I've read some really great books this summer, and I've been finishing out August with a few of my favorite things: vintage books.
I love old books, and for so many reasons...aside from the fact that I just love old things, the smell of old books, the texture of the paper, the vintage artwork...it's all magic to me. And one other thing about old books that I love - there's often a purity in the content of old books that's missing nowadays. Something precious, that pulls me toward the past.
Here are the three books I'm currently reading;
I found the book on the right, Your Bible and You, at a thrift store for $2. It's a book about the Bible, and why you should read it, from the 1950's. On Sundays I only read the Bible, or Bible-related books, so I started this last week. I love the beautiful vintage illustration inside the cover:
I'm not sure why mid-century artwork appeals to me so much, but it always has. I love this sweet picture.
And here's a great analogy from inside the back cover:
Maybe I love these books because they came from an age that - compared to now - seemed simpler in so many ways. Right was right, wrong was wrong, and everyone could define a woman. In this crazy upside down age, the moral absolutes of the past seem so refreshing.
As I started the book, I couldn't believe how "current" the introduction was; it felt like it could have been written today. Check this out:
And there's more...
They thought the 1950's was a volcanic age? At least the country was united against common enemies. Now we've become our own enemies...
And then there are cool passages like this one, where you can just imagine how wild these ideas seemed at the time:
Wow, I've got this on my phone! What would my great-grandparents have thought? All of this talk of technical revolution and worldwide hatreds made a pretty compelling argument for why the Bible matters, if you ask me.
But on to book #2, Nancy Drew:
An illustration from The Clue of the Dancing Puppet. I read every old Nancy Drew mystery at least once when I was a kid, and reading these take me back to the old stone library building in town, that had this great old book smell and open windows in the summer when I'd stop in to sign out as many Nancy Drews as my membership would allow at a time.
I've been collecting them as an adult; when I find one at a thrift store I add it to my shelf, and I read one every summer.
I love that Nancy's often "sleuthing" in a dress, that she stops for a lovely "luncheon" each day, and still pauses her mystery solving on Sundays to go to church.
And finally, I just finished Lucretia Mott, girl of old Nantucket.
The illustrations in this one are absolutely beautiful:
This book is from an old series (also from the 1950's?) called "Childhood of Famous Americans." The books are written for youth, they're fun to read, and very informative. (I collect these too, and read one every summer.) Lucretia Mott was a famous Quaker preacher, abolitionist and equal rights advocate.
While I'm burned out on identity politics, and sick of the constant microscope focus of what gender and race everyone is, Lucretia Mott was an ally to women at a time when they actually did not have rights in this country, and when slavery was legal.
This book not only described beautifully what life was like on Nantucket Island in the 1700s, it was also a really interesting glimpse into a Quaker childhood. Again, the simple values are so appealing.
I've got one more, but I'll save it for tomorrow...
