All posts by trav

At the heart of it all, I’m a fan. A fan of books and bookstores. A fan of fiction and non-fiction. A fan of authors and publishers. And most of all I’m a fan of great conversations sparked by books. All that to say - I really need more bookshelves.
Book Column, Book Talk

Week 1: My Year in Nonfiction #nonficnov

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This week kicks off Nonfiction November 2017 and I’m excited to participate. Thank you to all the kind souls who have taken the time to coordinate and pull all the prompts and dates together.

This week is being hosted over at JulzRead, who is a new blogger to me, but after reading how she likes “books about books” and is working on a book spine staircase, I know we’d have tons of books to share and recommend. Anyway, here we go. . .

What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?

This year I finally found a copy of Anatole Broyard’s Intoxicated By My Illness and was not disappointed. His writing, sense of self and the decision to tackle death head on with his eyes (and humor) wide open all tied together wonderfully for this book. Death is a tough topic but Broyard pulled no punches when remembering his life, those around him and his work as a literary critic.

What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?

I really have not recommended many books this year, but the nonfiction book I’ve talked about the most Robert Moor’s On Trails: An Exploration. Moor does a good job showing the impact of trails, maps and paths in our world. Everything from the historical (thinking about how today’s interstates follow ancient Native American paths) to the philosophical (the mindset that’s needed to walk a looooooooong way) to the future (big international groups still get together to debate the start/stop of the Appalachian Trail as it gains new land each year). It was a very specific and peculiar book. Fortunately, it was done very well.

What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet?

I can never, ever, get enough ‘books about books’. It’s a passion. It’s never ending and it’s always hard to find other people taking the deep dive into bibliophilia. One of my faves this year was the coffee table book The Library Book by Thomas Schiff. Schiff takes these amazing 360 degree photos of libraries from around the world to give the reader a new perspective on the places, shelves and books. It’s a slow book. One where you want to study pages where massive ceiling frescoes warp and bend down to touch the tops of floor to ceiling bookshelves. It was a lot of fun.

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

Hands down, I want to discover new great books to read. But getting to meet all of the other book loving folks participating is certainly the icing on the cake.

If you’re interested in participating this year’s Nonfiction November, just check out any of the hosts’ blogs or follow along on all the socials by checking out the hashtag #nonficnov

Book Column, Book Talk, On the TV

H is for Hawk: A New Chapter

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Tonight, PBS will air the first episode of H is for Hawk: A New Chapter which could loosely be billed as a “follow up” to Helen McDonald’s best-selling book H is for Hawk. 

H is for Hawk is a book that’s been in the middle of my TBR pile since it came out in paperback. I’ve heard so many good things about this memoir, but I’ve just never gotten around to moving it to the “excited to read next” pile. I’m not 100% sure why that is, but I think I’m going to pick it up and read (that is after my current read Want Not by Miles) before I watch the show.

In the book, McDonald trains a goshawk as part of her coping with the death of her father. The show starts next week, which is about 10 years after the events in the book. And again she’s back to raising and training birds.

Here’s a 41-second preview to watch:
The movie rights to the book have also been sold. They were bought by Lena Headey who plays Cersei in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

The show has the potential to add some great visuals and color to what has already proven to be a great selling book. I’m looking forward to diving into both.

Authors, Book Talk, Bookstores, News

Ann Pachett Interview on CBS Sunday Morning

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This past weekend CBS Sunday morning aired a piece on the success of Ann Patchett and her bookstore in Nashville, TN. During the seven and a half minute story they covered everything from bookstore dogs, the launching of new independent bookstores, author tours and even Ann Pachett’s writing style.

Here’s a link to the video. It’s better to click through and watch as CBS has all their embed stuff set to auto-play and I’m not going to do that to you.

When you’re done watching the video, you can click on through to Ann Patchett’s shop’s site and browse as well. Though I can attest, it’s much more fun to visit Parnassus Books in person.

I think CBS Sunday Morning should highlight an indie bookstore every couple of weeks. I feel certain they’d get all of the colorful characters, commentary and quirky video they like to have these days. Anyway, it’s a fun little interview to watch while finishing your morning coffee this week.

Bibliophile Travels, Book Talk, library, Literary Tourism

Hughes Free Public Library

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This one here is a photo-heavy post, but if you like old books and history, then take a breath and let it load. I think you’ll like hearing about the Hughes Free Public Library in operation since 1882.

Work had me on the road last year up on the Cumberland Plateau, which is where Rugby, TN, (population 64), is. While the founding of Rugby by the “second sons” is a fascinating read all by itself, it is the Hughes Free Public Library that really shines.

I was lucky enough to get to take a tour of the library and wanted to share some photos as this space remains almost completely untouched from its opening day back in 1882.

The library is named for Englishman Mr. Thomas Hughes. He founded the Rugby settlement as an “experiment”. When the Hughes Library opened it contained 6,000 books donated by publishers in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. In fact, many of the bookcases in the library are built from the actual crates the books were shipped in.

Here you can see the slats from the shipping crates that were repurposed to make bookshelves.

There were another 1,000 books donated from private collections and the Chicago Library (where there is a Thomas Hughes Reading Room). In 1900, the catalog records 7,000 books on the shelves. Today, there are 6,994. They have lost 6 books in the last 120+ years of operation. But when your patron list is counted in 10’s I guess it’s easy enough to keep track of who has books overdue.

The books are in absolutely amazing condition considering how often they were used and their age. I was told by the caretaker that this is due to a number of factors:

  1. the floor is triple layer of timber, to keep moisture out.
  2. the windows were intentionally spaced so they directed light onto the library tables and not the bookshelves themselves. That is why the spines and binding show very little sunning and bleaching.
  3. most all of the books are “rag paper” so there are none of the chemicals, etc. that are used in “pulp paper” books
  4. the location/climate coupled with the smart cupola in the ceiling help regulate temperature

If you ever find yourself up in that neck of the woods around historic Rugby, TN, it’ s certainly worth stopping in and seeing if you can get a tour yourself.