This was the first Christmas in years when I didn’t receive a single book, despite the fact that my Wish List consisted of nothing but book titles. Perhaps the family we exchange presents with had heard Hania’s complaints about the growing piles of books in our living room and decided they didn’t want to contribute to my habit. I did receive two gift cards for Barnes & Noble, but maybe the donors hoped I was going to buy calendars and stuffed animals instead. Fat chance.
Last week we stopped by the Barnes & Noble on Federal Highway and, as I expected, they didn’t carry any of the books I wanted. I gave the woman at the information desk the titles – Father and Son by Jonathan Raban, Homelands by Timothy Garton Ash, Glowing Still by Sara Wheeler – and she located each on her computer, took my address, and said they would be delivered to my home in five to seven days. That was it, much easier than I had anticipated. Before leaving, Hania spotted the new biography of Larry McMurtry and suggested I buy it. (Her concern for my mental state overrides, usually, her penchant for domestic order.) So I walked out with a new book to end the old year with.
