Book pain for a book lover

Among the many woes that can befall a book lover, one of the worst, in my experience, is losing a book.

This happened to me recently - two weeks ago, at Easter. I had just received my Amazon.ca book order, which contained 7 books ordered with the gift certificate from my mother for Christmas. I had spent many hours combing through Amazon and my book list (from you, my dear Readers!) to narrow down the list to something affordable (the original book order I wanted more than doubled the gift certificate!!). On the Monday April 5, the books were delivered - and yes, I'll tell you what they were:

-The Cypher Garden by Martin Edwards


- The Last Detective - Peter Lovesey

- The Crossing Places -Elly Griffiths

- Finch - Jeff Vandermeer

- The Hotel Under the Sand - Kage Baker

- Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire

- Soulless - Gail Carriger

I was amazed that Canada Post had even delivered books on a holiday Monday! but there it was, and I opened up my very late Christmas books and held my books lovingly, looking at each one of them, taking the evening to decide which one needed to be read first.

Martin Edwards' The Cypher Garden won that place.

I had to know what happened next to Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind - she the cold case DCI, he the historian retired to the lovely Lake District with his new girlfriend. So the next day, I took our youngest to the dentist for his very first visit. I'm blaming the news that this child, who is 5 years old, has 8 cavities, for what happened next. On the way home, still reeling from exactly how much this was going to cost and how on earth we were going to get him to go through 8 cavities being filled, I put the book on the seat next to me. And got up, and got off the bus, and as it drove away, I knew what I had done.

"My book! I left it on the bus!" I think I said a few unprintable words, then realized someone's five year old ears were pricked up, and had to try to calm down. "It's just a book," I mumbled all the way down the hill. "It's ok. I can buy a new one." But it wasn't, was it, my Gentle Readers? Bound up in this book was the love that my mother had sent the gift certificate with, and the hours spent singling it out as one I needed to get asap, and the love of this new mystery series that I have to read all the books of now (thanks to Geraniumcat and Book pusher who blogged about Martin Edwards recently). I had read the first chapter, and I had taken the day off work because of the dentist visit, and after I dropped Graham off at daycare, I had the rest of the day set aside for reading The Cypher Garden. It felt like a loss, and it still does.

I am of course going to buy another copy, as soon as I can. Unfortunately Chapters the Canadian book superstore here isn't carrying any Edwards - I drop in every few days just in case there is a miracle - and the local mystery store just closed, who was carrying him. That leaves a special order, except I haven't been to Collected Works since January as it's a special trip and I haven't gone out much this year. So I've taken to staring at my husband, who still has his Christmas book certificate to use, and saying : "Are you ready yet? have you done your order?' so that I can add my book along and not pay extra shipping costs.

Yes, we did call the bus company lost and found, but no one turned in the book. I console myself with thinking that maybe someone picked it up and is happily discovering the joys of mysteries, and especially Daniel and Hannah and the Cypher Garden mystery.

It still hurts a little, though.

Turkey, voting, and freedom

My sister Patricia at Patricia's Pages has a great little post on why we should vote today on our Canadian Federal election, here.
I'd like to add, she has a military husband (now out of the army, but after 20 years in the military, I think the military will always be part of him), and one of our other sisters also married a young man currently in our Canadian Armed Forces. Whatever our views are on the war in Afghanistan, the desire is the same: to make sure all our soldiers come home safely. That's one good reason to vote.

Another reason has to do with reading. Last week many of the American bloggers were reading banned books, in support of freedom to read. In Western society, we have a lot of freedom. In order to keep that freedom, we have to vote, we have to care, and we have to realize that what we say and think, somehow, eventually, does matter. In my own personal world view, if a person doesn't vote, they have no right to complain over the next 4 years, because they didn't bother to take the time to vote. I look at book banning in much the same way - we are going to end up with the world in Fahrenheit 451 if we don't challenge the reasons why books are banned, if we don't stand up for the right to choose our books to read. I don't want someone telling me I can't read this or that book because they think it's unsuitable for me. I want to make that choice myself.

It's all about freedom, Gentle Readers. And I take the right to cast my vote seriously. So, tonight my husband and I took our children with us to the polling booth, and as I did with the eldest son (now able to vote for himself), I showed the youngest how to vote - what the ballot looks like, the names, and how to put the X on. Then I marked my choice and folded it up, and it was done.

We have 10 minutes and the polls close! Hurray!! Please don't let the Conservatives get a majority, please don't let the Conservatives get a majority.....

Yesterday was the Canadian Thanksgiving Day. We ate turkey - indeed, we have turkey leftovers for most of this week. It was a success, we ate far too much, and I managed to not read a word of my book. Either I ate too much turkey today at lunch, or I'm tired, because The House of Dr Dee today kept putting me to sleep. I want to like it, I have to read it for the 1% Challenge - so the question I put to you, my Gentle Readers, is this: if I try to read a book for the challenge, and I just can't get through it, does it count as being a book I've read? Let me know what you think....I guess not, it will end up being one I could not finish. I'm going to keep at it, but honestly, it's boring and I really want to read The Graveyard Book, Tamsin, Coraline, and Odd Thomas for the rest of the RIP3 Challenge!!! Why do I find 'good literature' so boring to read? It's like the vegetables we were forced to eat as kids: I cannot like tomatoes, will not ever, but I love spinach now. So I try and try to please my Cool Inner Literary Bookworm, but she might have to abandon me to Fantasy Book slut. I just have more fun with the latter!!!

Ok, polls are done, election results coming in.....happy day after turkey day, gentle Readers, from Canada!!

second-hand bookshops warning signs:

Second-hand shops. We have at least 10 here in Ottawa. I can't go in them. I spend money. I come out with armloads of books. Husband looks at me and weeps. I plan for another bookshelf. Wonder if he will notice if I pop in for the book I almost bought and now know I don't have....

This was from a comment I wrote on another blogging site, and as I wrote it I realized why I don't know how many used bookstores we have here in Ottawa: I can't go in them. Used books? $1 each! I can always find one to take home!!! It's hard enough not buying when I go into new bookstores (hence, I sometimes stay away for weeks at a time, and we have at least 10 of those also in Ottawa), but used bookstores? No, I know as I enter the door, that I'm coming out with at least one book, if not many more. I know there's a name for this...nope, not bookaholic....nope, not bookaddiction....booklove! Yes, that's it. I'm in love with books! And second-hand bookshops are irresistable for me. I know London England by Charing Cross Road and its many wonderful bookstores! Both new and used. It's the same with any city/town/village I've ever been to. Where are the bookstores? It's the first thing I look for. For my 50th birthday (still a few years away, hurray!), I semi-jokingly said I wanted to celebrate by flying to London and spending the weekend shopping for books on Charing Cross Road. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do, except maybe take a trip up to Whitby (our favourite seaside town in England) for one day that same weekend and spend the day there . And they had a used bookshop or two there, too, if I recall correctly! A fabulous one in the old part of town.....

Does anyone else feel that tingle of excitement when they spot a window full of books?