“Looking for Books in Ireland” (photo by m.a.h. hinton)
It is Saturday and morning. Here in the North Country it has been unseasonably warm. Yesterday we set a “record” for high temperature for January 4th. I put the word record in quotation marks since it has always struck me a strange to score the thermometer in that way.
As is my custom, I have a number of books I am currently working on:
On My Writing Desk
- Charles Simic, Jackstraws. This is my first extended time with Simic’s poetry. Last year I read only women poets. I am beginning this year with Simic. My habit of years is to always have a poetry book in play. I generally read poetry in the morning.
- Nuccio Ordine, The Usefulness of the Useless. I began this “big” little book on November 1st. I read a few pages at a time in the morning after writing and before heading to work. It is dense and worth savoring and is a book that I will be recommending highly to others.
- Bill Holm, The Windows of Brimnes. I began this book on November 7th. I have not gotten very far. It sits on my writing desk with Ordine and Simic (or whatever poetry book I have been reading). I will return to it soon.
- Poetry Ireland Review, Issue 126. I splurged and used some of my birthday money in May to get a subscription to Poetry Ireland. I read the poems on the mornings when I am feeling a need for inspiration and/or creative energy.
On My Kindle
- Stephen R. Jones. The Last Prairie: A Sandhills Journal. I have been experimenting with reading on my KindleFire while on the stationary bike in the morning. I began this beautiful book on December 27th.
- Michael Dirda, Browsings: A Year in Reading. This is an ebook I got from the library. I began it on January 1st. I have been reading it on my Kindle app on my computer at lunch at work.
Next to My Bed
- Charles Dickens. David Copperfield. I bought Sue (and I) the Nonesuch Dickens re-prints (I have always admired these) of Oliver Twist and David Copperfield to read aloud before bed. We began reading on January 1st.
- Nicholas A. Basbanes. A Gentle Madness. I read this book when it first came out (1995) but found it again in a thrift store sometime in November. I am re-reading it again. It is a First-Edition with a mylar-covered book jacket. But someone at sometime after the book jacket was covered spilled tea or coffee on it. Hence why I could purchase it for a dollar at a thrift store.