I have a family member turning eighty this month, and you know what? Reaching the excellent age of eighty is no small feat! As I get older, reaching decade milestones whether I want to or not, I find that there is a great gift in aging. Sure, there are aches and pains that weren’t there when I was younger (don’t get me started on hip pain!), but there is much to appreciate. My personal relationships are rich and rewarding, and I no longer have to endure the slings and arrows of unrequited love. I have learned to except myself, warts and all as they say, and my life is not guided by the opinions of others. Growing older is liberating—something I never would have imagined when I was in my tender 20s.
To honor the occasion of an 80th birthday—an age I hope all of us have the ability to experience (plus many more)—I am devoting this week’s reading list to books that include “80” in the title. And because I am super theme-oriented (aka “book nerd”), this reading list has eight titles. By the way, octogenarians are octabulous!
- “Around the World in 80 Books” by David Damrosch
- “Around the World in 80 Plants” by Jonathan Drori
- “Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences, 1815-1897” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- “Garden Alchemy: 80 Recipes and Concoctions for Organic Fertilizers, Plant Elixirs, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, and More” by Stephanie Rose
- “The Pie Room: 80 Achievable and Show-Stopping Pies and Sides for Pie Lovers” by Calum Franklin
- “Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80: Why You Should Keep on Getting Older” by Garrison Keillor
- “The Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs: Techniques for Creating 80 Yarns” by Sarah Anderson
- “Which House is Mine Again?: 80 Questions I Never Had ‘Til I Moved to a Subdivision” by Julie Wheaton
New at the Library
Fiction
- “Meet Me in the Margins” by Melissa Ferguson
- “Pure Colour” by Sheila Heti
- “The Selfless Act of Breathing” by J. J. Bola
Nonfiction
- “And a Dog Called Fig: Solitude, Connection, the Writing Life” by Helen Humphreys
- “Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything – Even Things that Seem Impossible Today” by Jane McGonigal
- “In Pursuit of Jefferson: Traveling Through Europe with the Most Perplexing Founding Father” by Derek Baxter
Children
- “A History of Underwear with Professor Chicken” written by Hannah Holt, illustrated by Korwin Briggs
- “The School for Whatnots” by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- “Smitten with Kittens” written by Florence Minor, illustrated by Wendell Minor
This is just a small sampling of the many new titles added each week to the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District collection. Find more in our catalog, or call (360) 906-5000 to reserve titles or find additional listings.
Jan Johnston, Collection Manager
Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries
You can email Jan at readingforfun@fvrl.org.
A version of this column was published in the Sunday, April 10, 2022 edition of The Columbian newspaper.
Find more book columns in our Off the Shelf blog.
