Library Day!

The wonderful state of Missouri gave it's employees and local subsidiaries the day off today for Abe Lincoln's birthday. What a wonderful thing on a Friday in February. It is one of the rare holidays that we have off that our local library does not. After I did my morning chores, I loaded up the books I had to return and headed to the library. I had a list of books to check out. As luck would have it, not one of the books on my list was available. So I began searching. I came home with 6 books from Debbie Macomber to Stephen L. Carter. There was no rhyme or reason to the method of selecting these books. As I wandered up and down the aisles, I would spot a title that sounded good, recognize an author that I liked or see a familiar looking cover. Two of the books turned out to be Oprah books (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and The Emperor of Ocean Park) As I was checking them out, and requesting the titles I had searched for, one of the library employees commented that they did not like the Edgar Sawtelle book. We began discussing the books that Oprah chooses for her book club. The general consensus was that Oprah tends to select books that are both depressing and that lien toward the intellectual mind. One staff person said that she thought Oprah did this to impress, and not so much because she enjoyed the books. I had to agree with their comments. So, I am now feeling a little like someone who finally made a decision at a restaurant on what to order, and then someone else telling them that it was not good. I may still enjoy that book, but a slight damper has been put on my enthusiasm for reading it. I am especially excited about reading a book called: "Tomato Red" by Daniel Woodrell. This author also wrote "Winter's Bones", which was on my original wish list. The librarian told me that all of his novels take place in Missouri. I will let you know how I liked it. I know it is crazy, but I get a little bit excited about starting a new book. Happy weekend of reading!