11 Forgotten Books of the 1920s

I'm already frustrated with only being able to recommend books for acquisition that came out in the last 2 1/2 years. There are so many good books out there from the past worth reading today! It was interesting finding an Internet article by someone who felt the same way...

11 Forgotten Books of the 1920s Worth Reading Now

Writers from the 1920s to Prime You for the 2020s

By Bob Batchelor

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September 13, 2019

 

"Reading about forgotten books and authors nearly 100 years later is a haunting exercise. We know that the Great Depression is just on the horizon and that many of the writers of that age will struggle and suffer. We also feel the angst, awe, and crushing pull of the America they experienced. The nation has advanced in so many areas, yet the basic human condition seems all too familiar—similar social issues force us to confront our decay..."

https://lithub.com/10-forgotten-books-of-the-1920s-worth-reading-now/

The Lost Library

'Extraordinary' 500-year-old library catalogue reveals books lost to time

The Libro de los Epítomes was a catalogue for Hernando Colón’s 16th-century collection, which he intended to be the biggest in the world

"It sounds like something from Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind and his The Cemetery of Forgotten Books: a huge volume containing thousands of summaries of books from 500 years ago, many of which no longer exist. But the real deal has been found in Copenhagen, where it has lain untouched for more than 350 years..."

From: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/10/extraordinary-500-year-old-library-catalogue-reveals-books-lost-to-time-libro-de-los-epitomes

I don't have a new book to recommend...

...this week, so I'll share this. In case you aren't aware of it, www.goodreads.com  is a virtual readers advisory librarian. Like any library service not performed by an actual librarian, it's far from perfect, and assumes you will like what other people like. On this list of the "best" books of 2017, I would only consider reading three of the fifteen shown on this page. 

When I tell it my favorite book is The Hobbit (since it is), it gives me the option of seeing other people's lists that include The Hobbit on it, and shows me images of five book covers from those lists. Of those five, I've only read one, been tempted by one other, and one is Twilight for gosh sake.

Still, if struggling to come up with a suggestion for a patron, it would not hurt to check out goodreads (and I did find this funny meme in the comments section).

The book I planned to post about...

I decided I was going to recommend another novel, which I hadn't done in awhile, which meant finding a new novel to read.  I thought this one looked promising -- short, small, and award-winning. Taking place in the late '60s was also a plus for me. And yet...

Twenty pages in, I was so bored with the endless interruptions/digressions of the narrator (who is the main character as an old man) looking back. Just stop and tell your story, mister!

So, instead, I'm going to share this much better love story.  I didn't think I was going to like the relaunch of Archie, and I was right -- I love it instead. It's fun and funny, but also has moments of being poignant and touching. And the narrator, Archie Andrews, has much better pacing at interrupting the story. Indeed, his narration enhances the story instead of digressing from it. Lessons can be learned here, Julian Barnes!

Castle Baldemar's Dungeon

It's time I reviewed another book, but this time I thought I'd be "funny" and show you my own book, Castle Baldemar's Dungeon, which Schaumburg Township District Library had two copies of on shelf.

Had.

I can't show you anything, because they weeded both copies from the collection. I'm guessing they just did not circulate enough.

So the lesson here is, if you're aware of any books by local authors in your public library, make an extra effort to give them a try. Because it's hard enough for local authors to get distribution, and it's even harder to get your books seen if libraries with donated copies don't keep them.

Gail Borden Public Library - part 3

And this final post in the series is about the books!

These spine labels are, sadly, being phased out at Gail Borden. The figure there is the Knight Watchman, a comic book character created by local comic book artist Chris Ecker and used with his permission. They created an appropriately graphic sense of identity to the graphic novel section.

One of the first places I check out at every library is there graphic novel collections. What do they have? Do they not only have Carl Bark's classic Uncle Scrooge material represented, but modern master Don Rosa's work as well? And, almost as important, where do they shelve it? Do the staff recognize that Don Rosa's sense of history of the characters and elaborate plotting make these stories more appropriate for an adult audience than for children? Gail Borden's did.

And sometimes I just have exciting finds, like this amazing book as thick as two phone books, with the text of every spoken word from every episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus!

With annotations -- now no intellectual or topical reference in the TV series is too obscure for you to know about!

Uh-oh!  I discovered some serious spine damage. Would staff simply glue it onsite, or ship this off to a bindery? I knew one thing -- I wasn't checking this out unreported and getting blamed for it!  Worse, what if I turned the book in for repair...and they decided to weed it instead of repair it...?

Good news -- at the customer service desk, a note was put in the system that the book had this damage before checkout. I'm still concerned about it being weeded, but at least I'll get to read it first!