Rescuing Sprite

Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish by Mark R. Levin
2007
Weight: 10.4 oz
Method of Disposal: Leaving in a Lending Library in Decatur

The plumber came by to investigate an obnoxious and overwhelming smell that infiltrates our house every time we take a shower, wash dishes, or clean our clothes.  He walked in the basement and saw my mementos and memorial boxes of the many dogs I have loved and asked Harriet if they were for deceased dogs.  She said yes, and proceeded to lead the poor guy down the road of "Laura is actually crazy."  She decided not to admit I was a shelter manager, which only makes me look worse.  I do not intend to keep them forever, but I want to find the best way to memorialize all the dogs that have touched my life and, in almost ten years of work at an animal shelter, there are a lot of them.

I absolutely understand why other people and write and read books about rescued dogs and the families that love them, but I never understand why I do.  I read Rescuing Sprite, inevitably crying a bit, and thinking I hear so many sad animal stories on a daily basis.  Why am I doing this to myself?  This is like answering the phone at work on any given day.

But it is not really.  It is wonderful to hear about a nice, loving, generous family who loves the senior, ill dog that they adopted and does not blame the shelter for the things they could not know.  It is refreshing to hear about that dog's retirement and how good it was and how grateful the family was to know Sprite.

I am going to leave this one in the lending library and hope it opens someone else's eyes to rescue.

Modern Romance and Swallow Me Whole

Modern Romance Aziz Ansari 2015
Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell 2008
Weight: 2.8 lbs
Method of Disposal: Leaving in parking deck for Human Rights Museum

I am back at work and fighting to catch up after a 5 day staycation with my boo.  It was SO nice to disregard all responsibility, hang out 24/7, and treat ourselves.  I am not quite ready to let it go.  I feel like there are so many incomplete things.  I started a painting of our puppy, Whiskey.  Will I ever finish it now?  Harriet and I started a big conversation about some big life things.  When will we get back to it?  I got rid of these two books.  When will I ever have time to blog about it?  Hence, the reason I am up at 3 am instead of resting up for the alarm to go off again.

I picked up Modern Romance without knowing a thing about who Aziz Ansari was.  I have been filled in by several people about how absurd and nonsensical that is.  I think it was better this way though.  I really enjoyed the book and found it interesting, bizarre, a little scary, a little hopeful.  I did not love the jokes, but I just kind of ignored them.  The people I know who love him seem less impressed than me and, as far as most of them go, I think it is because we are looking for different things from him.  And/or I was able to read it without hearing his voice and was able to take it more seriously.

I could not get into Swallow Me Whole despite the gripping cover.  I get the feeling it was more of a me problem than the quality of the book.

I hope someone found them in the parking deck and was excited to take them home!

Best American Comics 2008

Best American Comics 2008 Edited by Lynda Barry, Jessica Abel, and Matt Madden
Weight:2 lbs
Method of Disposal:Leaving somewhere in Decatur

I just finished reading this book that was passed on to me by my grandmother several years ago, and I loved it.  There were all sorts of comics.  Funny ones, disturbing ones, repungent ones, depressing ones, but all ones that make you think.  I am so glad I picked this up.

Selling 7 Books, 6 LBS, $52.00

This has been the most difficult and frustrating part about downsizing my books.  The ones I sell are usually not ones that I actually want to let go, but I do it because otherwise I will never get down to one bookshelf and because I am also trying to make ends meet.  Somehow, no matter how many books I sell, it seems like I will never make more than $50 in a month so I am not really sure how much it helps.  It also makes me late for work periodically since I never factor in going to the post office to my mornings.

Here are some of the books that have recently been rehomed in no particular order:

The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton 1999 Weight: 1.5 lbs $5.00
        Every time I see this book I think of my super smart but snarky college friend proclaiming that           "Anne Sexton is just a poor man's Plath."  I don't agree with that, but she said it with such spite           and assurance that it never left my mind.

Thomas and Beulah Poems By Rita Dove 1986 Weight: 8 oz $5.00
         Another great Dr. Guthrie of Agnes Scott College suggestion

Gay and Lesbian Atlanta by Wesley Chenault and Stacy Braukman 2008 Weight: 12 oz $7.50
         So sad about this one.  I should have kept it forever.  And, though it was worth more than the
         other books, I didn't come close to what I paid for it.  I strongly debated emailing the other
         person on the other side of the interwebs and telling them nevermind!

Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability by Robert McRuer 2006 Weight 1 lb

         $19.00

         But seriously, if I could turn back time I would not even list this for sale.  Desperation led me to

         it.  It wasn't worth it!

Intersex and Identity : The Contested Self by Sharon E. Preves 2003 Weight 14 oz $10.50

         At least I had read the whole thing!  Unlike Crip Theory. Oh, why did I do that?!

Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks 1997Weight: 9 oz $7.00

         Kind of afraid to admit that I am not so into this one.  Not so worried about it going.

Poachers: Stories by Tom Franklin1999 Weight: 13 oz $5.00

         I'm afraid I really do not remember this one...

The Girl in the Well is Me and The Year of the Flood

The Girl In the Well is Me by Karen Rivers
2016
Weight: 8 oz
Method of Disposal: Return it to the city I found it in

I have not written here in a long time.  In fact, I have not written at all.  I am always doing something for PAWS or trying to enjoy every second I get with Harriet.  Sometimes, I am able to see friends in between.  We have started having brunch with one of our dear friends every Sunday morning.  It was after eating in Decatur a couple weeks ago that I stumbled across this advanced reader copy.  I read it all in a night, as is easy to do with young adult novels, but I was not incredibly impressed.  It was hard to keep going instead of breaking it up into smaller reading samples, but I could not help but think it would feel more accurate if I read it all at once.  Like the girl in the well, I would hang in limbo, get tired of it.  That was part of the experience.  I did appreciate how the author slowly unraveled truths about the narrator's family.  I just wish I had felt more for the narrator and believed in her more.  I wish the characters had come to life more.

AND, while I am around so many lending libraries, I will go ahead and pass on The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood.

2010

Weight: 13 oz

If you read my other post about this series, you will know I was not a fan of it either.  I usually love Margaret Atwood, but it was all just taken too far.  I guess I will not be doing anyone any favors at the lending library if you base it off this post, but I think other people of different ages will be able to enjoy either book.  Who am I to decide for others what they will like?