Thursday, August 17, 2006

a bit bookish in southern illinois

my unsubtle reminder to myself: to do everything i came here to do

I really can’t believe that the summer is nearly over (though I’m ready to be done with summer heat—on to autumn coolness!)... my parents and I are leaving tomorrow morning to take Adrienne (my younger sister) back to college. School already! The buses keep going by our house, packed with little kids, and I snicker every time I pass the high school—its parking lots are full. Yikes. I still like the feeling of summer freedom.

And it’s almost sinking in: I’m not heading back to school this year! Hard to break a sixteen-year habit, though…

Instead of school, I’m spending a fair amount of time at the little bookstore where I work. It opened in April, and I started in early June. I’m finally feeling settled there—like I have an understanding of our stock and procedures. I’ve run into trouble though when people call for directions—they ask if we’re past the Outback Steakhouse, and suddenly the only Outback I can picture is the one on 28th street in Grand Rapids!! I haven’t actually given anyone directions for Michigan, but I’ve come close! (And now I just pass the phone over to co-workers who don’t have Grand Rapids on the brain.)

One cool thing: I’ve seen four books go by that I worked on in my internships! Two books from my junior year internship, and two more from my senior spring at Zondervan! I got all giddy and had to show everyone. It’s so funny to be familiar with the guts of the book, having worked with it on a computer or over email. Seeing the final product for each was a surprise… “so that’s what they look like!”

As far as my own reading goes, I’ve narrowed down my list (sheer practicality… aren’t you proud?): Educating Alice, by Alice Steinbach, and The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde. Both are excellent and highly recommended. Alice is a real treat, because Steinbach writes about traveling around the world and taking classes. She learns cooking in Paris and dancing in Japan, takes a Jane Austen course in England and an art course in Cuba! I’m having a blast (and living vicariously) reading it.

And The Eyre Affair is a completely off-the-wall ride through a strange, British, alternate universe. I absolutely love it. Actually, I’ve read it once before: it was my “going home” book after my semester in Britain. On my last trip to Covent Garden, before leaving London, I ducked into a bookshop and bought it. I had hoped to save it for the flight home, as something (however small) to look forward to in the whole leaving process. I cheated, and dove into the book early. (Did I finish it before the flight? Maybe.) Anyway, it’s still great fun.

Actually, I had to rearrange my bookshelves the other day, because they were in crisis mode. Maybe I have a few too many? A whole shelf too many?


See? What a rough job. My poor bookcase was seriously overburdened.



in process…



the finished product

I know, I know, you’re all relieved. But seriously, all that book stress? Do you ever feel the weight of everything that you’ve never read? Right now, I really want to reread all of Jane Austen, as well as the rest of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series. Oh, and Shakespeare. I have to round out my knowledge of the tragedies…

Posted by Jenn Langefeld on 08/17 at 05:05 PM
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