Books, books, books!

Well, sooner than I expected, I'm ready to write about something other than the big C.

One of my (and the hubby's) favorite things to do is go to bookstores. Especially used bookstores and independent bookstores, but Barnes & Noble will do in a pinch. We've squirreled out some great places in and around Woodstock, NY; Asheville, NC; Cambridge, MA; the Lower Cape; and, of course, NYC. We even managed to find a great English-language store in Paris, which should demonstrate the extent of our dedication to this endeavor.

It was at the Strand--the flagship used/independent store--that I first came upon Edith Wharton. Of course I had heard of her. But I had never read her. (No, I didn't read "Ethan Frome" in high school.) To be honest, I always thought her name sounded boring. Shallow, but true. But I took a chance and picked up "House of Mirth" on the $1 rack. And read it. And LOVED it. And then found out that Edith Wharton wrote tons of novels, short stories, and even ghost stories. The only thing better about finding a "new" author to love is finding out that they have more stuff for you to read. And in this case it's tons more stuff. Yippee! So, for the past couple of years, I've been digging into her collection, picking up books as I find them at used bookstores across the country.

Her eye for detail is amazing and she has a gift for capturing the limitations society places on people (whether they realize it or not).

My favorites are:
House of Mirth
Ethan Frome (perhaps one of the most perfect books ever written. a gripping plot, incredibly economical prose, and real depth of character)
Ghost Stories

Any other closet Edith Wharton fans out there?