I Love You, Sweet Library -- But You're Too Stinking Hot For Me

I hadn't set foot in my beloved Bybee-ary since last spring, so after I sorted out my conversation class this morning, the L-word was very much on my mind.

I headed up the hill, sweating all the way, trying to dart from one small wedge of shade to another along the path, and feeling pathetically grateful for even a suggestion of breeze. The library would be an oasis from the muggy, oppressive heat. The stacks would be cool and shadowy. I would emerge hours later refreshed and rejuvenated with an armload of library loot.

The library loot part was right, but the library was just as bad as outside -- thick and unpleasant. I hoped that the sweat rolling off of me wouldn't make the floors too slippery. The stacks were suffocating. Tilting my head to look at titles gave me a headache tinged with nausea. I had to give up after only 10 minutes and 3 books:

Sea of Glory - Nathaniel Philbrick. This book is about the US Exploring Expedition, which went on for a few years in the late 1830s and early 1840s. I admired Philbrick's In The Heart of the Sea so much that I was instantly attracted to Sea of Glory.

Love and Death in the American Novel - Leslie A. Fiedler. I first saw this 1960 groundbreaking study of literature at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma when I was about 19 years old. Beguiled by that title, I examined the table of contents, then shied away from it. I clearly remember what gave me pause: Charles Brockden Brown. I didn't know who he was. Therefore, I was not smart enough to read LADITAN. Wasn't I a skittish reader back in the day?! Now nearly [mumble] years later, I still don't have a good grip on who CBB was, but I now know that Fiedler will probably provide context and if it's not there, then I'll Google and have my answer in a moment.

Complete Novels - Dashiell Hammett. This volume includes Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man and The Glass Key. It's going to rain like hell starting tomorrow with a typhoon, so I anticipate good times and cozy hours curled up with Dash if the electricity holds out. If not, I have a couple of flashlights.

This loot is due back on October 1. The weather should be much improved by then and I'll come back to my library ready for a nice long visit.