Day 135 : Tao Te Ching

Chatting Books Online Day 135. Today's recommended book is the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Back when we first opened the bookshop we stocked a lovely edition of the Tao Te Ching. It was hardcover with hand sewn binding. Unfortunately, this edition soon went out of stock and though I have checked repeatedly the publisher has never made it available since. So I have periodically over the last 4.5 years flipped through online and print catalogs looking for a copy that I felt was worthy of your bookshelf but paperback just would not do and the few hardcovers I found were ridiculously expensive . Until now that is! We now have a new hardcover edition of "the book of the way " that while it is not a handsewn binding is a nice size with a good sturdy hardcover binding and a lovely dust jacket. It has a deep red flyleaf page front and back , and a nice easy to read font.

The Tao Te Ching (or the Way and its virtue) , which is thought to be the basis of Buddhist thought , centers itself on naturalness, simplicity and self-awareness. This lovely gift edition book gives us a lot to consider about this most important topic.

Hardcover 108 pages, $16.95 a copy.

Day 134 : The Week in Review / July 20-26, 2020

Chatting Books Online Day 134. The Week in Review July 20-26, 2020. The theme of this week was get away from the world for a bit - at least in our minds. To that end we look at beautiful art and prose in The Lost Words, and we got swept away into the world of Ernest Hemingway for a while through the eyes of first his first wife and then his third. We did return a bit closer to the here and now by only escaping to the garden first with The Very Hungry Caterpillar and then with an up close look at Tough-As-Nails Flowers for the South. And then finally we went so far we actually left the earth (in our minds of course) carrying A Field Guide to the Moon from our friends at Wildsam.

Thanks for joining us on these adventures. I guess it is time to return to the world of here and now …maybe.

Day 133 : Love and Ruin by Paula McLain

Chatting Books Online Day 133. Today's recommended book is a continuation on yesterday's theme. Love and Ruin is also by Paula McLain but instead of being the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife it is the story of Mr. Hemingway and his third wife (he had 4 in total) , Martha Gellhorn. Martha and Erinnest are both working at the time as war correspondents in Madrid in the year 1937 so for those of you fans of that most prolific of genres "Historical fiction with a bit of romance set during the second world war" , you are in luck! I actually liked this book even more than The Paris Wife, which should say something because I loved The Paris Wife as I mentioned yesterday; and because as many of you know I have declared a moratorium on "Historical fiction with a bit of romance set during the second world war" , Again, this book is beautifully written and sure to sweep you away.

Day 132: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Chatting Books Online Day 132. Need to escape this time and place for a bit? How about being swept up into the roaring 1920's Paris scene with Ernest Hemingway , Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F.Scott Fitzgerald? Told from the point of view of Hemingway's wife at the time: Hadley Richardson this novel will absolutely immerse you in the time and their story. Beautifully written, this book shows you Hemingway's struggle to become the writer we all know him as today and though they are obviously deeply in love Hadley strives to maintain her relationship with this volatile man and to remain her own woman at the same time. We sell this book in paperback ( 327 pages) for $ 17.00 a copy.

Day 131: Tough-As-Nails Flowers for the South

Chatting Books Online Day 131. Today's recommended book is Tough-As-Nails Flowers for the South by Norman Winter. With everything going on in the world we all need to be "Tough-As-Nails" these days but if you are trying to save that Covid garden you planted and hope to have anything blooming in it in this heat I hope you have selected your plants wisely for the drastic summer weather we have here. This book is your guide to making those smart selections to help you have a garden that will be blooming beautiful throughout the seasons in the south. The book has over 170 proven performing plants and gives planting, growing and landscape recommendations for each. This paperback 235 page full color book sells for $ 28.00 a copy.

Day 130: A Field Guide to The Moon

Chatting Books Online Day 130. have you seen the new Wildsam Field Guides we stock? Today's recommended book is one of them : "A Field Guide to The Moon". . This pocket sized volume is absolutely packed with stories, intel and lore about our celestial friend, the moon. Here is a sampling of what is included: The History of Rocket Technology �Apollo Astronauts of RenownA Short History of Lunar PhotographyPresidential Aspirations and the Space Race �The Moon in Literature, Music and Film�Theologians and the Heavens�Poetry of the Moon�Personal Memories of Apollo 11�An Interview with Mission ControlConspiracy Theorists and Moon LegendsAll this and more is included in this $20 pocket sized volume. These Wildsam Field Guides are so informational and fun we also stock their field guides to : New Orleans , and The American South.

Day 129: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Chatting Books Online Day 129 Imagine being able to eat your way to becoming a beautiful butterfly. Isn't that like a dream come true? Eat everything you see and instead of bad side effects you turn into a beautiful and lithe creature. Well , this method hasn't worked for me so far but it sure did work for the main character in today's recommended book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. Not much else to say about this much loved classic book except that we offer it in a board book ($10.99) , a finger puppet board book ($12.99) , and we even have socks so your footsies can look like the very hungry caterpillar ($12.99/pair).

Day 128 : The Lost Words

Chatting Books Online Day 128. Today's recommendation is a big, beautiful book that I just love looking through and I think you will as well. "The Lost Words" by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris is another of those quasi-children's books that is an equally lovely gift for an adult. It is really a collection of art and poetry based loosely around the concept that there are words for objects in nature that used to be part of the every day vocabulary of children that seem to be fading away from usage so these "spells" (poems) are put forth to bring them back into the everyday. The pictures are wonderful and the words are lovely. And when I say it is a BIG beautiful book I mean it! The book measures : 14.81" L x 11.0" W and weighs 3.2 lbs for it's heavy weight 128 pages. You really have to see this book to appreciate it fully - and then you will fall in love.