Library of Congress - Thomas Jefferson Building
I know what you're thinking...she's totally gone off her rocker! A library as a reason to go to a city? Ok...I'll admit that I should probably lump the Library of Congress under Buildings and Monuments - but I was so in love the building that I wanted to give it an entire post. I'm not going to give you an entire history of the building...that you can read here, but more a visual overview and a little bit about American Reads - an exhibit at the library. It's a building that's probably overlooked by some tourists because of it's proximity to the Capitol Building (most people choose to go there) and the Supreme Court. The Library of Congress is visually stunning from the outside, but libraries aren't necessarily appealing to all...especially for teenagers. As my 13 year old said "that was hella boring Mom." Noted. But houses were also "hella boring"...cupcakes, not so much! :)
The Library of Congress holds the worlds largest collection of "knowledge and creativity" - 162 million items. It's astounding when you think about it. This is a working library, but only for those with special access. In fact you can't gain access to the working areas of the library as a tourist. I, of course took a photo where I wasn't supposed to (see below). That's right...I'm a rebel.
Looks a little like any other library from this library cart, but chances are these book are very old, some dating back to 1815 to when Thomas Jefferson donated a collection of over 6000 books to the library after the initial collection (housed in the Capitol) was burned down by invading British troops. See...you didn't think you would ever get a history lesson here, did you?
The intricate tile floors are absolutely made for one of those cute feet shots with the hashtag #ihavethisthingwithfloors, too bad I had my Rainbow Flip Flops on...not quite the same impact as a pair of Louboutins.
The ceiling of the Southwest Library which the America Reads exhibit is housed, was absolutely gorgeous as well. I wanted to take in the exhibit, but couldn't help but keep looking up and admiring all of the beauty surrounding me.
The America Reads exhibit runs from June 16 - December 31, 2016. This exhibit celebrates the public's choice of 40 books by American authors that had a profound impact on life in America. The remain 25 titles were also chosen by the public, but from a curated list. The books in the exhibit are all rare editions and were beautiful to look at...if you love books - like I do.
My favourite author Ernest Hemingway had two titles in the exhibit. The Sun Also Rise and The Old Man and the Sea. My other favourite author F. Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby was included as well.
If you want to add a some titles to your summer reading list, here is the complete America Reads list:
Ayn Rand, "The Fountainhead"
Kurt Vonnegut, "Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death"
Laura Ingalls Wilder, "Little House in the Big Woods"
Joseph Smith, "The Book of Mormon"
Willa Cather, "My Ántonia"
Alex Haley, "Roots: The Saga of an American Family"
Ayn Rand, "Anthem"
Alice Walker, "The Color Purple"
John Steinbeck, "Of Mice and Men"
John Steinbeck, "East of Eden"
Sylvia Plath, "The Bell Jar"
Tim O’Brien, "The Things They Carried"
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, "All the President’s Men"
Arthur Miller, "Death of a Salesman"
Arthur Miller, "The Crucible"
Ernest Hemingway, "The Old Man and the Sea"
Ken Kesey, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest"
Hunter S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream"
Ernest Hemingway, "The Sun Also Rises"
John F. Kennedy, "Profiles in Courage"
Stephen King, "The Stand"
Larry McMurtry, "Lonesome Dove"
Judy Blume, "Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret"
Howard Zinn, "A People’s History of the United States"
James Fenimore Cooper, "The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757"
Robert A. Heinlein, "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress"
Wilson Rawls, "Where the Red Fern Grows"
Madeleine L’Engle, "A Wrinkle in Time"
Frank Herbert, "Dune"
Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity’s Rainbow"
Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"
Kate Chopin, "The Awakening"
Shel Silverstein, "The Giving Tree"
Milton Friedman, "Capitalism and Freedom"
Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman, "Free to Choose: A Personal Statement"
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature"
Napoleon Hill, "Think and Grow Rich"
John Kennedy Toole, "A Confederacy of Dunces"
Robert Penn Warren, "All the King’s Men"
Robert M. Pirsig, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values"
"America Reads"—The Public’s Top 25 Choices from the Original 2012 List
Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged"
Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
Thomas Paine, "Common Sense"
Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly"
The Federalist: "A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution"
Upton Sinclair, "The Jungle"
J. D. Salinger, "The Catcher in the Rye"
John Steinbeck, "The Grapes of Wrath"
Alcoholics Anonymous: "The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism"
Ray Bradbury, "Fahrenheit 451"
F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby"
Louisa May Alcott, "Little Women, or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy"
Margaret Mitchell, "Gone With the Wind"
Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss), "The Cat in the Hat"
Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring"
Henry David Thoreau, "Walden; or, Life in the Woods"
Jack Kerouac, "On the Road"
Betty Friedan, "The Feminine Mystique"
L. Frank Baum, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"
Herman Melville, "Moby-Dick; or, the Whale"
Dale Carnegie, "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass"
Benjamin Spock, "Baby and Child Care"
