Books Acquired Over the Summer

These hail from used book stores in Alaska, Idaho, and Colorado, as well as a few gifts.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy
Found in the Moscow Goodwill for $.69

Grendel - John Gardner
The Beowulf tale from the antagonist's perspective, I picked this guy up for $1.00 in Juneau.

It's Greek to Me! - Michael Macrone
Almost too embarrassing to mention, this book is like culture-porn; Explaining the Greek and Roman roots of everyday phrases and cliches, it provides instant nerd gratification with little work or sacrifice, and leaves you less capable of studying something real and in it's entirety.

The Music of What Happens - John Straley
Given to me by Margie Beedle, whose home we stayed at in Juneau. It's a mystery/suspense deal that takes place in Sitka.

Love This! - Andy Braner
Given to me by the author.

The Natural - Bernard Malamud
The Natural the movie is probably my favorite flick of all time, based almost entirely on sentimental reasons. The other 2% is the sappy (but rad) soundtrack by Randy Newman. I only recently discovered that a book by Jewish-American Bernard Malamud was the inspiration, and I couldn't resist the $.69 Goodwill special.

A Fine and Pleasant Misery - Patrick McManus
Kind of an impulse buy at the Moscow-Pullman airport for $3.00. Humorous musings on the idea of comfort in the outdoors, not too bad so far.

The Control of Nature - John McPhee
McPhee first caught my eye in a creative non-fiction class at the UI when I read some of his essays on modern day horse rustlers in the apparently still wild Southwest US. He's the kind of dude who dives in headfirst with his research on topics and this collection looked hott. Tales of places on Earth where Man is caught in a perpetual war against the elements.

I Am Charlotte Simmons - Tom Wolfe
Being a hard back bumped this Goodwill purchase up to something like $1.49, but I've heard so many good things about this little number that I couldn't say no. I've actually never read anything by Mr. Wolfe so I'm excited to give it a whirl.

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills - multiple authors
The climber's Bible. Everything from navigation to building snow caves to bomber anchors to snow cycles in the alpine. And illustrations.

The Stranger - Albert Camus
Found it at camp.

Rocky Mountain Boom Town: History of Durango, Colorado - Duane Smith
I became very fascinated with the histories of most everywhere I traveled this summer, and thought the mining/outlaw history of one of my favorite places would be a good beginning. I almost dropped about $40 on a book about the Russian Orthodox movement in Sitka, Alaska, but Lady Sense stayed my wallet.