Christmas in March

My s’mom sent me an Amazon gift certificate for Xmas. Amazon has much more than books these days. But I knew I was going to get books.

I’ve been working my way through unread Baum books. Recently I read John Dough and the Cherub and I’m in the middle of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. I’ve had Santa Claus for years and the time just never seemed right. Twenty years ago I got Twinkle and Chubbins and late last year I finally read it. I’ve been thinking about rereading the Oz series. I’ve read all the Baum Oz books more than once; yet there are non-Oz Baum books that I haven’t read. Oughtn’t I read them first? I mean, if I ever intend to. Twinkle and Chubbins is a collection of fairy stories set on the prairie, the main characters being a girl, Twinkle, and a boy, Chubbins. The Oz Club did a nice hardcover. But they didn’t bring back into print the sequel, Policeman Bluejay. The University of Nebraska Press’s Bison Books imprint has remedied the situation, bringing both the short stories and the full length sequel into print in a paperback, calling it Twinkle Tales. I figured I might as well get that.

I’ve been curious about the small poetry presses I’ve been watching birth on the internet. Steve Mueske’s Three Candles. Reb Livingston’s No Tell Motel. Both have recent anthologies. I was leaning toward The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel. But I guess I decided to go with Digerati: 20 Contemporary Poets in the Virtual World because I’ve been following a few more of the poets in it. I read Seth Abramson’s blog, for instance. And Paul Guest’s. Both are on my blogroll. (As are Steve Mueske and Reb Livingston, by the way.)

The books arrived yesterday. Twinkle Tales is nicely done. Digerati: 20 Contemporary Poets in the Virtual World isn’t quite. All of the design seems just a bit off. I like the colors and the cover photo but the fonts clash and the text inside seems to have been captured as it floated by. It’s a print on demand book. Print on demand books don’t look as good. But then it’s always been a struggle for a tiny press and p.o.d. offers opportunities that just weren’t available before. Not for us working stiffs. Anyway, I’m happy enough to have it in hand and am looking forward to the read.