The Lazy, Hazy Daze of Summer
July 31, 2011

Tomorrow I begin my annual one-month furlough from my job at the college, a “vacation” of sorts that even without the paycheck is something I look forward to every year. Occasionally, I have been asked to work part of it—sometimes I have and sometimes I haven’t—but not this year. Budget woes are, as everywhere, impacting us and the college is pinching pennies. But even before the state’s budget problems hit us I tended to save for this time so I am not worried; in fact, I plan to relax as well as accomplish a few goals unimpeded by the clock.

I like to celebrate this time each year in several ways. The first happened Friday  morning when the clock radio came alive at 5:15 am. Instead of rolling over to shut it off, I got up, unplugged it, and tossed it into the bottom drawer of the nightstand. It was  better than champagne.

Eleven hours later I arrived home again toting a bottle of Vinho Verde, a white wine from Portugal. (I had no idea what the wine tasted like, but I am fond of picking up wines from foreign countries that are unfamiliar to me just to try them out.) I was also carrying some crab cakes plus organic tomatoes and fresh basil. To top it off, a book I had requested for review was waiting for me in my mailbox.

Well, the wine was superb, the crab cakes delicious, the book riveting. (I plan to review it next week so you’ll have to wait to find out what it is.) And if that isn’t the perfect start to a vacation, even an unpaid one, I cannot imagine what would make it so.

Upcoming Book Festivals and Fairs:
Three antiquarian book fairs, one book festival, and one author festival all make appearances this coming weekend. If you are able to attend of them, do so. They all look great!

Location: Salinas, California
Site: National Steinbeck Center (though some other venues are involved)
Festival: Steinbeck Festival
Date: August 4-7
This is a festival that really goes all out for its namesake author. Included in the events are the opening night’s Literary Brawl and Pub Crawl on Cannery Row, speakers and panel presentations on various aspects of Steinbeck and his novels, exhibitions, a play, teen creation workshops, bus tours, movie tours, morning socials, Brown Bag and other lunch events, and much, much more.

Events begin at 10:00 am on Thursday and continue up to 5:30 pm on Sunday. Prices vary, depending on the package, from the Red Pony Passport (for students) for $15 to the Pastures of Heaven Passport for $150. Some of the events are not included in any package but must be purchased separately.

Location: Denver, Colorado
Site: Denver Merchandise Mart – Expo Building
Festival: Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair
Date: August 5-6
This is one of those marvelous antiquarian book fairs at which dealers in rare books, maps, Western Americana, postcards, travel brochures, posters, comic books, photographs, prints, and ephemera of all types show up with their wares. On Friday night from 5:00 to 9:00 pm, the charge is $10, which includes both the Preview Party and admission on Saturday. If you just want to attend on Saturday, the cost is $5. In addition to the seventy-one dealers, there will be several speakers with a special focus on childhood classics.

Location: Chilmark, Massachusetts
Site: The fields adjacent to the Chilmark Community Center on South Road
Festival: Martha's Vineyard Book Festival
Date: August 7
This bi-annual festival, held every odd-numbered year, highlights the rich literary heritage of Martha’s Vineyard. More than two dozen authors will be appearing to share their stories and sign books. Hours are 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, and it is all free. Though the festival is on Sunday, there is a special event on Saturday night, a screening of a documentary about the Vineyard Haven boatyard and a talk by the author and photographer of the book, Schooner.

Location: Battleboro, Vermont
Site: Living Memorial Park Skating Rink
Festival: Vermont Summer Book Fair
Date: August 7
Another fun antiquarian book fair with dealers from New England the Northeast offering scare, rare, and out of print books, antique maps and prints, postcards, and literary ephemera. I don’t know if there is an entrance fee or not.

Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
Site: JFK Memorial Coliseum
Festival: Granite State Book & Ephemera Fair
Date: August 7
There isn’t really a website for this fair, but the link above provides a little information. Like most antiquarian book fairs, this one will have eighty exhibitors with out-of-print, and unusual old books, maps, prints, posters, autographs, broadsides, valentines, historical documents, letters, photographs, tintypes, postcards, sheet music, manuscripts, World's Fair, and political memorabilia. The hours are 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. I don’t know if there is an admittance fee or not.

The Pub House:
Penguin Classics is one of my favorite publishing houses. True, it’s part of a publishing empire (Penguin Group, USA: Penguin Group: Pearson, an international media company), but its focus is exclusively classical literature. They offer Deluxe Editions, which include beautiful designs with French flaps, the stunning Graphic Deluxe Editions, and the special Hardcover Classics that feature gorgeous patterns stamped on linen cases, colored endpapers, and ribbon markers. (All of their books can be seen in this 340-page catalog.)

Though I own quite a few books from Penguin Classics, my favorites are probably their series. The Great Ideas series are small paperbacks averaging 100-125 pages that have gorgeously designed and embossed paper covers. The Great Food books, a relatively new series, also possess  exquisite covers, enough to set any food fan’s heart (and mouth) quivering. Lovers of all kinds will surely appreciate the Great Loves series too.  For those who appreciate the beauty as well as the content these are worthy contenders.

Imaging Books & Reading:
None of us wants to know that bookworms are actually in our libraries, but they can be. Is one of these in your books?

Of Interest:
The staging of plays in Renaissance England, especially those of William Shakespeare, is the subject of this particular article. And well worth reading, it is. Until now, I didn’t know this:

The repertory system was demanding—besides playing six days a week, a company would be in continual rehearsal in order to add new plays and to refresh old ones in their schedule. A player would probably learn a new role every week, with thirty to forty roles in his head. No minor feat, especially considering that an actor would only get his lines and cues (in a rolled up parchment, his “roll”, from which we get the word "role"), not a whole script!

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

Lauren