I read (and enjoyed!) poetry.
One last post related to the removal of the monkey from my back and then I’ll retire the subject for at least two days.
My backpack felt so unnaturally light and empty last night that by the time I got up on Capitol Hill I decided that, if my dancing and pack mule muscles were going to be allowed to atrophy, I should at least do a bit of spot-toning of the book-shopping muscles, so I popped into both Twice Sold Tales and Half Price Books, replenished some of the weight, and then actually went home and read. Poetry. (Thanks, M-----l, for the Billy Collins recommendation.)
Also, I noticed that Twice Sold Tales has dedicated the litterbox in the new store:
So Marco now poops in honor of the editor of one of our local free weeklies.
Comments
I didn't know there were any Half Price Books out where you live. I'm a big fan of their stores.
So what did you end up getting? Did they have a copy of Sailing Alone Around the Room? I don't know anything about poetry, but I like Billy Collins because I don't have to read his poems a dozen times in order to understand them. He's relatively straight-forward...and humorous at times.
Indeed, the Puget Sound area is among the fortunate parts of the country with Half Price Books coverage.
My in-store purchases yesterday were Collins's Questions About Angels (I think that's what it is called) plus two E.M. Forster novels. Sailing was waiting for me in the mail when I got home; I had ordered a used copy based on your recommendation after not finding it in the first place I looked. That's the collection I started reading last night. "Another Reason ..." made me sad thinking about the poor dog. I think my favorite so far in the bunch is the one about Goya's candle hat. I like Collins's writing and sense of humor very much. So, thank you again!
I've read "Another Reason..." probably two dozen times and it never once occurred to me to feel sorry for the dog. I never looked at it from the dog's perspective.
E.M. Forster is one of my favorites, but I haven't read any of his books in a couple years. I used to get the Merchant Ivory adaptations out of the library. Those were beautiful movies.
I probably wouldn't sympathized with the dog either if I didn't already to gravitate toward any critters in a story. Now if it had been a subwoofer ... I'd like that weapon, please!
I'm looking forward to re-reading A Room with a View and also a first read of A Passage to India. The David Lean production of that novel is another of my all-time favorite flics. I'm hoping the secrets of the Marabar caves will be revealed. No, that's a lie. I love the sense of mystery in the film and also that of the monkey temple ruins.
I've read A Passage to India and I don't remember it featuring any monkey temple ruins. Then again, I can't remember the books I read last month, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It sounds like something I'd enjoy, though.
Maybe that scene was fabricated by the filmmakers. The day after she first breaks off her engagement with Ronnie because she has discovered what an ethnocentric racist he is, Adela rides her bike out in the heat to these mysterious ruins, sees some rather erotic sculptures, and is chased off by some angry scary monkeys, straight back into Ronnie's arms.
(oops I hope I didn't just ruin the movie for you.)
That litter box dedication is hilarious. I'm curious what the backstory is. He must have pissed of a lot of people.
Oh, I LOVE Twice Sold Tales. When I lived in Seattle that was one of my favorite hangouts. I'd buy something there, then saunter down the hill to Bauhaus and read all afternoon as the sun set over the Sound. Sigh.
I also love that shop up on 15th, that old house that also has cat fetish owners.
I am guessing think the dedication was inspired by the following excerpt of this article:
Twice Sold Tales just moved to Harvard & Denny, to make way for light rail station construction. I have to admit, as much as I love cats, it is astounding how much the mythology books (which used to be right across from the litterbox at the old TST) still reek in the new store. I much prefer Half Price Books for my folktale purchases (plus it can't be beat for selection).
That whole block southeast of John & Broadway will soon be demolished. The neighborhood is a-changin'! Bauhaus is still there, but the block on Pine where Bimbo's Burritos and Kinkora's used to be got bulldozed last month.
Horizon Books on 15th is still there, too, as far as I know -- it's been a few months since I popped in there. I love that store, too, but for some reason don't usually venture that far north on 15th when it's open. I remember a cat draped over the nice warm monitor at the front desk last time I was in there on a cold winter day -- such a cozy place!