A chronic reading condition: My wife recently pointed out to me that I have a habit of reading too many books at once. After she told me this I began counting them up. I am currently, and concurrently, reading 29 books each in various states of finished-ness. These are variously, eleven literary and mystery novels, two history, three science, three on politics, two cookbooks, two poetry, and four on music. This is most probably an affliction. The roots of this reading affliction of mine (it is an affliction and I am certainly not bragging) go back to my boyhood on the farm in Greene County, Pennsylvania. There werent that many newer books available and when I got the chance every week to two weeks to check out books from the rurally patrolling bookmobile I would get as many as I could carry in a sack on my back and still be able to pedal my bike back to the farm without running myself into a ditch or cornfield. Id read em all at once so I could finish and get more when the traveling library once more landed in the tiny parking lot of Whitely Township Elementary School. It was kind of the little old ladies who manned the bookmobile to let me and my sister (she may be similarly afflicted) take as many books as we wanted. When it comes to my condition one thing I will make clear. I do not finish every one of these books. I am a fickle reader and if the author does not consistently engage my attention, brain, and heart I will drop the book and never, or rarely, pick it up again for a second chance. But there are those stand out books that I finished or will finish, and will probably read again in the future. Six of these that currently raise themselves above the pack are (again, I will put the books in quotation marks because I dont know how to make my computer do it the right way): The Autobiography of Pablo Neruda, Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowery (a fourth time re-read), Beard on Bread the James Beard classic on bread baking, Path to the Nest of Spiders and Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, and last but definitely not least is a book titled All Quiet on the Border by my old friend D. Kent Fonner. Kent is a friend of mine who goes all the way back to our high school and college days. He is also a historian, scholar, and talented writer. This book is a history of the Civil War in Greene County, Pennsylvania. He writes in a conversational style while still remaining scholarly in his research and attentions. Thats a hard thing to accomplish and Kent does it with aplomb. This book clears up many misconceptions and fills in great blocks of previously missing knowledge about the roll of Greene County and its citizens service in the war, their sympathies, and the politics of that terrifying time in our nations history. It is a beautifully written, evocative, thorough work. You can get it on Amazon. Read it. I am half way through and will finish soon and then after a little time read it again. Its that good.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 19:19:43 +0000
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