Saturday, February 12, 2022

Saturday Morning at the Library

 

When I was 5 years old, I was forced to take dancing lessons while the Brother was forced to take accordion lessons. I hated dancing class. The Knights of Columbus Hall where the classes were given had no heat or it wasn't turned on. I hated wearing the pink beginner tights. I liked clacking around in the tap shoes, but Ma wouldn't let me practice inside the house on the wood floors. I spent most of my time in class being miserable and crying. Eventually, I was taken out of class.

While the Brother still had to endure accordion lessons, Dad took me to the library. He would leave me upstairs in the children's library where I could look at the books and choose to take some books home with my own library card. As I got older, I would go downstairs to the adult library and wander among the stacks enjoying the scent of the books before going to find Dad in the reference area consulting the law books and catching up on his work.

So for the next several weeks, a list of my favorite books, some I have read as a child, others as an adult and some  I have read more than once.

This week, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A Hester Prynne gives birth to a child out of wedlock in Puritan New England. She is shunned by her village and forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" as a mark for committing adultery.

If you haven't read this book, you can read it for free at Project Gutenberg, or you may be able to find it at your library or favorite bookstore. 

16 comments:

  1. I've never read it, but now I see I can read it online. Thank you for the link, CJ. I've actually always wanted to read it. Now I can.

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    1. Project Gutenberg has been busy digitizing works that are in the public domain.

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  2. This is an interesting pick. I guess I need to reread this book being a Mass native and it is part of new England's history. I actually have it in my Audible account but have never gotten around to it, not since I read it in high school. Enjoy this last warm day, although the cold is only going to be back for a short time.

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    1. I might do a little cleaning in the sun room to get that ready for opening day once all the cold and snow are gone

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  3. This was one of the required reading books in high school. I think I read the Cliff Notes instead..... :-/

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    1. I wonder if it is still required reading or whether the subject matter will make parents uncomfortable 😉

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  5. Not one I've read ... but I may do soon.

    All the best Jan

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  6. Thanks for sharing that link. I've heard about this book, but never read it.

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