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!