Books, Books and more Books

I seem to be going through an insatiable period of reading right now. I have a very short commute - 2 miles - so it's not like I am doing all this because I need distraction on the bus. I just can't seem to stop - not that I want to, but it makes it hard to keep finding something new to read.

I'm currently reading Robert Crais' Chasing the Darkness. Since my DH, with his amazing baritone, likes to read aloud to me, I was hoping to save that one, but I couldn't wait. If you haven't met Elvis Cole, go to the Seattle Mystery Bookshop (http://www.seattlemystery.com/) and get the first of the Cole series. They have a section devoted to the first book in a series, so you can find a new (hopefully prolific) writer when you need to find something new.

I scored the last time I was there. I found a book containing the first two Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout. YUM! Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe take me to the world of the 30's and 40's that I just adore. The mysteries are very good, and the atmosphere even better. The best part? Rex Stout wrote from the 30's through the 70's! Huzzah! I take breaks to read other things knowing that there'll always be another Nero Wolfe to come home to...well, maybe not "always", but for a long time.

Right now I'm on a mystery break so that I can read Exodus by Leon Uris. I read it back in the 70's, but the movie was on the other day, and there was so much I didn't remember. I work near the library, so I went to their website (http://www.spl.org/) and put a hold on Exodus.

Why go to the website when I work so close to the library itself? It's easier to find a book on line and pick it up from the hold section than to try and find anything in that library. It's a pretty building - don't get me wrong - but you can take the escalator up to the top, but you have to either take the stairs or the elevator down. Yep. That's right. The escalator is a one-way transit option...Also, the "spiral" of which they're so proud makes it possible to head to the 5th floor, arrive at the 5th floor and be told by the librarian that you're on the "wrong 5th floor" for the book you want.

I no longer bother. I login, order up whatever I want, and head over to the library's hold section and easily find my book on the shelves which are organized by lastname - mine. Then I use the self-service checkout, and I'm done. Otherwise, you'd find me wandering around in circles - I mean spirals - trying to find a book in a section I can see - but can't get to without circling the building.

The picture here is the Seattle Public Library downtown. It's supposed to look like a stack of books...