A local used bookstore is closing after 25 years. They’re having a fantastic going-out-of-business sale (although Saturday is, alas, their final day in existence). While part of me feels “guilty” for taking advantage of their sad circumstances, the rest (and logical) part of me knows that they need to sell as many books as possible. And that, with each book they sell, a bit of their entrepreneurial and intellectual spirit will live on. With that idea in mind, I’m going to do a limited-run series where I’ll spotlight each of the books I’ve “adopted” from this sweet little shop. Shine on, you bookish gems!

First up? THE AUTHOR’S AND WRITER’S WHO’S WHO & REFERENCE GUIDE.

WHO’S WHO

DETAILS:

• TITLE: THE AUTHOR’S AND WRITER’S WHO’S WHO & REFERENCE GUIDE
• PUBLISHER: SHAW PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD
• YEAR PUBLISHED: 1948-49 (FIRST POST-WAR EDITION)
• MADE AND PRINTED IN ENGLAND

WHY I BOUGHT IT:

I love reference books, y’all. I love reference books so much that, for exuberance’s sake, I feel compelled to use a word (y’all) not otherwise in my personal lexicon. Reference books were my first big literary love, from the age of five. And look at me now, using the phrase reference books four times in as many sentences. That’s true passion, coming from this gal. Facts, figures, names, dates: they still bring infusions of deep joy, especially when organized into neat little categories. What beauty! I also have a penchant for writing about long-since obscured and quite dead wordsmiths and their equally forgotten creations. These are people who are not only absent from Wikipedia, but whose lives and artistry barely rate a mention anywhere on the Internet. From that standpoint, volumes like this are actually vital and necessary to my work. Yes, dead writers still rule my world.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you like the new series. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.