Off the coffeetable, back in the basket

Now that farmer's market season is just about over in our area, my Longaberger large, market basket will once again find its' home between my living room sofa and the bookshelves where it serves its true purpose...keeper of my current reading. It's a good thing... my coffee table looked like I was attempting to recreate the tower of Babel.

My "main book" I'm reading now is one mentioned earlier called Voyageurs, A Novel by Margaret Elphinstone. I have just begun to read it but it looks like it will be a great book about one of my favorite historical times in U.S. History (especially here in the Midwest). With the Feast of the Hunter's Moon fresh in my mind, it will seem even more alive.

I'm also reading David McCullough's delightful book, Brave Companions; Portraits In History. It is a compilation of articles he wrote over a period of years. I love his writing, even his Introduction is a delight to read. This is the book I'm keeping with me in the car as it is easy to pick up and put down at a moment's notice.

I checked out a few library books this morning, hoping I will get to them before they are due in two weeks. I was quite excited to find Julia Child's autobiography, My Life In France on the New Nonfiction shelf. I've been wanting to read that for awhile.

I checked out a small, easy-to-read novel called A Country Affair By Rebecca Shaw. I must admit, I'm judging this book entirely by the cover. I hope it will not be a disappointment but hope springs eternal that one can judge a book by its' cover at least part of the time.

I brought home two Christmas books, both having great ideas for the upcoming Holidays. The Best Christmas Ever with Mary Englebreit has good decorating ideas and recipes. Keeping Christmas; Preserving Holiday Memories and Creating Family Traditions has a lot of ideas for scrapbooking projects (besides scrapbooks) and some nice craft projects. I don't do nearly as much for Christmas as I did when I had young children but I still enjoy doing a few special crafts each year.

I finished Book By Book; Notes on Reading and Life by Michael Dirda earlier this week. I very much enjoyed the first half of the book but I didn't like the second half at all. I found it difficult to find any common ground after the middle of the book. We are definitely far apart in our worldview.

If you are interested in a delightful "Book about Books", I have read The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life; How to get more books in your life and more life from your books at least three times (and some sections more than that). The author, Steve Leveen, writes as if he was sitting across the table at Starbucks and you've discussed books with him for years. Great book!