Volunteer Day

I clocked nearly 7 volunteer hours at the annual library book sale. First I built boxes for the book sorters to sort into, then weeks later I was reunited with my boxes, now full of fiction, mysteries, sci-fi/fantasy, classics and young adult. I took them out of the boxes and placed them onto the designated sale tables.

These labors earned me the right to peruse the books that were left after the sale and just take whatever I want. Free. In years gone by, this made me practically drool with delight. But, since losing Henry and John and seeing how hard it was to dispose of their stuff, I've been rethinking this. This year I took just two freebies:

•  Jack Kennedy: The Illustrated Life of a President (a coffee table book for me)

•  Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies and Jays (for my bird-loving friend, Joanna, who has been going through a rough patch) 

And now for my annual observation.  Every year there's a book donated in bigger numbers than any other; a book many of my neighbors bought and then decided not to keep. I suspect it's a tome chosen by local book clubs. Without further ado, here's the dubious honor roll:

2024: Water for Elephants

2023: My Life by Bill Clinton

2022, 2019, 2018 and 2017: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2016: The Help

2015: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

2014: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2013: The DaVinci Code

2012: Sixkill (a Spenser Mystery)

2011: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

2010: Scarlett, the Sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind*

2009: My Life by Bill Clinton

2008: The DaVinci Code

2007: The Nanny Diaries

2006: The Corrections

*For a time I thought Miss Scarlett was going to retake the #1 spot, but Water for Elephants ultimately overtook her.