Browsing by the numbers

Are you a browser? Drawn to enticing covers with great titles?

Can’t resist browsing through a book that grabs your attention?                  

I invite you to wander the stacks in the Chandramohan Library.

Because this year, there is something new and wonderful in the margins of the shelves: a collection of books placed and curated by Mrs. Hodge.  The titles span a wide range of topics and are intriguing and thought provoking. They are featured at the ends of the shelves, existing near their Dewey number, but pulled out for you to browse.

Today, I found myself deeply lost in the book, The Animal Dialogues, a

collection of short vignettes about the intersection of the human and animal experience. It was about eye level, with a soulful photo of a snow-dusted mountain lion on the cover. Easy to pick up, hard to put down.

The display books are scattered throughout the collection. I found myself drawn to reach for more than one.

A sampling of the titles…..

-Mrs. Eldridge

Launch

Sunshine, music and food.

 So far, so good.

I’ve never been to a book launch before, and I’m not sure what to expect. Then, Catherine starts to talk. Soon, it is clear that the people gathered here are her friends, and that feels good. Together, we celebrate her success.

Catherine talks about writing; the process, the stages and the sacrifices. While she speaks, the word fearless comes to mind. Fearless appears both in the title of Catherine’s book (A Girl Called Fearless) and also in the connection between her desire to write and the journey of authorship. I’m understanding a nuanced meaning of the word as Catherine and her husband talk about that journey.

Next, Catherine reads from her book. As a group, we are transfixed. When I read the book, my inner voice was the narrator. With Catherine reading, I am released from the role of narrator and become listener. The words are the same, but somehow, the emphasis and even the characters are different. Catherine’s voicing of Avie, the main character, is more vulnerable and softer. This changes how I think about the story as well as Avie’s motivations: I understand both on a little deeper level.

Here is a short video of Catherine, talking about her awesome marketing idea and her book.

Enjoy! (copies of A Girl Called Fearless are now available at the Chandramohan Library)

 

-Mrs. Eldridge