Pigeon Feathers

I've been reading Pigeon Feathers by John Updike lately. It's a collection of short stories and I've been making my way through it one story at a time before bed.

Last night I read Archangel and loved this part about handwriting:

The microscopic glitter in the ink of the letters of words that are your own.

Each story in Pigeon Feathers is so different and I'm really enjoying reading one story at a time. Keeping them separate in my mind.

I found this book review from the New York Times in 1962. Love you, archives.

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another book of short stories I loved before bed

Fall Olives!

1+1=2

Adam Begley's Updike Biography

I think there are very few times I would willingly carry around a 500 page book in my purse for a full month. I'd rather keep a novella or small paperback with me at all times. But, for the past month or so, Adam Begley's Updike has gone almost everywhere with me.

We've enjoyed breakfast and a few Happy Hours together.

And I can't wait to snag a hardbound copy of this to add to my collection of John Updike books. It is that good that even though I have this lovely review copy, I will purchase one for myself.

This is truly one of my favorite biographies. Of course it helps to be interested in the subject, but I loved the way Begley intertwined Updike's personal life story with the characters in his work. Some of these connections, I knew before reading the book, but the ones I was just discovering were so exciting I found myself remarking out loud. Of course, they were exciting for me, but if you aren't a fan of Updike's work, you probably would have been able to contain yourself like a normal human.

Begley's writing in this was great. And although the writing itself never felt slow or dragging, it was the perfect biography to work through at a slower pace myself.

And I'm so happy they stuck with the proof cover, designed by Leah Carlson-Stanisic on this one. Such a great black image of Updike.

Also, this book is cat approved.

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an Etsy treasury based on Updike's Rabbit, Run

one of my favorite passages by Updike

another nice cover by Leah Carlson-Stanisic

p.s. I'll be doing an interview with Risa Rodil, so study up! 

Rabbit, Run Etsy Treasury

You may have noticed, I am obsessed with John Updike.

Also, Etsy treasuries.

I made this Rabbit, Run Etsy treasury quite a bit ago but just updated it. Love all these beautiful things.

And loving both of the Updike books I'm reading right now. There's something really special about reading a biography while reading something by the biography's subject.

Click to see the full Rabbit, Run Etsy Treasury.

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more literary love on Etsy

John Updike 4 Eva

so in love with this lunar photography book

ready for summer reads

Updike by Adam Begley

Sometimes I request books to review and forget about them and then they come in the mail and it is the best day ever.

For example, today when I arrived home there was a large envelope from Harper Collins and THIS was in it.

Do you even know my level of excitement right? [ the limit does not exist ]

I am maybe unhealthily obsessed with John Updike. Example 1. Example 2. I also had his photo tacked to my wall for most of college.

Anyway. I have so much to do tonight but I can be you a fair amount of dollars that instead I will dive straight into this.

Plus, the cover (designed by Leah Carlson-Stanisic) is so much better than this thing that happened.

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my Etsy treasury based on Rabbit, Run

one of my most popular pins is an Updike quote

I totally bought this dress because of Rabbit, Run

some book reviews if you want something to read

Updike quote

If you have been following To Be Shelved for a while, or even just a few weeks, you've probably picked-up on my love for John Updike.

When I came across this quote of his this weekend, it just sunk in and seemed to completely summarize why I was currently curled up in bed with "Rabbit at Rest" and a giant cup of coffee.

What books unlock your traffic jams? Seriously, please tell me so I can borrow them in the future.

ps.
Another favorite literary quote
& a very confusing Updike cover 

(photo mine)

winter weekend

It is a really beautiful, sunny winter Saturday here in Chicago. I've spent the morning catching up on reading, being attacked by my cat Zooey and sipping some freshly french-pressed coffee... and procrastinating doing anything that's actually on my to do list.

Here's something I read this morning in Rabbit is Rich that I really enjoyed:

Stepping out between the monumental pillars into the winter daylight blinking, Janice and Harry owned a house, and the day after tomorrow would fy into summer. For years nothing happens; then everything happens. Water boils, the cactus blooms, cancer declares itself. 

I hope everyone else is having an equally lazy and enjoyable weekend.

Higher Gossip

Posthumous publications kind of weird me out, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to read them. For example, I'll always take more John Updike books on my shelf.

But when I saw the cover for "Higher Gossip" I was really hoping it was a rough draft, or something. I'm still holding out for that theory to be true. Sure, I love white space as much as the next girl, but this white space is all wrong. I'm just real confused about what is, and is not, happening here.

So in the meantime, let's think about some good lookin' Updikes: persons and covers.

CLICK HERE to see more posts dedicated to Updike and some of the better covers his work has seen.

(illustration by Josh Cochran for the New York Times)

My Updike Collection

Sometimes a row of simple spines beats busy jacket spines. For example, the John Updike books I have lined-up on my vanity. I like how the uniform spine design looks across the different colors.

Rabbit Arrival

So, I finally stopped searching and purchased a copy of "Rabbit Is Rich" .

In case you weren't paying attention, John Updike's Rabbit Angstrom has become one of my favorite literary characters and seeing is character develop from "Rabbit, Run" to "Rabbit Redux" was really rewarding. Since finishing "Redux", I have spent countless hours searching for the perfect copy of "Rabbit Is Rich".

No surprise, I found it on Amazon.


Okay, the jacket is less than stellar, but it is the hardcover, Alfred A. Knopf copy I've been searching for.

Rabbit, Run

A couple of years ago, I was studying abroad in Italy and loving every minute of it. One of my favorite shops in my pseudo-home city of Firenze was Paperback Exchange, a second-hand trade-in English bookshop. Paperback Exchange always had the best bargain boxes, which is where I picked up my tattered copy of John Updike's "Rabbit, Run" for less than a euro. When I chose "Rabbit, Run" as my purchase of the day, I had never heard of the series. Instead, the cover, like all great cover art should, drew me in. It was old, worn and provocative. And after reading the novel, I came to realize and appreciate each element included.


"Rabbit, Run" is the first in a series of four novels about lead character Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom's life, from young-adulthood to death. I have only read the first two ("Rabbit, Run" and "Rabbit Redux") so far, because I can't find a copy of "Rabbit is Rich" that is aesthetically pleasing, but Rabbit is one of my top three favorite literary characters.

During my search for "Rabbit is Rich" I have come across a variety of "Rabbit, Run" covers, but I still like my Italia find the best. I've also found quite a few on GoodReads that are pretty interesting.

CLICK THROUGH to the jump to see more covers and read what I have to say about each one.