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.
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.
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.
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:
the floor is triple layer of timber, to keep moisture out.
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.
most all of the books are “rag paper” so there are none of the chemicals, etc. that are used in “pulp paper” books
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.
The book was a fun read. Really fun. It was full of crazy book collectors and crazy book collector stories. One of my favorites is where A.S.W. Rosenbach is sharing stories from his time around his uncle’s bookstore / publishing house: his Uncle Moses’ Shop on Commerce Street.
Can you imagine a bookstore like this? A bookstore where Edgar A. Poe, James Fenimore Cooper, WC Bryant, Webster, and Melville, all frequent and hang out? What a storied childhood! No wonder Rosenbach landed where he did in the pantheon of bookmen.
