So, it's always fun to get a library book and find a little accidentally discarded piece of someone else's life or something you can't explain. Most of the time I just find lists or tickets to somewhere or the random things people use for bookmarks. Recently though I've found some strange things.
In Red Mars I found a piece of paper upon which the previous borrower had been making comparisons between conditions on Earth and Mars. There were two columns with all sorts of things like atmospheric pressure, forces of gravity etc... There was also scratches all over with random, quick thoughts about life on Mars. I wonder if they were fact checking Robinson's work or maybe just trying to get a handle on how strong they will be when they finally live on Mars. It was fun and now that I'm nearly finished with the book, I realize how compelling the book is and I can only imagine how excited that borrower might have been to think about what the surface of Mars would feel like to them.
My ultimate find was in last week's book. Starship Troopers was a donation to the library system from someone's estate and had a big sticker in the front, so that was kind of fun to think about what that person's collection may have been like. I imagine they died of lung disease because the book smelled like I could have smoked it. Maybe it was just the last borrower. Anyway, the book had generally been through a lot. There were folded pages, the cover was a bit mangled and there was a HUGE blue ink spot that leaked through probably 50 pages. Along with all the other smudges and dings and dents, about a quarter of the way into the book, I found a perfect black fingerprint! Not just the tip, but the whole dang finger. I like to munch and drink while I read as much as anyone else, but what the stink was this person dipping their fingers in while they were reading that it would leave such a perfect fingerprint? Oh Gods! Did I just find a clue to one of the Seven murders?
So, I'm curious if anyone else has found anything interesting in their library books lately?
Awesome! Maybe the Ramsey County librarians check their books too closely. I haven't found any such treasures.
ReplyDeleteOh man, too bad. I also used to find a lot of stuff from university books. Those kids just left whatever in their books! Haha!
DeleteThe worst was in a book about alternative investments, I found someone's entire investment strategy written out real neat and careful.
I will also admit that we are fairly certain that a few weeks ago I was joking around and put our grocery list in a dvd we were returning before going to the grocery and then forgot to take it out! Someone who wanted to watch Sesame Street or something got a whole week's menu and supplies just handed to them. Erg...pay attention to stuff right?