Somebody not terribly famous once said: “After love, book collecting is the most exhilarating sport of all.” I ponder this old adage wistfully glancing around my small house. What I need are more walls. I suffer from an incurable disease – bibliomania. About 5,000 books of all sizes, shapes and subjects rise up the walls in every room, an abundance-in despair of where to put them, in stacks on the floor, chairs, atop the piano. Mostly nonfiction, they become source material for my writings.
The getting of books, the giving, is no easy matter. The selecting, the turning of pages before wrapping up…such an intimate sharing of personal knowing, that the giver has carefully considered the givee. That old philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, always said that “a gift is a portion of thyself..”
For the youngest
Camp Out! The Ultimate Kid’s Guide – Workman, 2007, $11.95.
Activities, projects, skills, songs, experiments, crafts – things to do outdoors. From backyard to the backwoods, by Lynn Brunelle.’
Who’s Been Here? A Tale In Tracks, by Fran Hodgkins. Illustrated by Karel Hayes, Down East Books, 2008, $15.95.
A winter walk with three children and their dog, following the footprints of a cat, a turkey, a raccoon, a rabbit, a deer, a moose, a bear, and…uh oh!…a skunk.
Boatyard Ducklings, by Heather Austin. Down East Books, 2008, $15.95.
True story of two young girls who discover a mallard’s nest full of eggs in a boatyard dinghy.
The Little Fisherman, a fish story by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Dahlov Ipcar. Special commemorative edition, Islandport Press, 2008, $15.95.
A cherished treasure of children’s literature by two literary and artistic giants.
Amadi’s Snowman, by Katia Novet Saint-Lot. Illustrated by Dimitres Tokumbo. Tilbury House, 2008, $16.95.
Amadi, a young Igbo man, does not understand why his mother insists he learn how to read. An older boy teaches him the value of learning through books. Set in Nigeria the book pinpoints a moment of wonder as the world of literacy opens to Amadi.
Spirit Of The Snowpeople, by Diane Keyes. Illustrated by Helen Stevens. Down East Bools, 2008, $15.95.
In the long and dark winters of a northern chime, the adults decide to build a city of snow people around the lake, Sadness at first grips everyone when the air warms, the snowpeople melt, until they learn to keep the spirit of the snowpeople alive.
The Dump Man’s Treasures, by Lynn Plourde. Illustrated by Mary Beth Owens. Down East Books, 2008, $15.95.
A story that speaks volumes about the love of books, the joy of reading, and especially the love that abounds in a caring community. Wonderful!
Under The Night Sky, by Ann Lundebrek. Illustrated by Anna Rich. Tilbury House, 2008, $16.95.
A boy is surprised when his mother awakens him one night. Outside they are soon surrounded by neighbors all watching with awe the northern lights. About one of the magical things of winter nights in northern climates.
Give A Goat, by Jan West Shrock. Illustrated by Aileen Darragh. Tilbury House, 2008, $16.95.
After hearing a story about a girl in Uganda whose life is changed by the gift of a goat, a fifth-grade class raises money to make a similar donation to families in need, aided by a class math project and Heifer International.
For readers of all ages
Painting The World = The Art Of Dorothy Eisen, edited by Christie McDonald, ACC Publishing Group, 2008, $35.
A beautiful exploration of Eisner’s life and work over the seven decades her career spanned.
Mary’s Voyage: The Adventures of John and Mary Caldwell (a sequel to Desperate Voyage) by Mary Caldwell and Matthew M. Douglas. Sheridan House, 2008, $19.95.
After living in California, Mary, John and their children became the first family to attempt a voyage around the world on a small sailing craft, using only a sextant and dead reckoning to guide them across thousands of miles of ocean.
Folk Art In Maine: Uncommon Treasures, 1750-1925, edited by Kevin D. Murphy. Photography by Ellen McDermott. Down East, 2008, $35.
Producing utilitarian objects can provide the opportunity for self-expression. From decoys to doll houses, scrimshaw to sea chests, from weathervanes to whirligigs, folk artists find wonderment in the workaday, transforming the mundane to the marvelous. An introduction for the novice, a treasure for the collector.
North By Northeast: Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora Traditional Arts, by Kathleen Mundell. Tilbury House, 2008, $20.
Through the works and words of over thirty-five traditional artists living and working primarily in Maine and New York, the author explores these artists’ connections to place, tradition, and cultural identity.
Walker’s Way: My Years With Walker Evans, by Isabelle Storey. Power House Books, 2007, $29.95.
Storey’s memoir of her infatuation with a great American artist, her ten-year marriage to him, and their connections to art colonies on the coast of Maine.
America’s Kitchens, by Nancy Carlisle and Melinda Talbot Nasardinov. Tilbury House and Historic New England, 2008, $34.95.
The story of one room – at times a harried workplace and at other sentimental heart of the home – over more than four centuries. Lavishly illustrated with a fascinating array of ephemera.
A Maine Summer Island: The Story Of Bustins, by F. Benjamin Carr. Islandport Press, 2008, $16.95.
Idyllic Bustins Island lies in a quiet corner of inner Casco Bay. It has no electricity no businesses, almost no vehicles. Carr, a longtime summer resident takes readers from island’s beginnings as a farming community to its transformation into a summer colony.
Wilderness Partners; Buzz Caverly And Baxter State Park, by Phillis Austin. Tilbury House, 2008, $20.
Caverly’s legendary career in the park Percival Baxter wanted to be “forever wild.” Austin reveals the minefield of people and issues Buzz had to negotiate to save the park’s wilderness character.
The Cure For Anything Is Salt Water: How I Threw My Life Overboard And Found Happiness At Sea, By Mary South. HarperCollins, 2007, $23.95.
South decides to quit her job, go to seamanship school, and live aboard a 40-foot trawler while navigating the eastern seaboard, from Florida’s charming Americana on the Intercostals Waterway out into the stormy waters of the Atlantic.
Because The Cat Purrs: How We Relate To Other Species And Why It Matters, by Janet Lembke. Skyhorse Publishing, 2008, $22.95.
Lembke’s signature dynamic prose explores the relationship between man and beast in a sensitive and timely appraisal of how we treat one another. Lembke’s natural history writing unique, diverse, and utter fun.
A Geography Of Oysters: The Connoisseur’s Guide To Oyster Eating In North America, by Rowan Jacobsen. Bloomsbury, 2007, $24.95.
One of the great sensual foods since time of ancient Rome, oysters owe most of their renown from their specific environmental origin. Jacobsen gives us a playful, passionate, delectable tour of the oysters of North America. Hunger may erupt on page 1. For Maine, turn to page 95.