Reading on the Road (to CoincidOz)

Day 125 of the "What are you reading, and why?" project and Lizabeth is reading The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, because she needed to something to read while parked near Union Station, waiting for me to arrive in a delayed Amtrak train. It wasn't that much of a delay, the usual pause to let freight trains go by, and traffic had been terrible, so Lizabeth was relieved to stop at a Barnes & Noble, pick up a paperback of a book she'd always wanted to read, continue on to Clinton Street near the station, and sit with the window open, a cool breeze having followed the drenching rain at 11:00 a.m., clearing off the awful heat and humidity of the day before.

Then we headed off to Printers Row Lit Fest (previously known as Book Fair) on a beautiful, cool, breezy afternoon. Of course the 11:00 rain could not have been fun for the all the booksellers, but it was gorgeous later in the day.

We arrived to hear a sweet folksy voice singing "Puff, the Magic Dragon." It was indeed Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul, and Mary, there to sing and to sign copies of his children's book. It was so moving to hear him sing, ad lib lyrics/verses, and speak of the memorial service for Mary Travers. He will be at Ravinia this summer, on July 20, singing with Paul (Noel Paul Stookey).

I picked up my contributor's copy of After Hours, their 10th anniversary issue, a double issue, and the new RHINO, to sell at Babbitt's. Actually I will buy a copy, because it has Sarah J. Sloat in it! And Lynn Pattison! And Steven Schroeder. Oh, and so many other fine poets!

OK, but I am here to tell you what Lizabeth will be reading on the road, after The Moonstone. She has a stack of paperback books and an excellent plan. She has to do some extensive traveling for work, and will leave the book behind once she has read it, to make room in her luggage for souvenirs! So, if you are lucky enough to be in the one of the cities she visits, in the land of CoincidOZ, you might find:

The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay
You Must Remember This, by Joyce Carol Oates
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kira Resai
or any of these Alexander McCall Smith books from the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series:
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes & Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

I think The Miracle at Speedy Motors is the one my parents were listening in the car to on a road trip to Ohio recently. And Tea Time for the Traditionally Built sounds especially delicious. I am imagining scones with lots of butter.

There were no delays on the train trip home. There were donut holes, a baker's dozen, of which, I promise, several remain, for tea time.