As someone who has lots of paper in the house (stacks of books, stacks of magazines), and someone who lives in a very old and somewhat creaky house, I have discovered that I am having a small pest problem. Silverfish. Eeew. I hate to admit this--honestly, I am a very clean and neat person. I bought these little traps and thought I had taken care of the problem, but alas, last night I spotted one. They are not gone as I had hoped (I have only seen them in two rooms thankfully--not all over the house). I suspect the combination of very hot and humid weather, access to lovely books and magazines that are glued, and an old house where there are lots of loose baseboards and the like has made my humble abode highly attractive to them. Unfortunately I simply cannot allow unwanted guests who eat my books to reside with me. I also just discovered that they are fond of linen, cotton and silk. That would be most of my needlework fabric and floss, not to mention the paper charts. Ack. Has anyone had this problem before? Short of moving to a new house that has no discernible crevices, how can I get rid of them? I'm afraid to use chemicals as I have two cats. They are truly the creepiest things....and sorry to say this...but they glide along really FAST. I am happy to say, however, I was the victor last night. There is one less silverfish in the world to destroy books. Needless to say those stacks of unread magazines are going to have to go to the recycle bin, and I am going to have to organize any other loose papers. But what to do about the books?? My book stacks must be an utter smorgasbord to them (though honestly I haven't noticed any obvious problems with pages or bindings--still they must be feasting).
By the way...the humidity (or whatever the reason) has also invited pests to eat my petunias. This happens every year. I didn't buy any this year in the hopes of avoiding the problem (I bought other flowers that are also waning--I am so not a gardener, which is a pity as I love flowers), but my mom gave me two pots of them that she bought cheap. I haven't been able to avoid those dreaded bugs after all. So much for having something pretty on my porch to look at--half eaten or wilted/burned out flowers!
Now that I have sufficiently given you the creepy crawlies, let me at least mention a few books. I have been quite tempted lately by some books that have come across my desk at work. I know I can't possibly borrow them now, but I can at least write down titles:
- An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege by Heidi Ardizzone. (What initially made me pick up this book was the fact that Belle da Costa was asked by J.P. Morgan to organize his rare book and manuscript collection. That must have been a lovely library. This sounds like an interesting biography of a quite interesting woman!)
- Consequences by Penelope Lively. (It is a multigenerational love story, which begins in a London park in 1935 according to Publishers Weekly).
- Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana by Janet Gleeson. (I came very close to buying this at the bookstore a while back--I loved the biography of her sister Georgiana).
We also have finally gotten in a copy of On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I do have a copy of this at home from the public library, but as it will need to go back soon, and I haven't read it (I am glad I won't have to get back in line for it as it is sitting happily up in the stacks). I am also waiting to see a copy of Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie come in (this year's Orange Prize winner) that I requested be added to our collection. A lot/most of what we get is very academic (and looks dry and boring), so it is always nice to see fun and interesting things come in as well--and only occasionally do you need to wait in line for a book!