Wednesday, September 8, 2010

book love

wench... that's the book i went into the library looking for.  it's my book club selection for the month and as i always do, i read it close to the meeting time because i'm a procrastinator so i can remember the details.

i bought the last book we read (the other wes moore) and while i enjoyed it, buying books is not my thing.  libraries are funded to buy books and they offer free lending privileges.  i support local libraries.  it's funny though... sharing is not one of my strengths. i don't like sharing good food (especially a delicious chunk of chocolate cake), i am a little freer with sharing my money, strongly opposed to sharing a man! but i find joy in being able to share books.

i scan the "new book" shelves.  i don't see wench but i do remember the book that i saw on my last visit and decide to pick it up.  i know the title.  i know the authors.

it's not on the "new book" shelves as it was the last time i was here but i am not thwarted.  i know where they keep the mystery fiction and i head to those shelves but for some reason i can't remember the author's name.  in my mind i'm saying "he's that dude on the cover of essence for this month, that dude from "in treatment", damn! he's married to my old co-worker's sister - something dacosta.  i know the names of the co-authors - tananarive due and her hubby steven barnes - but i know the book will be under his name. damn!"  i say the title out loud from capetown with love and like magic his name slips off of the tip of my tongue...
blair underwood

i almost did a two-step when i found the book on the shelf with the call number MYSTERY FIC U (U for underwood) as i knew it would be and i quickly head to the self check-out.  i read the other 2 books in tennyson hardwick series - casanegra and in the night of the heat and after reading the last mystery fiction by walter mosley known to evil, i am still in the mood...

i skipped and/or levitated to the train heading home.  as soon as i found a comfortable place to stand :-( i opened the book.  i liked it instantly.  after the dedications, after the quotes, there is a suggested mp3 soundtrack list in the book.  what?!?!  good music to go with my reading pleasure!  i smiled.

maxwell, jill scott, the o'jays, sy smith, marvin gaye, alicia keys, india arie and other artists are suggested - i'm hyped and as i turn page one of the prologue, i notice that the pages are stuck... usually that's repulsive - not knowing what was on the previous reader's fingers but in this case the pages are stuck because it appears as if this book is NEW.

it may not seem like much but i treasure the little things... and for me this lightly read/new book sitting on the shelf of the busiest circulating library in the city is a small fortune.

10 comments:

Mizrepresent said...

Girl i hear you. I have to admit i have a serious book addiction. I could be an episode on Hoarders just because of my books and how i can't let them go and how i just keep buying more and more and more. So many, i can't read them fast enough. Books, reading has always been my delight, my joy, my escape. I wish others, esp my kids shared that joy, bc so many of us miss, have not learned to enjoy reading. It is my afternoon and midnight delight. It is the reason i ventured forth to write. Books are my life. I am Miz and I am addicted to Reading.

KayC, The Quiet Storm said...

I recently went back to the library. Got a new card (in my name without the once 'married' one) and happily skipped the shelves until I found the books I wanted were checked out!! Love the 'hold' options.

I love the library, the stories on the shelves, the flipping of pages. Something about it that soothes the soul and it is easy on the wallet.

Just Kel said...

Hi Miz!!!
I used to buy books and I still do if it's a must have. For me that's ancient egyptian works.

Books are like my accessories. Watch, earrings, necklace, book. I always have a book in tow... or a magazine.

Good for you KayC - for getting the new library card and for getting one in your reclaimed name. ;-) Hold options are the best and libraries are so relaxing.

Absentminded Oracle said...

I TOO must go to the library for books. Otherwise I am stuck with stacks of books I don't exactly want to keep and too lazy to drag to the trade in bookstore. The library ROCKS and if you go on certain days, nerdy eyecandy is present. Win Win! I LOVE Toni Morrison by the way. She has such a way with word. I dropped out of my book club because they kept reading trashy low class books. You are lucky you found a good club.

Just Kel said...

Ms. A-O... LOL @ nerdy eyecandy in t he library. i have a crush on this reference librarian where i frequent. i am glad i found a good club or rather they found me and extended the invite. we read such great books and the conversation is uplifting. we initially formed around the book glorious by bernice l. mcfadden and that has set our tone.

ChpterReads said...

I haven't had the opportunity to go to the library like I used to when I worked there. I did buy some new books though. I have this thing with my own books though.. I can do what I want with them.. I am thinking of buying a kindle so that I won't have to buy books. I can't keep buying these books.. there is no more space for me to put them!!

Just Kel said...

Liryc! Hey Mama!
I do not recommend the kindle. It's affordable but you won't be able to borrow books from the library as you would with a nook or other ebook readers. But if you do buy and don't want to keep, you can always donate...

Don said...

Wish I could have came across this Toni Morrison read when I was at the bookstore a couple weeks back. I ended up (still reading) purchasing about three so-so books. One is pretty good though recommended by a blogger. But I like to read and allow Morrison's words to manifest.

I had heard of Casanegra but never had the opportunity to watch. I take it that the book was a film, as well?

You look like you are seriously your bedtime reads in the photo. Good stuff.

Just Kel said...

@Don... i love a good southern book and add some slavery and i'm hooked. a mercy is a good one but wench is not far behind. for it to be ms. dolen perkins-valdez's first book she did a helluva job.

i'm not sure if casanegra is a film yet but it reads like one... i'll tell you this, i wasn't as enthused about it as i was about the 1st 2 i the series... i dunno, it didn't captivate me until the end.

are you picking on me don? lol i can be serious about the bedtime stories. those are the last words i see before i enter my dreams...

Kiayaphd said...

Okay ma'am, every time I think I'm ready to move away from Mr. Mosley, I come across another of your posts and I get pulled back in.

Looks like I'm going to have to find Known to Evil.

Anyway, unlike you, books are like old friends to me. I buy them and yes, I'm running out of space, I will move something else before I part with even one of my books. I used to share them but since others don't treasure them the way I do . . . well, needless to say, my little chirren just stay home now.

Nonetheless, the library is also my second home, especially since our library system developed an e-book library. And it's free!! Yayy!