In Which I Take Stock of My Reading Pile

As so often happens when I can't quite settle on one book to read, I find that I end up reading way too many at the same time and still check titles out from the library.

Here is a sampling of a few that are crowding my tabletops right now.

Beside my reading chair:

Emma by Alexander McCall Smith - This is the book I pick up at two in the morning when I wander down my hallway to the living room knowing sleep has deserted me for a while. It is the modern retelling of the Jane Austen classic. I am sort of familiar with the basic premise. (I saw the movie.) Anyway, I love AMS and being in his company in the middle of the night is soothing.

(If you haven't read my account of meeting Mr. McCall Smith, you can do so here.)

Plum Pie by P.G. Wodehouse - This is a collection of short stories or it may be selections from a few of his books, but in any case, I am always happy to be in Mr. W's world. This is also a good one to pick up in the case of insomnia. In between the stories, he writes short (undated) commentaries on what is going on in the news of the day under the title Our Man in America. One is an item from a small town in North Carolina about the theft of 25 church pews and the pulpit. He wonders how the thieves plan to fence these hot pews. In another, he bemoans the discontinuation of the autumn Woolly Bear Hunt in which specimens of the caterpillar of that name were collected and examined in an effort to predict the mildness or severity of the coming winter. 

When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning - Although I don't belong to a book club, a friend's group is reading this and he thought I would be interested in it. I am, but I have barely read past the introduction. It has to do with the free books sent to American troops during World War II. There were 120 million small paperback books - known as Armed Services Editions - printed for the reading enjoyment of soldiers and sailors. I wrote about a similar book, As You Were that was edited by Alexander Woollcott. It was one of my best used book discoveries ever! (You can read about that here.) My friend has invited me to attend the club's meeting and bring my vintage find. A sort of Show and Tell.

Beside my bed:

Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart - I remember reading Mary Stewart's suspenseful books in high school. Her novels seem to be making a comeback. This was her first and has all the characteristics that I remember: a young woman in a perilous situation not of her making, terrific place descriptions, and excellent prose. I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy her sensory details - the song of the cicadas of an evening, the aroma of a morning cup of coffee, the glint of light on the river - and not rush along to find out what happens next. 

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome - This is my second reading of this classic comic novel. It's difficult to describe the events and meanderings that go on here but basically three fellows take off on a holiday in a boat up the River Thames. There is also a dog. You will just have to read it to get the full effect of this wonderful adventure published in 1889. It is as fresh and lively as ever.

Anything interesting on your reading tables? Are you enjoying one book or, like me, many? 

In Which I Meet Alexander McCall Smith

I adore a man in a kilt and when that man happens to be Alexander McCall Smith, well, then I swoon.

And swoon I did last Thursday night when Mr. McCall Smith appeared at the library on the first stop of his book tour for Emma, a modern retelling of the Jane Austen classic. In his version, Emma Woodhouse is an interior designer who has returned home to her village of Highbury. What goes on from there I won't be able to tell you until I read my Autographed Copy.

Mr. McCall Smith has created such wonderful characters. I am a fan especially of his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books (there are fifteen so far and another one due out in October). He also writes of Isabel Dalhousie, the 5-year-old Bertie and other residents of 44 Scotland Street, and has written stand alone novels as well.

In Which I Crash the Party

I arrived at the library an hour before AMS was scheduled to speak so as to get a front row seat (which I did). I had just settled in when a woman who works at the library and knows I am a fan told me of a private tea-and-crumpets reception that was being held in his honor in the lower level conference room. I decided the only thing to do was to crash the party. I determined I could flash my well-used library card and gain admittance.

I needn't have worried. I thought perhaps there would be a room full of people all standing around holding teacups. I was wrong. There were maybe thirty people in attendance most of them sitting at the long conference table. I swanned in just like I belonged there and immediately spotted AMS. After all, it is rather difficult to miss a man wearing a kilt. He was standing to one side surrounded by a few women. I walked up to the group and in a few seconds he turned to acknowledge me and I introduced myself as a writer from a local woman's lifestyle magazine (which I am) and told him how we were thrilled with his strong, independent female characters (which we are). 

After that I never left his side. 

People would come over to speak with him. I would take pictures for them and then AMS and I would have a few minutes of private conversation before another couple of people came over to meet him. More photos. I think they all thought perhaps I was his handler or aide-de-camp.


At one point I found myself holding his reading glasses, his glass of Diet Coke, and the book he was clutching while someone took a group picture.

I admit that I gushingly told him that I never in my life thought I would have the chance to meet him and how thankful I was that he came to Louisville. He was perfectly gracious.

Not a single person questioned my presence. It just goes to prove that if you act as if you belong somewhere, well, then you do.

In Which Mr. McCall Smith Speaks

His presentation to the audience of well over 300 people was as delightful as expected. He was so comfortable on stage and told story after story about his characters and his writing adventures and his creation of The Really Terrible Orchestra in Edinburgh. 

He ended with a particularly hilarious story about a botched car rental reservation at the Pisa airport and how that resulted in his rental of a bulldozer and his slow drive to Sienna. Along the way, he said, because he was traveling at such a slow rate of speed he really got to enjoy the scenery. And if there was a hill or fence that he didn't like the looks of, well he was driving just the vehicle to eliminate it. 

We were all laughing so hard and he got tickled too and laughed along with us. His eyes just sparkled.

After his presentation, he took questions from the audience. I asked if he remembered learning to read and what books were on his family's shelves when he was growing up. He paused. He hadn't been asked that one before, he said. He recalled a book called Ginger's Adventures that was his favorite. It was the story of a farm boy, Tommy, and his dog, Ginger. Ginger somehow ends up as a girl's pet living unhappily in London with ribbons in his hair but eventually makes it back to the farm where he and Tommy get to roll in the mud and do what boys and dogs do.

An aside: I looked up the book and sure enough, it was published by Ladybird Books in England in 1940 and was illustrated by A.J. McGregor and the story written in verse by W. Perring. I don't see that it is available here in the United States but Amazon UK does have copies for sale.

I was second in line to get his autograph in my newly purchased copy of Emma. By then I felt as if we were old friends. I also brought with me my hardcover copy of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency which he kindly autographed as well. 

It was a wonderful, unforgettable evening. Eventually the video of his presentation will show up on the library's website. I will embed the link when it does so that you all can enjoy his appearance as well.