My friend Mary Jo gave me a
book for my birthday called Unpacking My
Library: Writers and Their Books. Edited by Leah Price, it is combination
of author interviews, photographs of their book collections/bookshelves and the
covers of their top ten favorite books.
The format is question and
answer, which explains why Ms. Price is listed as editor rather than author. I
have compiled a few of the questions and thought that it would be fun to answer
them.
Q: How far back does your collection stretch? At what
age did you start buying books? Which ones have you kept, and shed, as you
moved?
I
have a few books from childhood, including Winnie-the-Pooh
by A.A. Milne and a book of poems.
When
I was in the fifth grade, my teacher, Miss Coye, would pass out a “catalog”
from Scholastic Books two or three times a year. I would pour over it and, with
my mom’s permission, order books. Miss Coye would compile the order and send it
in – a few weeks later a big box would arrive. I remember the thrill of being
handed the books I had ordered and would wait patiently for school to end so
that I could rush home to examine them carefully and choose one to read. I
still own the copy of Jane Eyre I
acquired this way.
I reluctantly shed college textbooks but, really, am I
ever going to look at the algebra text from a class I took in 1972? Many books
were shed for me – left in storage as I moved around and lost/discarded by the
folks I had entrusted them to. I still mourn for them.
Q: What books are not on the shelves you allowed us
to photograph? What books do you keep in the kitchen, in the bathroom, on the
bedside table?
I have books in different areas around the house. Any
book on the bedside table is the one I am currently reading along with a couple
of magazines and/or catalogs (Arizona Highways, Bark, Vermont Country Store). I
read when I first settle into bed, though sometimes I end up “reading” the same
paragraph over and over again for week or more.
Q: What do you imagine your library looking like
five, ten, twenty years from now? Do you think you’ll still own objects made of
paper and glue?
I still have quite a few boxes of books stored out in the
garage. Someday I hope to get them all inside so that I can see and touch them,
and reunite all of my old friends.
There will always be books because there is nothing like
the experience of holding one in your hands and turning the pages.
Q: How do you arrange, or attempt to arrange, your
books? How do you know how to find them on the shelf? Does this resemble the
way you arrange your other possessions?
 |
| Some of my dog books. |
I try to be organized in everything that I do. My books
are arranged by topic: all of the cookbooks are together; the home improvement
books are in the same place; the books about animals are divided into dogs,
cats and other. I put knick-knacks and other treasures related to the topic
with the appropriate books.
Q: Do you use an e-reader (Kindle, iPad, etc.)? Do
you read books on your phone?
I would like to get a NOOK Tablet because, in some
instances, it might make it easier to read in bed; there are some books I just can’t
hold up because of their size. If I start to doze off, I am afraid a heavy book
will fall on me and give me a bruise…or worse!
I
am going to be tutoring two young students this fall through the Reading Seed
program and think a tablet might prove helpful.
My
eyesight isn’t good enough to read e-mail messages on my phone let alone a
book!
Q: Have you ever listened to audiobooks? If so, where
and when? Do you enjoy reading aloud or being read aloud to?
I have a fairly long commute to work and usually listen
to NPR. Thanks to Lynn, a Habitat colleague, I was introduced to the “Chet and
Bernie Mystery Series” by Spencer Quinn. Narrator Jim Frangione is so good that
I can’t even imagine reading these stories. I see on the Barnes and Noble
website that the fourth book, The Dog Who
Knew Too Much, has been released as an audiobook. I just reserved a copy through the Pima
County Public Library website and hope to pick it up from the Wheeler Taft
Abbett, Sr. Branch on Monday.
It is hard for me to read aloud. My voice has a tendency
to give out fairly quickly but I like listening to stories. My favorite NPR
show is “This American Life” with Ira Glass.
Q: Could you say something about the books you
selected for our top ten?
There were two complete sets of books stored in my room
when I was growing up, and I believe both belonged to my mother. The Complete
Works of Mark Twain (I have this set) and a many-volumed Juvenile Library
published by World Library Guild. Dickens, Twain, Shakespeare, Bronte, Austen
were all included along with Habberton.
Habberton?
In
the 1870’s, John Habberton wrote Helen’s
Babies, which at the time was very popular and considered a classic along
with Wind in the Willows and Tom Sawyer. Of all of the books
contained in both sets – and I read them all – Helen’s Babies was, and still is, my absolute favorite. I don’t
know where the rest of the set is but I have this precious copy.
In
addition to Jane Eyre and Helen’s Babies, the rest of my top ten: I Go Pogo by Walt Kelly, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, In Watermelon Sugar by Richard
Brautigan, A Place on Earth by Gwen
Frostic, Red Rackham’s Treasure by
Herge, The Collected Poems of ee cummings,
My Dog Skip by Willie Morris and
anything by Laurie Notaro. Wait – can I make it my top 20??
