The Lady of the Last Laugh

A couple of years ago I sent a couple of boxes of books to a Bookcrossing soldier in Baghdad. Well the other day I got two journal entries from two of the books I sent. The soldier first journaled anonymously but signed up for BookCrossing before he journaled the second book. Being pleased that the books had been heard from, and even more pleased that a soldier had a couple of hours of entertainment from them I sent him a message asking if he needed any other books to read.

Well he would love some more books. In part, his response was:

Hello alrescate,

I will gladly accept any and all you wish to send.
I am a voracious reader of any and all genre's.
I grew up in the boonies of Oregon and for the 1st ten years of my life, we
had neither electricity or running water. We used kerosene lamps, wood
fires and had a wonderful spring coming out of the mountain running about
50 gallons a minute. No electricity also meant no TV and the radio was used
sparingly on battery power. I probably did not
do my eyes any good, reading with such poor light, but read I did.
Everything I could lay my hands on was consumed.
~
That was also about the time I found our wonderful County Library and got
lost in all the volumes of knowledge and fantasy it had to offer. Science
Fiction became a favorite and Robert Heinlein had a wonderful selection of
Juvenile Sci-Fi that fit the bill exactly. I still love that.
~
I am in a position here for the next six months or so to help distribute
any and all books you would like to send.
The two books I read from your offering were the first ones I had ever seen
with the registration card and number.
So if you send, I will distribute and report back reviews and reactions.
(Of course I may read them all first, before I give them out!)

Thank you very much...

So I'm rounding up books for this fellow. If by chance you have any books you like to add please let me know. I'll gather them up and send them over. I figure it's the least I can do!


I plan to cross-post this to the BC LJ.

[Poll #730612]

I've just started Michael Chabon's 'Summerland' and the young hero has just started a book by a ferisher (fairy). I like what it says about baseball so much that I wanted to enter it here so I could get to it next summer when I am immersed in baseball.

"The first and last duty of the lover of the game of baseball, whether in the stands or on the field, is the same as that of the lover of life itself: to pay attention to it. When it comes to the position of catcher, as all but fools and shortstops will freely acknowledge, this solemn requirement is doubled."


"...to grasp the fundamental truth: a baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day."

I'd say as baseball junkie, truer words have never been written.