While away the winter with stacks of outstanding books

I like summer, with shorts, sandals, hot sidewalks, ice cream, and long, bright sunshine days that extend well into the night. However, the cold, hard, long winter is great for hibernating and reading all sorts of interesting tomes. I’m always greatly cheered by books and marvelous titles on my just-read, going-to-read, and partially read lists. And, as of this moment, my stacks of winter reading are absurdly enormous.

In the mail, winging toward me, is Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This? The author, Marion Meade, covers the tumultuous life of this author, wit, and critic. The caustic Dorothy Parker was a woman with flair, who lived life hard—very hard—and never, ever minced words. I’m looking forward to it, having read a few of Parker’s works and enjoyed them immensely.

Then there’s one I purchased last summer: Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction, by James E. McClellan III and Harold Dorn. I bought it blind, so to speak, and know little about it, but it is resting upon my boom box, waiting breathlessly for me to crack its cover. This exploration is so exciting, you know?

Festooned with my numerous bookmarks is Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections, in which the editors, Bill Henderson and Andre Bernard, collect lampoons of various noteworthy books and authors. I like this little volume, and glance through it often, locating zingers as I have time and leafing randomly through the pages. Snicker. Snicker. Snicker.

Newly purchased, and held in the queue for reading is Books and Bidders by A.S.W. Rosenbach, one of the most noted bookmen of all time. I read the opening paragraphs and was absolutely captivated by the lively and exquisite prose. I am going to savor this tome; it will be a joy to peruse leisurely and thoroughly.

About 20 years past, I purchased a copy of I, Leonardo, written and illustrated by Ralph Steadman while traveling interesting regions. Alas, I never had the opportunity to read it, and it went missing forever—not unusual with my tomes. This last year, I acquired another copy of this book and it’s an amazing piece. The text is clever, as are the creative flights of fancy in the numerous images.

There are others in the stacks — mathematics, histories, biographies. These books eagerly hop, wave, dance, and shout—hoping to gain my attention. I, in turn, am captivated by their covers, their words, and their concepts. And look forward to the dark winter of reading well, fully, and completely.