Nancy's Reads & Reels: Many Books & One Movie

“When I get a little money, I buy books. And if I have any left over, I buy food and clothes.” – Desiderious Erasmus

Here are the books I bought as Christmas gifts: Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacs and The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach for my sons-in-law. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston and Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward for my daughters. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls for a friend and The Submission by Amy Waldon for myself.

Last week I stopped in at Books Again and even though they didn’t have the book I was looking for, I did find an illustrated version of Little Women and lo and behold my 5-year-old granddaughter read three chapters and only stumbled over a few words. If only I had this version when my daughters were growing up, they might have enjoyed the book as much as I had. The language is a bit off putting to later generations.  I also bought a Langston Hughes book of poems, though not the book I was looking for, and for some unknown reason The Children’s Homer. It’s so much fun to roam around a bookstore.

I received Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey from my daughter and oddly enough, one of my favorite books was a blank journal sent to me by my sister. At first, I wondered what I would do with it since I haven’t kept a journal for many years but now it has inspired me:  I began by taping in some poems I had printed out and then plan to list all the movies I see, books I read, and notable essays and short stories I read.

First movie of the new year: The Artist—loved it!