I bought a book...

...and DAMN it felt good.

Actually, I practically had to do it.

This morning I arrived at work an hour early to have some coffee, escape the heat and relax. I showed turned up at the 10th floor break room just as Pulitzer Prize Winner David Maraniss was about to talk about his book Rome 1960: The Olympics that Changed the World. Maraniss is a fellow Badger (of sorts), and as I enjoyed his book on Vince Lombardi I hung around the edges of the twenty or so people gathered there to listen.

I quickly realized I needed a copy of the book, oath to not buy books be damned. During the question and answer session I sneaked down to the lobby, grabbed some cash and dashed back upstairs to buy my copy.

A few moments later I got to meet him and he signed my book. I introduced myself to the Madison resident as a Badger (I was wearing a Wisconsin cap). As we bantered I asked him if he would ever write a book about Hank Aaron and the 1957 Braves. He said he did not have plans to as he had already written the Roberto Clemente book, but he quickly noted that he was an admirer of Aaron. He also noted - to my delight - that a colleague of his was working on a book about Aaron. Unfortunately I cannot recall the author’s name as it was unfamiliar to me, but I will keep an eye out for such a project in the future.

Finally, I was able to slip him a copy of my chap book, which he graciously accepted.

Not a bad morning…

The April, May and June Tally

I have been lax on reporting my book savings for the last three months. You can chalk this up to it up to sloth and baseball season, but I have also checked out less books because my serial borrowing habits had resulted in an ever growing pile of unread books. Since April I have tried to borrow less and give more attention to the books I truly want to read.

That said, I went to the library on Sunday and checked out five books. Sometimes I cannot help myself.

Let's take a look at the last three months.

In April, May and June I checked out 19 books, two of which I acquired via inter library loan.

I determined that if I was currently buying books I would have bought 11 of the titles I borrowed for a combined total of $170.44.

According to the Denver Public Library's Value Calculator I received $305.00 in value from the Denver Public Library, and my personal return on investment for the three months was $73.35. This means that for every dollar I spent in taxes, I received $73.35.

So there you have it, I am half way through my year of not buying books and so far so good, though I must add that I have used my lifeline. I will fill in the details with my next post.

The Putnam Rolling Ladder Company

The New York Times ran a delightful piece on the Putnam Rolling Ladder Company this weekend. I mention this because I've encountered their ladders, well, one of them, while in library school at the home office of one of my bosses.

He was so proud of his library ladder. "The Putnam Rolling Ladder Company," he'd say with a profound sense of joy as he eyeballed the creation they'd sent him.

A Little Book

A few weeks back I couldn't help but post a photo of a box of tiny books (if you could even make out what they were from the photo.)

My friend Dylan (who once almost lost an inadvertent duel with a vending machine) is a talented illustrator, and I am happy to report that he was kind enough to take a very short story of mine and turned it into a wonderful little book:

To read Skyscrapers, Parking Garages... in its entirety and see some of Dylan’s other works, please click here.

It's a bit like gardening

One of the unintended consequences of not buying books for a year is that I have not kept up with the books I currently own.

When I am actively adding to my library, I constantly shift and reorder my books to make way for new items or to highlight emerging themes. Without adding books, however, my shelves now sadly occupy a nearly forgotten corner of our apartment. I still read individual titles quite often, but a sense of maintaining them as a collective has suffered.



I noticed this afternoon that my modest collection and the shelves it rests upon have started to atrophy. Several shelves featured slanted books (bad for the spine) where gaps had not been properly closed, and every shelf was covered in a layer of dust (bad for the paper) that suggested neglect.

To that end I spent the evening listening to a truly atrocious Brewers game while I dusted, reordered and reshelved my books. It may sound boring, but it was actually a relaxing and welcome chore that took my mind off of a busy work week and a child with an ear infection.

I was also reminded how maintaining a library is a bit like gardening, for libraries, like gardens or cemeteries, take on a life of their own when not tended to. In some ways it is comforting to know my library will morph into something that resembles a more natural state without my presence, but then, what fun is that for me?

Hmm

Worth using my lifeline?

Books!

Not the April tally, granted, but books! April and May tallies very soon...