Box of treasures

Yesterday a box of treasures arrived at our house.

A tiny selection from the box

A friend had no space for a box full of 1967 edition hardcover children's books. The Swiss Family Robinson, Black Beauty, Call of the Wild, Huckleberry Finn... I'm sure you know the kind I mean. Some I have read, and many I haven't. I think I'll be reading them all.

I'll have at least one rival though: Jack, the bookivore.

"It's really good you got these," he said last night, as he pulled his nose out of Robin Hood.

So here they are, taking up one of Jack's bookshelves. There are two stories per book, and the back cover of one is the front cover of the other, if you know what I mean. While you read one story, its partner is upside down.

I'm going to start with Little Women. I've heard it mentioned a thousand times and never read it. And then I'll move on to a bit of the great Mark Twain. His quotes always make me stop, think and admire. Here's a couple:

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.