A Rain-filled Weekend Made for Reading

It promises to be a rainy weekend and I have three books in the offing:

1776 by David McCullough - I picked this one off the shelf the morning of July 4th. How appropriate. It is the story of General George Washington and his army vs. British Commander William Howe in the year of the Declaration of Independence. As always, Mr. McCullough tells a rousing tale.

How to Do Everything and Be Happy by Peter Jones - Its bright yellow cover caught my eye on the New Non-Fiction display at the library last week. Every now and again I feel the need to try and Regain Control of Life. This is a funny book with a different spin on how to get things done - not just the laundry, but accomplishing the things in life that really make you smile. It involves Making Lists which I love to do.

The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson - I haven't yet gotten to the murder in this fun mystery that takes place in an English country house, and I do love a story like this that has all the suspects thrown together for a weekend house party. This is a Kindle book (2013) that is described as a "1920s whodunit" but I can't find an original copyright date or any information about the author. Who knows if it is modern or not, it has all the characteristics of an entertaining puzzle.

History in the Making

Have you ever collected books by an author that look so upstanding and proper on your bookshelves that just seeing them makes you feel smarter? Books that are full of adventure and historical heroes and biographical tidbits? Those that promise to swoop you away to other places and eras? And, volumes that are so well-written and well-researched that two of them have won the Pulitzer Prize?

Well, the author of those esteemed books would be David McCullough, something of a National Treasure in the United States. Mr. McCullough has written books about Presidents Harry Truman, Theodore Roosevelt, and John Adams. He has given the world a recounting of the Johnstown Flood and the American Revolution. He has introduced readers to the rigors of  building the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge. And, most recently, has written of the American artists, writers, doctors and architects who set off to study in Paris in the 1820s and '30s.

On my shelves I happen to have four of Mr. McCullough's books. What's that you ask? How many have I read? I will admit it...I haven't read a one.

How is it that I keep these books? Do I think that one day in my dotage I will sit down and read all about Harry Truman and John Adams? That the year 1776 will hold a fascination for me? That Americans in Paris in the Victorian era will appeal to me?

I don't know, but in my bookcase they stay. Just today I picked off the shelf The Greater Journey. I settled into my comfy reading chair full of resolve and was ready to be carried across the Atlantic to the French capital. I lasted a total of 19 pages before I closed my eyes and took a nap.

Perhaps I should admit to myself that I am just not a Person Interested in History. That that Person is a fantasy reader I could let go of. I don't know. We shall see. I will keep at The Greater Journey a wee bit more and will report in again.

Do you have a fantasy Reader in you that continues to buy books that you want to have but don't read?