I can’t believe February is already here. It is so cliched, but it really does feel like we just rang in the New Year. With this new month, we also get the added bonus of it being a brand new week, with another set of thought-provoking questions from Rebecca at Just One More Page…

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about a random book.

Go to your bookshelf and pick a random book. No cheating now, just reach out and pick one. Now tell us about it – where did you get it? Why? Was it a gift? Does it hold any special memories? Did someone recommend it to you? etc.

My randomly chosen book was Maus I by Art Spiegelman. This particular books is one of the few on my shelves that I actually did not purchase. My fiance-at-the-time-but-now-husband purchased this book one semester in college because it was required for his course in comics. These days, the class title would most likely refer to graphic novels rather than comics because most of the books he had to read involved heavy topics, like Maus.

This happens to be the only book from that course that he kept. It was one of those situations where he highly recommended that I read it, which I did because a) he recommended it and b) it revolved around WWII. At that point in time, I was finishing up my minor in German, where I heavily concentrated in German history. I was contemplating even going for a doctorate with a thesis having something to do with World War II from the German perspective. It remains one historical topic that continues to fascinate me. So, when he finished it and said that I had to read it, I did without any hesitating.

I do consider it with a sentimental attachment only because it entered my permanent library at a time when we were both so young and inexperienced but still in the blossoming of our relationship. The story itself continues to haunt me, and I will admit that I have not re-read it since college. Hmmm…my son has been bothering me to read it, and I have held off from assenting until he is a bit older. Maybe I need to re-read it to make sure…