Grinning With Envy

Like most days when I'm blessed enough to spend an hour at the library, I rather brusquely collided with the fact that I....which metaphor to use here...have a rather ravenous literary appetite. Here was my process today: I checked my shelf for some new titles and jotted a few down. When we got to the library, I did a quick catalog check (only one was in that branch, but I requested two others).

I then went on what I lovingly refer to as a book binge. I wandered the shelves rather randomly, remembering certain titles (what was that book called? Oh, Snow Falling on Cedars, I should read that again) or authors (who wrote A Poisoned Season? oh right, Tasha Alexander. Where's the A's in fiction?), and skimming the titles for anything that catches my eye (Cold - why not?). Sometimes I get a vague impression of what I want, sort of like a food craving. I want a good mystery or when was the last time I read a good sci-fi?.

The point of this rambling is that at the end of the day, I wandered up front with a stack of about six rather randomly chosen books, knowing full well that I had another two at home and I probably won't read all eight of them even being unemployed.

Contrast this with my fiance, who I think indulges my library habit because either he thinks I'm adorable when I'm revved up or feels guilty about something. At any rate while I go slap-happy running around the genres like a pinball on crack, he methodically peruses the new book section at the front of the store and emerges with two books that are so compelling, so interesting, I'd rather trade my entire mystery-bag-du-jour stack for his meager but far more substantial one. In fact, I've had to tear myself away from reading one of them (Gum Thief, which you will definitely be reading about later) to write this.

After praising him for his judicious quality-over-quantity literary philosophy, I have laid down a literary gauntlet: our next trip to the library, YOU will choose all my books. You will choose one book that you know I'll love, one book that you love, and one wild card.

I'll be pretty interested to see what he comes up with (and who he seeks advice from).