Books on Wheels
Fifteen years ago I moved to this larger townhome primarily because my first house was burgeoning at the seams with books, videos, and CDs. This one has a whole wall of built-in shelves in the finished basement – now overflowing – and the second library in a back bedroom is now overcrowded. As I look around the living room, there are two stockpiles of books to read, review, and enjoy…Not to mention the backlog of old movies and television shows I’ve just got to catch up on. Luckily, most of these are in my Netflix queue, not taking up any space. But…egads! 

I am overwhelmed by the thought of moving again…and have decided to eventually cull out some of the titles and start to list them on this site for your perusal, hoping a few strike your fancy. I haven’t worked out the logistical details yet…but, as they say, “watch this space”...

In the meantime, I got to daydreaming about taking my collection on the road. How much fun it would be to obtain a second-hand school bus or motorized camper. Loaded with books and jigsaw puzzles and videos and DVDS, I would tour the countryside – FrankieBernard riding shotgun, of course – bringing books to borrow (for a small, modest fee to cover expenses) to your door. Rather like the archaic milk person, wouldn’t you say? Only this time, the nurturing would be in books…all kinds, genres, ilk, and nature of books…

Yes, I know it’s an age-old idea whose time – and actual implementation – has long since past…When was the last time you saw a Bookmobile or a Traveling Library? How sad. Back in the day before books could be ordered online, I lived for a few short years in Kentucky. Every two weeks, on Saturday, like clockwork, the brightly painted (crimson red with yellow lettering) Books-on-Wheels bus laden with all sorts of literary goodies would arrive in the parking lot of a small strip shopping mall. What a treat to walk the few blocks from my small apartment to spend a hour or so perusing the new additions on the makeshift shelves and to chat with the driver/librarian about the news of the day and the best-sellers she had that week; many of them from her own collection. In my mind, it would be just as much a treat today as it was then…What an adventure that would be!

Much like the adventures of Bobby Musku in Mobile Library, a quirky little literary rendition by British author David Whitehouse. Here is a novel that is much more than what meets the eye, proving once again that one definitely should not judge a book by its cover; in this case, it’s cartoonish cover. For within its pages is the darker and more poignant side of what it really means to be a family…A definitely good and often humorous read. What fun – and ironic – it would be to have a few copies of it in my own imagined, er, mobile library, traveling around lending them to you…Chatting about your reactions when you return it…

But while I am currently physically unable – and a bit too old now – to do that, I did write a review that, as a matter of a fact, was posted yesterday. When you get the chance – while I start culling and sorting, and restacking – please roll on over to www.authorexposure.com and read my comments. I think you’ll find it a worthwhile addition to your own growing library.