Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Stay-at-home shelfie #9


This shelf is a hodgepodge. I love the look of the mid-century Modern Library hardcovers, so I sometimes pick them up when I find nice ones, mostly at the York Emporium. But I don't want to fall too far down the road of collecting them because, as we are seeing now and for many weeks ahead, it's possible that I already have too many books. I have mentioned the Thurber and Nostradamus books in previous posts.

Then there are some science books, including two of Richard Feynman's autobiographies. When I was a junior in high school, I did a very poor job of applying myself in my physics class. The poor attitude was all on my end, and it's among my biggest high school regrets. My teacher, though he certainly didn't have to, gave me an opportunity to earn some extra credit by reading and writing a report on "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character. I absolutely loved it, and I'm very appreciative that Nino DeProphetis introduced me to Feynman. His life is endlessly fascinating. Four years ago — has it been that long already! — I read the graphic novel Feynman by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick. I had mixed thoughts about it, but it's an interesting way to tell Feynman's life story. The autobiographies are probably the best route, though.

Finally, there are some gorgeous 1930s non-fiction children's books by Maud and Miska Petersham that deserve their own post one of these days.

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