September 22nd is World Rhino day. While you can’t always judge a book by its cover, this one is wonderful. I have showed it before, and it is worth a second look. This is “Stirring Stories for Girls” by John F. Shaw & Co. circa 1930. I have seen this book of stories with other cover art, but this is only time with a Rhinoceros. The action of a charging Rhino, and the girl jumping up the tree is great. In the book, the illustration is titled “in the nick of time”.
I have a few soap stone collectable Rhinoceros’s in the corner of the library.
In my encyclopedia “The book of knowledge” by the Grolier Society, 1945, it talks about the Chinese uses of Rhino tusk. It is not used for aphrodisiac but rather for fevers, arthritis, and head aches. Still, not a good reason to poach rhinos.
September 22nd is Dear Diary Day, the idea of documenting our lives. There are some famous diaries, such as “The Diary of Anne Frank”, or “The Diary of Virginia Woolf”, or “The Journals of Sylivia Plath”. Another diary would be of documenting a specific adventure, like in the book “South With Endurance, Shackleton’s Antartic Expedition 1914-1917” published 2001, with the pictues of Frank Hurley. This book uses actual photographs of this endeavor and rescue, along with notes from Shackleton’s diary. It is quite a story of how he and his team survived.
Another interesting diary story is that of “Dracula” by Bram Stoker published 1897. While most have seen vampire movies, the book is interesting because it puts the saga together by the use of several people’s journals and diaries. You are hearing the tale from different perspectives, and the story bounces around based on the narrative of who’s diary is being read. I read this book in eighth grade English at Westfield School.
Another story that may be a diary but is perhaps better called autobigraphical fiction would be the “Little House on the Prairy” stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I have the complete set from the Library of America. While Wilder did base her stories on her own life, she added a few imaginative points. They are considered great books for young children to read.
September 22nd begins Banned Books Week, the last week of September. Books that only adults should read would be one like this one, “Helen and Desire” by Alexander Trocchi. This edition was actually a special Book of the Month edition. In 1995, Book Of The Month had an additonal club of monthly erotica by different authors, including famous authors as Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller. There is a whole history of and about erotica.
This one is of a journal of sorts (back to Dear Diary Day) with a young Australian girl Helen Smith as she matures. It is actually an interesting story-her journal. The wording of Trocchi as an author telling about how this girl grows up may be unconventional, and not too respectable, and yet Trocchi is a good wordsmith, and the book is worth reading.
If you would not read erotica, you could read about Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. September 22nd is Hobbit Day. Like countless students before me, I read these the first time in college.
Any reader worth their salt, would love to be taken away by “The Hobbit” and “The Ring Trilogy.” by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have probably read these five times.
2024 brings a new holiday, September 22nd is National Brown Butter Day. I just found out about this, and my great grandmother would have been happy. One meal I remember as a kid at her house, when visiting on weekends, would be her roasting a whole head of cauliflower in the oven. She then would brown butter with some breadcrumbs, and drizzle the sauce over the whole head, and bring it to the table. We would eat the couliflower, and use as much of the brown butter sauce as we could get from the platter. It was heaven.
She would also make a roast and vegetables in a dutch oven, and put drop dumplings to cook on top. When she served the dumplings, she would have a little gravy bowl with her famous browned butter. Man, I would poke holes in the dumpling with my fork before I ladled that brown butter over the top. So good. My kids, and now my grandkids love this recipe. This is a holiday I will support…I’m cooking!
Thanks for reading, and thinking of memories written down.
Librarytomes 