celebrating books & the literary lifestyle
I’m participating in Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and The Bookish; this week’s theme is 10 books set outside of the U.S.
A benefit of reading, of course, is that we can travel to another place and time without leaving our comfortable chair. These novels all touched me deeply while providing perspective from other parts of the world.
From the bottom of my heart and bookcases (which hold all of these books I’m listing) I fully recommend:
Yes, I know it has been MORE THAN A CENTURY since the Cubs won the World Series.
As a realistic yet always hopeful lifelong Cubs fan, I recently picked up a book that has been sitting in my bookcase for some time: Crazy ’08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History.
This book documents the 1908 season.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book unless you are a serious history buff with a great attention span and appreciation for detail, to the point you would enjoy following the play by play for an entire season 100+ years ago…
Detailed history buff does not describe me – BUT I did find LOTS in the book I appreciated and will share that information below.
The most interesting (and perhaps depressing part) is that the 1908 World Series win was largely due to a huge controversy referred to as the “Merkle Game.” You may have been to Merkle’s in Wrigleyville. If you don’t know the history of this season or this name, read on…
On Tuesdays, I’m going to start participating in the Top Ten list along with other book bloggers. This fun, weekly event is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.
This week’s theme is bookish facts about yourself. So here are mine:
I was chuckling early on in Jonas Karlsson’s The Invoice: A Novel
A seemingly Joe Average character in Sweden gets an astronomical invoice from a government agency. He has no idea what he is being charged for or how he could possibly pay it, so he incessantly calls the hotline and later visits the agency to get the answers he craves.
As he works through the shock and acceptance of this “debt” he has been assessed for a simple yet mostly happy life, he contemplates the value of life experiences. Consequently, a reader contemplates such things along with him.
I’ve been invited to two baby showers lately where the hostess asks us to “sign a book instead of a card.”
I love this idea! Of course I usually give books for baby gifts anyway, at least as part of my gift.
Over and over, I buy the same book for new babies. So now I need to order two more…(If I am invited to your shower stop reading now, and if you were invited to the same shower as me save this info. for next time! 😉
Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever
I want to address the “other” shelves of my bookcases…the taller and deeper shelves I had custom made for my vinyl record collection.
Why do I keep vinyl records when most of the world has moved through cassette tapes, CDs, and now to digital downloads?
Between today’s parade and fireworks, I found a literary way to celebrate – by finishing David McCullough’s 1776
Truth be told, I meant to finish this book several days ago, but it worked out nicely to read these words on our national holiday:
“The year 1776, celebrated as the birth year of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few-victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that, too, they would never forget.”
I can count on one hand the number of books that gripped me the way All the Missing Girls just did. I read this mystery/thriller over three evenings/late nights, wishing I could clear my schedule to finish it sooner. So, consider this a warning to plan accordingly.
First I should address the structure. After an introduction to set the scene, the story line is presented backwards. Each day for two weeks is presented as a chapter labeled as “the day before.” As the days unfold, or fold?, the details are filled in. This structure may seem gimmicky or confusing, but I can assure you it works well and provides a reading experience rarely equaled.
Books in a bookcase stand at attention, physically touching, yet unable to share their content with each other.
Or so it appears…
“If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he re-reads.” – Francois Mauriac
Lately I have been reading books I feel like I SHOULD read. Granted I have enjoyed parts of them, am glad I am reading them, BUT are they books that draw me back towards them every hour of the day until I finish the last page? Are they books I will want to read again someday? Unfortunately, NO.
With this in mind, yesterday I wondered longingly over to my bookcases and pulled out these seven books that I not only enjoyed and could not put down, but that I would love to (or already have) re-read:
© 2026 Leslie's Bookcase
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
