As readers of this blog know, my reading, though generally focused primarily on history- or writing-related topics, can often be quite eclectic. Even when I'm laser focused on researching a particular topic, my interests often lead me down various rabbit holes. Such has been the case lately.
For example, while preparing a Sunday school lesson, I found myself reading two books on the book of Galatians (the text of the lesson I was preparing). The first was the oft-cited and -quoted commentary on that epistle by the great reformer Martin Luther. While reading that work, I happened to be in a used bookstore browsing, not looking for anything in particular but merely waiting on my granddaughters to finish their shopping, and I ran across H.A. Ironside's famed commentary on the same epistle. At only $5 for the hardback, I couldn't resist, and although my wife has me on a moratorium for buying any more books, I bought it before she could object.
Meanwhile, I found on a trip to the library Roy Peter Clark's work Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer. I couldn't resist checking that out and reading it, taking notes on the tidbits I thought might be of help to me. After all, there's always room for improvement.
During the same library visit, while waiting on my wife to finish her tour of the fiction shelves, I just happened to find K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner. An avid baseball fan, I couldn't resist flipping through its pages. When I saw that it contained a lot of quotations and photos of some of my childhood baseball heroes (e.g., Atlanta Braves knucklers Phil Niekro and Hoyt Wilhelm), I just had to get it. That's what I'm reading even as I type this post. (Too bad I'm now too old to apply any of its lessons to my own pitching!)
But my reading of K has been frequently interrupted by my wife's sharing with me what she's learning from one of the books (surprisingly nonfiction) that she checked out of the library on that same visit: Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes by Michael Sims. One of the first of several books that my grandparents got me during several Christmases was a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, and I've been hooked on Sherlock Holmes movies ever since. So you know that I have to read that book--and quickly because it's almost due to be returned to the library!
With so much to read, when will I ever find time to write?!
So what have you been reading lately? Have you been chasing rabbits as I have?
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