For example, I was on my way home from a long walk recently when I came to a stop at the little library, squinted through the plexiglass, and saw a book I'd wanted to read for a while: "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine." And it was free! A Reese Witherspoon book club pick!
I've read at least seven of Reese Witherspoon's picks and I really enjoyed them all. I just looked up her IMDb page, and it turns out I've seen fewer than seven of her movies. So if there's a "Reese Witherspoon movie" club that I should be aware of, please let me know.
It's suggested that if you take a book, you leave a book in its place. So a few days later I returned to the little library during a morning walk and shared my copy of "The Catcher Was a Spy." Not to brag, but it was easily the best book in the box. The competition was not stiff. Among the titles: a 2007 guidebook for Spain and a textbook for Algebra 1. Reese Witherspoon book club picks, these were not.
I was curious as to how long it would take for someone to grab my book. Why? I don't know. Because I wanted to know if there was someone in my neighborhood with similar reading interests? Because I'm nosy? Because I had too much free time on my hands? A combination of all three? Who could say?
An hour after I left "The Catcher Was a Spy" in the little library, I went back. The book was still there. Even though not much time had elapsed since I'd dropped it off, I was still surprised. "The Catcher Was a Spy" ... come on. A bestseller. "Relentlessly entertaining," according to The New York Times. Adapted into a feature film starring Paul Rudd. Sold more copies in the last year than "Spain 2007." (This is an assumption I'm making; I haven't verified this.)
I headed home. Four hours after that, I returned. Only this time, I stationed myself across the street, behind a car, with binoculars in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. It's the closest I've come to a stakeout on the level of what Jerry, Kramer and Newman did in the “Seinfeld” episode "The Sniffing Accountant," though mine was a solo mission.
I waited the entire afternoon, until the owner of the car approached me, asked me what I was doing, and I ran off.
OK, obviously I'm exaggerating. I did return to the little library that afternoon — so yes, I went to the same little library three times in the same day — and, I'm pleased to report, someone did take my copy of "The Catcher Was a Spy." Take that, Algebra 1.
Epilogue: Just to underscore how random the mix of selections in the little library can be, I walked by the box this weekend, after I'd written the draft of this blog post, and I found a 2007 guidebook for Italy in there. So if you're planning a trip to Europe in 2007, you ought to visit my local little library.
