A Latter-day Bluestocking

I wore my “Ask me about my book.” t-shirt to run errands the other day and much to my gratification a few folks did ask me about my book.  At first I was bemused wondering if they were seriously asking.  I felt some trepidation in answering as I can really go on and on and I didn’t want to scare people off.  Of course, I was taking their question to mean the book I was “reading”.  I am currently reading two books, The Queen Mother and The Secret History of Georgian London.  I chose to proclaim on the former since it’s pretty much a biography of a person most have heard of, the mother of the present Queen of England.  I felt most would not really be interested in the 18th century English sex trade.

Those who asked me about my book fell into two categories:  those who really wanted to know and those who did not.  The latter’s eyes would instantly glaze over and take on the look of polite attentiveness.  I would quickly wrap up my chattering and instead make a comment on the beauty of the apples we were mulling over.  It was actually really fun to talk to those who did share an interest in reading.  I have been recommended many books like this, some I would never consider picking up on my own.

This t-shirt expressing such a straightforward demand has had the tendency of opening up new worlds of reading for me.  I should wear it more often!