Blogging is for old folk

How many of my readers are under the age of 20? Under 30? Under 40?
I wont ask about the under 50's because thats my age group. LOL

The reason I ask this is because an article came out last week that said that young people are no longer blogging - but the oldies are continuing to blog and even starting new blogs.

The younger generation prefers to use the social networking sites like Facebook, My Space and Twittering.

Why? Because its hip (everyone is doing it), it's a lot faster that blogging (tweet only allows 140 words) and it allows you to stay up to date. And young people dont really like reading long posts either.

While I do have a facebook account, I dont use it for socializing. Well not really. I do comment occasionally on friends posts and photos.

But mostly I use Facebook for the games and applications. That is why I actually signed up for Facebook. I do not use Twitter at all.

Blogging is actually a quite involved form of self-expression. It takes a lot of time and effort.

I cant deny that. It does take effort to write a review, but when I get a comment, it was worth it.

And I do prefer to use my "long form" blog (that means this blog) to keep you informed of the books I read. I have been blogging now for almost 3 years and I dont plan on stopping any time soon. I cant let all that hard work go to waste.

The Adventures of a Treasure Hunter - Book Review

The Adventures of a Treasure Hunter
A Rare Bookman in Search of American History
By Charles P. Everitt
Originally published by Little Brown & Company 1951
Reprinted by Meyerbooks, Illinos, 1987
Full Text of this Book for you to Read
Booksellers who specialized in Americana 1993

There was a letter printed in the Fine Books and Collectors magazine with an anecdotal story of this book.

I am pleased to add a footnote to Kurt Zimmerman’s article, “Armchair Adventures: Ten Classic Accounts of American Book Collecting,” which appears in the November/December issue (#30) of your magazine. For those who do not insist on reading it in the first edition, The Adventures of a Treasure Hunter: A Rare Bookman in Search of American History by Charles P. Everitt is available in a trade paperback edition. I published the reprint in 1987, with an introduction by Jack Matthews. Everitt’s book was actually ghostwritten by Barrows Mussey, a book publisher and collector, who, in a letter to me, explained how the book was written: “My contract with [the publisher] Little, Brown included all the bourbon Charlie Everitt could drink, and in the course of writing I actually bought two or three cases of Old Grandad. It was a relatively moral arrangement, because I, being a rum drinker, did not take more than a glass an evening of the private stock, for sociability.” Everitt’s book was published after his death in 1950 and was a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club at the time.

David Meyer
Meyerbooks, Publisher
Glenwood, Illinois

SOURCE

As for reading it - well I found it to be a very readable book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are not a lot of personal details about Charles P Everitt. He came from Orange County in NY, having been raised on a farm, which he left when he was 17 to go work in the book trade. That was in 1890. He mentions having one son named Tom. His wife was Elizabeth Thompson Everitt.

I learned a lot about different things, such as Americana, the early days of US history such as the Revolution, and Exploration of the West, Dr ASW Rosenbach whom Charlie called Rosy, and many many names of Collectors, Librarians and Book Dealers (the vast majority whom I have never heard of) from the first half of the 20th century. A number of authors are mentioned as well.

I also learned that Nathaniel Hawthorne did not write The Last of the Mohicans - which I had originally stated in my previous post about the Secrets of Lost Things (now corrected). James Fenimore Cooper wrote The Last of the Mohicans. Hawthorne wrote short stories, a few novels I never heard of and something called Fanshawe. Everitt told a story of once purchasing a copy of Fanshawe as part of a collection, and selling it for $350.

Another ancedote tells of the Baptist Publication Society looking for a copy of the book Fanny Hill (R18). When the Society called Everitt and asked if he knew how to find a copy, Everitt said he did not. The last man who did know (how to find a copy) got 2 years in jail.

Everitt made regular trips to London, England looking for books. He mentioned Marks and Cohen in this book. As you know, Marks and Company is the setting of the well known book by Helene Hanff - 84 Charing Cross Road - and later the movie of the same name. Everitt mentions a number of other London book sellers as well.

But I am not telling you anything that you cannot read for yourself, The entire book has been archived online for your reading pleasure and enjoyment.

This is not a linear story of Charles's life. Rather it is a collection of stories and anecdotes about book deals he made over 60 years as a book dealer, stretching from 1890 to 1950.

Charles Everitt was born in 1871 and died in March 1951.

I read this book for the Bibliophilic Challenge.

The Secret of Lost Things - Book Review

The Secret of Lost Things
by Sheridan Hay
Doubleday 2006

I have been wanting to read this book for quite some time so I reserved it at the library and have been finally able to read it. This novel is as much a story about the love of books as it is about one girl's coming of age.



Rosemary leaves Tasmania (in Australia) and moves to New York city after her mother dies, and starts working in the Arcade, a second hand bookshop. There is NO MENTION made of her immigration status whatsoever. One cannot just move to a new country and work. I should know.

One must be educated and skilled to qualify for either immigrate or a work permit. Rosemary has no skills so she would not qualify to immigrate, nor would she qualify for a work permit.

How convenient that fiction authors dont have to mention embarrassing details like this. To someone like me who is well versed in immigration details, it is a GLARING mistake.

I had no idea that the main character Rosemary, was so sheltered and naive. Was I really like that when I was 18? Well, yes, I was like that. I had crushes on the local boys. But I certainly knew enough to never try to kiss them, although I did ask one fellow that I had a crush on, to my High School prom.

Rosemary's naivety did annoy me during this novel, but not so much that I could not continue reading to see what happened in the shop.

Rosemary has a crush on Oscar Jarno who is in charge of the Non Fiction section of the book shop. Oscar is gay and prefers men. Rosemary knows this intellectually but still thinks she can get Oscar to love her as well. When she and Oscar have a meal together at a diner, she kisses him, and he rejects her. Thats when her eyes are opened and she stops being naive.

At the same time the Albino Walter Geist, who works in the basement checking all the books that come in from sales and the public and who pays the sellers, has a crush on Rosemary because Rosemary is the only person who will even talk to Geist.

Robert Mitchell on the 4th Floor handles the rare books and is supposed to be told about any rare books that come in.

Arthur looks after the art and photography sections of the bookshop. He loves looking at photos of nudes. He calls them art and that is why he can look at them. That is not all he does when he looks at these photos.

Jack and Bruno are the bouncers - they throw the thieves out. They also arrange and rearrange the paperback books at the front of the shop.

Pearl handles the cash register. She is taking hormones to undergo a sex change from male to female.

And George Pike is the manager of the entire shop.He has his little stand a few steps above the floor, where he too prices the more valuable books and oversees the shop floor and everyone on it.


The Lost Things referred to in the title is a novel supposedly written by Herman Melville (Moby Dick) in 1852. The question is - was the novel ever published? The publishers warehouse burnt down in 1853. The story of the novel is mentioned in several letters by Melville to Nathaniel Hawthorne (Fanshawe) in 1852. The main character was referred to as Agatha.

Geist is an albino, and as such, he is legally blind. He has Rosemary read him a letter about a lost novel. The writer of this letter is offering the manuscript to be sold through the bookship for commission. Rosemary tells Oscar about the letter and together Rosemary and Oscar spend time at the library doing some research. Rosemary is assigned to read the book of letters written by Melville to Hawthorne. She finds the first mentions in the letters, of the story about Agatha.

Geist too is trying to find out more about this lost novel. He has colleagues on whom he can call. One of them is Samuel Metcalfe - the librarian to James Peabody - one of the most well known book collectors and richest men in the USA.

Things come to a head in the last week of the year (between Xmas and New Years) when Geist is given a manuscript he claims is the lost story of Agatha (now called the Isle of the Cross). He steals money from the shop to pay for the manuscript. Geist wants to give the manuscript to Rosemary. When Oscar lays his hands on the manuscript and opens it, it is obviously a fake, and the pages are scattered acros the floor. In a struggle between Geist and Oscar, one man dies.

Some weeks later Rosemary leaves the shop and takes up a new job as an editing intern with a publishing company.

I read this book for the Bibliophilic Challenge.

Raising a Reader - Book Review

Raising a Reader
by Jennie Nash
St Martins Press 2003

I thought that since I have raised a reader, I would read this book and see how I compared against Ms Nash. It is not a long book. But it has been sitting on my TBR pile since I purchased it back in 2007.



Jennie Nash turned out to be quite concerned about making very sure that her two daughters were reading well, even before they started school. Her first daughter had no problems doing this. Her second daughter was somewhat slower at picking up the art of reading, and Mrs Nash was frantic.

Despite being told by the school principal that it was OK for kids to not be reading until grade 2 and even grade 3, Jennie Nash still felt like a failed mother if her daughter was not reading by the time she entered second grade.

In my opinion, I dont think she helped her second daughter to become a comfortable reader by the books she (Jennie) chose. For some reason Jennie prefers to have her daughters learn to love language - the melodic flow of the words and rhythm and so on. So she read them the good quality books, including Newberry award winners.

Well thats fine for her, but she absolutely refused to allow her daughters to read the "popular" books" except for the older daughter who insisted on going through a stage of reading the book adaptations of Disney movies. Jennie hated reading those. So Jennie was often reading books that her daughters had not asked for.

I, on the other hand, have never read anything BUT the "popular" books to my son. I read what he wants. Most of the time he has wanted books based on his favourite TV shows. For a long time this meant Pokemon books. So I read Pokemon books. I learnt a lot about Pokemon. For the last 2 years I have been reading Captain Underpants books - over and over again. Jennie Nash hates the Captain Underpants books. I do try and squeeze a Robert Munsch book in, when I can - to save my sanity. My son likes them too.

The book he was reading on the sidewalk this morning was a Club Penguin book. He has a few of those. Mostly comics so they are harder for me to read. Because half the comic strip has no words and you have to look at the boxes to see the actions. My son is in Grade 2 and I was not worried at all. Because I know that he is reading.

Then last month my son told me about a new book series he wants me to read to him. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. There are 4 books in the series and his school library has all 4 of them on the shelves. So this weekend I plan to go out and find these books and purchase one (for now) At $12 each, these are a bit more expensive than the other books. On the other hand they are over 200 pages so thats value for money.

I read this book for the Bibliophilic Challenge.

Yes - I raised a reader!!!

I wish I had taken my camera to show you the proof that I did raise a reader.

My son is 7 years old - almost 8. At school yesterday he received a new book from the Scholastic brochure and all the way home yesterday, he was reading it as he walked along the sidewalk. This morning he insisted on taking this same new book to school and again he was walking slowly along the sidewalk reading this new book on our way to school.

He looked exactly like me when I was a kid. I too walked with my head down reading a book as I walked along the footpath (they dont call them sidewalks where I come from).

YES I have done something right - I RAISED a reader!!!

I am just so thrilled!!!!

Terminal Freeze - Book Review

Terminal Freeze
by Lincoln Child
Anchor Books 2009

Alaska's Federal Wilderness Zone - two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle. One of the most remote places on Earth. But for a group of scientists sponsored by a major media conglomerate, an expedition to the Zone represents the opportunity of a lifetime to study the effects of global warming.


The expedition changes suddenly on a routine foray into a glacial ice cave, where the group makes an astonishing find: an ancient animal encased in solid ice. It appears to be some kind of giant cat, possibly a saber-toothed tiger. When their discovery is reported back, their parent company quickly plans the ultimate spectacle - the animal will be cut from the ice, thawed, and revealed on live television.

Ignoring the dire warnings of a local Eskimo group (and a native legend forecasting doom for anyone who disturbs this mythic creature), the scientists make one more horrifying discovery: the beast is no cat, it's an ancient killing machine. And it may not be dead.

The creature is cut from the ice and transported to a vault at the base. Within hours the vault is empty with just a round hole chewed in the floor.

Then the killing starts - 3 people are killed before the creature can be stopped, and there is only one way to stop it.

LINCOLN CHILD is the coauthor, with Douglas Preston, of Relic, Reliquary, The Book of the Dead, The Dance of Death, The Cabinet of Curiosities, and other bestsellers starring Detective Pendergast. Lincoln Child lives with his wife and daughter in Morristown, New Jersey.

Low Profile - Book Review

Low Profile - A Life in the World of Books
by Frank Herrmann
Oak Knoll books 2002


Low Profile is the autobiography of Frank Herrmann, author, publisher, one-time director of Sotheby's and founder of Bloomsbury Book Auctions.



Herrmann was born in Germany in 1928. In 1937 his jewish family emigrated to the UK where Frank grew up. He attended Westminster school while the school was not in London. During the war the school spent most of the war in Surrey, Devonshire and Herefordshire. After the war, he attended Oxford University reading chemistry but dropped out when he discovered that he didn't really like chemistry and formulae. He preferred literature and words. So he got a job as a typographer with Faber books.

Frank Herrmann's biography offers a tantalizing, behind-the-scenes look into the hidden worlds of Herrmann's life and his various careers. Beginning with his early years as a book designer at Faber (publishers of TS Eliot), the author then shares the times when he had the good fortune to work for firms who published Evelyn Waugh, Ernest Shepard (illustrator of A A Milnes's books), Beatrice Potter, the children's authors of Miffy and Babar, as well as Mrs. Beeton and a host of other famous figures in the writing world.

Herrmann continues his story describing his stormy career as a Sotheby's director and then becoming the founder of his own publishing company and antiquarian book auction house. This well written text is illustrated with many rare photographs of the "movers and shakers" of the British publishing world.

I purchased this book from a rare book shop for one of my birthdays sometime in the last few years and it has sat on my TBR pile ever since. I decided that this Bibliophilic Challenge was a good time to read it. I had been reluctant to start reading it, as I thought it was going to be boring.

Guess what. It was NOT boring. I really enjoyed it. A lot more than I thought I would.

While I was in Hospital I had read another one of my books on the TBR pile. This one was about Sotheby's the auction house - called Sotheby's, Bidding for Class by Robert Lacey. There was not one mention in that entire book, of Frank Herrmann as a director of Sotheby's, as head of Sotheby's European operations and as the official biographer of Sotheby's.

Herman wrote several books - the most noteable being Sotheby's-Portrait of an Auction House, The English as Collectors, and the childrens book All about the Giant Alexander.