What if you're bookless?
Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend filled with picnics and fireworks. I got away for a couple of days, and brought a few books along, including The Sky Below and The Chalk Circle Man, but spent most of my time in du Pont country, touring Longwood Gardens and Winterthur.
To get us all thinking about reading again, here's author Gail Farrelly with a guest post on the topic of A Chance Encounter: What to do when you find yourself bookless? I was getting out of my car at the pool when I realized I had forgotten to bring a book to read. Panic! I grabbed what happened to be available, a book a friend had left in the back of my car: Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy. I have little interest in sports and didn't expect to like it but figured it'd be better than nothing. A shock! I'm loving it. The book is more history than baseball. Koufax is such an interesting person and Leavy a wonderful writer.
I'm thinking of Shaw's quote: "Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get." Hmm. Maybe not. I didn't bring what I liked, but I was only a few pages into the Koufax book when I knew that I liked what I got. No forcing required! Sports, horror, memoirs, and anything with a terrorist theme usually end up in "Don't Go There" territory for me. But now I'm thinking I've probably missed out on a lot of good books, because I've pigeon-holed them into the category of books I don't like.
Have you ever read a book that just happened to fall into your lap -- by chance or on a whim -- and then it turned out to be fabulous? Did it make you change your mind about choosing books?
While she always preferred The Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, 
Comments
We had to rush our dog to the emergency vet early yesterday morning. We left in such a hurry that I forgot to take a book. The whole time we were there, my husband had to listen to me saying, "I can't believe I forgot my book," since I couldn't find anything to read.
Posted by: Kathy | July 6, 2009 7:32 AM
The fear of finding myself bookless has done probably irreparable damage to my shoulders, because it leads me to carry far too many books everywhere I go.
Like Kathy, the last time I actually found myself bookless involved emergency rooms and dogs--but it was a reverse of her situation in almost every way: I got bit by two dogs while running and decided I should probably go to the emergency room to make sure I wasn't going to get rabies. The bites, though, weren't too bad, and a bookstore where I have a house account was on the way, so I picked up John McPhee's Coming Into the Country on my way to the hospital, and it served me well for six hours of emergency room waiting.
Posted by: Levi Stahl | July 6, 2009 11:24 AM
I don't read a lot of poetry, but earlier this year I attended a reading by Richard Wilbur at Johns Hopkins. I was taken by the poems that he read, and by his unassuming style. I bought a collection of his works, and it's earned a spot on my night table.
Posted by: Dave | July 6, 2009 11:34 AM
C.S. Lewis' Til We Have Faces. I borrowed it from one of my friends, who promised it was amazing, and I took it entirely unwillingly. Now it's one of my favorite books of all time.
Posted by: Nancy | July 6, 2009 2:27 PM