Local Library

I haven't taken as full advantage of our local library as I might have, over the years. It has grown a lot, but strangely this growth has been mainly a matter of bricks and glass, industrial strength air conditioning and "community rooms", etc... the actual collection (of, you know... books) has been surprisingly stagnant.

I went a few days ago in high hopes and was a little let down to find only a few titles by the Four Patrons of The League, and those the most obvious. Nothing at all by Hilaire Belloc. However, I'm still happy that I managed to find a few that I had not read before.

Don't entertain the illusion that I'm any kind of expert on the Four Patrons, or even a well qualified amateur. I just love them, that's all.

For instance, I have only read a couple of Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries, and so I'm grateful to have checked out the Father Brown Omnibus.

I also snagged their only copy of C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet, the first in his well-regarded space trilogy. Okay, it was only available in LARGE PRINT, but we have learned to be content with much or with little.

I have read just about all of Lewis' apologetic works, as well as Surprised by Joy, The Four Loves and Meditations on the Psalms. I have read the Narnia books and Til We Have Faces (which I love) but never the space trilogy, so I'm enjoying filling in that particular gap in my homespun education - which consists mostly of gaps.

Ooh! Also, I was delighted to pick up a few CDs... The Very Best of Stan Freberg, and The Bob Newhart Anthology, as well as some classic jazz and blues.

Comments

[The Pachyderminator]

Ah, yes. My local library is also undergoing a major renovation, but I have yet to hear what, if any, attention is going toward the book collection. Lately I've been frustrated by books that are listed in the catalog as "missing", or worse, listed as in stock but then simply not to be found on the shelf.

But anyway. I'm sure you'll love "Out of the Silent Planet," but even if you don't, you MUST read "Perelandra". Think of the world-building beauty of "Avatar", but with great spiritual depth instead of shallow political messages. Not to be missed.

[shmikey]

You can always donate to the local library if they are deficient in something. Something that I miss about Cleveland (other than great ethnic food) is the Cuyahoga County library, the largest public library system in the world. If your local branch didn't have it, they could get from another and have it delivered for nothing, and if they didn't have it in the system, they could order it from another Ohio library and have it delivered again for nothing. Lots of well spent tax money in my opinion.

[Tim Jones]

"You can always donate to the local library if they are deficient in something."

Yes, I thought about that. Perhaps later, when I have something to donate. Unfortunately, my bookshelves don't exactly groan under the weight of my own collection...