To be able to say "Noggle," you first must be able to say "Nah."
This is a chapbook from a little old lady who wrote poems about her home, her friends, and her family in the 1970s and 1980s. Its pages are typewritten (and, in some places, corrected with correction fluid and hand printing), and it’s bound by a comb binder, probably something provided by Kinko’s or the like […]
As you know, I buy my books in bulk at book fairs and often end up with duplicates. A recent cleanup of my bookshelves has yielded the following: They include: Isaac Asimov’s The Robots of Dawn and Foundation and Earth. John Sandford’s Hidden Prey and Mortal Prey. Classic Club editions of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel […]
Yesterday, we hit the Friends of the Springfield-Greene County Library’s semiannual book sale. On a full price day, but we were without children. Since it was not half price day or bag day, I found myself restraining myself and putting down books that I would have picked up in other circumstances. Which is good, because […]
This is a Dover thrift edition that collects a pile of sonnets that had fallen into the public domain. It collects them from a large number of authors, chiefly British and American, and includes a lot of favorites from Shakespeare, Millay, Whittier, Tennyson, Poe, Swinburne, and so on. It’s like a good sampler album of […]
This is a collection from one of those poetry contests that makes everyone a winner and then puts all the winners into a book and then sells the winners copies of the book for $50. Full disclosure: I appeared in one of these books in 1984, and my sainted mother bought a copy. I probably […]
This book collects two previous volumes’ worth of one liners and insults, meaning it’s 416 pages of quips and acid tongue baths. Most of the stuff is dated and not very good, but the book has enough amusing clips and whatnot that it rivals an Ogden Nash volume in the number of potential IM statuses […]
This book is a collection of lighthearted verses about the business world. It falls somewhere between an Ogden Nash volume and The Complete Geek (An Owner’s Manual). The verses are light-hearted but sometimes pointed, and unfortunately they’re not very poetic. I mean, Ogden Nash isn’t the most poetic of authors, but he can turn a […]
You know, every year I provide a handy little boast list of how much I’ve read in one place. Because of the hiatus, I didn’t get that list out. Until now. Read it and weep (for my lack of a life outside the pages): Friday by Robert Heinlein Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan […]
You think that because I haven’t posted a good book hunting segment in a while that I have not been out there buying books? Hah! Think again. Although January isn’t normally a good month for book fairs, this January 2009 proved to be fruitful indeed. We visited the following three book fairs. St. Michael’s The […]
Oops, I did it again. We’re driving down Elm onto an errand and a couple of garage sales, and my beautiful wife sees the sign at the church up ahead: Book Fair. “It’s dollar bag day,” I said. “Do you want to stop?” she asked. I stopped. An hour or so later, I ask if […]
This chapbook, published by the St. Louis Writer’s Center, was J2‘s first volume of poetry. Unlike his elder, he did not receive the Rod McKuen treatment fresh from the womb. As I was active in the poetry scene in St. Louis at that time, I thought perhaps I might know of her. However, she’s a […]
To brag, here’s the complete list of books I read in the 2007 goal year: Home Improvement:52 Weekend Projects by Dan Ramsay Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen Dr. Kookie, You’re Right by Mike Royko Grifters & Swindlers Cynthia Manson (ed) Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows by Rod McKuen Kiss by Ed McBain Robert Frost by […]
We bought so many books yesterday, I should have a hangover. I almost do, but we’ll come to that bye and bye. We decided, as it was a cool (only 90 degrees at 8:00am) morning, to walk to a couple nearby yard sales with the boy in the stoller. So we loaded up on all […]