Urban Walk

  Today I went for a walk.  Before starting off I packed a rain shell (just in case) and a handful of books to share with other Library Boxes in the neighborhood.  A neighbor had mentioned a new box off of 37th and Donald and then Hope Crandall (the steward of the Friendly Park LFL) had mentioned another new box on Olive near the Market of Choice.  A few hours on Sunday morning, a bit of urban exploring and Voila some exercise to boot.  Here's a map of my route:

  On the way to 37th & Donald I discovered tiny Willis Park which is tucked away just north of 37th and consists of a simple oak grove and picnic bench.  I'd never have noticed this park unless I was walking and happened to see a gravel path between two houses.  This park seems like a well kept neighborhood secret that's quietly enjoyed by those nearby.

On 37th just West of Donald

The "secret path" into Willis Park

  Another Sunday secret along the way to Olive street is Metropol Bakery where French pastries and fine coffee are the perfect complement to a Bakery copy of the Sunday New York Times.  Munch, munch, catch up on some great reading and then head to the next library box.  Before reaching the Olive St. LFL a short detour south on McMillian will uncover a comfortable bench and poetry box.  One of the featured poems this month is from Karma Tenzing Wangchuk:

After the rain,

she finds puddles

to jump in -

my child, knowing nothing

of the storms to come.

From: Poets Against the War, 2003

The new LFL @ 2770 Olive 

  The afternoon turned sunny and my roof gutters were calling for their annual clean out chore.  While I was clearing out gutter junk & later planting some bulbs I observed two families with small kids visit Whitty Storeys.  The first couple had a three year old who explored the box, played with the scrabble letters, crawled up on the logs and sat in the afternoon sun soaking up the rays and a book.  The parents made three attempts to leave and each time their daughter drew them back to the box.  

  A bit later a Mom and her three kids came walking across the field and spent a good length of time choosing books, reading magnetic poetry tiles and lingering around the box.  After repeated tries, Mom coaxed her kids onward and up the hill to Crest School.  It was just so enjoyable to watch these kids playing and engaging with this simple neighborhood project.

Cheers everyone... thanks for making this happen.  

Friendly Gifts

  It looks like we've been visited by a neighborhood library box bearing gifts.  Two copies of the New Yorker, A couple adult books, and an American Girl dress up guide.  The network of Little Free Libraries continues to grow and sharing books between libraries is part of the fun.  I'll have to make a run past Friendly Park and reciprocate the gift.

  One book that made it back to the box is Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife.  The story is imaginative and though it deals with the dark side of the most recent Balkan conflict, its use of allegory and mythology is quite engaging.  Obreht is a young American author whose future works will afford attention.  So, Enjoy the holidays, the short days and cozy up to some great reads.  Cheers...

Winter Ideas

  So it's winter.  With all this time cooped up inside it's time to think about ideas for our neighborhood spot.  I was thinking about a kinetic poetry box.  What you say?  A moving poetry box?  Yeah, something along the lines of this quite creative book box.


  Maybe we can get together after the holidays & toss around ideas?  What about something with some sort of kid engaging wheel & chain contraption that would spit out poems?  Here's another quite creative DIY contraption from over the pond.  
  I'm not sure I'd have the time for something this detailed, but it would be a cool community project.  Any takers?

Three Books

  Maybe today's theme is literary diversity.  I'm frankly impressed with what a wide range of books move through our library box.  Some of the books are titles I'm vaguely familiar with (Morality for Beautiful Girls), others are on the edge of what I'd usually read (A Wanted Man) and others are books that significantly affected my thinking and life (The Lost Boy.)  

  For me part of the beauty of reading is this very breadth of topics and tastes.  Books communicate the nuances of life in the full range of textures, tastes and temptations.  I have to say temptations because Lee Child is one of those authors I'm tempted by and have heard of, but hadn't actually picked up one of his novels.  Likewise I've heard Alexandar McCall Smith raved about, but hadn't gotten around to actually reading his works.  So here are my one word reviews of these three books.

Inane: A Wanted Man, Lee Child:  Sorry Lee Child but I was completely unable to suspend disbelief even for an infinitesimally small amount of time to buy into your Jack Reacher character.  The writing here is page turning and airplane seat suitable, but my first thought finishing the book was this was one of the worst books I've actually stuck with and managed to finish.  Yuck.

Enjoyable:  Morality for Beautiful Girls, Alexander McCall Smith:  By contrast McCall Smith's "Morality for Beautiful Girls" was an exceptionally enjoyable read which although a somewhat simple story, its setting in Botswana and cultural references turned it into a compact and pleasant read.  McCall Smith has actually written technical works and novels and this book will definitely keep me looking for his writing. 

Challenging:  The Lost Boy, David Pelzer:  A final literary contrast is David Pelzer's book "The Lost Boy."  Warning, this is a book filled with reality and a young man's horrible experience as an abused child.  The Lost Boy was followed by Pelzer's adult story in "A Man named Dave."  This is stark reality, the reality of our country, our children and the grinding poverty and neglect known to our most vulnerable citizens.

  Read McCall Smith for pleasant diversion, read Pelzer to be challenged, and if you're desperate for an intercontinental page ripper pull out a Lee Child.  For more on the home front and the challenges facing today's youth, check out the articles below.

Cheers,

Stephen

Invisible Child Series

Improved Poverty Metrics

Blue Bird

  In skiing parlance there are "blue bird days." This weekend was an absolutely joyful set of blue bird days.  Although most of the snow arrived on Friday, the unusually cold temperatures meant the snow stayed around over the weekend.  Sledding & skiing on Friday, skiing south of Blanton on Saturday and more sledding and neighborhood fun today centered around Whitten & Storey.

Neighbors chatting, Kids playing

Neighborhood kids @ the top of Whitten

  A neighbor from up the hill arrived with her teenagers and picked up a book.  The box is full of many new books and we recently had a note about the quality of books we're offering.  The neighbors make the box, and the book selection definitely reflects our community.  Thanks to the neighborhood for a great blue bird weekend.

Snow Day

Over 400

  Whitty Storeys just had its four hundredth book donated to the box.  With eleven new kids books and an additional nine adult titles there have been 404 books in (or through) the box since opening day back in August.  The new kids books gave our bottom shelf a boost and the adult shelves are completely full.

Our growing kids shelf

  On another front, I recently learned about World Book Night.  Individuals are encouraged to sign up and become "Book Givers" for the night of April 23rd, 2014.  There's funding for the project which means if you're chosen you'll receive twenty copies of one title which you then give away.  Another innovative way to share the joy of reading with others.

Some of the great book night 2014 titles

Food Rules!

  I started on a walk this morning and made it across the street.  Curious as ever about what showed up in the box... this morning was Out by Natsuo Kirino, Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry and surprise, surprise for this feasting week:  Food Rules by Michael Pollan.  Here's a review by the incomparable foodie who set the table in my Mom's kitchen growing up, none other than Jane Brody.

  Here are a couple of my favorite food rules from Pollan.  I realize some think Pollan's a bit preachy, but this book is really just full of excellent, practical food advice in a food landscape populated with many disastrous detours.

#19:  If it came from a plant eat it, if it was made in a plant don't.

# 22:  Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.

#25:  Eat your colors.

# 30:  Eat well grown food from healthy soil.

and especially in light of this week's feasting:

#39:  Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

Enjoy the day!  So much to be thankful for, now for that walk.

Winter Walking

  Hi book folks.  It's Turkey week and the start of the Holidays.  I'm grateful for so many things including all the book contributions we continue to see in the Library Box.  This week alone saw twenty new books.  Count 'em Twenty new books!  Way cool.  Beyond way cool one of my favorite comedic writers showed up:  Bill Bryson.  Who ever picked up Wild, or anyone who enjoys a tale of misadventure... there's a gem in the form of Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

  Bryson is just drop dead, English dry humor infused, satisfyingly funny writing.  He's also a walker which is close to my heart as well.  The difference between Bryson and someone like Paul Salopek is that Bryson is more about the people and culture while someone like Salopek is quite the serious athlete/scholar.  Bryson is fun, Salopek is seven years serious about his Stroll Around the World.  Both are worthy reads for the winter ahead.

Thanks again neighbors!  

S

Catch Up

Just back from some California work & family time.   I hit up a couple neighborhood LFLs while down south & then caught up with Hope Crandall from the Friendly Park LFL this afternoon. The Friendly Park Library opened today and it's a perfect fit for a park with lots of young kids.  Similar to Whitty Storeys the box is roomy and was already attracting the attention of neighbors & kids.

Hope Crandall, showing a kids book @ Friendly Park

 Here's a sampling of what I borrowed from two California libraries.  I hadn't really thought of periodicals, but New Yorkers are welcome plane trip reading so I gave it a go.  My sister says these magazines are a sure sign that her south Bezerkeley neighborhood is truly gentrificating.

Some New Yorker mags & a McCall Smith book from California boxes

Anything New?

  When I travel for work I'm usually traveling solo.  I describe the dynamics of seat assignment as airline seat roulette, namely you never know exactly who'll end up sitting next to you.  It might be a harried parent who immediately apologizes that you've hit the jackpot of sitting next to a precocious six year old who will keep you entertained for the next five hours.  Or you might end up sitting next to a spreadsheet crunching business person whose entire body is vividly expressing the do not talk to me sign.

  When someone does sit beside me and via words or body clues is interested in talking I quite often ask what they're reading.  As in... what's that novel?  Fact or Fiction?  Living or Dead?  The last of these questions referring to whether or not the author of said book is with us or a voice from the past.  My version of the airline seat jackpot is someone who'll introduce me to an author I've never read or a genre I've never seriously considered.

  I've noticed two things about the box of late.  First that it's primarily living authors.  I'm sure a book seller could give you the stats for what proportion of books in circulation are living versus historical authors.  I think the box reflects living authors because that's pretty much what folks buy.  I hear an author interview and buy Wild by Cheryl Strayed, my seatmate coming back from Hawaii once was reading a Colin Thubron novel and I was introduced to Shadows of the Silk Road.

  Have you read a different author who showed up in the box?  There have been so many new authors (the second thing I've noticed) that I've seen books come & go before I even had the chance to peruse them and even think of reading them.  I will recommend a new copy of The Places In Between by Rory Stewart.  I'm a huge fan of this book which shares a similarity with Thubron's book, or Cairo to Capetown (Correction: Dark Star Safari, Overland from Cairo to Capetown) by Paul Theroux which is another informative, eye opening travelogue of world places most of us will never dust with our boots.

  Check out the box... interesting Portland/Brooklyn literary magazine called Tin House that showed up, a new set of kids books (go Ninja Turtles) and a spattering of historical authors such as Middlemarch by George Elliot.  Ninja Turtles to Cormac McCarthy and a nineteen century woman writing as a man, to an Ursula Le Guin essay in Tin House.  Quite a variety for the neighborhood.

 And here's a nice note from a passerby:  Beautiful ~ I will make one on my street!  For poetry & for books.  Thank You So Much, Candice.

Wild PCT

  OK so it's time for my personal recommendation.  Last Spring I was working in California and heard the NPR interview of Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild, Lost & Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.  Very much unlike me I went out & bought the hardcover edition of this book.  I passed it onto a friend and then recently it came back home and Linda read it on vacation.

  Cheryl's story resonated with me in part because as a young man (well kid really) I had hiked the Pacific Crest and her experiences rang true.  Now her story has a lot more sex, drugs and personal travails than my own and that's part of what makes this book work.  She's startlingly honest about her lack of preparation, inexperience and bumblings down the PCT.  What comes home with this book is not just the beauty of long distance hiking but the personal journey that helped her overcome life struggles.

  I've recently heard that PCT hikers, particularly women PCT hikers are on the uptick.  This new surge of through hikers has been branded as the "Wild" effect.  Regardless if this book sends you down the trail, it's quite well written and gets the PCT hiker's veracity seal of approval.  I'll drop the book off this pm and see how long it lasts in the box.

  Cheers... S

It's Fall

  The oak leaves have taken their annual trip and are now blanketing the base of the box.  Yesterday I dropped by and had visits from two neighbors from up the hill interested in books.  We've also had quite an infusion of books, a set of kid books and a slew of adult books including three Palahniuk's.  Had to check the spelling on his name, but how fitting to have a UO alum & Oregon native in the box.

Fall Leaves

Full House with Recent Additions

 

New Additions

  Yesterday was a busy Saturday catching up on the yard and we saw two new additions to the box.  One of those additions was a set of eight new fiction books, the second addition was a new word play option.  Eight authors that I haven't read (They're listed here) and a new magnetic poetry set attached to the back of the box.  The word tiles are taking form into a few lines, check it out and thanks to Cindy who took the initiative.

Drool on!

Funny...

Symphony of language, like the box

Welcome Home

  I was traveling this week with work and enjoyed my post trip routine of relaxing at home and checking the library box.  I'm always curious what showed up when I was gone and this week was quite the treasure trove with five new adult books and four new kid books.

 Two neighbors dropped by and of course our conversations ranged from the box, to books, to our community, travels and reflecting on our lives.  There is something so powerful about the written word and its ability to provoke thought and personal reflection.  My neighbor Winston and I discussed plastic trash, DeFazio's timber harvest plans, the Pacific Gyre, Bill Moyer's Interview of Wendall Berry (It's here Winston) WWII veterans (both our Dads), our mortality, whitewater rafting and a spattering of other subjects.  All the while enjoying the new sitting stumps in front of the box.

  Another neighbor from up the hill explained to me how she takes the books she wants to read and arranges them on a particular shelf all together.  Then the next time she visits the box she peeks in and sees if "her" books are still there.  This is such a great way that the box is working to make connections.  I'm surprised we don't get more notes in our little log book, but one showed up this week which is a perfect sign off.

Cheers... and thanks to A & J for participating in our little library.

New Books

  Just a quick note, there are eleven (11) new adult books in the box this week.  By contrast we've run through a considerable amount of kids books and are running short.  If you have any or hit some yard sales this weekend please add to the stock.  Thanks,  Stephen

Kids, Books

  I just got back from visiting my son Noel up in Corvallis.  We had lunch together and went on a stroll through C-town and discovered a "key" themed little free library. This box is Little Free Library #1603 and it's covered with ornamental keys and beautifully detailed miniature tiles.  This box's theme is "Reading is the Key to Imagination."  It was fun to stumble upon another box and talk with my wordsmith son Noel who practices his own poetry and art in Corvallis.

Noel checking out the box.

Exquisite craftsmanship & detail

  While I was visiting Corvallis a couple of new fir logs showed up in front of the box.  Cris & Kirk Jacobson had an ailing fir which needed removal and we snagged three sections to set in front of the box for seating.  A bit of this old fir is now a part of the neighborhood gathering spot.  Also of note, quite unbeknownst to me several neighbors bought additional gravel and spread an extra layer around the box.  This addition looks very tidy and also weathered the record five plus inches of September rain Eugene received.  Thanks to Robin for the gravel and to Cindy, Ben & Ann for spreading efforts.

New Sitting Logs

  We'll want to set the logs a few inches into the soil to prevent any tipping.  Something tells me some neighborhood bookish-elvish creatures will materialize shortly and I'll discover someone else who's helping out.  When I got back from town my neighbor Clyde was using one of the logs & perusing Kazuo  Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World.  As often happens at the box we started chatting and somehow got to the connection that both of us had bagged Sierra peaks in our youth on Sierra Club outings.  Small world, great neighbors, this is one cool project.

Youngest grandbaby Aliyah likes the box!

Todd Bol

Here's a great YouTube clip of the founder of Little Free Libraries talking about how the idea got started and  why it's spreading.  Enjoy

Uh Oh

  I've been traveling this last week and spent some time Saturday morning checking on what books have shown up and re-shuffling the scrabble letters.  I met a couple from well outside our neighborhood who like re-arranging the letters and have used the library.  Our newest neighbors Bonnie & her daughter dropped by and shared how they took the appearance of the library as a sign that their new neighborhood was a perfect fit for their family.  Fun stuff!

  If you're not familiar with the Post Secret blog, check it out.  Post Secret shares a similar vein of inventive, community based projects which have taken off in various ways.  In the midst of this technological, modern onslaught of ideas and information sometimes a simple concept resonates with a particular group of people.  The Little Free Library project resonates with folks who read, it connects with folks who walk by your neighborhood and pick up a book or two.  The Post Secret blog utilizes an old communication style (postcards) which are mailed to an artist's home and then he picks something of a theme and weekly blogs these postcards.

  Today Frank Warren posted this great postcard with a deep, dark, terrible secret:

Oh yes, we like people who have this deep, dark, secret squirreled away in the recesses of their private persona.  That nefarious and evil condition of purchasing beyond your reading potential. (Known in clinical circles as PBRP.)  This is a truly deviant condition and Dr. Whitty-Storey has a two step method to restore your peace of mind and sanity.  Step One, gather said books into a shopping bag. Step Two bring them to the Whitty-Storeys Library Box.  You can do it, you have the potential and you too can be a contributor to our simple neighborhood project.  Make that call, well actually just drop 'em at the box, but if you have a box full I'll help you store 'em until Whittey-Storey is ready for new deposits.

  While you're here check out some of the new books which have popped up!   Cheers, Stephen

Bench Ideas

  Here's a sampling of different bench ideas.  We also have some un-split firewood rounds that could also work for simple sitting places.  Anyone want to work on a Fall project?

DIY:  A plan here

Heavy but solid looking: link here

Back & Seat cut from center of log

Simple

Another simple approach

Stumps & Simple Bench

Other Boxes

 Friday's post prompted an email from our neighbor Anne Selby about some of our neighborhood poetry boxes.  Anne had ferreted out boxes on Whitbeck Blvd and McMillian Street.  These were two boxes I hadn't heard of so I had to take a morning stroll and check them out.  I'm a total map geek so after my walk I went over to Google Maps and put together a Books & Poems Map.

Local Map of Neighborhood Library & Poetry Boxes

  The map above shows the three little free libraries nearby and three different poetry boxes.  Yesterday I met a retired school librarian Hope Crandall who lives near Friendly Park and is spearheading a lending library (approved by the city) right in Friendly Park.  Hope & I chatted about our neighborhood's experience with the library box and her plans for Friendly.  This type of community sharing and conversation is so enjoyable and one of the many chats that Whitty-Storeys has initiated.

  The College Hill Poetry Station was featuring the late Seamus Heaney's poem Digging.  The McMillian St Poetry box had two poets I wasn't familiar with, one an Iraqui poet Adnan Al Sayegh with a poem "God's Money" and a cool slam poem entitled "Pretty" by Katie Makkai.

 Check out Pretty, the link is an excellent demonstration of the essential live element of slam poetry.  The poetry box on Whitbeck had a fitting poem for a sign off.

                It is difficult
                to get the news from poems
                          yet men die miserably every day
                                    for lack
                of what is found there.

William Carlos Williams

First Rain

  Eugene and our neighborhood received about a third of an inch of rain in the last twenty-four hours.  I was in Idaho where similar thunderstorms were causing flash floods and a bit of interest further inland.  I'm glad to report that the library box has weathered the storm and the books are dry.

  One fun aspect of the library box is coming home after a trip and checking what showed up.  There were a total of twenty-five new books 22 Big People Books & 3 new Kids Books.  The variety and interesting breadth of books is becoming a characteristic of Whitty Storeys.

  Here are a few of the books I really like that showed up:

One of my pet peeves is when publishers use the theatrical cover of a book I really enjoyed.  Jim Harrison is an author who fits into the category of great writers who is as proficient in prose as he is in poetry.  Harrison along with others like Pausternak and Ondaatje have that ability to cross between both types of writing and captivate the reader.  So Brad Pitt's mug aside, Legends of the Fall is a good read and the movie only covers one of several "legends" that make up the novel.  Sawtelle & Shipping News have a fair amount of sadness in their pages, but the writing and storytelling are excellent.  Pat Conroy is one of those southern authors that I actually enjoy and this is an engaging novel set in NYC and the Carolinas.  Four excellent reads here, all with a fair amount of human struggle, but storytelling that draws you in.  Enjoy!

Folks are having fun with the scrabble letters:

The Box Dry & Snug

Fun & Kudos

  "That's the cutest lending library I've ever seen!"  The words were from a young mom pushing her son up Storey this Labor Day Monday.  As I would certainly explain to my grandson Cedar, I'm not sure cute was precisely what I was aiming for, but we'll take the kudos.  Speaking of cute, neighbors gathered on Friday night and we did start to decorate and "cute up" the box.  Here are a couple samples of the box decorations:

Fun with Scrabble tiles

  Someone on Friday night also came up with the idea to glue a tile holder onto the box and leave the extra letters sitting out so folks could play with words.  We've already had a few permutations of folks playing with the tiles, now we just need to drum up another old Scrabble game so we have more letters.

Submitted Words

  We took some group shots to submit to LFLs, but unfortunately they were blurry and didn't turn out too well.  Maybe we can re-group this evening or one of the coming weekends and get a photo worthy of submission?  But then again maybe we can remain incognito and submit the blurry photo?

Gathering around the box