I dream utopian dreams

I don't understand war. I was born at the end of the Vietnam war, lived through several wars now with powers that be in the middle east and yet still I don't understand war.

I'm sure the first war involved a caveman clubbing his neighbor over the head and stealing his food, and retribution soon followed. Wars since have often resembled to me fights over who has the right to play in a sandbox, in other words territory and who feels entitled , right or wrong.Were I to have one wish though, it would be for my utopian dream of conflict to be realized.

Imagine this if you will:

All weapons in the world are gone, and even rocks and knives can only be used for peaceful purposes. All weapons would consist of nerf plastics or utilizing water. Just imagine, squirt guns, water cannons, water balloons, and in major conflicts...tennis balls as weapons.

Picture carpet bombing with water balloons, retribution would consist of guerilla attacks, sneaking in with a super soaker when your opponent least expects it. We'd wage war for fun! The only possible injuries would be bruised bodies and bruised egos...truely, it would be poetic and silly at the same time.

The U.N would contact other nations by asking the ambassadors" Can Iraq come out and play?" . We'd look FORWARD to declarations of war! Our kids would learn to fight fair, or take a time out. If it works on the playground, I think it can work globally.

Instead, we follow in the footsteps of the first war...taking what we want from our neighbors and clubbing them over the head. Simplistic? Yes. Correct? Perhaps not, but wouldn't it be wonderful to send our kids off to war, knowing they'd come home smiling...instead of battle worn, or worse...not come home again.

I don't pretend to understand politics, policies or global issues, but I try. I often want to just thump people over the head and tell them to play nicely or take a time out. But in my quest to understand, I have purchased several books in an attempt to understand the insanity of war and conflict. Join me, maybe someday we can raise our grandkids to wage war utilizing proper super soaker techniques, and carpet bombing with water balloons.

I can’t stop reading

I have two books and a cup of coffee in front of me. The coffee was made when I finally tore myself away from my book long enough to actually accomplish something.

So far today I have done nothing but feed my pets. You see, the doorbell rang, looking out the window I saw our mail lady, and with giddiness I flung open the door and found two packages, each with a book waiting for me.

They are used volumes, well cared for, which either means someone loved them greatly, or didn’t care for them at all, which I try not to think about as it hurts in a “How could you not love this” way of incredulity that always happens when I find a lovely used volume.

Add to all this that both books that arrived today are about books, and it’s official, I am a Bibliophile.

My husband buys me books as gifts usually, this year he bought me a toy for my birthday. Does he not realize the level of my addiction? Perhaps I can trade with a kid…the toy he bought me for some book the kid will never read.

So here I sit surrounded by yet more books, that are about books, sipping coffee. Life is good.

A mystery is solved

A mystery is solved
October 17, 2007

And an obsession comes to an end…partially.

My ongoing obsession with my copy of the Oxford book of English Verse has borne fruit, I now know exactly who the previous owner of my book was, where she lived, and some fascinating tidbits about her life.

I contacted a historical society on the east coast who had a Mary Hanks listed on their website, sure enough, it turns out it is the very same Mary Hanks that was the previous owner of my book, and not only that…she lived an amazing life.

Below is the E-mail I received. Tenacity seems to have paid off!

Thank you for letting me know about your book. It does look it belonged
to Mary Esther (Vilas) Hanks. We have the Hanks Family papers and
photographs here in our archives, including some directly related to
Mary.

For your information, Mary was born October 10, 1873 in Madison, WI the
daughter of William Freeman Fox (1840-1908) and Anna Matilda Fox
(1845-1922). William was a lawyer, who fought as an officer during the
Civil War. Later he served in President Cleveland’s cabinet as
postmaster general. Once done with that he served as a US Senator for
several terms. In a few biographical articles we have about Mary in the
archives, she remembers growing up in Washington and playing with the
Cleveland children. We have one of her dolls in our collection, a very
special Jumeau fashion doll. On October 5, 1898 she married Lucien
Mason
Hanks (1868-1950), a bank executive. The couple had three children:
William Vilas Hanks (b. 1902), Sybil Anna Hanks (1908-1969), and Lucien
Mason Hanks Jr. (1910-1988). Mary was one of the grand dames of Madison
during the first half of the 20th century. She died during December
1959.

The Starter wife

*Breaking News*
October 18, 2007

The Starter Wife, acclaimed book and mini series, is returning! Now to be a full series!
Debra Messing will reprise her role as The Starter Wife in the 10-episode USA Network series based on the original miniseries which ran last summer, and for which she received an Emmy nomination. The best news is also returning are Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, the writing team from the miniseries, who will also exec produce the series. The series is from Universal Media Studios, 3 Arts Entertainment and McGibbon/Parriott Prods, and is based on the novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer.

Book of secrets

Loosely book related, but still fascinating, and the movie I am most excited to see this year.

Turning the pages

Browsing texts and the original pages as though the book is laid out in front of you is a fabulous feeling, not quite as grand as the actual book, but still lovely in almost every way.

Type in a book title, or just peruse random volumes.
Enjoy!

A wish list of enormous proportions

Why yes, I am insane. I am also a book collector, reader, and wishful writer...but first I am a collector.
Here is every book listed in the book and movie "84 Charing Cross Road".
I have attacked this list with fervor. Do not be surprised if my next entry is not by me, but by my husband, informing you that my 4th bookcase collapsed on me, yet I died with a smile on my face, surrounded by gilded pages.


This list is NOT made by me! Credit goes to Diane Gross.
*********************************************************************************

A fellow HH fan, Diane Gross, has put together a list of the books and music scores that Helene ordered from the bookshop at 84 Charing Cross Road - ardent fans, take note and make your purchases!!! As Diane says, "Some don't name the authors or titles, I just wrote what I read at 3am, so you might want to double-check my entries!" Doug Wilson has made a few amendments to some entries, and provided some more information on others - and the full list follows: (Thanks to both Diane and Doug!!!)

Requested books:

1. Austen, Jane - Pride & Prejudice
2. Beloc, Hilaire - essays
3. Beowulf (mentioned, but no interest in reading)
4. Book Lover's Anthology
5. Cassell's dictionary
6. Cattulus - Loeb classic edition; (Latin text; verse trans. by Sir Richard Burton, prose trans. by Leonard Smithers--HH not a fan as the translators "cleaned up" the language)
7. Chaucer - Canterbury Tales ("a modern English verison, not Old English or Anglo-Saxon")
8. Chesterfield - essays
9. de Coverely, Sir Roger - papers
10. Delafield - Diary of a Provincial Lady
11. De Tocqueville - Journey to America
12. Donne, John - Complete Sermons (p.78 - FPD says the sermons an only be found in the 40-vol. complete works)
13. "Elizabethan poets"
14. Goldsmith - essays
15. Grahame, Kenneth - Wind in the Willows (w/Sheppherd illus.)
16. Greek New Testament
17. Hazlitt - Selected Essays
18. Horace - Loeb classic edition
19. Hunt, Leigh - Essays
20. Johnson on Shakespeare (Oxford pr. ed.)
21. Jonson - love poems
22. Lamb - Essays of Elia (MacDonald Illus. Classics); Tales from Shakespeare
23. Landor, Walter Savage - Works & Life of (includes "Imaginary Conversations;" one is Aesop & Rhodope)
24. Latin Bible
25. Latin New Testament (Anglican Vulgate; dictionary to Vulgate)
26. MacDonald Illustrated Classics
27. Memoirs of (Louis the) Duke de Saint-Simon - trans. by Francis Arkwright
28. Newman, John Henry - Ideas of a University
29. Oxford Book of English Prose
30. Oxford Book of English Verse
31. Oxford Dictionary ("Shorter")
32. Plato - Four Socratic dialogues (Oxford pr.)
33. Plato - minor dialogues
34. Pepys, Samuel - Diary
35. Quiller-Couch - The Pilgrim's Way
36. Sappho - Loeb classic edition
37. Shaw, George Bernard - dramatic criticisms; music criticisms; correspondence with Ellen Terry; 30 vol. Standard ed. ("for a friend")
38. Stevenson - Virginibus Puerisque (NOTE: Ruben Caban emailed me to let me know that the text of this book is on the web - a friend of his emailed him details of how to find it: ON-LINE Books Page - "click on the "Search our 6000+ listings" and enter the Author and Title and there it is". Many thanks to Ruben and his friend Paul for this info!)
39. Tristram Shandy (MacDonald Illus. Classics)
40. Walton - Compleat Angler, Lives
41. Woolf, Virginia - Common Reader (2 vols)
42. Wyatt - love poems

Average American reading habits

Click on the title to read the entire article article....where do you place in number of books read? I have 4 being read right now...lol

WASHINGTON (AP) -- There it sits on your nightstand, that book you've meant to read for who knows how long but haven't yet cracked open. Tonight, as you feel its stare from beneath that teetering pile of magazines, know one thing -- you are not alone.

Women are more avid readers than men, a new poll says.

One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

Antique Oxford

My newest pride and Joy, the Oxford book of English verse, 1907, original blue cloth binding on india paper.
This lovely volume has become a bit of an obsession for me. Not only can I peruse 13th century poetry at my leisure,but the book has a story and a life of it's own.
I'd love to say I discovered in my grandmothers attic, or tucked away in a homey old brownstone bookstore, but I found it on Ebay.



On it's own it stands as a beautiful volume, obviously well loved by it's previous caretaker, but tucked within it's pages is a wealth of information. Whoever loved this book as much as I do tucked everything from newspaper clippings to a funeral announcement and even a love letter in it's pages. The vast majority of the newspaper clippings are of poetry from the New York Times during the mid 1930's.
To whoever Mary E.V Hanks is, I thank you. More then likely you have gone to the great library in the sky, but I feel honored to have your book in my hands.
I shall cherish this volume, and when I grow old, pass it along with newspaper clippings and poetry from my area...along with a note of who I was, who Mary may have been, and the story of how this book crossed so many miles.
Your book is in safe hands Mary Hanks.

The Oxford book of english verse

Browsing history

http://www.rarebookroom.org/

I am in love. Yes, with a website, or rather it's contents. Care to browse antique Shakespearian volumes on your lunch break? Well..now you can, and that in itself is a beautiful thing.

click on the title "browsing history" to visit this lovely site

The mystery of the rose, a bottle and Poe

More Doubt
Poe Museum Curator Disputes Historian's Claim That He Began Grave Site Ritual of Roses, Cognac

By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, August 18, 2007; B01

He sneaks into the cemetery every year at night in the dead of winter,the mysterious man in black, to pay his respects at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe. And in his wake, he never fails to leave three roses and a bottle of cognac.

For decades this mystery has drawn thousands to the famed poet's grave in the heart of Baltimore and spawned much speculation. Why the black garb? Why cognac? And just who is this man?
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To continue reading, click on the post title

The exploration of John Donne

My most recent addition. Recently I heard a lovely poem of John Donne's, so I felt compelled to read more of his works. This is a very nice binding, my only complaint is that the black area on the spine rubs off. Instead of looking at that as a flaw, I'll look at it as giving this volume a well loved look as I read it.
Thus my exploration of John Donne begins...wish me luck.

Ahhh, Yeats

Books on demand

A recent news story intrigued me, the story was about an ATm type machine that prints books on demand, from thousands of literary choices.
Now I adore my old books, but should I need a hard to find volume the possibility of having it in minutes is exciting to me.
Should I win the lotto, this shall be installed in my home. Dangerous, very dangerous.

click here

and an online store

available here

A shop of my very own

Not exactly, it's a few hours drive, but I think it may be quite worth it.
Antiquarian booksellers are a rare find in my area, and this is the closest I can find.
I stumbled across it while looking for an original Charles Dickens volume.

I love happy accidents like that...or is it divine intervention? I can't decide, either way I simply MUST pay them a visit.

Click on the post title to view their site.

A new stack

Have you ever had a book inspire you to action? I have. A few have inspired me to change my life, reach out to others, and purchase items I never would have purchased before.
84 Charing Cross Road ( I know I'm discussing THAT book AGAIN) inspired me to look up all of its book and literary references and read them for myself.
"The Oxford book of English Verse" is on it's way to my house, thanks to Miss Hanff's recommendation, and I now have a copy of "On the Art of Writing" by Sir Arthur Quiller Couch, another book Miss Hanff seemed to think I needed.
My glaring lack of knowledge of foreign policy has driven me to purchase several books as well over the years, but I thought since most nations we are currently in strife with base their actions on their beliefs, I thought it prudent to study up on the basics of religion( other then my own).
Then of course, there are the books you read for no other purpose then entertainment. I call them junk food for the brain, thus my purchase of Preston & Childs' "Book of the dead". I am sure I shall enjoy them all.
Let's hope they don't inspire more purchases, or I may have to sell a kidney soon.

What does a bibliophile do on her vacation?

Go shopping for books of course!

We lack the money for the honeymoon of our dreams, but we zealously attacked a trip to the California coast. I brought a list of all possible bookshops with me, being the obsessed bibliophile I am, and we hit the boardwalk, bookshops, and aquarium.

The books on my wish list were nowhere to be found, or had been tucked away for safe keeping. Number one on my list was a copy of 84 Charing cross road, since I am disgustingly obsessed with that film, and I never found it. I settled for second best, I ordered a copy online WHILE on my honeymoon...that still counts right?

Because I am sure this book will have to be pried out of my hands upon my death, I inscribed the front with a message to it's future owners. I hope one day they will love it as much as I do.

I also ordered a copy of two other Hanff books, which I am enjoying immensly. They are very much like easing into an overstuffed chair, propping your feet up, and reading letters from an old dear friend on her travels.

But, I was not to be undaunted from actually having a physical book in my hands that WAS purchased in person on my vacation, so when my husband and I went to historic Colton Hall in Monterey, they had a lovely bound book that seemed to belong on my bookshelf.


With my book in hand, and a small art print of "The Lone Cypress", I considered my honeymoon complete.

What was the first book you ever read?

And how did that book change your life?
Click on the title link above......

The lost constitution

My husband and I have joined our insanity in historical thriller fiction. As soon as he read the outline of this book, he deemed it must be his. The only problem with that is he only reads audio books, or rather listens to audio books. We will happily collect donations of audio books, should anyone take pity on our plight.
The constitution itself has sprouted many rebellions, beliefs,and debates...but what if another draft or section was suddenly found...buried away waiting for discovery? Would it unify a nation,divide it? How far would someone go to leave history either unchanged, or blow it wide open in patriotic fervor? What would the highest bidder do with an item of such magnitude?
As you contemplate that question, I shall contemplate picking up a copy of this for my husband, so we can debate it's ramifications together. It may be fiction, but were it to happen....just imagine the possibilities, the least of which...what if we had it wrong all this time? The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Click on the title to buy it from Amazon.com

Unusual place to buy books: Costco!

The cover says " The fusion of bibliomania and romantic comedy is appealingly offbeat"
( a review by Janet Maslin, New york Times.)

Literacy and Longing in L.A

All it took for me to buy this was the word 'Bibliomania' on the cover.
Pathetic, sort of, in an obsessive compulsive collectors way that only other biliophiles would understand.
I think I may die one day by having my bookcases collapse in on me. Somehow, that would seem a rather poetic and ironic way to go.
Just an FYI: Costco can deplete your bank account if you don't watch your book spending...lol