From One Book Lover

Autumn Returns A day in mourning falls from the bells like a trembling cloth of vague life, it's a color, a dream of cherries sunk into the earth, it's a tail of smoke that arrives without rest to change the color of the water and the kisses. I don't know if you understand me: When night         approaches from the heights, when the solitary poet at the window hears the steed of autumn running and the leaves of trampled fear rustling in his arteries, there is something over the sky, like the tongue of thick oxen, something in the doubt of the sky and         the atmosphere. Things return to their place: the indispensable lawyer, hands, oil, the bottles, all the signs of life: beds, above all, are full of bloody liquid, people deposit their confidences in sordid ears, assassins descend stairs, but it's not that, it's the old gallop, the horse of old autumn who trembles and endures. The h...

It's official: the days are growing shorter, the air is crisp and the equinox set our eggs on end. Summer is over and autumn has begun. For those of us Book Lovers who enjoy summer reading, the turn of the season is bittersweet, but not unwelcome: sometimes it's hard to stay indoors and curl up with a book while the sun shines! This summer was not too hot (which limited my reading) and was filled with a few adventures, including the very special wedding of a very special couple and a new feline addition to the family (different events, of course — my new son-in-law Kenny is charming, but not in the least bit feline) (I think). However, there always is time to read, even if it's into the middle of the night. (Daylight is not a welcome force the following morning, I tell you what.) As part of the 2014 Summer Reading Club, I read 33 books: A Red Herring Without Mustard Second Glance Centuries of June A Room With A Zoo The Interestings Bats at the Bal...

As noted previously in this blog, my friend Carole and I have decided to read Weighty Books. After eight months of such reading, I have to wonder if I can read them with as fresh an eye as I would have in my undergraduate days. I ask this question after finishing Tobacco Road , a relentless story of loss and more loss. Jeeter is beaten down by life and The Man. The last time he tried to farm his land, the rich folk of Augusta stole from him more than his entire profit: it took his desire for success. He would never win, no matter how hard he worked, so it made entire sense that he did not get up off the porch for much. However, the characters of Tobacco Road were relentless sinners. Holy cow, by God and by Jesus, they were a wicked lot. I don't use those words lightly, but they fit in this case. Even characters who were supposed to be the most spiritually uplifted were fantastically immoral, even by Tobacco Road standards. The ending was as relentless and beaten-down as the...

How's your summer reading going? Now, although some people have a very limited idea of what constitutes "summer reading," From One Book Lover are very inclusive. When it comes to reading, our ideas of "summer" allow for such reading to continue until the autumnal equinox, or the closest weekend to the equinox. Therefore, reading for this summer reading club continues through Sunday, September 28. What is the Summer Reading Club ? It's an excuse to read and share with your community. Those who join the club just have to send me their reading list — then, by the end of September, send me a list of books they actually read. The winner is the one who read the most books — and that reader wins a book From One Book Lover. Now, this Book Lover goes a step further. I donate three new books to my local library and contribute $5 per book to a local non-profit organization near and dear to my heart, Main Street Child Development Center . (Please not...

If you'll excust me, I'm going to go bury my nose in a book. Summer reading is all-consuming — especially if I want to be prepared for the Fall for the Book Festival September 11-18. For the record, it's not too late to join the Summer Reading Club ... See you in the autumn!

courtesy MetaPicture .

I enjoy reading, buying books and meeting authors. You would think these activities are compatible with the mission of bookstores. However, in recent times, I've found the act of buying a book has cost me author opportunities. In January, Ransom Riggs released the second Miss Peregrine book, which I consumed promptly. The author was coming to a Barnes & Noble bookstore near me soon after the book was released, so I finished the book early (to avoid Spoilers some people just can't resist). I brought my stack of Riggs books with me in case he was signing. When I arrived, a B&N employee informed me that only books purchased that day at B&N would be signed. No exceptions. He was  polite, but firm. After I finished listening to Riggs speak, I left the bookstore with a heavy heart. I didn't want to be duplicitous and buy a book I would later return (which someone suggested). I had read my copy, purchased from a different bookseller, and I was being punish...