Booklove

  The Avon, Indiana, public librarian when i was growing up was wonderful.  She spent lots of time recommending books for her patrons.

  The reason i mention Mrs. Thomas now is because ultimately she's responsible for the current Russian kick.  One of those introductions was Robert K. Massie's 1967 masterpiece, Nicholas and Alexandra.  i'm a permanent fan of Nicholas, possibly the ultimate bad fit for his job.
  Just a few of the other books Mrs. Thomas introduced me to were:

• A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
• some books-by-the-yard deal, grey stamped with blue, about the French and Indian war.  Yes, i TOTALLY loved it, though it looked the proverbial dry as dust.   
• The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession
• The Black Stallion series
• a biography of Christina of Sweden, fascinating but not at all racy, as more recent tellings of her story are.

and many, many others lost in memory.