What She's Reading

Is it wrong to secretly be glad when one comes down with the sniffles? Certainly, the symptoms are not to be envied. Yet, once the extra-strength medicine has been gulped down and the aches subside, isn't there a quiet relief in forced rest and reading? Olive felt rather guilty at such feelings when she succumbed to the latest bug last week, but not so badly that she didn't curl up with a pile of tomes beside her, somewhat manic with glee (and said tonics) at the possibility of a good read. Curious as to what she stuck her little red nose into? She is happy to divulge.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
Lewis Carroll

From the moment Olive saw its pale gray and flamingo festooned cover to the appearance of the White Rabbit on page two, she was utterly enchanted with this classic tale, first published in 1865. Let her tempt you with this quote from page one:

So she was considering, in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

Shakespeare: The Life, The Works, The Treasures
Catherine M.S. Alexander

Olive loves Shakespeare (even better when he's "In Love"), but can a muddled, sick brain make it through Richard III. I'm sorry, Mr. S, but no. That's why Olive so loves this book; it contains pull-out facsimile documents of Shakespeare's baptismal record, his marriage bond and beyond. Olive can assure you she had great fun extracting these old documents from their parchment pockets, as Will (could you resist?) any Shakespeare fan.

Death of a Dude
Rex Stout

Olive adores mysteries, but preferably of the pre-CSI variety. As such, she was thrilled to receive this vintage Nero Wolfe novel for Christmas. But what? You have not heard of the rotund New York detective who lives in a luxurious brownstone and grows orchids when not nabbing criminals? Nor of his street-smart, breezy side-kick, Archie Goodwin? Tsk Tsk. Olive encourages you to trot down to your library or vintage bookstore to investigate!

Happy Reading & Good Health!