The three on drainage were not a theme, they were a project. The Kalamata riverfront study needed us to understand a hydrology report properly rather than take the consultant summary on trust, and it turned out that took three books and a fortnight.
Two are about concrete finishes and both are disappointing in the same way: they photograph beautifully and say almost nothing about how the boards were laid out. The information we actually needed came from a contractor in Larissa over the phone in eleven minutes.
One is a reprint of a 1974 municipal handbook on public stairs. It contains a table of tread and riser dimensions for slopes between 8% and 34% that we have now used on two projects. It cost four euros.
The rest are the usual: two monographs, a history of the Athenian apartment block, and one novel that has been on the table since August because nobody will admit to having brought it.
The list is kept on the wall by the kitchen. Anything that stays on the long table for more than a fortnight gets added; anything nobody has opened by March gets shelved.
