Hello, dear readers! I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting as regularly as I used to on this website. So, I promise a few more serious articles in the future. At the moment, there’s a book sale going on at the Eastern Branch Public Library in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. They shall be running this book sale until the end of this week. After reading what I deemed a sufficient amount of Plato and a book on the Hellenistic Age, I went down to browse the books here. On the way in, a sign saying “one dollar per bag” intrigued me. When I asked the cashier to explain precisely what this meant, she replied that all the books I could fill in a rather large bag would cost one dollar. In a most abrupt manner, I snatched a bag and began perusing the books. It began with a volume of Wordsworth’s poetry and ended like this:
Well, three of those books I got for other people. My sister dreams of going to Switzerland and has an interest in designs of all sorts. Therefore, that book on how to design gardens and the one on Switzerland were for her. Then, the picture book on Bl. Pope John Paul II was given to my grandmother. The rest intrigued me in one way or another, and one day I intend to read them.
The books on Tokyo, Japan, and Ireland I got for myself, thinking that one could at least walk about the streets of Akihabara, admire the cherry trees of Kyoto, and be seated in a classic Dublin pub vicariously–even if yours truly finds it doubtful that such a trip can be made any time soon. Though, a good friend of mine also dreams of going to Japan, and it might be possible to pool together enough money in a few years.
Some of these other books demonstrate my eclectic tastes. I’ve always wanted to read Theodore Dreiser, if only to see why his books have been added to the list of perennials. So, you can see Sister Carrie in the second picture. I also love histories of war. People show their true colors when placed in such stressful circumstances. As Joshua Chamberlain said: “War makes good men great and bad men worse.” So, I have a history of an American Civil War battle, WWII in the Pacific Theater, the Roman Civil War toward the end of the Republican period, and Theodore Roosevelt’s account of his actions in the Spanish-American War. Also, I couldn’t resist adding Walter Lord’s account of the sinking of the Titanic to my collection, A Night to Remember. I’ve also read his history of Midway.
The rest of the items on the table reflect my tastes in literature. I’ve always loved Dryden’s wit and want to read more of him. I picked up the Dorothy Sayers work because I want to give her another chance. I found her writing style a bit pretentious and overly judgmental in the first work of hers I read. If I don’t like it, I’m sure I can find someone else who will.
So, has anyone else gone on a book shopping spree lately?
Medieval Otaku 