Me and Mr. James Jones - We've Got an American Literature Thing Going On

What's this? A package from Better World Books (not just a bookshop, but also a literacy project - great to support if you can) for me?

It's not the prettiest package, but the shipping is always free, so I have no room to complain. What kind of fuckery is this?

It's The Thin Red Line. (The picture's a little blurry - I am not a great photographer. Please to not make fun of the faded blanket the cat sometimes sleeps on.) But wait - there's more!

It's Whistle, the book Jones was working on when he died of congestive heart failure in 1977, when I was a few months old. Nobody stands in between me and my man, 'cause it's me and Mr. Jones.

I hope this is a good edition, not one of the really heavily censored ones. Believe me, the homoeroticism will not bother this reader.

The sticker says, "Operation Paperback - Recycled Reading for the Troops - www.operationpaperback.org." Perhaps this book has been to Iraq or Afghanistan and come back! But wait - there's one more book in this package!

I've got to read Jane Eyre because, really, given that Wuthering Heights is my favorite book evah, I should have read the other famous Bronte sister's best work years ago. I've also got to read it because, secondarily, I should read the real thing before I indulge in Jane Eyre Laid Bare.

You always get a bookmark with your shipment, too. This month, Better World Books is promoting Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles novels, the basis of the TNT television network's series. I'm not much of a crime/mystery/forensics reader, and I've never seen a single episode of the TV series, but Rizzoli and Isles is quite popular on Dorothy Surrenders. Apparently Detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles have a lot of lesbian subtext, though not explicitly intended to be a couple. Our blogger affectionately refers to the series as Gayzzoli.

A package full of books makes this is a pretty good Thursday. It was a pretty good Thursday anyway, being the last one of the month and therefore the day I get to pick two free items from the Amazon Vine program. What will I get - more books, a grocery item, a coffee product, perhaps a small household appliance? It's always a pleasant surprise. 

Also, Person of Interest. Yay, Thursday!