A Work in Progress

A Little Taste: Traveling with Pomegranates

When perusing bookstore shelves have you ever skimmed over the same book many times, maybe edged it out to take a glance but then edged it back in thinking it wasn't for you?  Return trips and you do the same thing.  Edge out and edge it back in.  Oh yeah, that book.  Nope.  Then much later you see it again, maybe facing out, and take a closer look and think . . . maybe.  

I say it all the time, and I guess I'm right.  Timing is everything.  Used books would have been a no-no when I was working in an indie bookshop.  Now I buy almost more used books than new and have a soft spot for them (especially when I find some little piece of ephemera inside).  And stories?  Books with older protagonists for example, I would have never given a second thought about reading.  Now I seek them out.  As a matter of fact, while I still don't really feel my age (not mentally but maybe just sometimes a tad bit physically), I find myself being more open to books about getting older.  

So I cannot tell you how many times my eyes have slipped over Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor's travelogue/memoir Traveling with Pomegranates.  Subtitled "A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacre Places of Greece, Turkey, and France."  I think what was off putting, maybe aside from a coauthored work, was the idea of the idea of a midlife quest.  To be honest, now, that is why I so eagerly revisited the thought of actually pulling the book from the shelf.  And sacred paces probably did nothing to really endear me to the subject matter (not being 'religious'), that appealed even more.

Aside from the fact that I definitely need a good nonfiction to get me back on track with my nonfiction reading (and someone, please, help me with a good classic--why can't I Finish any of the classics I pick up and start?), all of a sudden I am feeling drawn to books about how to deal with getting older, about getting rid of all the extraneous and unimportant details and finding the important things that matter, about possibly reinventing myself, about getting back on the right path in life (but then wondering if I ever had found it to begin with).  I know that is a lot to ask for in a book, but if someone has already been asking and writing about these questions, I am happy to explore their answers.  Maybe it will give me some inspiration.

Last weekend when I was at the bookstore, once again my eyes flicked past this book and then returned and I snapped it up.  I started reading the first pages and they resonated with me so it was an easy sell after all that.  All those many other times I had not even considered it.  

Sue and her daughter Ann have written the book together but in alternating chapters.  I bought it more for Sue's voice, as a woman nearing fifty who decides to travel to sacred places in Greece, Turkey and France.  It is her story I want to know.  At first when I got to Ann's chapter, I felt a little disappointed.  A mother-daughter book, I thought.  That's fine, but I am not a mother.  And it has been a long time since I was a not much over twenty-year-old student with my life ahead of me.  My own path diverges so much from what is expected of women, or what so many women want and/or choose.  But I am a daughter even now.  And the more I read the more I appreciate Ann's voice as much as Sue's.  It may well have been a long time ago, but I still understand and remember some of those youthful worries that she is encountering.  

There is all kinds of interesting things in this book--not least the references to mythology, which I love.  And if these stories, these myths do not go a long way to explaining emotions and feelings and expectations, nothing else does either.  But this is one of the excerpts which made want to keep reading.  Sue begins by writing about a journal she bought that would describe the bucket list that so many subscribe to.

" . . . I began to write about becoming an older woman and the trepidation it stirred.  The small, telling 'betrayals' of my body.  The stalled, eerie stillness in my writing, accompanied by an ache for some unlived destiny.  I wrote about the raw, unsettled feelings coursing through me, the need to divest and relocate, the urge to radically simplify and distill life into a new, unknown meaning .  And why, I asked myself, had I begun to think for the first time about my own mortality?  Some days, the thought of dying gouged into my heart to the point I filled up with tears at the sight of the small, ordinary things I would miss."

"Finally, I wrote a series of questions: Is there an odyssey the female longs to make at the approach of fifty--one has been blurred and lost within a culture awesomely alienated from soul?  If so, what sort of journey would that be?  Where would it take me?"

"The impulse to go to Greece emerged out of those questions.  It seized me before I got back to the minuscule apartment.  Greece. That would be the portal.  I would make a pilgrimage in search of an initiation."

I'm intrigued by her questions and her journey.  I wish I could make such a pilgrimage, but maybe I can find some inspiration in the pages of this book, reading about her own quest.  I might not find answers to my own questions, but at least I can see I am not alone in the search.

In Search of . . . Chicago Information

I am in search of information of a different kind today and I am hoping some reader who stops by might be able to help me.  I am contemplating (fingers crossed) taking a much needed mini vacation to Chicago.  It is relatively close to where I live but far enough away to offer a nice change of scenery and lots of good distractions.  I would likely be going for only about three days and it might be over the Thanksgiving holiday, too.  Aside from just having a good break, going to bookstores and coffee shops, I want to spend some time in Chicago's museums (in particular the Art Institute and the Museum of Contemporary Art), so I am hoping to find a nice place to stay that is close by so I can easily walk to them or take public transportation. 

Is anyone either a Chicagoan or familiar with the city who could offer a little travel advice?  As a solo traveler I want to feel safe and be able to navigate the city (or the parts I will be exploring) easily.  Also, any bookshops, coffee shops or eateries (vegetarian preferably) that are worth searching out would be most helpful.

First a few logistics to see if this is doable.  And then, of course, reading material to prep for my little tour will be needed later.  It has been so long since I have been away that even thinking that I might be able to plan something has me giddy with anticipation.

My Summer 'Wintering' Down Under

My summer 'bookcation' reveal was meant to happen on Friday, but time just got away from me and here we are starting a new week (and yikes mid-May already, why is time going so quickly?).  That's okay, my summer literary travels are meant to be leisurely and enjoyable.  I bet you can guess now where I plan on spending much of my reading time . . .  I am off to Australia.  Actually a few current reads already have taken me there, so it seems very fitting to make it my summer destination.  Besides we are gearing up for the heat of summer (already too warm here), while in Australia they are looking forward to fall and winter, so it sounds especially appealing to me at the moment. 

First a few additions to my reading pile that (in one case was just pure serendipity) have taken me Down Under.  Since Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden is my May prompt book and is set in part in Brisbane that is where my inspiration came from.  I have loads of books by Australian authors and I always mean to read more of them, so maybe I can get through a few of these this summer. 

When I decided it was going to be Australia as my destination I picked up a book that just came in the mail that I ordered by chance, Mary-Rose MacColl's Swimming Home set in 1920s London and New York but with Australian characters and by an Australian author.  I am hoping that there will be bits set in Australia, too.  The story is about a young woman who sets out to be the first woman to swim the English Channel.

And I am counting this as a modern classic, a novel I have owned for a very long time but been a little afraid to read . . . Nevil Shute's A Town Like Alice.  It is the blurb, which describes the story as a young woman who survives the Japanese "death march" in WWII that has always made me hesitant to read it.  I have to get over this 'fear' of reading about difficult moments in history as I think I am missing out on some very good reads.  I have a mass market paperback of the novel but my library also has it for loan as an ebook, so I loaded it on my tablet, too, for something to read on the go or at the gym.  I have to say I started it last week out of curiosity and I am finding it totally gripping, so that was also a reason I had to pick Australia. 

I have one or two other books by Shute that might be potential reads if I can find them in my piles of books . . . though as you see in the photo I have far more books at the ready than I know I will manage to read.  And a few other books that didn't make the photo, yet have since been added to the reading pile.  In no particular order:

Monkey Grip, Helen Garner -- "Inner-suburban Melbourne in the 1970s- a world of communal living, drugs, music and love. In this acclaimed first novel, Helen Garner captures the fluid relationships of a community of friends who are living and loving in new ways."

Picnic at Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsay -- "It was a cloudless summer day in the year 1900. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of the secluded volcanic outcropping. Farther, higher, until at last they disappeared. They never returned. . . ."

A Few Days in the Country & Other Stories, Joan Harrower -- "These finely turned pieces range from caustic  satires to gentler explorations of friendship."

Desert Places, Robyn Davis -- Hmm.  Didn't realize this is about her travels in India, so may have to replace this with Tracks!  "Robyn Davidson's opens the memoir of her perilous journey across 1,700 miles of hostile Australian desert to the sea with only four camels and a dog for company."

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan -- Booker Prize winner in 2014 -- "Moving deftly from a Japanese POW camp to present-day Australia, from the experiences of Dorrigo Evans and his fellow prisoners to that of the Japanese guards, this savagely beautiful novel tells a story of the many forms of love and death, of war and truth, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost."

The Secret River, Kate Grenville -- Orange Prize winner in 2006.  "In 1806 William Thornhill, an illiterate English bargeman and a man of quick temper but deep compassion, steals a load of wood and, as a part of his lenient sentence, is deported, along with his beloved wife, Sal, to the New South Wales colony in what would become Australia. The Secret River is the tale of William and Sal’s deep love for their small, exotic corner of the new world, and William’s gradual realization that if he wants to make a home for his family, he must forcibly take the land from the people who came before him."

The Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood -- Stella Prize winner in 2016.  "Wood’s dystopian tale about a group of young women held prisoner in the Australian desert is a prescient feminist fable for our times."

The Golden Age, Joan London -- Prime Minister's Literary Award winner in 2015.  "Frank Gold’s family, Hungarian jews, flee the perils of World War II for the safety of Australia, but not long after their arrival, thirteen-year-old Frank is diagnosed with polio. He is sent to a sprawling children’s hospital called The Golden Age, where he meets Elsa, the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, a girl who radiates pure light. Frank and Elsa fall in love, fueling one another’s rehabilitation, facing the perils of illness and adolescence hand in hand, and scandalizing the prudish staff of The Golden Age."

My Brilliant Career (omnibus edition) & My Career Goes Bung, Miles Franklin -- "Miles Franklin began the candid, passionate, and contrary My Brilliant Career when she was only sixteen, intending it to be the Australian answer to Jane Eyre. But the book she produced-a thinly veiled autobiographical novel about a young girl hungering for life and love in the outback-so scandalized her country upon its appearance in 1901 that she insisted it not be published again until ten years after her death."

Lantana Lane, Eleanor Dark (VMC) -- "From Aunt Isabelle, part-pioneer, part-Parisienne, to Nelson the one-eyed kookaburra bird, each of the Lane's inhabitants makes their own inimitable contribution to this engaging and witty portrait of community life."

The Little Company, Eleanor Dark (VMC) -- "It is 1941 and the storm clouds of war gather over Australia. In the mountains outside Sydney the Massey family are reunited by their father's death. Gilbert is a successful novelist, struggling with writer's block in middle age. A socialist and intellectual, he shares his political understanding - and fears - with his sister Marty and brother Nick. But he is locked in an unhappy marriage with a woman of little imagination and obsessive respectability, and their daughters, Prue and Virginia, are as incompatible as their parents. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, war becomes a reality. As Gilbert and his family are overtaken by the forces of history, they must come to terms with their personal and public failures, and watch as the new generation inevitably mirrors the contradictions and turmoil of the old."

A Hank of Hair: An Exquisite Danse Macabre, Charlotte Jay -- "For I prefer beauty always a little soured. When it comes to me as a spoonful of syrup, I spit it out. Gilbert Hand hasn't been the same since his wife died. He's moved to a dull but respectable hotel where silence seems to brood in the hall and stairway. In a secret drawer he discovers a long, thick hank of human hair, and his world narrows down to two people-himself and the murderer."

Who Are You, Linda Condrick, Patricia Carlon -- "The contentious relatives living on the remote Forst sheep station are united against an interloper from Sydney who was hired to nurse old Mrs. Forst in her last illness. Now the heir, Gregory Forst, has become engaged to marry her and the others fear that they will be turned out of the valley. A bushfire rages, threatening all of their homesteads. And then, the charred body of a swagman is found. How did he die? Could he have been murdered? By the outsider, the nurse? Who, really, is Linda Condrick?"

Flying Too High: A Phyrne Fisher Mystery, Kerry Greenwood -- "Walking the wings of a Tiger Moth plane in full flight would be more than enough excitement for most people, but not for Phryne―amateur detective and woman of mystery, as delectable as the finest chocolate and as sharp as razor blades."

Of course I have to ask--are there books that I really shouldn't miss that are not in my pile?  I have a variety, but it is mostly fiction with a couple of nonfiction title thrown in and a very few mysteries/crime novels.   I am very much in a mood to read about WWII and am sure there must be other books (I know the Flanagan as well as the Shute are books I want to read set in that period) that give a view of the war from an Australian perspective.

And anyone who would like to join me on my travels--either a different suggestion or one from my pile that you are also interested to read, do leave me a note below and maybe we can read in tandem.  I am hoping that I can post weekly in some way about my bookish travels--a teaser or review or something else bookish about Australian lit.  I think I have plenty of choices to keep me busy over the summer until fall classes start late in August, though I do plan on continuing with my monthly prompts and hopefully reading the last three books from the Baileys Longlist that I have not yet gotten to.

So, what do you say?  A little surfing in Sydney?  Maybe a visit to the Opera House?  A little foray into the Outback.  I've never tried vegemite.  I'm ready to make some new discoveries!

Planning My Summer Bookcation . . .

Any guesses where my bookcation is taking me this summer?  It will have to be only a "book"cation as I am otherwise going nowhere at all anytime soon.

Details to follow this weekend . . .

Colorado Views: Estes, Part 2

Welcome to Estes Park, Colorado!  They are not just famous for the Rocky Mountain National Park.  It is a resort town as well.  I first visited on a family vacation when I was maybe eight.  A trip that I recall very little of, other than we visited the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, which was located there  many years ago.

Don't let this quiet street scene fool you.  I took this on Friday night as we were setting out to have dinner.  A sunny Saturday or Sunday afternoon will find this strip elbow to elbow (almost) with people and bumper to bumper with cars.  Notice the people wearing jackets?  Yes, it was crisp and cool out. 

Here is one of my yearly Estes Park highlights--visiting Macdonald's Bookshop.  It is further up on the main drag (on the other end from the photo above at the top).  Yes, it is as cool as it looks.  Did you take a peek inside?  That entrance houses loads of magazines and their new paperback fiction, where I spent a chunk of time perusing all the new books (deciding on just a couple was as difficult as you imagine it would be!).  It is a wonderful indie bookstore that is literally jam packed with bookish goodness.  They have a most excellent local history section and a wall of postcards.  I could have passed the entire afternoon there.

Can you believe I walked away with only two books (and a bookmark and pin--the other little goodies came from the RMNP visitor center gift shop).  I don't think I had heard of City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg.  How did that happen?  It just came out last month.  It is set in New York City in 1976 (had to have it when I saw the setting).  As you can see it is a big, chunky book that has some interesting elements like photos, drawings as in a graphic novel and what look like handwritten pages pulled from a notebook.  Rolling Stone says it is "a book that is truly that great, rare thing: a wholly inhabitable universe, reflecting back our lives while also offering an exhilarating escape from them."

And a bit of local history.  A writer who spent her childhood summers in Grand Lake, Colorado.  I thought Turquoise Summer by Mary Beth Lagerborg sounded interesting. 

"At the close of World War II, Kansas newspaper editor Frank Hamilton and his wife Jane are taking a long-awaited month's vacation on Grand Lake, Colorado. Frank wants to fly fish. Jane wants to leave her social obligations behind and find a summer passion. They've brought their precocious 11-year-old granddaughter Maggie. A Nancy Drew wannabe, Maggie believes that in a creaky old cabin with a cranky grandmother she must uncover and solve a mystery to make her vacation complete. The Hamilton's capable maid Alma has come to manage Maggie, a task that will take her places she never dreamed she could or ought to go."

It's even signed by the author.  I hope it will be a nice memento for my travels to Colorado and a good story to sink into when I am in need of a little escapism.

Taffy.  I swear there is a taffy store every two doors on that main strip in Estes.  And they almost all give out samples.  I think my favorite is Mexican chocolate, or maybe sea salt caramel.  It certainly is fresh.  I only brought home a very small container of taffy, which I am holding in reserve for moments I really, really need a treat. 

No ice cream in a Danish waffle cone, I'm afraid.  (After all that taffy I couldn't face anymore sugar), but I thought the waffle iron in this window was pretty cool.  If you have a sweet tooth, Estes can be a dangerous place.  I guess the treats come after those long Rocky Mountain hikes perhaps? 

And I discovered this very cool indie coffee shop.  Yes, Raven's Roast Coffee Lounge is a comfy and filled with personality as it looks.  It is tucked away inside a building housing a number of stores and the Estes Park Weaver's Guild (!), which I also visited, but I am saving my weaving news for another day. 

And now back to business as usual for me.  Time to catch up on books.  Back to regular bookishness next time around!

Colorado Views (Finally Fall!), Part 1

Is it just me, or is it a little disorienting to come home after even a very abbreviated vacation?  I had the most picture perfect, beautiful fall day at the Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday.  It was one of my high points (literally in this photo!) during my semi-long weekend in Estes Park, Colorado.  Of course you probably already know it is the centennial anniversary of the National Parks in the US this year, though RMNP celebrated their centennial in 2015. 

We happened to visit on one of their free entrance weeks, so the park was quite busy.  They obviously did a lot of planning and coordinating, so despite a massive influx of park visitors things ran quite smoothly.  They have a wonderful shuttle system which cuts down on park traffic as visitors are expected (and during the busiest part of the day) park their cars in special lots and then hop on one of the many shuttles. 

The weather was absolutely perfect.  It is crisp and cool in the mornings, when the sun comes out it warms up nicely without being overly hot and there was no humidity.  I could sit in the sunshine and bask and read and enjoy the view.  In the evening it would cool down once again.  I was happy I brought long sleeves and a nice light fleecy jacket as I did a lot of peeling off of layers over the course of the day.  Sadly I left Estes yesterday morning with their wonderful fall weather and arrived back in Omaha to summer--storms, humidity, heat, and oh, did I mention humidity?  I am beginning to despair it ever changing seasons here (it will make a great leap from summer to winter).  I optimistically set out long sleeves to wear to work, but then reassess when I see the forecast and opt for a light tee-shirt instead. 

But you want to see pictures, right, and not hear me moan about the weather.  I promise not to bore you too much with vacation photos, but I seem to have taken quite a few so I will divide them up into two posts (and another to share my weaving later in the week).

My newest RMNP discovery (there are so many trails to explore there and at the end of each one is a gorgeous lake or waterfall) is Nymph Lake.  It is an easy trail to hike and a relatively quick one to get to. 

The photo at the very top is taken overlooking Nymph Lake, which you can get to via this path.  It is possible to continue on to Dream Lake, but as my mom and sister were waiting for me (we split up and planned to meet back after an hour or so), I had to curb my enthusiasm.  I think I am more interested in hiking than the rest of my family, but I was pleased to see something new anyway.

We spent most of the day at Sprague Lake, which was last year's great find.  It's just a very peaceful place to relax.  It sits next to a campground and picnic area (we brought our own picnic and spent the rest of the afternoon there).  Lots of people were fishing, which must have been a great draw in the 1920s when there was a lodge located there.  It catered to guests who wanted a rustic vacation in the mountain and a place to fish for trout.  I especially like the last photo that shows the puffy clouds in the pristine surface.

I actually saw a bit of wildlife this time around, though I only managed to take a very few photos.  The doe we spotted at Sprague Lake happily munching away and not at all bothered by our picnicking.  There were loads of chipmunks in the park and I saw this little guy (I think it is just a squirrel) on one of my morning walks.  We stayed in the same cabins we do every year that sits on the Fall River (you can hear the rushing water from inside!) and there is a tiny museum just down the road perhaps half a mile away that I like to walk to.  I came across my little friend one morning.  Of course the morning I left my camera behind I saw three elk (males butting heads/antlers), a rafter of wild turkeys (I had to look that up . . .), lots of crows, and two coyote pups (though I they could have been wolf pups?) crossing the road.  Well, they seemed more like they were frolicking to be honest.  And birds.  Lots of lots of birds, including bluejays (or whatever the local equivalent is).  So, very picturesque in a variety of ways.

Part two in the next day or two.  I might have to get in a little bookishness first.

Mountain Streams (and Lakes) Beckon!

And I am off to the mountains for the weekend!  So few days away but so much thought and planning--kind of crazy . . . someday I will pack a tiny bag that consists of only one change of clothes and one book . . . but not this weekend apparently.  I am still contemplating whether to swap out one book for another.  Fear of not having just the right reading material.  But then when you have a view like the ones above . . .  anything I choose to read will only be a pleasure to read in such a setting.

I'll be back next week to share all my adventures.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend no matter the view, but always in the hope you have a good book in hand!

Arbor Lodge: Plant a Tree!

Summer is now officially underway with the fireworks going off as I type and another Fourth of July holiday nearing its close.  I spent my morning visiting Arbor Lodge in Nebraska City for my holiday festivities.  It was nice and quiet, with birds chirping and the sound of a breeze in the tress.  If you listen carefully you can even hear the buzz of insects.  While the day started out cloudy and grey and a little on the cool side, it was a perfect way to spend the morning.  J. Sterling Morton came to the area with his bride, Caroline Joy French, in 1854 before Nebraska was even a territory to stake his claim.  It started as a four room house eventually morphed into what you see above, a 52-room mansion.  What was once just an empty expanse of prairie land was turned into a lush, verdant state park of today.  We have the Mortons to thank for Arbor Day and many of the conservation efforts that are related to tree planting.  The handsome couple in the photo just above are the Mortons when they were young.  From all accounts they were a happy, industrious couple who raised four sons, and if you don't know their relationship with Arbor Day, you likely have heard of Morton Salt company ("when it rains it pours") which their son Joy founded.

They are an interesting family with quite a history and I wouldn't mind reading more about them.  However, on to the visuals.  A few highlights from what the house looks like (sadly not all my photos turned out as I had hoped--lighting wasn't always good for my old camera), but you'll get a good idea.  I think the renovations went on to about 1904 or so.  Much of the furniture is original.

Real tiffany window.

The house was a destination for travelers and former President Grover Cleveland and his wife stayed at the lodge.

Office/study.  I love the typewriter.  (It's a Corona).

I don't believe the dresses belonged to Caroline, but oh  my, were women just tinier then than they are now?  Petite.  And you would definitely need a corset to get into most of these.

His bedroom.

Her bedroom.  Red was Caroline's favorite color.

This, of course, came much later.  It was apparently a very welcome and happy addition and one of the best additions.  The wallpaper is not original but it matches closely what was there.  Very cheery, I think.

What family doesn't need a private bowling alley in the basement?  Balls were made of wood and had only two holes.  The heaviest ball weighed 18 pounds.

And a full carriage house.  Yes, the family started with money and the sons married money.  This was a prosperous family.

I only wish it had not been such a wet and grey day so I could have walked the grounds more.  The trees that surround the house are really amazing.  I will save those for another visit.  I hear the house is quite decked out come the holiday season, so I hope another little mini-day trip will be in order later this year.

Not much reading was accomplished and no stitching.  So it is back to business this week.

Mid-Week Mishmash Reading Notes

I seem to have caught a summer cold.  Are they any worse than a cold caught at any other time of the year, or do they just feel like it?  It doesn't help having to contend with an old house that traps heat in the upstairs where sleeping is purportedly done.  Not that there was a nice restful sleep in my house last night.  So my regularly scheduled needlework post (I did make progress) will either show up tomorrow or I will resume it as scheduled next week).

Since I am feeling under the weather (and indeed the heat does seem to press down on me) and it has been even more quiet around here than normal (and normal anymore seems to be shh-library-quiet), I might just toss in the towel for a few days and hang up a 'gone fishing' (or gone reading maybe--wishful thinking) sign for the next few days.  I have a nice four day weekend to look forward to.  I am hoping, you know the drill . . . to do some extra reading.  I hope to see a movie or two and there is a chance I might go with my family here for the Fourth.  I haven't visited there since I was a kid and as I love touring historical homes, it would be great fun.  Check out their bookstore/gift shop, have a good lunch.  Fingers crossed it will work out.

My other exciting news is that I am well into the planning stages for another visit to Estes Park, Colorado late in August.  My thoughts had turned to Estes just a week or so ago.  I am already thinking of those cool rushing rivers.  I think we will be staying at the same place right on Fall River.  At least one visit to their most excellent little independent bookstore will be called for!  I hope we get to go back to this wonderful little museum (which as a lovely little gift store with lots of local history books).  And to draw out any good vacation, anticipatory reading is called for.  I can almost guarantee that a few books will also come home with me (to draw the enjoyment out even more).  Anyway, it is always a good thing to have something nice like a change of scenery to look forward to).

I have also been thinking of revamping my Lost in the Stacks posts.  I think I had threatened to do this once, but I have been feeling particularly nostalgic for some good, forgotten stories that are lurking on the third floor of my library.  I'm trying to think how I might make the experience 'interactive'--eliciting from any readers a year perhaps or a letter of the alphabet for the author's last name to help in my 'selections'.  I'll have to think it over this weekend.  

So, happy reading everyone.  I hope you have a good long weekend, too, or have something nice planned in any case (even if it is only curling up with a book on your front porch with a glass of lemonade).  While I'm away, a few links:

Check out this Feminist Library on Wheels. 

Tomorrow is the fiftieth anniversary of Margery Allingham's death and if you are quick you can download one of her mysteries for just 99 cents!  I really do need to get back to Mr. Campion's adventures.  What a quirky man!  Edited: Oops, very sorry.  That was wishful thinking on my part--the ebook version is not free but only 99 cents.  Sorry for any confusion that might have caused!

I was looking for books about women forest rangers (yes, more contemplation over reading material about or set in Colorado) when I came across this great travel book list.

I really want one of these pins.  Because you can never have enough bookish accessories.

Oh, and one more link to pass on.  I read this today (Thursday) and can only say hear-hear to Maureen Corrigan.  I wholeheartedly agree with you.  This appeared in the Washington Post.  If I am doing this myself I am going to make a concerted effort to stop, as I do not think authors like Jacqueline Winspear (and you know how I love Maisie Dobbs) is any less worthy a writer/whose books are less worthy of reading any other writer (male or female). 

***

"It’s hip to read hard-boileds — novels by the likes of Dashiell Hammett and Lawrence Block, where the lone-wolf detective walks the mean streets of the city, facing down crooks and femmes fatales. It’s often regarded as merely quaint, however, to admit a liking for the milder-mannered cozies, tales of amateur detectives like Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden, a librarian turned real estate agent who’s forever stumbling on foul deeds in her small town."

"Why do women often feel abashed about reading this domesticated kind of detective fiction — chiefly written by and about women — whereas those fans (male and female) of more violent thrillers by, say, Lee Child or David Baldacci never seem to feel the need to apologize?"

No more apologizing!

A Change of Scenery, Part 2

The other highlight of my weekend was this wonderful little museum, Estes Park Museum.  If you ever find yourself in Estes Park, it is free and well worth a visit.  It is pure social and cultural history really since it is made up of artifacts of the town and displays showing what its founding was like and life there over the years.  I was quite impressed by it--all the displays were interesting and vibrant--not dusty old displays that you sometimes find in touristy areas.  I took a number of photos, which I will let speak for themselves.

I wish I could have found postcards of the artwork above as the paintings were really beautiful.

Estes Park has always been a resort town and I would love to read more about its history.

But that "rigorous" and changeable weather can also be devastating.

There was even an actual cabin built in 1909 out back.  Alas, the cabin I stayed in had much nicer amenities.

The museum, for its size, has an excellent gift shop/bookstore filled with lots of interesting books on local history and the couple, who staffed the museum were volunteers and quite pleasant and helpful.

We also went on a Stanley Hotel ghost tour.  I will only say, steer clear if you decide to visit.  Maybe the regular hotel tour would have been a better fit for us, but the ghost tour is to be avoided at all costs.  It was mostly just a lot of silliness I am sorry to say. 

It was cool to see inside the hotel, however.  In case you are wondering--Stephen King stayed at the hotel and it was the inspiration for his novel, The Shining.  It wasn't actually filmed there apparently.  

Tomorrow books, and then back to normal bookishness.