Hello out there. How are you? I am well but I find myself feeling like I am in some odd twilight zone. I have had conversations with people (socially distanced, of course) that I never thought I would have. We talk about virus spread and board game options, distance learning and dinner recipes, my grandmother’s experience with polio and the quarantines imposed upon her, so many years ago. This is an odd time. And I could use this moment together, to catch you up on the new services the Library is providing, but I am not going to. These services are exciting and fun and if you are interested, visit our website, www.lewistownlibrary.org or visit our Facebook page, both can catch you up on your LPL.

No, I am not going to review the current state of the Library. Today, I will offer up my great escape from this odd time we find ourselves. The Stereotypical Librarian shared a great list of titles to reinforce the idea of “Escape” in her blog on Librarian Connect (another awesome service offered through our website; do you want to visit it yet?!). I am unable in my present life to consume literature at the rate that many of my co-workers can; so, if you would like more book recommendations visit with the Stereotypical Librarian or read her blog. But back to my escape. It is housed in an unassuming book with an extraordinarily long title, “The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” by Swedish author Jonas Jonasson. This delightfully absurd little tome is exactly the reprieve I have needed in my life. This book follows the journey of Alan Karlson. The centenarian lives a life of unprecedented luck and travel. Jonasson masterfully weaves a tale so bizarre that the reader cannot help but be pulled along in a string of improbable events and enjoy every minute of it. Elephants, world leaders, and explosives…need I say more? Alan is a man of history, happening upon 100 years of events. And the moment he walks out his window the adventures begin again. And isn’t that the dream we all hold right now? To walk out of our windows and away from this life’s absurdity and into a great adventure. Thankfully, great literature does that for us. Reading is the perfect socially distanced activity. So, although we cannot run away at present, we can all go off on our next great adventure, inside a book.