My Utmost For His Highest

This book is inscribed to Mother. I've always felt like "Mother" was an insult. If either of my two children called me "Mother", I would assume they hated me. I am Mama, Mommy or Mom.

"Mother" is also the start of my very favorite swear, the one that is just the perfect amount of insulting, so there is an added dimension to the word "Mother", for me anyway.

So when I found this book, and it started off, "To Mother", I had mixed feelings. Here is this book, lovingly inscribed but by someone that hates their mom.

There is also a bookmark from The Salvation Army between the entries for March 14 and March 15.

 

  

  

 

Inscription reads, "Christmas '92. To Mother, May the words you read daily bring you blessings throughout the year. Love Paul, Vivian"

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A Tribe Apart

There isn't an inscription in this book but it is really funny. It's a note about where book club is going to be and at what time with the added note, "beer/wine", because let's face it, isn't that what book club really is all about?

 

Note reads, "Nov 7th - Patty's House 3:30-6:00 Beer/Wine"

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She's Come Undone

The inscription in this book almost reads like a journal entry; something to remember how the book made the inscriber feel more than as a gift to another person.

There is no person to whom this book is specifically given so when I first read the inscription, I thought it was a personal note by the owner so she could come back to the book at a later date and relive her book reading experience. I like that idea.

This book has the inscription, and two pages later, it has a name and a phone number. I've no idea who the original owner was, but this book has been around. I like the idea of a book making the rounds until it finds the right home and is lonesome no more.

 

  

  

Inscription reads, "May 97. Enjoyed this book - made me reflect on part of my early years. Made me laugh! Eve K."

Name inside cover reads, "Lisa Smithey (phone number hidden)"

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Let's Pray Together!

It seems as if every post I have lately is related to spirituality. Book inscriptions and spirituality seem to go hand in hand.

This is a book of prayers aimed at children. There is a prayer in this book for every occasion, from traveling to music. There is a prayer for warm times and one for cold times. It is basically a book of being thankful.

 

 

Inscription reads:

My name is Kevin Craig
I live at (address hidden) Monmouth, Oregon
This book was given to me by my godmother, Marcia
on Christmas Day - 1993

Michelle & Debra

It's painfully apparent when this book was published. The book has a copyright of 1990. If a person couldn't tell when this book was published by the hair on the girls or the earrings, the popped collar would definitely do the trick.

This book is inscribed to Jennifer. I wonder who Jennifer is and how old she was when she received this book, because the plot line of this book is to abstain from sex until marriage. I also wonder who the inscribers are to Jennifer; are they family, friends or something else?

It always makes me curious about the books people give to each other and why that particular book? What was it about Jennifer that made Kevin, Cindy, C.J. and Cory want to give her a book about sexual abstinence?

Here's a little game - guess which girl on the cover stayed pure and chaste until her wedding night and which one didn't?

 

 

Inscription reads: "Dec. 90. To Jennifer, Hope you enjoy this book. Keep the faith. Love, Kevin, Cindy, C.J. and Cory"

Ann Judson - Heroine of Burma

I wasn't going to get this book when I found it because it just has a signature and no date. But as I was putting it back on the shelf, several pieces of paper slid out of the book from chapter 4 called, "The First Baptism".

This book is a biography of Ann Judson, a missionary in Burma. The pages that fell out of the book are hard to decipher, but it looks like a sermon based on this particular chapter in this book.

The last line on the sheets says, "The future never looked better."

 

  

  

 

Signature reads: "Darian (?) Conly"

English Prose Style

I posted on Friday about Hilda Cohrs and her book of poetry; today is her book of English Prose. There isn't an inscription, just a signature, but it struck me as funny because she wrote the exact date, July 4, 1960 in the book. I don't know how she came to be the owner of this book either because there are a few stamps in the book that state it was the property of Willamette University Library in Salem, Oregon but the stamps have been marked out with Sharpie. There also is a library sticker on the spine of the book that also has been marked out. Perhaps Hilda bought the book at a book sale.

I have some history on Hilda. In her book of poetry, there is a small autobiography of her. Her previous entry in Lonesome Books has a date of November 4, 2000. In the small snippet of information about her, we learn that her and her husband are "78 years young" and on May 23 will have celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary. They love freedom and the NRA and pray for everyone.

So, in 1960, when Hilda signed her name to this book, she would have been 38 years old (if my math is right) and already married for 7 years. I supposed that Hilda acquired this book through some book sale, but I like to think she got it through much more nefarious means. It adds a depth to her character.

 

 

Signature reads: "Hilda Cohrs, Gresham, Oregon. 7-4-1960"