Let Them Go Free!

In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends imprisoned by an enchanter in paper and leathern boxes.

 

--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) --

Friends and enchanters, come to me!
   Wink your eyes and tap your feet
Come tell your tales of horror and glee
   I cannot wait for us to meet!

I'd write more, but I've gotta hot book to read, bye!

(Oh, all right. I'm reading something that transports me across centuries and across the ocean--historic fiction, set in Europe. The characters are believable, and the plot feels like real life--some things go well, and others are a face-plant into concrete ranging from wet to solid!)

Been transported by a book lately? A recent fav of both the Blogger and the Mrs. was Stephen King's 11/22/63. We traveled through time and space to a weird take on "reality" that had none of King's rather-common gore and guts...enchanting and just a little bit scary...that wonderful kinda book that was hard to put down.

How's that for a book criterion--"I had a hard time putting it down. Go, pick one up today"?

There are too many books I haven’t read, too many places I haven’t seen, too many memories I haven’t kept long enough.

--Irving Shaw--

There's something about that quote that I resonate with. Let's start with books:
--first, I keep a list of books to read. Some have been recommended by friends. Others I've read reviews. Others are continuations of series.
--then, there are the lists of "best books of..." the 20th century...the decade, etc.
--finally, there are the "Great books." A few colleges make this cluster of classics the foundation of their curriculum.

Last year I read 125 books. 37 were non-fiction, or so they claimed! This year I'm putting a bigger emphasis on classics of fiction/Great Books, and on non-fiction.




Next, today's quote laments places not yet seen...I know that tugs at a lot of people's hearts and minds. Mine too. We drive by a little copse of woods and I think, I'd love to go poke around and see what there is to be found--a stand of wildflowers? artifacts of yesteryear? a glimpse of wildlife? a memory to be stored away for a rainy day?

We drive over a stream and I wonder, what's around that next bend?

We go thru an historic town and I think--I'd like to mosey around, then read some of their local history.

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I guess those are some of the reasons that I write: I can explore, analyze, and remember--some of it fictive, some factual, and all of it a feast for my God-given curiosity--may it lead me straight to the Source!