Three Books from September (2016)

Posted on by Prior...

Someone recently asked me about my favorite book genre and I answered, “I prefer Delancey Place genre.”

Well that means I mostly prefer non-fiction…. 

Anyhow, while on my trip to South Carolina in September I stumbled upon brand new “dollar” books (and you know how it is – can’t pass that up – I mean, I need to help them move along the close-outs….as a courtesy). Anyhow, I narrowed my selection down to six books and then after a realistic shake of the head, I picked only three.

books-3-september

BOOK 1:Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou

I was with my sweet momma and so Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou (2013) was an instant first choice.  This book felt like you were reading someone’s personal notes – with light thoughts, black and white photos, and short chapters – I found I knew a whole lot more about the late great Maya.

maya-pics

 

BOOK 2: Road to Burgundy by Ray Walker

Then, because I was staying in the Paris Room at our friend’s southern home, The Road to Burgundy by Ray Walker (2013) was tightly in my grasp.  This super easy read was all about Walker’s personal adventure of leaving his job and going to France to make high quality wine in Burgundy. I enjoyed this book, which informed as much as it entertained. We learned about his experience with the French culture, adjusting to diverse business aspects, improvising, and chasing his passion and moving his family to a new country. The book is now in the give away bin for someone else to maybe enjoy staying on my shelf to read again sometime.  (This was my favorite book from 2016.)

Here is a sample: 

book-raywalker0 book-raywalker-2

BOOK 3: Everyone Loves You when You’re Dead by Neil Strauss

My last selection was Everyone Loves You when You’re Dead by Neil Strauss (2011).  I have yet to read it, but it looked interesting when I was skimming it. The copyright page says “No names or identifying details have been changed to protect anybody.” In this book, Strauss gives us 228 stories from more than 3,000 articles he had written after interviewing musicians, actors, and artists.  Keep you posted on this one.

Ok, in closing, I need to tell you that today’s post was inspired a blog post I read earlier at O at the Edges (the full post is Here). The O at the Edges post reminded me that there are many of us who have to balance our book collections. This post also really helped me to feel better about the large batch of books I just gathered up to give away (along with saying goodbye to our Keurig – we are done with it. My, my, my – trends come and go – and after loving the Keurig we see that it has sat unused for most of this year – I guess we all prefer our grind-n-brew and the Italian espresso maker).

Anyhow, as I part ways with dozens of books (most were cheap or free) it helps me to think that my donating them might lead to someone else appreciating them right now.  I have some books I will never part ways with, but some of these sweet reads just need to go….  Oh and the next photo shows the three other books I had in my hand, I should have grabbed all six, but I am quite proud of my balance with the three – but here the ones that did not make the cut:

books-not
The 3 books I passed on….

As I wind down the post,

Here is a snippet from Robert’s post Obsession: Books, or, Poetry Finds Me:

“I partnered with a few like-minded friends and opened a store, and when that didn’t work out, started my own home-based book business, which eventually expanded into a small brick-and-mortar shop, a true labor of love. And I mean labor. The forlorn space we rented was cheap and had housed for years a low-end, illicit massage parlor. Cleaning it out was, oh, shall we say interesting? I’ll never forget the furry massage table, the naked lady lamp or the various implements left behind after the joint was finally forced to close. But we hauled out the filthy carpeting, stripped and refinished the hardwood floors, fixed, painted and patched what we could, and hid what we couldn’t. It was exhausting, but well worth the toil.

My work schedule ran from Monday through Sunday, a minimum of eighty hours a week – in a seven-year period, I took off only two long weekends. It consumed me, but in the end I emerged mostly intact, a little more aware of my proclivities, of an unhealthy tendency to immerse myself wholly into an enthusiasm, to the detriment of family and friends. When we sold our store’s wares, I embraced the change; some dreams simply deplete you. But the itch remained.

Just a few weeks ago I found myself perusing an accumulation of books in a storage facility across the street from a junk shop in Llano, Texas, a small county seat an hour’s drive west of my home on the outskirts of Austin. The shop’s owner had purchased an English professor’s estate, and judging by the collection, the professor had specialized in poetry. My first thought was “I want it all,” but reason set in (I could very well imagine my wife’s reaction were I to arrive home with a trailerful of books) so I glanced over the criticism, fiction, drama, essays and biographies, and concentrated on the poetry. In the end I walked away with thirty-one books, including H.D.’s Red Roses for Bronze (Chatto & Windus, 1931), Randall Jarrell’s Little Friend, Little Friend, Elizabeth Bishop’s Collected Poems and Questions of Travel, a brace of Berrymans – His Toy, His Dream, His Rest and Homage to Mistress Bradstreet – both the U.S. and U.K. first editions, which differ – and Love & Fame. A good haul, to say the least, but one that left me only partially satisfied and contemplating a return. But I remain resolute. So far.”  ~ robert okaji

Read the rest Here

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Do you have any books that are special to you from this year?  Is it tough for you to give away books – ?

Well now it is time for me to grab a cup of java and get back to writing the short non-fiction (December 1992) I am working on… little by little… I chip away.

 I hope you have a wonderful day…

fire-1-espresso
coffee maker – Italian

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25 thoughts on “Three Books from September (2016)”

  3. Hi there Yvette, I find it almost impossible to part with books. For that reason I think of my Kindle as one of the most wonderful inventions during my life time – I never have to worry about the lack of space on my bookshelf again!!

    Liked by 3 people

  5. I love your style, Yvette. I listed this post on my A+ Book Review page. With a self-hosted blog, I can’t repost, but I’d love to have your permission to feature this post as my regular Thursday A+ Book Review post next week – giving you and your blog full credit, of course. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Hello Yvette! I find books irresistible too! Although as you might have guessed, I am a bit picky on genre now, tending to read Scandinavian crime fiction and historical fiction more. Libraries are culling their collections and dumping books. That is something I find impossible to do. I always try to give them to a friend, book exchange, thrift shop, or leave them somewhere for a passer by to find logging them at Bookcrossing.com
    Happy reading, Amanda

    Liked by 3 people

  7. I just loooove books and really want to read them ALL! So for me, any topic works, no matter of fiction or non.fiction, although I´ve to admit that I do prefer fiction a bit more 😉 And then there the books you need to read more than once, too… 😉 That´s why I can only part from books I know I won´t read again. But those I give freely away to friends or strangers, so that I can have more space for new ones 😉 Have a lovely day! xxxxxxxxx

    Liked by 2 people

    1. thanks for sharing Miss G – and I totally hear you with the books that we might need to read more than once. I am currently on a third read of a book form he 1990’s and funny how we get so much more from them each time.
      hope you are having a nice month so far!
      xoxo

      Liked by 1 person

  8. I love love love books and I must applaud you for giving them away. I for one can’t give my books away, they land their space upon my bookshelves and have grown day by day. I just can’t face the fact of giving them away.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks for dropping by….
      I have grown in this area – even though right now I grieve about giving away this set of art books about famous artists – it helps that they went to a decent home 🏡 but I miss them just because! Thankfully I have other art books to pour into if I am in the mood – and so my point is that I am still growing in this area !
      I can see why folks keep them tho 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, I don’t know what it is but I can’t face giving them away because if you have them in your personal library then you can always pay a revisit. Once they’re gone they’re gone unless you buy them again.

        Yes keep at it, I remember borrowing a favourite sequel to a neighbour across the street as she loved reading. She never returned my books and I still miss them till this day. It’s been over two years too, but I’ll just have to reinvest in them again I suppose.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Yes – I agree that if they are in our grasp still, we can revisit – and I am actually replacing one of my books that was in a recent pile – just a psychology book (by Santrock) and just want it back. But after giving away HuNdreds of books – grieving over a handful is not too bad.
          Right?
          And once heard that when a book is loaned it should always be with released knowing it might never come back
          –/
          And I hope you get yours replaced ☀️

          Liked by 1 person

        3. I once loaned out a doggie training book to a neighbor – ran into him about 6 years later and after small talk – I mentioned the book and said something like “hey- you never gave me back that dog book” and his reply taught me another lesson. He said he did not know I wanted it back.
          And even if I made it clear to him, people hear what they want – but I did learn to only loan out books I was willing to never see again….

          Liked by 1 person

        4. That’s very true, some know it’s loaned but don’t wish to return it which is sad.
          One key lesson I’ve learnt is never to loan your books to anyone, because as soon as I do, the inner voice screams to tell me you need it back to read this part again or another.

          Liked by 1 person

        5. Well this guy really did think it was a gift – and I think it was less about not wanting to return it – and he actually laughed when I noted I had wanted it back – and so in my experience I think it was more misunderstanding – ya know?
          But simple me – you are a true bibliophile –
          And a great writer and I look forward to following your blog!
          Peace

          Liked by 1 person

        6. Thank you Prior, yes that’s a case too, glad you got your book back though.
          In my case it’ it’s been the opposite sometimes, people just wish to return.

          Thank you Prior, I appreciate your kind words. Likewise, looking forward to reading your blog posts and following you.

          Liked by 1 person

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