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I like books and tend to accumulate them. Because of time constraints, though, I spend less time reading them than I’d like to. Which means I must be selective and find engaging material, because typically my reading time begins after 10 PM.

From time to time, a book makes it to the top of my nightstand pile serendipitously. For instance, during a cold stretch in winter, I laced up my Bean boots for a snowy walk to my neighbor’s house.

As I unlaced in his entryway, he dropped L.L. Bean: The Making of An American Icon in my lap. Leon Gorman’s book then became immediate, required reading –

much to my delight.

This past week, I was on a Zoom call with clients who needed to boost their computer monitor to get a better look at some details being shared on screen. They retrieved a copy of The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber (anthropologist, deceased) and David Wengrow (archaeologist) to aid in the task.

Holding up the book, they sang praises for the work before slipping it under their monitor.

This book is visually distinctive in two ways: it is a large volume, and its jacket is bright orange with bold red font. I recalled that I had an unread copy sitting on my bookshelf, gifted to me in 2021, which I retrieved and waived in front of my video camera. We both had a laugh.

And I got the message. Graeber’s and Wengrow’s book migrated to the top of my reading list. I dove in that night, delighted once again. Perhaps you’ll join me for this broad-in-scope read that one well-known author has called “an intellectual feast”.

May August bring you serendipity, too, and many joyful turns of the page.

-RK