Sunday Morning Reading Notes

The weather in Maine has been outstanding for about a month now, but it's not too soon to begin thinking about winter. The WSJ checks in with the five best books on extreme cold.

***

I picked up a few old books at the library yesterday: Christopher Morley's The Haunted Bookshop and Parnassus on Wheels, and Willa Cather's Death Comes to the Archbishop. The librarian who checked them out, an older woman, said mistily, "Nice old books," as if it were somewhat remarkable--and I suppose it is--to see them come across her desk. The old books are gradually disappearing from library shelves, to be replaced by contemporary stuff--or perhaps the stacks are simply consolidated to make room for more computers.

***

I walked home from work on Friday reading. Hadn't done that in quite some time. Managed not to crash into telephone poles or trip over curbs, and dutifully took my face out of the book at intersections. I used to do this on return trips from the local library as a kid. The book, by the way, was Loren Estleman's The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion, which was engaging enough but not great.