Even though it was wrenching to do so, I donated a stack of 15 books to Locust Grove Historic Home for its used book sale that is held twice a year. Like Marie Kondo suggests, I thanked them for the joy they had brought me and wished them well.
A session of furniture rearranging on Labor Day was what spurred me on to cull those few volumes. A friend did most of the heavy lifting and even tidied up a bookshelf or two. I am pleased with the new arrangement but feel as if I have moved house. What used to sit on my right side is now on my left and vice versa. I am having a devil of a time trying to reorient myself.
As for my reading, I started right into the second Inspector Thanet mystery (I wrote about him last week). I like it even better than the first. In Six Feet Under he is investigating the murder of a somewhat dowdy middle-aged woman and discovers she had a penchant for snooping. That will certainly get one into trouble...although murder seems a bit extreme. But maybe there was blackmail involved as piles of money are found under the dead woman's mattress. We shall see.
There has been a stir about the new BBC production of Strike - The Cuckoo's Calling. This series of seven episodes is based on the mystery written by JK Rowling under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. I downloaded a copy of the book from my library. I was surprised it was available. I will start it as soon as Inspector Thanet solves his case.
Finally, I stumbled across a short article by memoirist Vivian Gornick who wrote that her love of personal essays began when she read The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg. I was not familiar with Ms. Ginzburg, but I too am a fan of the personal essay. Luckily, my library had a copy of the book and as of today it sits by my reading chair. It is slim — a little over 100 pages. It has a copyright and translation date of 1985, although it was originally published in 1962 in Italy.
That pretty much wraps up the reading portion of the week. There is a touch of autumn in the air and even though I suspect a few more days of hot weather will arrive in a blast, I am happy that summer is winding down.
