Today’s Post by Joe Farace
The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.—Melody Beattie
Let’s start with a journaling update: I tried to like the Compendium notebook for journaling in 2023 that I wrote about last time but, try as I may, I could not love it. While the paper itself was OK, maybe slightly more “fountain pen friendly” than Moleskine’s—it was smaller, would not lay flat, and the soft covers made it difficult to use while writing in my chair next to the fireplace, which is one of my favorite spots to write. When explaining this to Mary, while we were relaxing in front of that very same fireplace, she said, “I have an early Valentine’s Day gift for you” and went upstairs and fetched a brand-new RED Moleskine notebook, which I’ve been happily using for the past week or so. Yes, the Moleskine paper is still not the most fountain pen friendly, but I’m enjoying writing in it with my pens, imagining myself as Hemingway writing in his Moleskine notebook.
Old Books, New Books
One of the few things I don’t like about most suburban libraries is that they don’t have much depth of old books in their collection. The Parker branch of the Douglas County library moved to its 19801 East Main Street location in 1985. The spectacular new Parker library was opened in 2016 and like all libraries is staffed by the nicest people on the planet. Librarians are special people because they are the guardians and protectors of ideas and it’s a special calling. I admire and respect these people.
The first library I visited happened when I was in the second grade and the teacher took our class to a library. I wished I could remember that nun’s name because she forever changed my life. The library was the Clifton Park branch of the legendary Enoch Pratt Free library system. That particular building was erected in 1916. The Enoch Pratt Free Library system itself opened in January 1886 with 32,000 volumes in four libraries; there are now 21 branches,
The first book my second grade self checked out from the Clifton Park library was the English language version of Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff that was originally published in 1931, The English version, The Story of Babar, was published in 1937 and I wouldn’t be surprised if the book I excitedly checked out was that same edition.
Older books, even reprints, seem to be harder to find in modern, suburban libraries, mainly because their own history is short and maybe because the library’s contemporary customers aren’t interested. Anyway, that’s my theory. None the less I recently decided to dig into some classic mysteries starting with Dashiell Hammett’s (final) 1934 novel The Thin Man. (The movie was released that same year and is just as wonderful as the book.) The Thin Man is a remarkably fresh read and is as clever and funny today as it was back in the day with not hindered by some of the tropes that would measure it as dated.
That book was followed up on my 2023 reading list with Havana Highwire a new book that was written by
I’m currently reading On deck it’s Cinema Speculation. Based on my reading of the (what passes for) an Introduction, it seems chatty, gossipy and opinionated. Also in my “to read” pile is ‘s The Maltese Falcon, which introduced the world to Sam Spade. I like to read books in the order I buy them or get them from the library and should be ahead of Hammett’s Falcon.
I don’t have a rule about how many pages I read in a book before giving up on it. One book reviewer says it “100 pages” but unlike the “twenty minute rule” that I have for movies, I can usually tell in five pages or less whether I’m going to like a book. I can only force so much uninteresting (to me) text into my brain before it gives up and goes to lunch.