The Lost Art of Mixing

The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister
Fiction
2013 G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Finished on 1/30/13
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)






 


Publisher’s Blurb:

In this luminous sequel, return to the enchanting world of the national bestseller The School of Essential Ingredients.

Lillian and her restaurant have a way of drawing people together. There’s Al, the accountant who finds meaning in numbers and ritual; Chloe, a budding chef who hasn’t learned to trust after heartbreak; Finnegan, quiet and steady as a tree, who can disappear into the background despite his massive height; Louise, Al’s wife, whose anger simmers just below the boiling point; and Isabelle, whose memories are slowly slipping from her grasp. And there’s Lillian herself, whose life has taken a turn she didn’t expect….

Their lives collide and mix with those around them, sometimes joining in effortless connections, at other times sifting together and separating again, creating a family that is chosen, not given. A beautifully imagined novel about the ties that bind—and links that break—The Lost Art of Mixing is a captivating meditation on the power of love, food, and companionship.


Just like a delicious meal at one of my favorite restaurants, Erica Bauermeister’s novels are consistently pleasing and something to which I look forward with great anticipation. I received an ARC from the author several months in advance of its publication, but held off reading it until I had the chance to reread The School of Essential Ingredients. After listening to that lovely novel, I eagerly picked up this sequel and quickly devoured it, in spite of my efforts to savor it as slowly as possible.

Readers of Bauermeister’s previous works will recognize the short story-like style, in which she intertwines the individual stories of her characters to create a cohesive and satisfying novel. There weren’t quite as many culinary references this time around, but I was nonetheless happy to return to Lillian’s restaurant, with its familiar cast of characters, as well as the new additions to the group. As is her fashion, Bauermeister describes the method in which a recipe is created, rather than simply including the ingredients and written instructions. My mouth began to water as I read the following passage. Even without specific measurements and quantities, I think I can recreate this chowder without too much difficulty:

Lillian collected the salt pork and butter and heavy cream from the walk-in refrigerator, thyme from a pot on the windowsill, dried bay leaves from a glass jar in the row arranged along the wall. She turned on the heat under the pot and added the salt pork, which softened and began to brown. Her stomach grumbled; she remembered she hadn’t eaten breakfast and cut a slice of bread, taking occasional bites as she sliced through the hard white flesh of the potatoes.

She removed the cracklings from the pot and added butter and chopped onion, the smells rising up—onion never her favorite thing in the morning, but sometimes a chef didn’t have a choice. She poured in chicken stock then dropped in the potatoes, bringing the liquid to a boil and stepping away while they cooked. No point in pot-watching.

She returned to the walk-in refrigerator, using the intervening minutes to assess the food inside while her mind played with menus for the week. Leftover roasted red peppers and zucchini could be the beginnings of a pasta sauce; extra polenta could be sliced and fried in butter and sage. For all the glamour of restaurants, the underlying secret of the successful ones was their ability to magically repurpose ingredients, a culinary sleight of hand that kept them financially afloat and would have made any depression-era housewife proud.

Sensing the time, Lillian grabbed a package wrapped in butcher paper and headed back to the prep area. The chunks of potatoes had softened. She smashed one against the side of the pot to thicken the broth, and then unwrapped the package.

As the white paper folded back, the smell of cod rose sinuously toward her, briny and green, the essence of old fishing nets and ocean waves.

Check out all these wonderful events! (Logo and list borrowed from the author’s website.) It’s times like this that I wish I lived in the Pacific Northwest. We’re actually going to be in Oregon in late May and Seattle (Kingston) in mid-June, but unfortunately it looks like our timing is off by just a hair. If I could, I’d head over to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. The Griffin bookstore is a delightful shop!

EVENTS & APPEARANCES

Seattle, Washington
It’s About Time Writer’s Series
talk on The Writer’s Craft (Turning Memories in Memoir)
Ballard Branch Library
Thursday, March 14th, 6 pm

Bellevue, Washington
Literary Lions
fundraising dinner for King County Libraries
Hyatt Regency Bellevue
Saturday, March 23, 6 pm
details: http://www.kcls.org/literarylions/

Cannon Beach, Oregon
Get Lit – Author Weekend
Panel, Q&A and other assorted activities
Cannon Beach Book Store
April 12-14

Bellevue, Washington
Cooking class
Sizzleworks Cooking School
Monday, April 15th, 6 pm
details: http://www.cookingschoolsofamerica.com/sizzleworks/index.php?page=classes#575

Kirkland, Washington
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Parkplace Books
Monday, April 29th, 7 pm

Port Townsend, Washington
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge and Carol Cassella
The Writer’s Workshoppe
Saturday, May 4th, 7 pm

Eugene, Oregon
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
University of Oregon – Duck Store
Wednesday, May 8, 6:30 pm

Portland, Oregon
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Annie Bloom’s
Thursday, May 9, 7 pm

Welches, Oregon
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Wy’East Bookshoppe
Friday, May 10, time tbd

Sunriver, Oregon
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Sunriver Books
Saturday, May 11, 5 pm

Corte Madera, California
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Book Passage
Monday, May 20th, 7 pm

San Juan Island, Washington
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Griffin Bay Bookstore
Saturday, June 1, 7 pm

Wenatchee, Washington
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Wenatchee Library
June 13, 7 pm

Leavenworth, Washington
Reading and conversation with Jennie Shortridge
Leavenworth Library
June 14, 7 pm

Leavenworth, Washington
Signing with Jennie Shortridge
A Book For All Seasons
June 15, 1-3 pm

Quillisascut, Washington
Special weekend cooking class opportunity
Quillisascut Farm
July 18-21
more details at: http://quillisascut.com/workshops/essential-ingredients-school/

#Estellagram - Week One

A week in photos. Go here for more information and follow me on Instagram (lesscher). As usual, click on the photo for a larger view.

Day 1

Bookshelves

Day 2

TBR (To Be Read)

Multiply by 25!

 

Day 3

Unread

Day 4

Fiction

Some of my all-time favorite novels.

Day 5

Nonfiction Favorites (Part I)

Day 5

Nonfiction Favorites (Part II)

Day 6

Mystery

My current read and a few favorites. 

Weird that I don't keep a lot of mysteries,

 once I've read them. 

Day 7

Crime

I can definitely do this! I can't believe I'm not stressing about editing and capturing the perfect shot with my 35mm. It's so easy to use my phone (an Android) and take a single shot every day. Easy-peasy!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Snowshoeing in Colorado

(at an elevation of almost 9,000!)

The Orchardist

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
Fiction
2012 HarperCollins Audio
Reader: Mark Bramhall
Finished on 1/23/13
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)






 
Publisher’s Blurb:

At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, a solitary orchardist named Talmadge carefully tends the grove of fruit trees he has cultivated for nearly half a century. A gentle, solitary man, he finds solace and purpose in the sweetness of the apples, apricots, and plums he grows, and in the quiet, beating heart of the land—the valley of yellow grass bordering a deep canyon that has been his home since he was nine years old.

Everything he is and has known is tied to this patch of earth. It is where his widowed mother is buried, taken by illness when he was just thirteen, and where his only companion, his beloved teenage sister, Elsbeth, mysteriously disappeared. It is where the horse wranglers—native men, mostly Nez Perce—pass through each spring with their wild herds, setting up camp in the flowering meadows between the trees.

One day, while Talmadge is in town to sell his fruit at the market, two girls, barefoot and dirty, steal some apples. Later, they appear on his homestead, cautious yet curious about the man who gave them no chase. Feral, scared, and very pregnant, Jane and her sister, Della, take up on Talmadge’s land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Yet just as the girls begin to trust him, brutal men with guns arrive in the orchard, and the shattering tragedy that follows sets Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect them, putting himself between the girls and the world, but to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.

Writing with breathtaking precision and empathy, Amanda Coplin has crafted an astonishing debut novel about a decent man who disrupts the lonely harmony of an ordered life when he opens his heart. Transcribing America as it once was before railways and roads connected its corners, she weaves a tapestry of solitary souls who come together in the wake of unspeakable cruelty and misfortune, bound by their search to discover the place where they belong. At once intimate and epic, evocative and atmospheric, filled with haunting characters both vivid and true to life, and told in a distinctive narrative voice, The Orchardist marks the beginning of a stellar literary career.

It’s been well over a month since I finished listening to this book and I am still haunted by the characters. Coplin’s debut novel, with its spare prose and strong sense of place, is an evocative work in the tradition of Kent Haruf (Plainsong and Eventide) and Cormac McCarthy (All the Pretty Horses and The Road). If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know about my love for anything written about or set in the Pacific Northwest. As I read the opening line of the publisher’s blurb (in the ARC, which I happen to have in addition to the audio version), I felt a strong sense of anticipation for a beautifully crafted piece of literature set in one of my favorite places in this country. I am happy to report that I was not disappointed. However, I believe this tender story would be more effective in print, rather than audio. I don’t have any complaints about the reader (who I thought did a decent job), but as I flipped through the ARC, I became more aware of the distinctive narratives between Talmadge, Della and Angelene (and how they are physically separated within the printed page), and thus was more able to appreciate the beauty of Coplin’s writing, which can be difficult to do while driving around town or listening as I work. Coplin is a talented writer and storyteller and I look forward to her next endeavor. Perhaps a sequel, as I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to Angelene.

Here are just a couple of my favorite passages:

Around her the garden was in verdant bloom; the smell of the air was almost sickening with odor, and although it was late in the day the last bees were industrious in the crocus bulbs, the birds had started their racket in the trees. There was a shadow over most of the grass, and for a moment Caroline Middey did not remember what month it was, or her age; and then she remembered, and knew that she was nearer to death than any of her young enterprises—and why should this surprise her? But the knowledge seemed new—she was going to die, like all the others, and the knowledge was absorbed by the garden, which simultaneously cradled her and drew her out of herself, into the perfume, into the noise.

and

He felt an ambiguous desire rise in him when she left the cabin, and he knew she was out there among the trees, working in her slow way that he hesitated to remedy because the slowness denoted something deeper within her that he did not want to penetrate or to steal. The slowness had to do with the deliberation that would always be with her, that gravid, searching countenance. She would never say that she loved, because they did not use that type of language; they did not say “love,” for instance, or “beautiful,” or any descriptive language at all. At times, commenting upon the sky at dusk, he would call it “pretty,” and she would nod her head, once, in agreement. When she entered a room that he occupied, or he entered an orchard row in which she worked, they did not greet each other with words but touched an appendage of the other with their eyes, and could tell by the other’s expression or posture if they were pleased or discomfited or bothered, or if they were sated by the day’s weather or by the other’s presence. They intuited these things about each other as one decides about one’s own body: thoughtlessly, organically.

Recently in his sickness she took his hand in hers when she sat on the edge of the bed, and leaned and kissed his eyebrows, separately, like unsentimentally massaging a leg that is cramping.

He woke to the empty cabin, to the wall spangled with afternoon light. Behind everything was the sound of the creek—the creek that came from the mountain and flowed into the river north of Wenatchee—and above the sound of the creek was the sound of the ash trees shaking in the wind. The trees bordered the pasture, which was filled with long grass, uncut and uneaten by any horses. The sound of water and the sound of the wind in the trees, which were fed by the creek and so were partial to the creek, occupied Talmadge as he slept and woke. It was a sound highly expressive, highly communicable. He listened and thought, Yes, Yes.

Talmadge, said Angelene. It had taken all evening to come up with what she was going to say. She sat on the edge of the bed. She said: Tonight the sky is the color of new plums. …

Final Thoughts: Amanda Coplin has written a remarkable novel, worthy of re-reading and one to share with friends or discuss with your book club. I’m also now intrigued with Wenatchee, Washington... Adding it to our retirement road trip list.

Click here to read a Seattle Times interview with the author. 

Click here to listen to an interview with Coplin on OPB (Oregon Public Broadcast).

#EstellaGram

This sounds like fun and since it's all about reading, how could I refuse?! I'll post a weekly recap throughout the month, but you can also follow me on Instagram (lesscher). 

To learn more, visit The Estella Society here.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Annie and her best buddy, Sundance. 

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

Mailbox Monday

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted this month by Audra of Unabridged Chick.


It's been a while since I've participated in Mailbox Monday. This lovely stack of ARCs has been growing over the past month or two and I'm quite eager to dive in, although I'm not sure where to begin! I'm leaning toward the Zelda Fitzgerald novel, but maybe I should try to read them in order of publication dates. What do you think?

The Next Time You See Me by Holly Goddard Jones

The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

The Mermaid of Brooklyn by Amy Shearn

Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge

A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough

Motherland by William Nicholson

The Conditions of Love by Dale M. Kushner

Off the Grid

Off the Grid by P.J. Tracy
Mystery
Monkeewrench Series #6
2012 Putnam
Finished: 1/21/13
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)



Publisher’s Blurb:

On a sailboat ten miles off the Florida coast, Grace MacBride, partner in Monkeewrench Software, thwarts an assassination attempt on retired FBI agent John Smith. A few hours later, in Minneapolis, a fifteen-year-old girl is discovered in a vacant lot, her throat slashed. Later that day, two young men are found in their home a few blocks away, killed execution-style. The next morning, the dead bodies of three more men turn up, savagely murdered in the same neighborhood.

As Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth struggle to link the three crimes, they learn that there have been similar murders in other cities around the United States. Piece by piece, evidence accumulates, pointing to a suspect that shocks them to the core, uncovering a motive that puts the entire Midwest on high alert and Monkeewrench in the direct line of fire. Before it's all over, Grace and her partners, Annie, Roadrunner, and Harley Davidson, find themselves in the middle of a shocking collision of violence on a remote northern Minnesota reservation, fighting for their lives.

Sounds pretty gruesome, doesn’t it? Thank goodness for the levity provided by Gino’s smart-ass dialogue. His fear of flying scenes had me laughing so hard, I had tears streaming down my cheeks. The romantic tension between Leo and Grace helped keep the pages turning, as well. As I usually find with mysteries, the finale was somewhat anticlimactic (if not sappy), but overall this was an entertaining read. I only wish this talented mother-daughter writing duo would crank their books out more quickly. Two to four years between publications is too long for this fan to endure! Highly recommend!

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

A room with a view!

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

7 Years!

I'm amazed that it's been seven years since I created this blog! And as most of you know, I have had my share of doubts, wondering if it's worth continuing. After my recent departure, I received some lovely comments and emails, which made me realize how much I truly enjoy this community of book lovers. Kind words such as these from Gerda in Holland:

I have never responded to anything, but I do read all your posts. So glad you decided to come back even in a different form. I live in the Netherlands and love your blog. Do it anyway you want to, but please, keep coming back, because reading your posts is big fun.
All the best!

and Lee:

I have been reading your book recommendations for close to 15 years now. Don't know what I would have done without them... 

and Deb:

Oh dear. I love to read your reviews (do you know how many books I've read because of you, Les?!)

and Anne:

I'm so bummed you are signing off! I have gotten many good book recs from your blog. I hope you will leave it online anyway as a reference of your past reads.

and Mary:

I've read so many book you have recommended, I've cried with you on sad anniversaries, and laughed with you at celebrations. 

and Janet:

I will miss your reviews, which have led me to some great reads and steered me clear of some not-so-great ones, as well as increasing the size of my to-be-read list.

Most of all, though, I'll miss the glimpses into your life through your photos and travel adventures. 

and Bill:

I'm sorry to hear that, Lesley. You were my #1 source for book purchase ideas for the Palmyra Library.

I had no idea! Each and every friendship I've discovered through this blogging world has enriched my life and brought me great joy and comfort throughout the years.

So, will I be here in another seven years? Probably! :) 

Thank you all for making it worthwhile.

Milk Glass Moon

Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiani
Fiction
2002 Random House
Finished: 1/10/13
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)



Publisher’s Blurb:

Milk Glass Moon, the third book in Adriana Trigiani’s bestselling Big Stone Gap series, continues the life story of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney as she faces the challenges and changes of motherhood with her trademark humor and honesty. With twists as plentiful as those found on the holler roads of southwest Virginia, this story takes turns that that will surprise and enthrall the reader.

Transporting us from Ave Maria’s home in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Italian Alps, from New York City to the Tuscan countryside, Milk Glass Moon is the story of a shifting mother-daughter relationship, of a daughter’s first love and mother’s heartbreak, of an enduring marriage that contains its own ongoing challenges, and of a community faced with seismic change.

All of Trigiani’s beloved characters are back: Jack Mac, Ave Maria’s true love, who is willing to gamble security for the unknown; her best friend and confidant, bandleader Theodore Tipton, who begins a new life in New York City; librarian and sexpert Iva Lou Wade Makin, who faces a life-or-death crisis. Meanwhile, surprises emerge in the blossoming of crusty cashier Fleeta Mullins, the maturing of mountain girl turned savvy businesswoman Pearl Grimes, and the return of Pete Rutledge, the handsome stranger who turned Ave Maria’s world upside down in Big Cherry Holler.

In this rollicking hayride of upheaval and change, Ave Maria is led to places she never dreamed she would go, and to people who enter her life and rock its foundation. As Ave Maria reaches into the past to find answers to the present, readers will stay with her every step of the way, rooting for the onetime town spinster who embraced love and made a family. Milk Glass Moon is about the power of love and its abiding truth, and captures Trigiani at her most lyrical and heartfelt.

I first discovered Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani’s debut novel, over a dozen years ago. It was the summer of 2000 and we had just moved back to Lincoln after living in Fort Worth, Texas for a few years. There’s a lot about that particular summer that I remember quite vividly, but it’s funny how memory eludes us. I would’ve sworn that I loved Big Stone Gap—so much so that I almost re-read the book before I started in on the second in the series—but as I look back through my reading journal for that year, I see that I only gave it a “Good” rating. Apparently, I had a tough time getting interested, but after a few chapters, I was hooked. But still, only an average rating? Had I remembered this, I wonder if I would’ve bothered to continue with this series. Nonetheless, in an effort to start reading more from my shelves, I decided to try the sequel (Big Cherry Holler), but couldn’t get interested and set it aside. I wasn’t planning to continue with any more books from the series, but changed my mind after reading a few comments by readers who mentioned they liked Milk Glass Moon better than the second book. It turns out I did, too. I found it to be a bit reminiscent of Jan Karon’s Mitford series, at least with regard to the setting (in the Blue Ridge Mountains) and the large cast of characters that make up the close-knit community. I also enjoyed reading the passages focusing on the relationship between Ave Maria and her only child, Etta, and found that the dialogue between the two rang true, especially to this mother of an only daughter.

Final Thoughts: I was pleasantly surprised that I liked Milk Glass Moon as well as I did, especially after giving up on the second novel. I was also surprised to learn that it isn’t the final installment in a trilogy, but that there’s a fourth, entitled Home to Big Stone Gap. I don’t own a copy, but maybe I’ll see if it’s available on audio through my library.

Movie News

Every now and then, I am asked to name my favorite book. What a difficult question! I have read so many wonderful novels and works of nonfiction, and to name just one book is quite impossible. However, one of the first books to come to mind is Markus Zusak's amazing novel, The Book Thief. I've only read the story once, but it was so powerful that I know I will never forget the impact it had on me.

Today I was so excited to learn that the film of Zusak's novel is in production!! Go here to read more.

Sophie Nelisse 

(Liesel Meminger)

 Geoffrey Rush

(Hans Hubermann)

Emily Watson

(Rosa Hubermann)

 Ben Schnetzer

(Max Vandenburg)

Nico Liersch

(Rudy?)

??

(Death)

Music Monday

Feeling Mortal 

(click here to listen to sample tracks)

Shut Your Eyes Tight

Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon
Mystery/Thriller
Dave Gurney Series #2
2011 Books on Tape Audio
Reader: Scott Brick
Finished 1/7/13
Rating: 2.5/5 (Meh)


 
Publisher's Blurb:

A few months after the Mellery case pulled him out of retirement and nearly killed him, former NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney receives a call about a case so bewildering that the thought of not looking into it seems unimaginable—even if his wife, Madeleine, would rather he do anything but.

The facts of what has occurred are horrible: a bride, newly wed to an eminent psychiatrist at his mountain estate, is found decapitated, her head apparently severed by a machete. Though police investigators believe that a Mexican gardener killed the young woman in a fit of jealous fury, the victim’s mother—a chilly high-society beauty—is having none of it. Drawn further into the mystery, Dave is buffeted by a series of revelations that transform the bizarre into the truly monstrous.

Underneath it all exists one of the darkest criminal schemes imaginable. As Gurney begins deciphering its grotesque outlines, his most cherished assumptions about himself are challenged, causing him to stare into an abyss so deep that it threatens to swallow not just him but Madeleine, too.

With Shut Your Eyes Tight, John Verdon delivers on the promise of his bestselling debut, Think of a Number, creating a portrait of evil let loose across generations that is as rife with moments of touching humanity as it is with spellbinding images of perversity.


I was very impressed with Verdon's debut thriller, Think of a Number, (which I read in the summer of 2011), so when I came across the audio for this sequel, I jumped right on it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as compelling as the first book, and I found it difficult to maintain an interest in the characters and the mystery. So much so that it wound up taking me over a month to complete. However, since I loved the first book, I've decided to give Verdon another chance. Rather than listening to the audio version of Let the Devil Sleep, I plan to read it in the print format. My friend Joy gave this third book a positive review (which you can read here) and since she and I have very similar reading tastes, I'm willing to try one more in this series. 

A Month in Summary - January 2013

Has it really been almost three years since I've posted a monthly recap?! Near as I can tell, my last was in March of 2010. I think I stopped because it was too much work and I was constantly behind with my reviews and didn't want to post the summary until I could provide links to those reviews. Well, it's a new year and I have a new attitude. I'm going to color outside the lines! :) I'm going to list the books I've read and not worry about the links. The reviews will come in due time. 

My January reading was focused primarily on selections from my shelves (with the exception of my audio books). As tempting as it is to read the newest or upcoming releases, I felt like spending the month sampling from my personal collection. The good news is that I cleared out a bunch of books from one of my shelves. The bad news is that I gave up on several before finally settling on one. Here's how the month ended:


Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon (audio) 2.5/5 (Meh)

Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiana 4/5 (Very Good)

Off the Grid by P.J. Tracy 4/5 (Very Good)

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (audio) 4/5 (Very Good)

The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister 4.5/5 (Excellent)

DNFs

Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch

The Promise of Rest by Reynolds Price

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

So how did I do with my plan to read from my personal library? Well, all of the DNF titles came from my shelves, but the only one in my completed stack is Milk Glass Moon. I borrowed Off the Grid on a whim and I had promised myself that I'd read my ARC of The Lost Art of Mixing before the hardcover was released on the 24th. I have an ARC of The Orchardist, but I only glanced at it once or twice (while listening to the audio) in order to mark a couple of passages.

But you're probably more interested in my thoughts on the books I read, rather than if I could follow through on my goal, right? Well, I'm hoping to get some reviews composed in the next few days, but suffice it to say that I was only disappointed in one of the books I finished.

My goal for February is to read from my stack of library books. Yep, I actually visited my local library for the first time in months! I was thrilled to find some books that I've been anxious to read, and I look forward to spending a guilt-free month supporting my public library system.