A bouquet of books

It's a very wise and wonderful man who comes home and says, "I wanted to buy you flowers today, but I thought of two things. 1. The cats will almost certainly eat some of them. 2. You would rather have books."  This is what my husband said upon coming home a few nights ago, so in lieu of putting flower stems in water, I got to put his card numbers into thriftbooks! The following titles will soon be arriving - and I'll bury my nose in them just as much as I would have with roses!

I've been reading a lot of women's literature lately (a new path for me!) and when this book was advertised as a reading experience equivalent of You've Got Mail, I knew that I had to have it!

I'm a longstanding fan of the works of Mark Helprin, but I last tried to tackle this book when I was too young for it (I think). Also, thanks to the trashy television show The Royals, I'm sort of on a kick as far as British royalty goes. Besides this fictional version of life in the palace, I'm also tackling Sarah Bradford's George VI, and I have my eye on Philip Ziegler's Edward VIII and Anne Sebba's That Woman, about Wallis Simpson. What can I say? I watched The Crown when it came out and had to know more!

This book has been on my list for awhile (I'm planning on combining it with James Kaplan's Frank: the voice) but it was moved up the list because I spent a wonderful weekend with my cousin and her two little ones. I had a blast teaching the youngest (a gorgeous golden-curled girl in a princess dress!) to dance to the oldies and I thought that such a good memory deserved a book!

I've been revisiting the works of Christopher Pike this summer and was surprised to learn that he'd continued a series I'd loved as a girl (The Last Vampire). I may be too old for it now, but I bet I'll have fun finding out!

To make things even more fun, the bouquet of books that my wonderful husband ordered for me earned a gift card for $5! When I get paid, that bit of bonus book money will be going toward this book!

I must be living my life right on some level. I had to come into work the other day for a meeting and an oddly wrapped parcel was waiting in my mailbox. It turned out to be a letter and care package from a student. It was completely unexpected -- I never imagined I had any great impact on this amazing girl's life! -- and it included these two titles. I'm incredibly lucky. I work in a place that houses dear colleagues, great students, and lots of books... and now I'm being rewarded -- with books as a currency? Who could ask for anything more?

So, I'll close by wishing that you find time to stop and smell the roses... or the paperbacks, depending on your particular preference!