Telephone Book Club and the Death of Sherlock Holmes

The other day, my grandpa and I finished reading Favorite Sherlock Holmes Detective Stories.  It was a lot of fun.  I personally love the Sherlock Holmes stories, and he had been wanting to read some more mysteries.  It was a win-win for both of us.  Everything went fine for most of the book.  I'm pretty sure he dozed off during "Silver Blaze," although I didn't particularly mind, since that was never my favorite, and in general, good times were had by all.  But...then, we got to "The Final Problem".  You know the one.  Sherlock Holmes reveals that most of the biggest crimes in London were being orchestrated by one man, weaving his web in the shadows: Professor Moriarty.  And of course, Holmes is *this* close to capturing him and ending his reign of terror forever.

But, Moriarty is easily Holmes's equal in brainpower and deductive reasoning.  And he has figured out what Holmes is up to.  So, what soon follows is a game of cat and mouse that culminates at Reichenbach Falls.  Watson gets pulled away on a fool's errand only to return once the final fight has ended.  Holmes and Moriarty have gone over the falls.

It was an incredibly emotional story, and reading it out loud made me realize just how intense it really was.  Reading to someone is so much more than just reciting something.  It's a performance.  You need inflection, and sometimes voices.  You get really invested in the story.  I found myself reading slowly, with lots of feeling and emotion.  It was probably my best reading yet.  

And I closed the book, and announced, as I do after every short story, "...and that's the end of 'The Final Problem'."  He was quiet on the other end, and for a moment, I wondered if he had fallen asleep.  Finally, he said, "So...Sherlock Holmes and this Moriarty fella.  Did he die?"

Of course I knew that this was not the end.  I've read all the Sherlock Holmes stories, and I knew that Conan Doyle killed off the detective because he wanted the freedom to write something else.  So, I told him with a smile in my voice what really happened.  That this was supposed to be the end, but after a huge public outcry, he had to bring the detective back. 

"Well, then," he said, "There's one more story in the book.  Is that the one about how he comes back?"

It wasn't, and I told him so.  But, I told him that I could totally get it for him and read it in a few days.  He was surprised, but delighted.  And when we finally did read it, it was awesome.

Father's Day 2020

As always, I want to take a moment to wish a very Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.  And to a couple special men in particular.

First, to my own father, who has been an amazing role model and source of love for me my entire life.  My grandfathers (one living, one dead) whose love and support has been invaluable. To my godfather (we don't have much of a relationship, but I'm still thinking about you and praying for you).  And finally, to a special, special man who I always think about on Father's Day.  You were the patriarch of our little blogging group, and I miss you very much.  I hope that wherever you are, you know how much you are loved.  Thank you, O.F., for everything.

Gloves

We've started letting patrons back into the library, so I'm working with people again.  It's been kind of nice, but mostly frustrating.  I forgot how stressful people can be.

As a side note, I sometimes wear gloves when I'm handling things for patrons (touching computer keyboards, etc.).  There's something rather satisfying about pulling on rubber gloves.  I feel like a mad scientist or something.  It's a little something that makes me smile, but since no one can see my face (because of my mask), I'm the only one who knows.

Allergies

Yesterday, I learned that I'm allergic to latex after spending hours over the weekend doing library work in latex gloves.  My hands are covered in raised, red bumps, and the skin feels dry and scaly.  I spoke with the drug-store pharmacist today, and he confirmed what I had already suspected.  Huh.  I've never had a problem before.  I wonder why now?

Reading with My Grandpa 2

Due to our schedules, my grandpa and I had to take two days off from our reading.  And when we were back on the phone together, it was very clear that he missed me. We talked for way longer than we have on our previous nights, which meant that I missed out on getting ice cream with the rest of my family (to be fair, they decided not to go without me, but I still felt kinda bad).  But, even so, we had a wonderful time.

The book is nearing its end.  We have about four more days of reading to go.  I'm going to suggest we continue on with a different book when we finish this one.

The First Day's Return

Day one back at the library.

Everything was perfect!  I got to see (most of) my work friends, and had a really great time.  It was a bit slow (no patrons in the building), but it was great to be back.  I guess this means I love my job, haha!

Back to the Old Grind

I go back to work at the library on Monday.  Not going to lie...I'm pretty nervous.  Ironically, I don't think I would have been half so nervous if I had been going to work all throughout this whole pandemic.  But, the fact that I've been off for seven weeks, and am NOW going back...that's got me really anxious.

I'll share updates when the big day arrives.

Reading with My Grandpa

I was very close to my grandma.  Towards the end of her life, she suffered from Parkinson's, did not emote, and could not speak.  But, I loved our weekly visits and always looked forward to them.  It was such a special thing that we had together, but I'll be honest, most of my friends and coworkers didn't understand when I'd tell them about it.  About how I'd arrive full of the stresses of the day, but leave two hours later as calm and relaxed as could be.  She had such a presence, such elegance, for someone who could barely communicate.  And after visiting for a while, I began to understand her moods and little gestures.  She "spoke" in her own way, and it was not that hard to understand her if you actually tried.

Now, my grandpa and I have not been close since I was a little kid.  We used to play cards together, color Easter eggs, share jokes, play games... But, we don't really talk much anymore.  So, when my mom told me that there was a book he had been wanting to read, but couldn't (he's legally blind), and since he was bored being stuck in quarantine (he's not sick, but his building is on lock-down), I agreed to read it to him over the phone.

I wasn't expecting anything monumental, and I don't think he was, either.  We began the phone conversation with him telling me that if I wanted, I could just read the book to myself, and then update him on what it was about.  But, I suggested that we do one day of reading and then decide how to proceed.  He loved it and asked when I could call again.  Today was day two, and we read even more than yesterday (I'm good for about half and hour, but this was easily an hour).  We're already looking forward to tomorrow.

Uncle Dynamite

If you were to ask me who my favorite author is, I couldn't answer you.  Choosing one favorite author is like choosing your favorite child.  There are just too many excellent writers out there, and I love each one for something different.  But, if I was going to pick one, Wodehouse would certainly be in the running for the best.

I very rarely "laugh out loud" when I'm reading a book.  I might smirk or even chuckle, but I don't laugh out loud.  Wodehouse makes me laugh, though.  Sometimes, I'll laugh until I cry.  When I need a good pick-me-up, I pick up a Wodehouse book.  There's nothing like one of his gut-busters when you're feeling sour.

I've not been feeling sour, per se, but I've been feeling cooped up.  So, when my dear friend  Shay said that she was reading one of the books I'd given her last year (I had passed along a couple of my precious Wodehouse titles when shelving got a bit too tight), I thought it might be worth checking out one myself.  And since she was reading Uncle Dynamite, I thought that I would, too.  The problem is that of course, I had given my copy to her.

But, remember how I talked about Hoopla and other ebook systems in one of my last posts?  Well, Hoopla had Wodehouse on audiobook.  And I remembered that as a lonely teenager, I would spend hours pouring over Wodehouse's books, and I discovered the brilliant Jonathan Cecil's narrations.  Even though I didn't particularly like audiobooks, I liked him, so I started to listen to anything that the library had to offer.  And wouldn't you know it, years later, I found that Hoopla had 30+ Wodehouse books read by none other!

So, of course, I downloaded Uncle Dynamite.  And goodness gracious!  I was not disappointed.  The magic had not been lost.  I had a delightful time.  It was so much fun!  The voices, the pacing...Cecil even includes little vocal cues, like braying laughs, or someone choking on a muffin!

But, what is Uncle Dynamite about?  Anyone who has read a Wodehouse book knows that there are always multiple intertwining subplots that make it hard to answer this question.  So, instead, I'll give you a short list of some of the things you can look forward to in such a book.    You'll find love triangles, American girls, Brazilian explorers, mistaken identity, smuggled jewels, and plots to punch policeman.  There are impoverished publishers, scheming uncles, and bonny baby contests.  In short, it's a lot of fun!  While this one didn't have me in tears, it certainly had me in stitches the way that only Wodehouse can do.  I learned about halfway through the book, it was #2 in the Uncle Fred series (for some reason, I thought this was book 1), but as with any Wodehouse tale, you can generally jump right into the series wherever you want.  You'll still be able to follow along just fine.

"Country Roads" in Minor Key

So, I don't know the "science" behind it, but songs in "major key" are happy and upbeat, and songs in "minor key" are more somber.  Sometimes, you can find listings online of songs where the key has been switched.  This one is my favorite of those.

If "Country Roads" is meant to be a positive, happy song about going back home, this is a sort of sad, serious version.  It's hauntingly beautiful.  I like to think that this is what would be playing in the background when the hero in a movie has to flee his home, for whatever reason, knowing that he could never come back.

And on an unrelated note, it's snowing.  Last week, I didn't even need a coat, but right now, there's snow on the driveway.  I don't even know anymore.

What I'm Reading

What are YOU reading?  During this time of social distancing (or as my boss put it, physical distancing), many of us are locked up at home, looking for something to do.  What a great time to bust out your To-Read list!

Not actually me.  Sorry to disappoint!

As for me, I'm relying on a few different resources, including my own personal book collection, titles I grabbed from the library before we closed, and lots of ebooks.  I know I've been staunchly anti-ebook, but since getting a smartphone (welcome to the 21st century, Emmy!) I've started to appreciate the convenience of an expanded digital library.

My library (along with many libraries across the country) offers access to ebooks through several ebook systems.  I like to use Hoopla and Libby (by Overdrive).  I can check out books, audiobooks, movies, music, and comics through these resources!  And if you're interested in ebooks but don't want to use the library, I have two apps to suggest.

The first is Free Books.  And just as the title suggests, it's free books.  Most of them are classics or out-of-print, but MAN!  You can find some really cool stuff on here!  The best part is that you can download everything onto your device for reading offline, and its yours to keep.  I recommend starting with The Abandoned Room by Charles Wadsworth Camp.  It's a chilling story of murder, ghosts, and missing time.

The second is sort of a combo.  Project Gutenberg has an amazing collection of excellent Classics available to read for free on their website.  But, their app leaves a lot to be desired.  So, what I do is download the books I want from Project Gutenberg onto my phone, and open them with this app: ReadEra.  I've played around with a few different eReader apps, and this is my favorite.

Of course, I still prefer the feeling of paper pages between my fingers.  And I'm still reading physical books.  As I teased in the title of this post, I'm reading a lot right now.  If you want to see all the sweet details, follow me on Goodreads.  But, I'll share my Currently Reading list with you right now.

In an effort to find something a little more fun and happy, I picked up a few Wodehouse titles.  Got Mike at Wrykyn by PG Wodehouse sitting on the desk next to me as I write.  I'm also listening to the audiobook for another Wodehouse title: Uncle Dynamite.  The narrator is Jonathan Cecil, who's my favorite audiobook reader.  I was super excited to see that there are 30+ Wodehouse books narrated by him on Hoopla, so if you're interested, be sure to check him out!

And finally, I have one ebook in the works-- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I read it as a kid, but that was years (and many books) ago, so I don't remember much.  It's been fun getting to relive the experience.

A Social Distancing Hello

Hey, all!

Not sure if anyone still reads this blog (geez...how many posts do I start with that??)  But, I wanted to reach out and say "Hello".  It's been a long while since I've last posted.  Since everyone is stuck at home (or most of us are) because of COVID-19, I thought it might be nice to reach out.  (Special thanks to a very dear old friend who encouraged me to get back into the blogging scene).

The library where I work closed about a month ago because of Coronavirus, so I've been trying to get used to a completely stagnant pace.  And honestly, a month in, I've been really enjoying it.  I love the quiet, the time to read and write and work on crafts.  Sure, I get scared sometimes about getting sick (and about my loved ones getting sick).  And I get stir-crazy sometimes, too.  But, I'm adapting.  And I'm remembering how much I used to love lazy college days (like back when I started this blog), just relaxing and getting to know myself again.

It's been different.  It's been difficult.  But, I hope all of you are keeping safe.  And if you're out there reading this, feel free to leave me a comment, so that we can continue the conversation.  I'd especially love to hear from my old blogging buds (you all know who you are).  If you're still out there, drop me a line.  Your friendships were always so precious to me, back when I was learning to find myself as a moody teen.  Now, I'm reconnecting with myself again.  I'd love to reconnect with you, too.