Awoke to a migraine this morning and took a fistful of Advil then back to bed. Called in sick, then slept for 4 more hours, which was right fine byRomeo. I have to admit it was also a comfort to have his warm body nestled up against mine. And then aside from taking him for his daily constitutional in the park, slept on and off for most of the day.
The one exception was a foray into cleaning the bookshelf in the upstair's hallway. My home has lots of books shelves...and lots of books. During the police investigation following my recent break-in, one of the officers pointed to my shelves of poetry and asked me "Have you read ALL of those books?" I think in an old-fashioned way about books. They mean something. They are a testament to the invention of the printing press, the age of enlightenment, the one thing that truly separates our species from others: literacy, beyond the rudimentary understanding of symbols.
This shelf is my go to place for new books I've read or are reading on the top, and then some favorite books, some fun books, and books that represent important periods in my life toward the bottom. There are some favorite authors and books by friends, too.
So the period of my life when I was reading so much about gay culture, and its relationship to religion is clearly evident on the lower shelves. Books ( & play) written by my friends Will Leckie, Barry Stopfel, and Maggie Edson are there. Authors I appreciate like Jim Harrison, Ann Patchett, Ethan Mordden, and Sapphire can be found.
If I were to compile a gift basket of ten books from these shelves for a friend's consideration, by no ranking, but simply alphabetical by the author's last name they would be:
"A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
"Music for Chameleons" by Truman Capote"What Became of the Broken-Hearted" by E. Lynn Harris
"The Poinsonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
"The Magician's Assistant" by Ann Patchett
"Hometowns: Gay Men Write About Where They Belong" ed. by John Preston
"The God of Small Things" by Arundati Roi
"The Kid" by Sapphire
"Just Kids" by Patti Smith
"Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese
What's on your book shelves?
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