The Great Thanksgiving Weekend Read
November 22, 2009

The upcoming Thanksgiving Day weekend is soon to be here, and boy, am I excited. Not only is this my favorite time of the year weather-wise, but November and December also have my favorite holidays. And last year some of you may remember, I inaugurated a new tradition for myself: the Great Thanksgiving Weekend Read.

So what’s the purpose of the GTWR and how does it differ from other reading times? I love  BiblioBuffet, but running it while working a full-time job cuts into my private reading time. There are even weeks when I scarcely pick up a book—and when that happens I feel out of sorts and cranky. Curling up in a chair or on the sofa and losing myself in the experience of a story (fiction or nonfiction) is a mental and emotional respite. It relaxes me in a way that nothing else can. I leave my life behind and enter another’s. It’s an experience that soothes, excites, moves, and touches me regardless of what the story is about.

Because I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year I don’t worry about my house getting cleaned, or about preparing most of the meal. There is no polishing of  the silver, no setting of the table. I do not go out of the house during the three days following the holiday. I relax away from work and away from the stress of other people. I avoid news. And I stay out of my car.

Do you ever wonder why so many people try to pack so many expectations for themselves and others into them? The four days that make up this holiday offer so much possibility, and sometimes it seems as if it is all squandered on forced travel, family, shopping, expectations, ultimately, disappointment. I suspect that many dislike the “holidays” simply because of that. And if I am right then why, I wonder, don’t people begin to choose their own ways to celebrate?

I have been doing that for a number of years, each year tweaking the holidays just a bit more in favor of what I know makes me happy. Sure, there are family considerations—and I thank god for them because some day my parents won’t be there—but I also incorporate those choices that work for me because they were chosen by me.

One of them—the main one for this four-dayer—is reading. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Even though last year’s inaugural GTWR left me feeling as stuffed as the turkey dinner I came away from the weekend so utterly, totally happy that I vowed it was a permanent part of my Thanksgiving holiday.

I have already selected the books for this year. As usual, there are more than I will be able to squeeze into the four days, but since I never know which specific books will appeal I find it safer to select more than fewer. Among them are three classics: Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth in the smart new Penguin Classics edition, The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (because Nicki loves this book), and George Orwell’s Animal Farm since the current political scene seems particularly apropos for it.

I also chose a twosome that have nothing in common except their subject: books. Hound, the first in a new mystery series featuring a “bookhound” (someone who buys and sells books he finds at estate auctions and library sales) who stumbles into a murder he must solve even as he continues his literary hunts, and The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, a nonfiction tale into the world of literary obsession, a book thief, and a rare book dealer who becomes a “bibliodick.”

The next one I pulled from the shelves was Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam. When most of us are very tired of the “Viagra” ads and Nigerian pleas that plague our e-mail in-boxes, it’s good to remember that scamming has been a part of all social cultures since the beginning of time. More important is the fact that the subject of this book, a man named John R. Brinkley, set in motion some techniques and innovations still used today in politics and broadcasting. And it’s exactly the sort of thing that exerts a powerful pull on me—the opportunity to relive a time I cannot know personally and to follow its impact to my own time.

I had also added three other books to the pile—The File: A Personal History, Blessed by Thunder: Memoir of a Cuban Girlhood, and Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger—when it occurred to me that I already had more books  than I could possibly get through. Sadly, these three have been regulated to the “B” pile. They are still off the shelves, which means they will get read, but they are not part of the primary stack.

After all, the idea behind the GTWR is not to rush through a given pile but to indulge myself with a feast of words. I plan to begin on Wednesday night. A hearty walk, a hot shower, a good dinner and early to bed with my first choice. Breakfast on the patio on Thursday morning before I head out, and later that night another book-in-bed feast. Then three days of solid, uninterrupted books.

If I could leave you, our readers, with one thing it is do give yourself some reading time this weekend. Even if you are traveling or spending several days with loved ones, or shopping take time to sit and read. Get into another time and place. Listen to the page. Be a reader this Thanksgiving.

Upcoming Book Festivals:
Unfortunately, there are none coming up this week or the next weekend. 

The Pub House:
Thunder Bay Books publishes nonfiction promotional books in a wide variety of areas including architecture, cooking, sports, history, transportation, and nature. In their most recent catalog, you will find, among the new releases, Frank Lloyd Wright in Pop-Up (page 3), the perfect gift for Wright or architecture fans who will appreciate seeing each work in 3-D detail, and for the surf lover, Planet Surf (page 4), which offers gorgeous images, maps, and illustrations designed to capture any surfer’s heart. 

Of Interest:
Book Worship is a delightful little blog that, as Shawn Hazen notes, “represents the obsessions of an atypical book collector.” In what way, you ask?  He showcases and talks about 1950s, 60s, and 70s books that usually have no collectible values but are graphically interesting. It’s why the blog is for the most part visual with minimal but excellent commentary.
 
This Week . . .
I want to share with you the University of Delaware’s current online show “The Alphabet Exhibition.” Here is an exhibition focusing on books, a wide range of them, whose theme is the alphabet. You’ll find the expected typography and calligraphy books but also writing manuals, children’s books, fine press and artists’ books, and even miniature books.  Each subject’s page comes complete with gorgeous examples and excellent if brief explanations. 

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren