books — Page 95

Bookshop Visit

September 11, 2019 at 11:09 am by Claudia

Our little trip to the bookstore was such fun! I’ve been to this bookstore before, but gosh, it has to be over 8 years ago. It’s across the Hudson River in the charming town – and I mean charming – of Rhinebeck, NY. The Country Living Fair is in Rhinebeck every year. There’s also a great antiques store there that we love – although we haven’t been there for a couple of years. Anyway, Oblong Books is far better than I remembered, so clearly I didn’t investigate it thoroughly. Maybe I just ran in and out in the past?

It’s an independent bookshop. There is one other Oblong location in a small town to the east. I have to say that this location is wonderful.

When we arrived, we were walking around and quickly realized that they were playing John Prine’s newest album over the speakers. Don LOVES John Prine. And later? The Beatles. Needless to say those music choices made Don a forever fan of this bookshop.

The fiction section was excellent. It reminded me very much of the fiction section in Writer’s Block in Las Vegas. And that’s high praise. The same attention to detail, the same far-ranging choice of stock. Everything interested me. And all along the bookshelves, both in this section and throughout the shop, were handwritten notes about certain books. They were written by the staff. Here’s an example:

I couldn’t agree more, Lisa. This is one of my favorite books ever.

These brief synopses with a personal comment from the staff member are very helpful. Just enough information to help you decide yay or nay.

They have an excellent children’s section, lots of nonfiction, nature, design, reference and cook books. And lots of books about books. They really have everything. Plus, they carry music CDs. I didn’t examine that inventory but I will in the future.

This is a shop where the staff really knows about the books they carry, about as unlike a chain as you can get.

There are chairs scattered around the store and a big sofa, where I found Don looking at three books that interested him. I could have bought scads, of course. We made the decision to buy two books each.

I could have spent hours there, but we were hungry and had to grab a quick healthy lunch to go (at the neighboring natural foods store.) Someday, I’ll go to Rhinebeck and give you a tour. There are great restaurants, a wonderful and well-respected film venue, Upstate Films, that has been there for years, very old buildings and carriage houses, and some really neat shops.

Anyway, I’ve found my ‘local’ bookshop. Huzzah! I put local in quotes, because it takes about 50 minutes or so to get there. North on the thruway, east to the Hudson River, a beautiful bridge crossing over the Hudson, then further east and south to Rhinebeck.

Since we live in the country, nothing is very close, except our local supermarket. It takes at least 30 minutes to get to Barnes & Noble and Target, for example. So it’s all relative. It’s definitely worth the trip for me.

But not too often, because if I see books, I buy books.

It’s going to be 89 today and humid. Tomorrow? 68 and rainy. Strange weather we’re having!

Happy Wednesday.

Day Two of the Challenge

September 10, 2019 at 11:22 am by Claudia

I have a deep love for pansies. Just like last year, they’re still going strong several months after I planted them. In fact, they were the first flowers I planted in pots – in early April. One of my pansy pots was still thriving in November of last year. Don’t know if that will happen again this year, but they are definitely plucky little beauties!

This new challenge I have set for myself – that of shutting off and then staying off my cell phone and laptop after I’ve checked in with both in the morning (including writing a blog post) – is showing me just how addictive a cell phone can be. At one point in the afternoon, I had the phone next to me because it was charging off my laptop and, boy, I had to actively, even aggressively, resist picking it up to ‘check in’ with Instagram. All while I was reading a book. It was fascinating and more than a little revealing.

It is an addiction, you know. Reams have been written about it. They’re convenient yes, but they’re intended to be addictive, and we see evidence of that everywhere we go. From those who walk down the street with their heads downward, looking at their phones, to those who can’t turn off their phones in a theater during a live performance because they might miss a text (who is that important?), to those who must document via a selfie everything they do in the course of a day, to those who share a meal with someone only to be looking at a screen the entire time. No one is that important. It’s all smoke and mirrors, designed to make us feel more important. But really, there’s a serious issue at hand if one’s sense of self-worth comes from a virtual life lived inside a phone.

I’m not nearly as bad as that, but I do have my issues. It’s time to take control of that. I made it through the vast majority of my life without a cellphone. Without a personal computer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for both. But I have to remind myself that when cell phones were first available, I said to everyone, “The last thing I want is for everyone to be able to reach me when I’m out of the office, or driving, or walking on the beach.” I held off for a long time before I bought one, and we only did that because we were driving in separate vehicles on our move across the country to New York and wanted to be able to stay in contact with each other in the case of an emergency.

I love having a smartphone and I don’t regret using one. It’s enormously helpful in my professional work and I love the visual stimulation of Instagram. The iPhone camera is so good that I often use those pictures for the blog and for Instagram. But I am putting my foot down. I refuse to let it dominate my day.

I’ve declared war.

Today, we’re driving across the Hudson River to investigate a small independent bookstore. I’ve been there before, but it’s been many years. Don just finished his book and is looking for a new one and he’s sort of exhausted the inventory in our local bookstore.

A little adventure for the day.

Happy Tuesday.

Allowing More Time for Reading

September 9, 2019 at 10:10 am by Claudia

The mornings are definitely cooler nowadays. Our walks include wearing a hooded sweatshirt. It’s brisk out there!

On today’s walk, we kept hearing (and seeing) acorns drop to the ground, black walnuts falling from trees, bird skirmishes up in the branches, and squirrels running up and down the trunks.

Speaking of noticing things, when I mowed the back forty last week, I stood for a moment on the edge of our property that borders our neighbor’s property and looked at the trees that abut that huge grassy field I showed you the other day. I noticed – for the first time – that we have two catalpas there. I guess I had to be standing in just the right place to identify them, as it’s on a slight hill. That makes at least 6 catalpa trees on the property. Since they’re one of my favorite trees, this discovery made me happy.

It’s 9:53 am and I haven’t turned my phone on. This is part of my new attempt to not have it on, and therefore, tempting me, for most of the day. I want to read more and look at the phone (and my laptop) less. I read a post by a young woman who I follow on my other Instagram account, which is for books and reading. She may be only 29, but she is very wise. She also felt that her attention was too often being diverted to her phone and iPad/laptop. It all came to a head when the Wi-Fi in her apartment kept failing. She didn’t have it for about 3 weeks. During that time, she read far more than she had been and she liked it. Eventually, she made the decision to have no Wi-Fi.

Now, I can’t do that, because I write this blog and do other things that necessitate having Wi-Fi. But, I can severely limit my time online. I’ve written about this before and it can be a struggle for me. But both Don and I are of the same mind on this one. I’m going to work hard to turn my computer off after I write this post and check back in later in the day. Likewise, I’ll do my usual Instagram check-in and then turn the phone off. If there’s a phone call/message, I’ll know soon enough. And we still have a landline, so there’s that.

We’ll see how it goes.

I’m reading John Connolly’s latest, The Book of Bones, which is 694 pages long. Interestingly, I had just ordered 3 books from the library when I picked up this book to read. Those books are going to come in this week and I will still be immersed in this almost 700 page long book. A quality problem, but a problem, nonetheless. I couldn’t help it, the Connolly is what I was in the mood for. I’m a bit less than a quarter of the way through it.

We’re off on our weekly visit to the grocery store.

Don had a good day at the Farmers Market. His photos are wonderful.

Happy Monday.

Bookshop Visit

Day Two of the Challenge

Allowing More Time for Reading

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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