29 | February | 2012 | A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.

Title: The First Elizabeth
Author: Carolly Erickson
Year Published: 1983 (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Year Purchased: 1990’s
Source: Antique Barn at The Ohio State Fair, Columbus, Ohio
About: My favourite historical personage and all around kick-ass woman receives an above-average biographical treatment here.
Motivation: See above. Also, I love my fellow redheads.
Times Read: 2
Random Excerpt/Page 187: “There were more festivities in the coming days. The queen went to Woolwich to launch a fine new ship for her navy, christened the ‘Elizabeth’, and returned to Greenwich to watch more military games-among them a “great casting of fire, and shooting of guns, till twelve at night.” The recent peace, these exercises proclaimed, had not dimmed England’s warlike spirit; let other nation’s take warning.”
Happiness Scale: 10
Image via Wikipedia

Title: Jailbird
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Year Published: 1979 (Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence)
Year Found: 2009
Source: It was on the giveaway table in our apartment building.
About: It’s Vonnegut, and it’s awesome. Walter F. Starbuck is a classic character and this novel makes for a wonderful albeit quick (as is the Vonnegut way) read. Of course, it is always better to read Vonnegut than to try to explain his work. So, you should go do that now.
Motivation: I love Vonnegut-the-writer and adore Vonnegut-the-person. He made it look easy and it is never easy. The book was also free. The back cover photo of the writer, taken by his wife Jill Krementz, is one of my favorites.
Times Read: 2
Random Excerpt/Page 127: “About the young man and his radio. I decided that he had bought the thing as a prosthetic device, as an artificial enthusiasm for the planet. He paid as little attention to it as I paid to my false front tooth. I have since seen several young men like that in groups-with their radios tuned to different stations, with their radios engaged in a spirited conversation. The young men themselves, perhaps having been told nothing but “shut up” all their lives, had nothing to say.”
Happiness Scale: 9

A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.