbow, another an animals (a cat or dog?), even some berries and leaves. But what do the numbers mean?

Of Interest:
I received an e-mail earlier this week from Daira Vega, a freelance community organizer in New York. In partnership with AARP and OATS, she is working to bring technology classes to senior community centers. Her role is as liason between the seniors and the Create the Good program for AARP.

Her current project is with Casa Boricua in the south Bronx section of New York City. This particular area is very low in financial and other resources because the city resources often do not reach here. Nevertheless, the Casa Boricua seniors, mostly of Hispanic and African American heritage, are working hard to modernize and repair their center. One of the greatest desires is for a library where they can share their love of reading, have authors come in and speak, and show films. What are they looking for? Donations of books—large print are especially welcome—and bookcases that they can use to line the walls. Other ideas would be carpentry help to build some bookcases, or donations that could be used to help build the center’s library. (The latter would not be tax deductible.)

The planning is in the works now. You can obtain more information by contact Daira at Dairav [at] netzero.com or the center at . Please help if you can. Even a small amount will make a big difference to their goal of having the library in place before winter. What could be better on those cold days than having a warm library with books and fellow book lovers sharing it?

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren