So, every Christmas or random birthday, my dad's side of the family has a tradition. The nieces and nephews (that's me) get gift cards to Barnes & Noble, usually about $20. I used to go right out and spend them while still on Christmas break, but about 6 years ago, I stopped spending gift cards altogether. Today, I went to B&N and cashed the majority of them in, walking out with one of those Big Bags of Books I'd always love to leave with. The library is definitely my friend, especially these days. Wonder if they've seen a huge increase in people visiting the library, or if you have to be a library-ish type to go on a regular basis. I definitely am.
But, the bag o' stuff: I believe I spent my money wisely. Here's what I came out carrying:
- Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. Walden has been on the list of Important Things I Should Read for quite a while, but I haven't found the time. However, the little bit that I do know of its premise intrigues me: Thoreau built a cabin near Walden Pond (on Ralph Waldo Emerson's land) and set out to live as simple a life as possible. He writes that "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." I hear that. Plus, at only 7 bucks, it was a great deal.
- The Elements of Style by Strunk and White (the Charlotte's Web guy). I like this one because it's the shortest writing manual I've seen (95 pages, including the glossary) but seems to be pretty powerful stuff. It was originally published in 1935, so if a style manual has that much staying power, I figure it's worth it.
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser. Speaking of E.B. White, Zinsser is a huge fan and was inspired by his work on Elements of Style, so this book seemed like a good companion. I figure if I can't get something out of these two manuals, it's pretty much time to abandon ship.
- How to Grill by Steven Raichlen. What a champ. Me reading Steven Raichlen is like girls reading Sense and Sensibility... you develop a soul connection or something. My romance novels are cookbooks. Is that weird? In my opinion, he's the absolute best source of information out there when it comes to the nuts-and-bolts of grilling. I got his book The Barbecue Bible last year from Sarah for Christmas, and he's got this show called Primal Grill on public television Saturday mornings that is so worth waking up early for. As one who's very much a visual learner more than any other type, I appreciate that the books are full of pictures for EVERYTHING.
- Anyone Can Bake from Better Homes & Gardens. Have you figured out yet that I really, really like learning how to do stuff? Combine that with my aforementioned love of desserts, and here it is. As somewhat of a meticulous rule-follower in the kitchen (when it says one cup, I take them at their word!!), I happen to like baking more than cooking, although I understand it less. This may help. Actually, I saw the title and thought, "That's exactly what I say to Sarah all the time!" You see, Sarah's of the mindset that she is fated to ruin cakes, on account of her previous attempts. I'll believe that when I see it. The plan is to try some stuff in this book together and we'll see how it goes.
I really like learning how to do new things. I also like reading books. Therefore, how-to manuals are great. There are plenty of things to do in life, and anything that's worth doing is worth doing well. However, I wonder sometimes if I'll ever be an expert in my field, called upon to write a book that will share my wisdom with the masses, or if I just will continue to amass lots of meaningless techniques. You can spend lots of time learning how to do something, or talking about how sweet it would be to actually do that thing, but the doing is so much harder to get started. Here's to doing.
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