Books

A paragraph so delightful that it had to be shared:

“There are many, many types of books in the world, which makes good sense, because there are many types of people, and everybody wants to read something different … But one type of book that practically no one likes to read is a book about the law. Books about the law are notorious for being very long, very dull, and very difficult to read. This is one reason many lawyers make heaps of money. The money is an incentive … to read long, dull, and difficult books.”

–Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

This month I hope to finish cataloging my book collection at LibraryThing. I started in October, but since my collection has grown by about four books per day in the past few weeks, I may never catch up! If you are curious, visit my LibraryThing catalog or subscribe to my recently-added books RSS feed.

Recent acquisitions include

• Oxford companion to children’s literature / Humphrey Carpenter and Mari Prichard
• From cover to cover: evaluating and reviewing children’s books / Kathleen T. Horning
• Growing up with Dick and Jane: learning and living the American dream / Carole Kismaric
• Miffy’s surprise party / Dick Bruna
• Betty Crocker’s new boys’ and girls’ cookbook

Ordinarily, I avoid New Year’s resolutions, but during my holiday break reading, I found one that delighted me. In the 1934 edition of The Children’s Almanac of Books and Holidays, Helen Dean Fish gives this New Year’s advice: “Resolve to read at least a dozen good children’s books next year, and make a list of them now.”

I have not made my list for 2006, but at the moment, I am re-reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods. I wonder if anyone else ushered in the new year with an old favorite as well …

“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.”