Wednesday, November 15, 2023

The Red Room


I often pass this building on my walks home from work, and I always wonder about that red light in the window of the lower apartment. Do they have a lamp with a red light bulb? Or maybe a regular lamp with a red shade? Does it give them a headache? It's very eye-catching from the street, I'll say that much. My photo doesn't quite do it justice -- it really is RED.

According to the appliance guys, we're getting a new dishwasher tomorrow. Woo hoo! Since our dishwasher died a few weeks ago, I've been doing all the dishes by hand and while that's not a terrible job -- I find it weirdly relaxing, having my hands in warms, sudsy water -- I'll still be glad to have a replacement. We haven't figured out who's going to be home for the installation. That depends on what time they want to do it, which we won't know until tonight.


Meanwhile, in the library, I set out all the National Book Award winners from past years (at least, the ones we have) in preparation for the announcement of this year's winner later today. It's no-frills as library displays go -- in fact, I'm not sure I'd even call it a display -- but it makes the books more visible. We have a surprising number going all the way back to 1950 ("The Man With the Golden Arm," by Nelson Algren) but we only have one of this year's finalists, so I hope that's the one that wins. This joins our Booker Prize display, which I previously mentioned -- it's on a different shelf. The Booker winner will be announced Nov. 26.

November is an exciting month for bibliophiles!

24 comments:

Frances said...

Are you walking home through a red light district!!! Is that an expression in US ?

Andrew said...

I thought of a red light indicating a premises with a woman for hire.

Do you see lads perusing the book displays?

Yorkshire Pudding said...

A red light normally announces the workplace of a prostitute. As for your library, the bottom shelves are too low - I would never crouch down there as I might never get up so there are many books I would not be able to access. I could ask a helpful librarian but as we all know, they are as rare as as hens' teeth.

Moving with Mitchell said...

Roxanne, put on the red light.

Ed said...

Perhaps it is like my youngest daughter's room. She has "fairy lights" which are essentially small LED lights on a strand that come with a remote control where she can dial up any color she desires.

Bob said...

Red light means danger so i wonder what goes in that house ... or maybe I have an overactive imagination?

Ellen D. said...

What a nice tidy library you have! I used to love setting up displays when I worked in the school library. Hope all the books get taken and read!

Ms. Moon said...

I like the red light! It makes a statement although we have no idea what that statement is.
I love that we got to see a sample of the place where you spend many of your waking hours. You should take more photos of the library for us. I would be interested.

The Bug said...

Does your library have that library smell? Doesn't matter - I can smell it in my imagination anyway. That's one thing I miss about always getting my books electronically!

Boud said...

This is a posh library! I'm impressed.

Sharon said...

That red light is very curious. It could mean so many things.
Glad the dishwasher problem is close to being solved.
I'll keep my eyes and ears open for the book awards.

Michael said...

I like doing dishes as well. I guess it is the whole warm sudsy water thing. Your library looks very inviting! I love libraries!

Red said...

There must be many different prizes for books. You could have a weekly display.

Susan said...

Sitting in a room filled with red light sounds uncomfortable. The red glow outside is cheerful. Good timing: The dishwasher comes just in time for your Thanksgiving dinner. Your library looks lovely.

Jeanie said...

Your display looks great. The library looks very accessible -- I'd like to be there!

It's a great looking building and I'm glad you explained the red because it does look more golden than red. It looks great but yes, it would be difficult to live with all the time. Not just holiday seasonal?

Three cheers on the dishwasher. Mine was broken for three years (shortly before Covid and through most all of it) and believe me, it was nice to have a new one!

Margaret said...

I see one of my favorites there: Louise Erdrich's "The Round House." I have a color changing Alexa light bulb in my family room lamp; it does all sorts of colors including red. My 3-year-old grandson used to love it!

Librarian said...

It's intriguing, isn't it, when we are so familiar with a certain building or even just one window of it, one that we see often when out walking but don't really know what's inside.

I understand what you say about washing dishes; I feel similar about ironing (it is good for my mind when my hands are doing something that is NOT tapping away on a keyboard).

You get a new dishwasher, I am getting a new fridge on Friday. Hope all goes well and the guys show up when they said they would :-D

Enticing book displays! October and November are classic "book months", I think, at least here in Germany, with book fairs and awards etc.

Kelly said...

Seeing your library makes me happy. Books make me happy! I looked up that Booker contender you purchased and I think it's by the same author who wrote Skippy Dies. That one has been sitting in my Kindle for years! Have you read it?

Fresca said...

I LOVE seeing your library!!! Beautiful blond shelves.
Any grouping of books facing forward with a theme is a display IMO.
I’ve been setting aside Pulitzer Prize winners for a display—don’t have enough, you give me the idea to add other book awards too.

Janie Junebug said...

I have some lights I can operate by talking to Alexa. I can also change their colors. I have my living room light set on pink and my bedroom light is blue. One of these days maybe the red light will be green or purple.

Love,
Janie

Pam C said...

Your library is lovely. I actually recently read Salvage the Bones, which is the front book in your photo. It was some rough reading at times, but great writing. I love your blog, and I enjoy seeing Olga!

River said...

Very nice bookshelves.

Steve Reed said...

Frances: Well, I don't know if it's a DISTRICT, but it might be that one apartment!

Andrew: Generally speaking, girls seem to be more willing readers than boys, but yes, we do get quite a few boys checking out materials.

YP: Well, fortunately our readers are nimble and able-bodied youths!

Mitchell: I should look at the mailbox and see if it says "Roxanne."

Ed: It might well be something like that, but these seem to stay red.

Bob: It does look vaguely sinister!

Ellen D: It definitely helps raise their visibility. I saw several I'd like to read while setting it up!

Ms Moon: I'm always reluctant to put pictures from school on my blog, but it probably wouldn't be a problem. (As long as they don't include kids!)

Bug: It's not as noticeable as it is in some libraries. I remember my university library had a wonderful, papery smell.

Boud: It really is very nice -- the nicest room in the school, in my humble opinion.

Sharon: The dishwasher got installed this morning. I'm so relieved!

Michael: It really is very relaxing, and I think it's a task that demands mindfulness.

Red: I could! But these are two of the big ones.

Susan: Yeah, when I wrote our management company I explained that we needed it fixed pronto because we're having a bunch of people over soon!

Jeanie: I don't THINK it's holiday seasonal, but I admit I only notice it in the darkest winter. The rest of the year it's still too light outside for me to see it.

Margaret: So you can command Alexa to change the color? That's very futuristic!

Librarian: The stars are aligned for new appliances, I guess! I've never been much for ironing, for some reason, but I can see how it could have a similar effect. Mindfulness!

Kelly: Yes, it's the same guy. I haven't read it yet but it's on my list! (We have it in the library.)

Fresca: Yes! There are so many awards, even just major ones, that I bet you could easily make a composite display.

Pam: Thank you! I haven't read "Salvage the Bones" yet. Even though we're a school library, we serve our whole community (including teachers and parents) so we also have adult-themed books.

River: They are, and they wear really well. They've been here much longer than I have but they still look good.

Steve Reed said...

Janie: (Sorry, your comment was in "spam"!) So far I haven't seen any other colors, but who knows. You must have the same Alexa light that Margaret (above) mentioned.