Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Bookalicious!

We forgot to tell the dog his birthday isn't until May Zilla helps unwrap But how could we spoil it for such a happy face? Hey, another book! My Bookman says buying me presents is hard. I tell him all he has to do is open my computer's wishlist file. He says he has to find me books I will not expect. So here is a happy list of the unexpected:

  • The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New by Margot Rosenberg and Bern Marcowitz. This little gem talks about how to care for the books you own, how to repair hurt books, how to house and handle your books, and some general reflections on book collecting, borrowing and lending, and assorted miscellany.
  • The Burning Time by Robin Morgan. This is a novel about the Inquisition and witch burning in Ireland.
  • Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather by Gao Xingjian. A book of short stories by the Nobel Prize winning author. I've not read any of his writing before so this is new and exciting.
  • In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker. The first book in a series. The book takes place in a future time when agents for The Company are sent back in time to collect and preserve works of art, extinct life forms and various other treasures.
  • Wodehouse, A Life by Robert McCrum. I have not read Wodehouse but have been talking about it for some time. I do like biographies of literary folks though and with chapter titles like "The hors d'oeuvre in Fate's banquet" and "I Made an Ass of Myself," it promises to be good.
  • Anna of All the Russians: A LIfe of Anna Akhmatova by Elaine Feinstein. Another literary biography, but this time I have read Akhmatova. She is one of my favorite poets.
  • Tunneling by Beth Bosworth. This is a novel about a 12 year old girl who time travels with a superhero called S-Man to rescue history's great literary geniuses.
  • Migration by W.S. Merwin. I've not read much of Merwin, just a poem here and a poem there. A whole book will be a treat!
  • The Compleat Cast of Characters in Literature. Clarissa Harlowe is sadly absent, that's why the book is "Compleat" and not "Complete." Still, there are over 8,000 entries so chances are good when the memory starts to go and I can't recall who Miss Havisham is, this book will come in handy.
Quite a nice pile to add to my pile. There were no socks hiding amongst the books. There was, however a CD: The Essential Barry Manilow. Yes, I am a dork, but I love this guy. If you can resist tapping your toes to Copacabana or crooning along out of tune to I Write the Songs then there's something wrong with you. Oh wait. Maybe there's something wrong with me for knowing all the words to Mandy.