In the move two years ago we went through the entire home library, three walls of shelves floor to ceiling (or window in one case) and sorted out the ones to keep from the ones for a garage sale or donation. There were boxes and boxes of them packed up for the move, though they turned out to be a minor fraction of the books we had collected through the years. Mostly I selected by author: who did I want to read again and again, especially when they wrote with a continuing character or set of characters. If I hadn't gotten bored with the author, often by a character's failure for any personal growth however badly needed, as did happen, the books were packed for the trip north. The unpacking took a while, not just from higher priority items topping the to-do list for sheer comfort and practicality of setting up a new home, but also because the old shelves had been built in, so left in place as part of the home. Buying new shelves was something put on the back burner with all the other needs of a major move.
Eventually we purchased a new shelf unit once we had our furniture arranged in new spaces and could tell what we needed that could fit what space was left. Most of the shelves had books crammed in them until they were hidden behind a front layer of books, either by the same author or by the same topic. There they sat.
For those following this, you are aware it's been a very inactive winter for us. It's been a fairly boring one in terms of TV offerings as well, with many favorites getting discontinued, a plethora of new sitcoms trying to impress us with stupidity as something funny (epic fail in this family), and a super-abundance of sports programs spoiling the way our timers were set to record the shows we have enjoyed watching. We still get timers that are supposed to adjust for actual air times but pick former times to record, or even when the timer starts later the sport program delaying their start lasts even longer than planned. Who cares about half a program when it's a mystery and you want to find out who-dun-it and that last half is lost unless it pops up in reruns... if the DVR system even records reruns, or the program hasn't been replaced by something else for the summer, some breaking news, or permanently?
Back to the library then. Pick a favorite author, dig out a list online showing what order the books were written in, save the list, rearrange the books to match, and start plowing through from the beginning. One such set is the Hillermans' series, started by Tony and continued after his death by his daughter Anne. If you get the right TV channels, you can find newer stories (to us, not the timeline as they go back before the books started) under the title "Dark Winds". There are deviations from some of the characters' story lines from the books, some cultural mores lost, but they're still enjoyable, and a great encouragement to dig back into the books, in order written of course.
Another favorite set of books (with no TV spin off that I'm aware of) are by Dana Stabenow, mysteries set in Alaska, with Kate Shugack as the primary character, Mutt as her loyal dog/wolf hybrid, protector & problem solver with her sharp nose and teeth, together in a community of continuing characters throughout the series... with the caveat that some die. They are set over a number of years, have some elder characters, and even without a crime or mystery, old folks do what all old folks eventually do. Every death has repercussions of course, from needing to solve a mystery, or learn history of the area and how it made them who they were, or the story of how those left behind need to heal and adjust... or don't. The mysteries change in every book as do the people dealing with them, and I highly recommend these to those who haven't had the pleasure of reading Stabenow yet. If you can, read them in order. I've read the first 20, and still find some parts of them hilarious, especially "Breakup" where certain logical consequences are unforgettable.
What surprised me in going through them this time was finding several books I had managed to collect but never read. I don't know how that happened, but it turned out to be a gift! For a few weeks there were new Stabenows to discover. I know it wasn't that I'd read them and forgotten them, which can be easy enough with a lot of authors. But there was new-to-me history, new characters, different slices of subsistence culture I'd no familiarity with, changing challenges as traditions warred with western ideas of progress. And with mysteries the second run through, I usually know what the ending is in general terms, and along the way there recall who might have a baby or moved or found a new romance or a new career. For several books there were none of those familiar hints I'd been here before.
Today I ran out of her books. It's not that she stopped writing, it's somehow that I stopped buying. I looked at the book list I'd printed out. I ran out with 6 left to go, to date anyway. I could hit her science fiction books, I also owned, remembering I enjoyed them, but DARN IT! I was in this series and want to finish what is available.
OK, then: eBay! I looked up the missing titles, found and ordered them, and should have deliveries in a week or so. I won't read any till each is the very next one in order and in my hands. I promise! There is one new one this year I didn't order yet because I prefer the prices of gently used books. I will also have to look up another of her Alaska series with a different main character, but first have to decide where on earth those can be housed, or whether to just hit the library, put in requests and wait weeks for each next one to become available. Besides I could dig back into James Doss, or Rich Curtin, or see if Spider Robinson still holds the same appeal of decades ago.
I should have lots of time in the next few months for sitting and reading, despite already making some new changes in my small gardens. I'll still be able to pull a hose around in dry spells, pick up leaves blowing through, and bend over to pull some of the weeds out. I'm not sure yet about follow through on cutting back the huge blossom clumps on a couple bushes that invariably flop in a storm and stay bent till fall because some idiot bred that variety for flowers too big for their branches. The idea of cutting the huge ball of petals in half before they reach full size is easy. The need to reach up 6 feet to do so in time to make a difference so soon after my second new shoulder is daunting. Calling it a new variety of PT just won't make it any more likely to be successful this year. Maybe ask for help? Though the prime helper will be building a new set of stairs plus the replacement porch they attach to, since the furnace installation broke the anchor point keeping the railing sturdy and safe.
I'll probably personally settle for reaching down to plant, relocate, and weed between ground level flowers - meaning the rest of my gardens - being more possible. I did just pull a dozen weeds and plant two pots of red tulips - Steve's favorites - in a new spot earlier today, where Steve doesn't have to try to walk over uneven ground to the far end of our place to be able to even see them but simply step out on the front porch. Last year's planted red tulips, also blooming right now though much bigger than the ones sold in tiny pots, are quite a hike for him with the bad hip. Now he can still see some. In a couple weeks he'll also be able to see his favorite blue columbine next to them bloom, as they're forming buds already and lasted all summer last year. There is more space there for more ideas. After all, one can't read ALL the time! Not for lack of trying anyway.
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