Carpe Libra

'Tis the season for gifting our beloved friends and relations! My daughter just turned 7 a couple weeks ago, and received the Scrabble Jr game as a gift. She watches me play Scrabble at almost every party we host and playing online Scrabble (called Jamble) with some fellow Carpies… so she was elated to receive [...]

From the Gail Borden (Elgin) Library website:  “On Sunday, Dec. 3, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m., eminent religious scholar, professor emeritus at Northwestern University, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills presents on his new book about the apostle Paul. Book sales of What Paul Meant and signing will be available after his program.No registration required. Community [...]

This was a week of beginnings and endings in Carp 500 history. Several of the works on our list made their first appearance, while the final chapter was written (clever book reference there, eh?) in the lives of a few Carp 500 authors.
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
November 20, 1820: An 80-ton sperm whale [...]

Rate and review the following Thanksgiving Poem on the Carp site: "Over the River and Through the Wood" Written by Lydia Maria Child; originally published in 1844: Over the river, and through the wood, to Grandfather's house we go; the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow. Over [...]

Okay, so this is really last week in books, but there was just too much good football on Saturday and I’m a day late.  Last week was an interesting week in Carp 500 history, and I even had to leave a few things out.
 On November 13, 1953, a member of the Indiana Textbook Commission charged that [...]

"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." Any guesses as to who made this statement? (Googling it isn't fair)

Check out this humorous article from the New Yorker on buying novels.
I found out about it on Semicolon, a blog on books and related topics.
Semicolon also has a link to a post on Jim Matheson’s blog about scientific books.

Being election week, there were a few big dates for the presidents who appear on the Carp 500. Not only were Abe, Teddy, and FDR (for the 4th time) elected, but Teddy also became the first president to make an official visit outside the U.S. when he left for Panama on November 6, 1906 (or [...]

The Bibliomaniac's Prayer
But if, O Lord, it pleaseth Thee
To keep me in temptation's way,
I humbly ask that I may be
Most notably beset to-day;
Let my temptation be a book,
Which I shall purchase, hold and keep,
Whereon, when other men shall look,
They'll wail to know I got it cheap.

I'm slowly making my way through Wandering Through Winter, by Edwin Way Teale. Teale was a naturalist who wrote a series of books about his travels across the United States during the four seasons.
He has this to say about Salt Creek Pupfish that he saw in Death Valley, California:
As I stood there, contemplating the swift, [...]