Reading, Writing and Retirement

All Passion Spent - Book Review

2010-08-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West

Perhaps best known for her passionate affair with Virginia Woolf and for her creation of the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle, Vita Sackville-West's writing is often overlooked. But if All Passion Spent is any indication of her talent as a writer, she deserves to be considered as one of the finest female British authors of the 20th century.

The novel is divided into three parts: first, we're introduced to the children, then the widow of the newly deceased Henry Holland, first Earl of Slane, dead at age 94. Lady Slane's children are debating what should be "done" with their mother who, at age 88, they consider flighty and unable to take care of herself. They're shocked when she reveals that she wants to live alone - with her maid in attendance - in a cottage in Hampstead, one that she'd dreamed of for 30 years.

The second part of the novel takes us to Lady Slane's now simple life in Hampstead, where she realizes she will spend her final days. She has plenty of time to reminisce about her life, her dream of being a painter and her lack of choices as a woman in the 19th century. Though her marriage and exciting life would be the envy of most women of her class, she faces the fact that she gave up her one true passion to do what was expected of her by society and her family. But she isn't angry about her fate; she is resigned to life as it is in her era:

Yet she was no feminist. She was too wise a woman to indulge in such luxuries as an imagined martyrdom. The rift between herself and life was not the rift between man and woman, but the rift between the worker and the dreamer. That she was a woman, and Henry a man, was really a matter of chance. She would go no further than to acknowledge that the fact of her being a woman made the situation a degree more difficult. (Page 164)

In the third part of the novel, a person from Lady Slane's past makes an appearance. Their conversations are frank and startling to her. But she is relieved to have a confidant with whom she can be honest about her feelings of having given up her dreams all those years ago.

This is a beautifully written novel with some finely drawn characters (though her children, portrayed as despicable vultures, are a bit over the top). I enjoyed reading some of the insights this aged woman had and about the surprising relationships she developed with people she encountered late in life. Highly recommended.

The Sunday Salon: August 22, Playing Catchup, Continued

2010-08-22T08:16:00.001-07:00

Some more mini-reviews from the last few months:

1. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Good, fun mystery, well written. A sequel of sorts to Case Histories. Atkinson is master at weaving a bunch of stories together. (4/5)

2. The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett. Excellent book. Love the story, the writing, the characters. (4.5/5)

3. A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson. Charming, funny novel with much irony and an occasional nod to some serious subjects (AIDS, death, politics, boy soldiers). Lovely writing. (4/5)

4. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Astonishing book - the characters, narrative, dialog, story, setting, all practically flawless. And that's saying a lot for 850+ pages. McMurtry is a master storyteller. I never thought I'd be interested in this Western, but Lonesome Dove will make it onto my top 20, if not top 10 books of all time. (5/5)

5. The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini. Interesting novel about Zimbabwe after independence. Beginning in the 1980s, we follow the narrator Lindiwe from adolescence through adulthood. The boy next door is Ian, a white boy, who is charged with murdering his stepmother by setting her on fire. In the first part of the book, Lindiwe is filled with teenage angst as she explores her attraction to Ian, who is released and returns to the neighborhood after just a few years.

The story is full of tensions -- racial, sexual, political, familial -- and secrets. The chaotic inner worlds of Lindiwe and Ian are mirrored by the chaos in the outer world, as Zimbabweans try to find their way after independence, which involves a great deal of fighting and inner turmoil.

I found the first part of the book choppy and difficult to follow -- but the narrator was a 14 year old girl; as Lindiwe matured, so did the story and the narration. There were a number of Shona words and no glossary, so I had to guess at the meaning sometimes.

That said, this was an excellent read and I recommend this debut novel - the 2010 winner of the Orange Prize for New Writers. (4/5)

6. No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym. I love Pym's writing, but this one seemed a little draggy to me. (3.5/5)

7. The Outcast by Sadie Jones. Compelling, difficult subject matter, intense, very well written novel of a young man in 1950s England who is not permitted grieving over a very traumatic event in his life and the effects this has on his coming of age. Recommended. (4/5)

8. The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg. Fabulous book. Orange Prize shortlist for new writers, 2008. (4.5/5). Highly recommend.

9. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Absolutely delightful novel full of humor, compassion, social justice and romance. A love story with a lot of depth. Some of the characters are a bit over the top, but most are spot on and endearing. So glad I read this! (4.5/5)

10. Property by Valerie Martin. Another Orange Prize book (winner, 2003). Another excellent, if difficult, read. (4/5)

That's it for this week. One more Sunday and I'll be caught up! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
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The Good Daughters - Book review

2010-08-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard
This review is based on the uncorrected proof, advanced readers' edition.

This book had so much potential. I know the story that this novel was loosely based on - such a fascinating human interest story that deserves a better telling than this. (I won't reveal too much since the whole book leads up to the reveal - which is a little too easy to spot early on.)

First, the good news. Some of the pieces were handled so tenderly and poignantly. I loved the story of Dana and Clarice. It was so refreshing to see a lesbian relationship treated so normally; the love between the two women was evident and portrayed beautifully. Some of the stories on the farm were beautifully written: Edwin's love of the land and the struggles of a family farm were told well.

The bad news: since this is an uncorrected proof, I do hope that some of the many inconsistencies will be corrected. I found myself thumbing back through a number of times, feeling confused about a character's name that changed or a scenario that changed. There was also a tremendous amount of repetition early on that felt messy. If it was done for effect, it failed.

The piece that bothered me the most was that there were two first person narrators, Ruth and Dana, yet they were virtually indistinguishable in their manner of telling their stories. I would get confused - again! - as to which was whom sometimes because their voices were so much alike. I appreciate novels with multiple narrators, but please make them individuals, not carbon copies!

This book was seriously flawed and fell flat for this reader.

FTC Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the publisher for review on LibraryThing.

The Sunday Salon: August 15, Playing Catchup

2010-08-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Oh blogs o' mine, you stand so neglected. I should know better than to promise to post a review of every book I read or to take a photo a day for a year and post to my photo blog.

So here on this ultra hot Sunday (100ish degrees), I'm sitting in front of a fan and looking at the long list of books I've read in the last several months. I post mini-reviews of most of them on LibraryThing, so I will begin my list here and re-post those comments, just so you know what I think about what I've read.

1. The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi. Must gather my thoughts after reading this short and powerful novel. Disturbing and poetic. 4/5. (Apparently my thoughts remained ungathered.)

2 .Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Wow. 5/5 Review coming (hopefully) soon. (And we keep hoping.) This was one of my favorite books so far this year, so well written and such a wonderful story.

3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Wow. Just wow. Amazing book. Will review soon. (4.5/5) (Do you see a pattern here?)

4. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. This is a re-read for me. I first read this book ~15 years ago and was struck by the lyricism. I didn't remember much about the story. On this re-read, I'm still struck by the lyricism - I feel as though I've read an extended poem. The story is almost incidental to the language. But the story, largely character driven, is wonderful, too. (4.5/5)

5. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. Excellent historical fiction about a little known fossil hunter, Mary Anning, in early 19th century England. (4/5)

6. The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir by Elna Baker. Quite a remarkable book - very funny with not a little twenty-something spiritual and romantic angst.(4/5)

7. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich. A wild departure from Erdrich's usual novels. Compelling, disturbing, readable; almost a psychological thriller. Will have to mull this one over awhile. (3.5/5) (Still mulling.)

8. Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens. Engaging story, but overly long for what it is. Also, a few too many convenient events and coincidences. Lansens wrote the fabulous novel The Girls after this debut novel. The Girls was stunning, so it was good to see she got better after this one! (3.5/5)

9. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I love this book. Probably my fourth read and it still gives me pause. I was especially moved by it in light of the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico. A little bit fantasy, a lot philosophy and a cultural message we should have taken in decades ago. (4.5/5)

10. Potiki by Patricia Grace. Excellent. Really stunning writing and good to read a story of exploitation through the eyes of the exploited Maoris.(4/5)

I'll stop there for now. There are another 15 or so, and I will try to get them posted by next week's Sunday Salon. I'm not sure why it's been so challenging for me to write reviews - I think I just want to get on to the next book! I have quite a list of good ones on the horizon, including All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, and Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Happy reading!

The Love Ceiling - TLC Blog Tour and Book Review

2010-06-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

The Love Ceiling by Jean Davies Okimoto
Endicott and Hugh Books

The Love Ceiling is a story of people in transition. Annie Duppstadt is about to turn 64; her mother has just died and her father, a famous painter and a narcissistic tyrant, carries on as though nothing much has changed; Annie's husband, Jack, is about to be forced to retire; and her daughter Cass is in an unfulfilling relationship with a man who can't commit to marriage.

Annie has always wanted to paint, but she was traumatized by her father at an early age (what I call Art Abuse) and grew up believing that she'd never make it as an artist. As her mother nears death, she extracts a promise from Annie that she will paint.

"When you see this do you...want to paint it?"

"Always." It was a whisper as much to myself as my mother.

" I thought so." Mom grabbed both my hands, turning her head to look at me. "You must do it."

"Maybe someday. You know how it is, Mom."

"You must do it." Direct, unequivocal, this time almost a command, while she tried pathetically to squeeze my hands. "Promise me, Annie."

"I promise," I whispered. (page 34)

Thus begins Annie's journey to her Self - a struggle to carve out time and create places where she can explore her artistry. Most women with families have obligations that pull them in many directions. When they give their passions a priority and give themselves permission, they can claim their power and explore possibilities. Okimoto did a wonderful job of portraying this struggle in The Love Ceiling. We recognize that Annie's mother was unable to do this herself, thus was so adamant about Annie pursuing her talent.

The story is told from alternating first and third person narratives - Annie in the first person and Cass in the third (though I suspect Okimoto originally had both characters in first person, as there's at least one instance of "I" in the narrative when it should have been "she" - editors, please!). It feels slightly awkward to have the two POVs. I enjoyed Annie's first person narrative - I felt as though I was inside her head and could understand her motives and actions.

I found there were places where there was way too much mundane detail - for example, I'm not sure why it was necessary to list all the bathing suit coverage options available in the Land's End catalog (again, editors!).

I enjoyed reading about Seattle and Puget Sound, since I hail from that area. I could visualize the Vashon Island ferry ride, the Olympic Mountains at sunrise, the seagull suspended against the wind. Okimoto brought those scenes to life for me. There is some lovely prose in this book, for example, as Annie is painting:

I felt almost disconnected from myself physically, detached from hunger or even thirst, lost in the mystery of the color, the emotions it evoked, and the luminous impasto taking shape before me. (page 151)

Okimoto's publicists refer to The Love Ceiling as a "coming of age novel for women over 50...60...70...80...90...!" I would add 30...40 to that too, as 32 year old Cass is also struggling with the questions, "what comes next? how do I do this?" and has some important insights along the way. Overall, this is an enjoyable read, and I recommend it to readers who like stories about families going through big transitions as well as stories about art and artists.

There's a wonderful interview with Jean Davies Okimoto you can hear on this podcast, and another interview transcript here. And be sure to check out her website.

Thanks to TLC tours for asking me to be part of this tour, and to Endicott and Hugh Books for sending me a complimentary copy for review.

Watermark: TLC Blog Tour and Book Review

2010-04-29T01:01:00.000-07:00

Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran
Avon Publishing
The following review is from the uncorrected proof.

Love, betrayal, fear and suspicion are some of the themes that populate this historical novel, a superb debut for Vanitha Sankaran. Set in early 14th century France, Watermark begins with the birth of Auda, the novel’s protagonist. Her mother, Elena, sacrifices herself so that her infant may live. But it’s obvious from the beginning that Auda will face many challenges:

Onors, the healer’s apprentice, dropped her muddy clump of roots and leaves and rushed to Elena’s side. Seeing a child kick beside its mother’s eviscerated body, she crossed herself…She looked more closely at the infant and gasped. This thing was no child at all but a sickly creature, ivory-colored in skin and hair, white as bone. Even its eyes were so light, the translucent pink of a worm.

It had come too soon, undercooked, with no color yet baked into its skin and hair, so silent that she wondered for a moment if it still lived. But then it blinked.

“Demon,” she said in a whisper and crossed herself again. (page 6)

In a time and place when anyone out of the ordinary is suspected of being a heretic or of the devil, a mute albino girl - sometimes called the White Witch – might be blamed for the weather, for crop failures or livestock deaths. Auda has the protection of her father, Martin, a paper maker, but he is not invincible. Her older sister Poncia is a pious, fearful woman and thinks Auda would be safe if she were married to the old miller, so she makes the arrangements. However, Auda wants no part of it and prefers to stay with her father to help him with the paper making business. She has dreams of becoming a scribe – unheard of for a woman – and even more extraordinary, contemplates writing her own books.

Sakaran does an admirable job of keeping the story moving. Several times I thought I knew what was going to happen and was pleasantly surprised at the turns the story took. I was fascinated to learn about the paper making process: fermenting old rags into a pulp and pressing the pulp into paper. The title of the book, Watermark, refers to the technique invented in the 13th century to identify paper by pressing a unique symbol into the paper as it’s made. In this story, the watermark was also used to indicate a secret religious sect.

I’m always interested in stories involving witch hunts and the Inquisition. Medieval Europe is not a place I’d like to visit in reality, but I enjoy reading good historical fiction based on the time period. While reading Watermark, I was aware of the similarities to some of today's extreme religious fanatacism, resulting in polarities within our own culture, and I was reminded how dangerous intolerance can become.

Sankaran has written a compelling novel with interesting characters and has done some good research of the era. She even includes a glossary, a bibliography and a chronology of papermaking and other pertinent events of the time. I'm looking forward to reading her next book about printmaking in Italy.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for giving met the opportunity to read and review this book.

Vanitha Sankaran holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. In addition, her short stories have been published in numerous journals, such as Mindprints, Futures, Prose Ax, and The Midnight Mind. She is at work on her second novel, which is about printmaking in Italy during the High Renaissance.

Visit Vanitha's website here.

FTC Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the publisher for review on my blog.

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 04-27-10: Watermark

2010-04-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.

This week's teaser is from Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran, page 16*:

Auda quelled a shiver of excitement and tried not to dream, as she often did, that the first original book Martin made would be written by her. Surely that was his dream, too--why else would he go through such effort to bring books home to share with her? She could picture it, a leather-bound volume containing pages and pages of her writing, maybe even decorated with bright illuminations. If Poncia knew of her ambitions, she would scoff at them both, asking what kind of woman wanted to write books? Few could even read.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in 14th century France in the small village of Narbonne. I'm a young albino woman who helps her father in his paper making business.

I'll be touring this book on Thursday for TLC Book Tours. Be sure to check back then for my review and other information about Watermark.

*This is an Advanced Reader Edition; page numbers may differ.

French Milk - Book review

2010-04-13T00:23:00.001-07:00

French Milk by Lucy Knisley - graphic memoir

I've fallen in love with graphic novels and memoirs the last two years and looked forward to this one that came highly recommended by...someone, I don't remember who. Unfortunately, I found this one to be boring, repetitive and sloppy.

Lucy travels to Paris with her mother to celebrate their birthdays - Lucy's 22nd and her mother's 50th (though she failed to mention anything about her mother's birthday in the story). They rent an apartment for a month and see the sights and eat. And eat. And eat. And every meal is drawn and written about in detail on just about every other page. It was like reading someone's food journal combined with the angst of a narcissistic young adult, which sometimes can be interesting and insightful, but not here.

In addition to the illustrations, which are fairly good, there are some not so good photos every few pages. I don't think they added anything to the book - most of them are of Lucy posing in front of a building or in a cemetary [sic] or of - that's right - food.

Fortunately, this only took a couple of hours to read. And I just can't recommend it.

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 04-06-10: Moral Disorder

2010-04-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

It couldn't be toilet trained, however. It peed whenever it felt the urge, and left piles of shiny brown raisin-sized pellets on the linoleum. Nell made it a diaper out of a green plastic garbage bag, cutting holes for the back legs and the tail, but that was worse than useless.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in cities, suburbs, farms and forests of Ontario.

The Sunday Salon- 04-04-10: 1st Quarter Wrapup

2010-04-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Good morning Sunday Saloners and other readers! How can you tell if it's spring in Portland? The weather changes every 5 minutes. It's been cold, blustery, rainy, sunny, warm, cloudy - even a little hail mixed in. Good reading and blogging weather. And you can tell it's April by all the first quarter wrapup posts that pop up in the book blog world, including this one.

Here are the 20 books I've read in 2010:

January

The Bone People by Keri Hulme
The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

February

The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson

March

The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

And now, the awards.

Favorite book: by far - Cutting for Stone
Least favorite book: The Girl with No Shadow
Biggest surprise: The Lotus Eaters (because I didn't expect to like a book about Vietnam so much)
Biggest disappointment: Possession
Most astonishing: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Favorite re-read: (OK, the only re-read) Housekeeping

My average rating for these 20 books: 3.95 of 5. Not bad.

And ask me how I'm doing on those reviews. "Terri, how are you doing on those reviews?" Yes, I'm behind a bit, I have four yet to write. They're on my list. Next week I'll catch you up on my challenges.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and the coming week. Happy reading!
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Housekeeping: Book Review

2010-04-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

This is a re-read for me. I first read this book ~15 years ago and was struck by the lyricism. I didn't remember much about the story. On this re-read, I'm still struck by the lyricism - I feel as though I've read an extended poem. The story is almost incidental to the language. But the story, largely character driven, is wonderful, too.

Ruthie and Lucille are sisters raised by their grandmother after their mother leaves them with her and drives into the lake. When one morning their grandmother "eschewed awakening," Lily and Nona, two spinster great aunts, attempt to step in but are not up to the task of raising two adolescents. Finally, their aunt Sylvie appears after having been missing for years. She is a drifter, and returning to Fingerbone, Idaho, to her old family home proves to be hugely challenging for her. She is eccentric and a little bit crazy, but her heart is in the right place.

Lucille rebels against Sylvie's nonconformity, but Ruth, the narrator of the book, becomes more and more like her as time goes on. Eventually Sylvie must prove her competence as a guardian to the sheriff and townspeople, who become alarmed at Sylvie's behavior and perceived neglect of the girls.

I found myself reading passages multiple times just for the beauty of the language. For instance:

For need can blossom into all the compensations it requires. To crave and to have are as like as a thing and its shadow. For when does a berry break upon the tongue as sweetly as when one longs to taste it, and when is the taste refracted into so many hues and savors of ripeness and earth, and when do our senses know any thing so utterly as when we lack it?

and

The sky above Fingerbone was a floral yellow. A few spindled clouds smoldered and glowed a most unfiery pink. And then the sun flung a long shaft over the mountain, and another, like a long-legged insect bracing itself out of its chrysalis, and then it showed above the black crest, bristly and red and improbable. In an hour it would be the ordinary sun, spreading modest and impersonal light on an ordinary world, and that thought relieved me.

There are passages like this on almost every page. It's a book to sink down into and float effortlessly, letting the prose wash over you like soothing waves. Highly recommended.

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 03-30-10: Housekeeping

2010-03-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

When, after almost five years, my grandmother one winter morning eschewed awakening, Lily and Nona were fetched from Spokane and took up housekeeping in Fingerbone, just as my grandmother had wished. Their alarm was evident from the first, in the nervous flutter with which they searched their bags and pockets for the little present they had brought (it was a large box of cough drops - a confection they considered both tasty and salubrious).

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in the fictional town of Fingerbone, Idaho, in the old family home. The challenge is to find someone to raise my sister and me.

The Lotus Eaters Book Tour and Review

2010-03-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

When I discovered this book was about the Vietnam War I was hesitant to read it; it would obviously take me deep into the realities of the fighting and the atrocities through the perspective of a combat photographer. I’m not big on war stories. But The Lotus Eaters is such a well written novel, I was immediately drawn into the story of Helen Adams, an amateur photographer who goes to Vietnam on a lark in 1963 and becomes the first woman photographer to “embed” with troops as they go out on patrols. She eventually becomes a legend for her photographs and her ability to get into the thick of things for “the one shot.”

But what I want to explore a bit in this post is the exhilaration of war, the addictive qualities for some people of being in a situation that is so risky and chaotic and so outside the norm, that to return to a life of order and calm is nearly impossible.

Reading this novel, I was constantly reminded of a talk I heard in 2003 by Chris Hedges, author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Hedges, who was a war correspondent for many years, argues that “war seduces entire societies, creating fictions that the public believes and relies on to continue to support conflicts.” "The Hurt Locker," a recent award winning film about Iraq, opens with a quote from Hedges’ book: "The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” It also reminded me a bit of "The Deer Hunter."

We are used to hearing and seeing stories of men becoming enamored of war, about the effects of them seeing so much violence, about PTSD and the difficulty in returning home. To have this book be about a woman experiencing these things was brilliant. We watch Helen go from being a naïve, compassionate young woman who wants to save injured chickens, to being hardened by her experiences to the point of being unable to return to her former life in Southern California:

At first the house and the small beach town that she had longed for while in Vietnam had seemed calcified, dead, as white and clean as bone. But slowly it came to life, or she came to life within it. But it wasn’t the life she wanted.

The sight of people going about their days, shopping in markets, eating in restaurants, playing with children in parks, laughing and drinking and talking, created a deep resentment inside her. Perfectly happy living their lives, Helen thought, which is all anyone should want, and yet how blind, how oblivious to the biggest story in the world. (page 276)

Helen also develops a deep love for Vietnam, the country.

“…Vietnamese legend told that every shade of green in the world originated in this mountain range. The emerald backbone of the dragon from which the people of Vietnam sprang. Until then she had been blind, but when she saw those mountains, she slipped beneath the surface of the war and found the country.” (17)

One of the many things I appreciated about The Lotus Eaters is Soli’s refusal to sugarcoat the events. No one comes off as the good guy here, which is true to the reality of the conflict. The portrait she paints of the war, of the country and the people, of the conflicted feelings of the Vietnamese people and of the Americans both at home and taking part in the war, felt so authentic it was hard for me to believe that she hadn’t lived this story. The scenes of violence were real, but I didn’t feel hit over the head with them. There were times of high tension when I think I held my breath for minutes! And the writing is exquisite in places.

I also learned a great deal about this time period. Even though I lived through it and was personally affected by some events of the Vietnam War, I’ve remained pretty ignorant about some pieces of history, particularly the French occupation of Vietnam, and the fall of Saigon. I spent quite a bit of time looking up bits of history and geography as I read.

So The Lotus Eaters accomplishes a great deal from my perspective – it is entertaining, well written, educational, emotionally involving and authentic. A stellar accomplishment for a debut novel. Highly recommended.

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The Sunday Salon: Required Reading

2010-03-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

I think I need to stop saying yes to book blog tours and advanced reading copies that I’m obligated to review. Not that I haven’t received and read some wonderful books for these obligatory events – but I find myself scheduled to read several books for this or that event, for my face-to-face book group or a Library Thing group read, and before I know it I have no time to read books that I choose in my own time frame. And if I’m not liking a book I’ve signed up to “tour,” I don’t feel I can abandon it part way through if I’m not liking it. And then, I HAVE to write a review. I have two books this week to read and review, a book for my book group in two weeks that I’m not looking forward to, two books for blog tours in April … OK, this is feeling too much like school.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the tours and group reads are just wonderful events - I'm not knocking them at all. I'm just dissing my own inability to say NO and to achieve some balance in my reading enjoyment.

The reading challenges I signed onto this year are mostly made up of books on my shelves that I’ve been wanting to read anyway, and there’s no time requirements, other than by the end of 2010 (and, really, it’s not a requirement, just a goal). So I don't feel bogged down by those at all - in fact, I really want to get back to them!

Here's what I'm looking forward to reading in my leisure in the next few months:

Home by Marilynne Robinson
The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich (short stories)
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (a re-read)

What about you? What's on your reading list for the spring (autumn to those of you down under)? Do you get bogged down with books you have to read?

Oh, and Happy Spring to those of you in the northern hemisphere! I hope you're enjoying some beautiful spring weather and flowers. The apple tree is beginning to blossom here.

Classics Circuit: Georgette Heyer's Friday's Child

2010-03-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

I’d been hearing much ado about Georgette Heyer’s books for the last year or so. She was on my list of authors to read when I found out about the Classics Circuit Tour and thought it the perfect time to find out more about this prolific author. I was planning to read one of her historical novels, but a month or so ago, a friend sent me Friday’s Child, one of Heyer’s regency romances, so I figured why argue with fate.

The novel begins with a marriage proposal, of sorts. Lord Sheringham (known as Sherry) is proposing to Isabella Milborne (known as The Incomparable, for her beauty and desirability). My fear was that the novel would revolve around Isabella, a haughty upper class bitch who toys with men’s emotions. Fortunately, she becomes a secondary character. Sherry, upset at her rejection, vows to marry the first woman he sees on a trip to London. When he happens upon Hero Wantage, a young woman who lives nearby with her cousin, she reminds him of his vow. She is mad about him; and to him, she is a bit of a lark. Hero is a kind soul, but very naïve. Making Sherry happy becomes her mission in life.

What ensues is a comedy of manners, a comedy of errors and much miscommunication. Sherry’s friends, Gil and George (who has threatened to shoot himself in the head if Ms. Milborne doesn’t marry him) and his cousin Ferdy act as a combination between a Greek chorus and the Three Stooges. There is much plotting and manipulation, an evil interloper – Sir Montagu – and the foil who recognizes Hero’s beauty and worthiness before Sherry does.

All’s well that ends well, though I thought the end would never come. In some ways this was a very fun read, but it did go on and on. Heyer managed to keep a tone of suspense through most of the novel, but it wasn’t hard to guess how things would turn out. If the book were half its 423 pages, I would have rated it much higher. As it was, the silliness and manipulations wore thin with this reader.

I was curious about the crude grammar used by some of the upper class people – mostly the men. Since I know little about the Regency era (I confess I’ve only read one Jane Austen novel so far!), I did a bit of research on the “tongue” of the day. I found this interesting essay, "On Vulgarity and Affectation" by William Hazlitt, written in the era:

Nothing real, nothing original, can be vulgar; but I should think an imitator of Cobbett a vulgar man. Emery's Yorkshireman is vulgar, because he is a Yorkshireman. It is the cant and gibberish, the cunning and low life of a particular district; it has 'a stamp exclusive and provincial.' He might 'gabble most brutishly' and yet not fall under the letter of the definition; but 'his speech bewrayeth [sic] him,' his dialect (like the jargon of a Bond Street lounger) is the damning circumstance. If he were a mere blockhead, it would not signify; but he thinks himself a knowing hand, according to the notions and practices of those with whom he was brought up, and which he thinks the go everywhere. In a word, this character is not the offspring of untutored nature but of bad habits; it is made up of ignorance and conceit. It has a mixture of slang in it. All slang phrases are for the same reason vulgar; but there is nothing vulgar in the common English idiom. Simplicity is not vulgarity; but the looking to affectation of any sort for distinction is. ….

The upper are not wiser than the lower orders because they resolve to differ from them. The fashionable have the advantage of the unfashionable in nothing but the fashion. The true vulgar are the servum pecus imitatorum -- the herd of pretenders to what they do not feel and to what is not natural to them, whether in high or low life. To belong to any class, to move in any rank or sphere of life, is not a very exclusive distinction or test of refinement. Refinement will in all classes be the exception, not the rule; and the exception may fall out in one class as well as another….

If you choose to read this book (and, I suspect, other Heyer books of the era) I suggest having at hand a reference guide to some of the terms used. For instance, do you know what an abigail is? What about “a bit of muslin?” Good ton/bad ton? There’s a handy lexicon guide online at this site.

I’m sure that Heyer was true to the culture, customs and language of the times. I’m not sure I would devote so much reading time to another of her romances. I would be interested to read her historical fiction, however.

The End of Publishing

2010-03-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

Don't give up half way through, watch the whole thing!

The Sunday Salon- 03-14-10: DST and Blogiversary!

2010-03-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hello Sunday readers! Did you in the US remember to set your clocks ahead? I have never understood what daylight savings time accomplishes. And that our Congress, in all their "wisdom" a few years ago, thought that extending DST was enough of an energy savings to call it enough for the energy bill. I always wondered how much that little scheme cost.

But the good news: since I never got around to changing my car clock last fall, at least it will be set to the right time now. Simple pleasures.

At some point this week I realized that I've been doing this bloggy thing for two years now! March 5, 2008 was my very first blog post. So, happy blogiversary, me! Today marks my 425th post on this blog (650 on my photo blog). I think I need to do something to celebrate, so check back next week when I'll announce a giveaway and belated party.

Contrary to what you've seen (or rather haven't seen) on my blog the last two weeks, I have been reading! I'm just a bit behind on my reviews and hope to remedy that this week. On Friday, March 19th, look for a Classics Circuit tour stop here with my review of Georgette Heyer's Friday's Child, which I'm reading now and enjoying. And look for my reviews of The Patience Stone, The Ghost Map and Cutting for Stone sometime in the next few days. Enjoy your week!

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 03-02-10: The Patience Stone

2010-03-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

She takes a few fearful steps toward the man. Stops. Observes the movement of his chest. He is breathing. She walks closer, bends down so she can see his eyes more clearly. They are open, and covered in black dust. She wipes them with the end of her sleeve, takes out the bottle and administers drops to each eye. One, two. One, two.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

According to the author, I am "somewhere in Afghanistan or elsewhere."

The Sunday Salon - February Wrapped Up

2010-02-27T18:07:00.000-08:00

Sunday Salutations! It's turning into actual Spring here in Portland - trees are blooming pink and white already, daffodils and crocuses and all manner of spring flowers are popping up everywhere. There have been some rainy days too - good for curling up with a good book.

February is almost over! Hard to believe another month has gone by already. I read five books this month, bringing my YTD total to 13 (unless I finish my current book by tonight). With my fantastic spreadsheet (thank you, Laura!), I can tell you I read 1,863 pages in February (plus 100 give or take in my current book), and 4,480 YTD. Here's what I read this month:

The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett - review
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips - review
Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym - review
Possession by A.S. Byatt - review
The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris - review

It was a mixed bag this month, a couple of fantastic books, one disappointing and one real clunker (The Girl with No Shadow). The latter two brought my average rating down a bit, to 3.92 (out of 5).

I'm making good progress on most of my challenges:

1010 Challenge (5 books in 10 categories for 2010): 9/50
What's in a Name: 4/6
Complete Booker: 2/6
Orange Prize Project: 3/12

Currently reading: my first nonfiction book of the year is The Ghost Map, about a cholera epidemic in London in the mid-19th century and how a couple of people were able to identify how the disease was transmitted. The discovery revolutionized public health. It was chosen by our county library as this year's Everybody Reads book, and since I'm fascinated by medical history, I thought I'd read along with the county! It's also a reminder that, if I ever have the opportunity to time travel, I won't pick Victorian London as a destination! It sounds ghastly.

Coming up: I'll be picking up Georgette Heyer's Friday's Child soon to read in time for the Classics Circuit, which comes to this blog on March 19th. More about that in another Sunday or two.

I hope your week is wonderful and you're reading great books!
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Friday Fill-ins 02-26-10

2010-02-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. A cup of tea has nothing on a cup of fresh brewed coffee.

2. Laughter makes a place feel like home.

3. Everything has its beauty; sometimes you have to look deeply to find it.

4. Do we have to wait until June for the taste of strawberries?

5. Art makes me a little intimidated – I don’t always “get it.”

6. LOL I just noticed I forgot to eat.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out with Laurie and Liza, tomorrow my plans include a potluck in the afternoon and a play in the evening and Sunday, I want to read and blog.
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The Girl with No Shadow - Review

2010-02-25T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Girl with No Shadow (aka Lollipop Shoes) is a sequel to the wonderful novel, Chocolat and proves the point that when you have a great thing, don’t try to add to it. Where Chocolat is a rich, dark seductive treat, TGWNS is a waxy, flavorless Tootsie Roll.

Our heroine from Chocolat, Vianne Rocher, has set up a chocolate shop in Montmartre, a village on the outskirts of Paris, with her daughter, Anouk, now 11, and a new addition to the family, Rosette, age 4. There are hints that they left Lansquenet because of some magic gone awry, performed by one of the children, both of whom have obviously acquired their mother’s talents. Vianne has changed her name to Yanne Charbonneau and, in addition to giving up her identity, has lost her passion and flair. She’s settled for a quiet, decidedly un-magical life and deals daily with the stress of keeping in check her daughters’ witchy tendencies.

The antagonist is a self-proclaimed identity thief and witch, who blows into town on an ill wind and worms her way into Yanne’s life. Trouble ensues, good vs. evil, yada yada yada.

It’s impossible not to compare this novel with Chocolat; but it’s almost as though they were written by different authors. Where the magic in Chocolat was subtle, just a hint of it sprinkled here and there, Harris hits us over the head with it in TGWNS, with glamours, charms, cantrips, spells, incantations and herbal potions on every page. It becomes quite tedious. The characters are flattened out. The plot has a couple of nice twists and surprises, but by the time they came around, I really didn’t care about them.

Harris has written some wonderful books in addition to Chocolat – Coastliners and Three Quarters of the Orange were favorites of mine. This one fell short. Way short. Now I’m off to have some good dark chocolate to cleanse my palate. (2/5)
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Featured on Scene of the Blog

2010-02-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

Hello wonderful readers! This week I have the honor of being featured on Cathy's Scene of the Blog. Cathy contacted me last year and asked if I'd send her some photos about where I work the bloggy magic. I was just in the midst of reinventing my space, so I had lots of photos to send her and was happy to show off my space. I'm really fortunate to have a dedicated studio where I can hang out and read, blog, nap (!), play music, or write. Pop on over to Cathy's blog, Kittling, and read all about it!

If you're visiting here for the first time from Cathy's blog - welcome! This blog is mostly about books, but occasionally I slip in some politics or a photo of our sweet puppy Liza. (My main photo blog is here.) I've resolved this year to review every book I read, so books will take front stage here more than they have in the past. I read mostly contemporary literature - lots of women's fiction (I especially love Orange prize winners and nominees), fiction from a variety of countries, and some classics (I'm trying to fill in some gaps from my not-so-stellar lit education).

I hope you find something interesting here - be sure to leave me a comment so I can come visit you. Thanks, Cathy, for featuring my blog and my special spot!
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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 02-23-10: The Girl with No Shadow

2010-02-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

What an interesting child, younger than her contemporaries in some ways, but so much older in others, she has no difficulty in speaking with adults, but with other children she seems awkward, as if trying to assess their level of competence. With me she was expansive, funny, talkative, wistful, willful but with an instinctive caution as soon as I touched - ever so lightly - on the subject of her strangeness.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in Montmartre, the last village in Paris, so they say, in a chocolaterie, working my magic in more ways than one.
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Possession - Book Review

2010-02-22T11:04:00.000-08:00

Possession by A. S. Byatt

I should probably have waited a little while to write this review, as it is not a kind one. I just put this book down after slogging through the last 1/4 of it. I think I'm supposed to love this book, but I didn't. I almost hesitate to post a review since so many people I know loved this book to pieces.

I won't get into a plot synopsis, others have done that well. I did not like any of the characters. I found the narrative faux erudite. It felt too chunked up for my tastes. And I absolutely hated the ending, which I saw coming a couple of hundred pages prior.

Sorry, Possession lovers, this just did not ring true for me or leave me breathless (other than after my rant about the ending).

There was some beautiful writing, which was worth 3 stars.
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The Sunday Salon - Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

2010-02-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

Hello bloggers and bloggees! Happy Sunday. It's impossibly warm and sunny here in Portland this week - I've even been able to sit outside with my book and coffee and enjoy the tweeting birds (the real ones, not the Twitter ones) and soak up some much needed Vitamin D.

I have several upcoming bloggy booky things to tell you about:

First off, this Wednesday, February 24th, this blog will be featured in Scene of the Blog, a weekly feature by Cathy over at Kittling: Books. (I love her subtitle: Dogs bark. Fire burns. Birds fly. I read.) So on Wednesday, I will blog about her blogging about me and my blogging space!

In March I have two tour events happening:

First is the Georgette Heyer Tour on the Classics Circuit on March 19th. I haven't read Heyer yet but have some book buddies who love her work, so I'm looking forward to reading Friday's Child for the tour.

On March 23rd this blog will be a TLC tour stop for The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli. This is Soli's debut novel about a woman combat photographer in Vietnam. I've read very little about the Vietnam war, so this will be a new experience for me.

In April I have TWO tour stops scheduled for TLC: One for a debut historical novel by Vanitha Sankaran, Watermark, and another for Pat Conroy's newest book, South of Broad. Looks like some stellar reading ahead for me. Here's a little blurb about Watermark:

The daughter of a papermaker in 1320s France, Auda has an ability to read and write that comes from a place of need. Silenced, she finds hope and opportunity in the intricacies of her father’s craft. But the powerful forces of the ruling parties in France form a nearly insurmountable obstacle.

In a time when new ideas were subject to accusations of heresy, Auda dares to defy the status quo. Born albino, believed to be cursed, and rendered mute before she’s ever spoken, her very survival is a testament to the strength of her spirit. As Auda grows into womanhood, she reclaims her heritage in a quest for love and a sense of self.

It sounds like my kind of book!

This weekend I'm finishing up Possession (review coming!) and then will start on Joanne Harris's followup to Chocolat (which I LOVED), The Girl with No Shadow. This one is for my book group in a week. Lots of "required" reading for me the next couple of months - which is not a bad thing. Often it introduces me to new authors and books I wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

What's on your reading and/or blogging agenda for the next couple of months?
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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 02-16-10: Possession: A Romance

2010-02-15T23:18:00.000-08:00

He was then seized with doubt as to whether the bathroom was in fact empty....He did not want to rattle a locked door and embarrass both her and himself, so he went down on one knee on the putative drugget and put his eye to the huge keyhole which glinted at him and disconcertingly vanished as the door swung back and he smelled wet, freshness, steam in cold air. She nearly fell over him there; she put out a hand to steady herself on his shoulder and he threw up a hand and clasped a narrow haunch under the silk of the kimono.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm mostly in London with occasional trips to Yorkshire to investigate a 19th century poet and his illicit love affair.

Weekly Geeks 2010-6: Romancing the Tome

2010-02-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a Weekly Geeks post for quite awhile! This week's topic is romantic literature - in honor of Valentine's Day, of course.

I have to give this one a lot of thought, as romance isn't high on my list of topics I enjoy or pursue in novels. In fact, a forced romantic link can often ruin a story for me. But romance done well is often delightful.

Out of several possible WG prompts, I decided to answer just one: "Do you have a favorite romantic scene in a book?"

One of the most sensuous scenes I've ever read was in Crescent by Diana Abu Jaber. Sirine works in her father's restaurant; Han frequents the restaurant, and soon the sparks begin to fly. This scene takes place while they're having a conversation about Han returning to his homeland of Iraq:

There’s time for baklava if they make it together.

…
And while Sirine has never known how to dance, always stiffening and trying to lead while her partner murmurs relax, relax – and while there are very few people who know how to cook and move with her in the kitchen – it seems that she and Han know how to make baklava together. She’s startled to find that she seems to feel his presence in her shoulders, running through her arms and wrists, into her hands. Her senses feel bunched together like fingers around a bouquet, her skin sensitive to the touch. She feels light-headed. She watches the fluid movement in his legs, arms, and neck, the dark fringe of his eyes. He transports the sheets and she sweeps the pastry brush, losing herself in the rocking movement. She takes in the powerful curve of his neck and shoulders; his skin is silkily brown. There’s just a touch of insomnia in his eyes, an inward, solitary air.

…
He smoothes another sheet. Sirine butters it, then pours a thick filling of ground walnuts, sugar, and spices over the layers. She strokes her palm over the top to level it.

…
"My mother told me that if I knew how to make good baklava I would be irresistible to any woman,” he says.
“Ah, so she taught you how to make baklava,” Sirine observes.
“No. So she refused to teach me.”
Sirine laughs. “But somehow you learned how to make it anyway. Lucky for me.”
“Actually, I’m learning how right this second.”
Another layer. Butter. She glances at him, then back at the baklava.

…
Distracted, she lowers the brush and accidentally swipes his fingers with butter. She blushes and quickly wipes his hand off with her apron. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she says.

His hand is warm and his fingers fumble through hers. “You may butter my fingers anytime,” he says, then coughs and looks abashed.

Ooo la la. Butter me some baklava! Food and eating lend themselves well to romantic and/or sensuous scenes (who can forget the fruit eating scene in Tom Jones?).

One thing that gets under my skin (and not in a good way!) is the use of "afterward" as a euphemism for "they had sex." I come across this more often than I think I should in good contemporary literature. He woos her; she responds; they flirt; they touch; they kiss; AFTERWARD they go see a movie. Why not just say "yada yada yada?" It's just as creative.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day - and Happy Asian New Year, the Year of the Tiger!
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The Sunday Salon - Fearless Reading

2010-02-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hello bloggers and bloggees! Happy Sunday, and Happy Valentine's Day.

I've been thinking about books that have intimidated me, partly because I'm in the midst of one right now -- A. S. Byatt's Possession. It has seemed such an erudite tome and has many references to - gasp! - poetry, which is not my bailiwick. But I'm determined to read some Booker Prize winners this year - five winners to be exact - and this one has been on my list for some time. Now that I'm a couple of hundred pages into it, it's not so scary after all! Sure, there are references and allusions I'm missing, but the story is interesting and the writing is gorgeous:

Blackadder, in bad moods, thought of her as one of those puffed white spiders, bleached by the dark, feeling along the threads of her trap from her central lair. The feminists who had from time to time sought access to the Journal saw her as some kind of guardian octopus, an ocean Fafnir, curled torpidly round her hoard, putting up opaque screens of ink or watery smoke to obscure her whereabouts.

Of course, one good thing about reading challenging books is that I learn quite a bit, with Wikis and dictionaries at hand. I hadn't known what or who Fafnir was.

Most of the books I find intimidating (and that I should read) are classics - Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Henry James. The density of the language is problematic; do I want to work that hard to read a book? Sometimes, yes. I did, after all, conquer War and Peace and Anna Karenina a couple of winters ago and enjoyed them immensely, Russian names and all!

The next Booker Prize winner I feel a bit anxious about is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I've heard rave reviews about this historical novel about Cromwell and Henry VIII - a period in history about which I know very little. This 600 page tome daily taunts me from the shelf with its bright red spine and bold black letters. And for starters, there are 8 pages of the cast of characters, and these trees:

But I'm not worried. I can do this. I have Wikipedia.

A quick update on my January reading, since I missed the last couple of Salons: I read 8 books, all of them 4 stars and above. And I've reviewed all of them! You can see the list on the sidebar and click on the LibraryThing reviews (which are essentially the same text as the reviews here on the blog). February is going well too (half way through the month already!) - 3 1/2 books so far and all of them 4+ stars as well! So the bar is set pretty high for 2010. I feel sorry for that first clunker - it's really going to fall flat.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day, don't eat too much chocolate (is that possible?). And happy reading!
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Dear Diary....

2010-02-09T22:13:00.001-08:00

I had to share this tidbit from my sister-in-law, Bonnie:

My little friend Ella is six years old, soon to be seven. Yesterday at church I noticed she was wearing a small key on a ribbon around her neck. When I asked her about it she said it was for her diary. She continued by telling me that a diary is like a blog that you write in a book.

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Crampton Hodnet - Book review

2010-02-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

Barbara Pym is a writer I probably would never have run across were it not for some of my friends on LibraryThing. Her books tend to be about English manners and society, peopled with vicars and professors, office workers, housekeepers and ladies’ companions and the occasional “upper class” family. Plots are not high drama, but tend toward the mundane and made into high drama by some of the characters. Her novels are full of subtle wit and irony, done with an intelligence that is not easy to achieve.

Though it was one of her first novels, written in the late 1930s, Crampton Hodnet was published posthumously in 1985. It revolves around the lives of several people in Oxford: Miss Doggett, an elderly spinster of some means, and her paid companion, Miss Morrow; Mr. Latimer, the new curate who comes to lodge with them; Miss Doggett’s nephew Francis Cleveland, an English professor who falls in love with Barbara Bird, a young student; Margaret, his rather oblivious wife; and their daughter Anthea, of a marriageable age.

Comedies of manners, inappropriate invasive behaviors and gossip ensue.

There is nothing very profound in Pym’s novel, but her writing is so clever and laugh-out-loud funny, I have not failed to love any of her books. Some examples:

She shot a glance at Mrs. Killigrew, sitting there so smug and splendid for her age, and there came over her a desire to squash down her stiff straw hat, to tear the bird off it and fling it into the unseasonable fire.

and

She stood in the lounge, nervously twisting her hands and looking around her with some agitation. She saw that the room was decorated with stiff palms in brass pots and that, grouped in a corner, as if for artistic effect, were a number of old people reading the newspapers. They looked as if they had been left there many years ago and abandoned. Or perhaps they were people who at some time long past had intended to go abroad and had then either not wanted to or forgotten all about it, so that they had stayed here ever since, like fossils petrified in stone.

And what or where or who is Crampton Hodnet? It is a made-up place that becomes a running joke between two of the characters. You’ll need to read the book to discover more.

I raced through this book and now I wish I’d taken a little more time to savor the irony and wit. Fortunately, I have a few more Pyms to look forward to. Highly recommended. (4/5)
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Lark and Termite = Book review.

2010-02-09T16:42:00.001-08:00

Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips.

I was taken aback when I began to read Lark and Termite. Is this a war novel? It starts with Corporal Robert Leavitt, 24th Infantry Division, South Korea, July 26, 1950. But I didn’t want to read another war novel! There are hints of life back in the States, his wife and family. But he’s talking infantry and GHQ and ROK units and Occupation forces… this is not what I signed up for! 15 pages…23 pages…29… finally, on page 30 we switch gears to Winfield, West Virginia, 1956, and the story of Lark and Termite begins. Of course, connections are made eventually and the story swings back and forth between time periods and place. And I am most comfortable in the small town story.

I loved the chapters about Lark, the 17 year old beauty, and the tender relationship she has with her severely disabled and retarded brother, Termite, age 9. They live with their aunt Nonie, who works at a local restaurant.

Lark doesn’t think twice about caring for her brother. She is the one who best understands his needs and his methods of communication, and she realizes that he comprehends much more than others give him credit for: “…he’s got a rhyme and reason. We only see the surface, like when you look at a river all you see is a reflection of the sky.”

Phillips was courageous in the sections where it’s Termite’s POV. Of course, I have no way of knowing if her portrayal is authentic, but it certainly rings true. He catches snatches of conversation; hears and feels things that others can’t:

Sudden morning air floats low to the ground amid the small houses like fragrant evaporating mist, a cool bath of dew and shadow and damp honeysuckle scent. He gasps and hears the sharp grass under them move its fibrous roots…There’s a shape in the air where the car was. He feels the shape hold still before it begins to end. Slowly the air comes back. The grass begins small sounds.

These sections had me contemplating for a long time how people who can’t communicate in “normal” ways experience the world.

I forgive Phillips the Korean War chapters – they are integral to the larger story. And I forgive the bit of magical realism that is part of the story too. I just can’t quite give her a perfect score because of the grossly overwritten character of Gladdy, Nonie’s nemesis. She’s bitter, petty and vindictive – and I found her an unbelievable character who didn’t add much to the novel. After Phillips drew the other characters so exquisitely, this one was a stumbling block for me.

Still – highly recommended for some superb writing. (4/5)
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The Voyage of the Narwhal - Book review

2010-02-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Talking grew difficult; their beards froze to their neckerchiefs and saliva sealed their lips. The wind tore tears from their eyes and froze their lids together.

Thus is the atmosphere in The Voyage of the Narwhal, an historical adventure novel by Andrea Barrett. It is set in the mid-nineteenth century; the Narwhal is a whaling ship that has been outfitted for an Arctic voyage. The mission is to find out what happened to the Franklin expedition, apparently lost some years before exploring the Arctic. It is a bit of a race, as other expeditions have also set out to find Franklin’s ship.

The Narwhal’s naturalist and the book’s main protagonist is Erasmus Darwin Wells. He is the voice of reason on the voyage, compared to the commander, Zechariah Voorhees (Zeke), who is young and daring and doesn’t give much thought to the consequences of his actions. He puts his crew at risk on a number of occasions. He is the commander only because his father funded the expedition and built the ship.

Though I haven’t read many adventure stories, there are some elements here one would naturally expect – daring, danger, hardships, near death experiences, an unhappy crew, an unreasonable commander, and so on. Barrett's brilliance lies in her descriptions of the atmosphere and settings:

...any acknowledgment of sickness made the men nervous. So did the darkness, and the daily task of scraping from bunks and bulkheads the frost that formed from their breath while they slept. It was disturbing, Erasmus thought, to watch the air that had lived inside their lungs turn into buckets of dirty ice. Tossing the shavings over the side, he felt as if he were discarding parts of himself.

Waiting at home for the return of the Narwhal are Lavinia – sister to Erasmus and fiancé of Zeke – and her companion during the men’s absence, Alexandra. We are privy to their lives as well. They set to work hand coloring plates for an entomology book Lavinia’s two other brothers are publishing. Lavinia uses the work to fill her time, but Alexandra takes to the work and begins drawing illustrations for another book. She is the strong independent one and introduces the theme of women’s rights and abilities into the story. She and her family are abolitionists.

This novel holds adventure, intrigue, mystery, and a bit of magical realism right alongside issues of human rights – treatment of and attitudes toward the indigenous people of the Arctic, the Esquimaux, are explored.

Highly recommended (unless you’re trying to keep warm in frigid temperatures!).

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 02-02-10: The Voyage of the Narwhal

2010-02-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

...any acknowledgment of sickness made the men nervous. So did the darkness, and the daily task of scraping from bunks and bulkheads the frost that formed from their breath while they slept. It was disturbing, Erasmus thought, to watch the air that had lived inside their lungs turn into buckets of dirty ice. Tossing the shavings over the side, he felt as if he were discarding parts of himself.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in the frozen Arctic searching for signs of the ill-fated Franklin expedition.

The Septembers of Shiraz - Book Review

2010-01-29T20:22:00.001-08:00

The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

From the first page of The Septembers of Shiraz, you know it’s not going to be a fun or easy read. In September,1981 in the midst of his work day, Isaac Amin, a Jew living in Tehran, is apprehended at gunpoint by two members of the Revolutionary Guards. They transport him for interrogation and imprisonment. His crime? Being a Jew and benefiting from the reign of the Shah; officially he is accused of being an Israeli spy.

Isaac is a gem trader and jewelry designer in Tehran and has led a very comfortable lifestyle, amassing a fortune under the rule of the Shah. His wife Farnaz and ten year old daughter Shirin live with him in a sprawling house with servants and a gardener. His son, Parviz, attends architectural school in Brooklyn. The novel’s chapters alternate between these four characters from a third person POV.

After the fall of the Shah, they realize that their lifestyle, if not their lives, are in jeopardy. The revolution post-Shah has changed life in Iran drastically. No longer is music or dancing allowed, any person of wealth is suspect, and anyone not loyal to Islam is considered immoral and subject to harsh punishment. A list of executions is frequently posted in the newspaper, and the Amins sometimes read of friends being killed. It is difficult to know whom to trust and conversations and letters are often peppered with code words and phrases.

“The Septembers” refers to Isaac’s idyllic time spent in Shiraz in his youth and young adulthood. It is in stark contrast to the September in which he begins his imprisonment. Some of the prison scenes reminded me of The Lizard Cage, a remarkable book about a Burmese prisoner. Conditions are unimaginable, torture is frequent, survival is tenuous.

As difficult as the subject matter is, I found this a very readable book. The author, Dalia Sofer, was ten when she and her family fled Iran, so I assume that Shirin is a partially autobiographical character. Sofer’s prose is beautiful – for example, when Farnaz picks up a forgotten pair of Isaac’s shoes from a shoemaker while he is in prison, “…she takes them, like a widow leaving a morgue. She walks home with the bag looped around her wrist, the shoes banging against her thigh, as if kicking her for interrupting their repose.” There are many such lovely turns of phrase in this astounding debut novel.

Highly recommended. (4.5/5)

Friday Fill-ins 01-29-10

2010-01-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. Wouldn't it be easy to guarantee that everyone in the US has good health care?

2. Life approaching 60 is better than ever!

3. I love the taste of eggnog. It’s a good thing I can’t buy it year-round.

4. It is toddler-world in the living room during the week.

5. The first thing we're going to do is sing.

6. Oregon winter: drip, drip, drip; I love it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Middle Eastern food, tomorrow my plans include a wonderful gathering of friends to remember our dear Betty and Sunday, I want to read!
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The Hearts of Horses - Book Review

2010-01-25T23:15:00.000-08:00

The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss

I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did. I’m not fond of Westerns and I’ve never been big on horse stories. But I do love me some strong women characters, and this book is full of them. Plus, the story held my interest throughout and the writing is superb. I’ve read two other Molly Gloss books: Wild Life and Jump-Off Creek (both also with strong women characters). This is my favorite.

It is 1918. Martha Lessen rides into (fictional) Elwha County in northeast Oregon intent on breaking horses and living the life of an itinerant cowboy. She is in her early twenties and has left home for reasons we find out later in the story. Her methods for breaking horses are not standard; she eschews any brutality toward the animals. Her talent lies with “gentling” the horses.

She finds a temporary place with George and Louise Bliss, a couple who run a small ranch, and she makes herself at home in their barn. She has very few creature comforts and is elated when Louise loans her a stack of books:

She cleared a shelf in the tack room, crowding the veterinary goods into other boxes and onto other shelves to make room for the books. Their variously colored spines, arranged along the cleared shelf, made a small, distinct change in the room. (Page 36.)

The Blisses grow fond of the tall, shy, tomboyish woman and, after she proves herself to be a skilled horse trainer, introduce her to other ranchers in the valley, securing more work for her.

Martha develops tentative relationships with the people she works for. She is painfully shy and often feels out of place in social situations. But because she spends time every week at various ranches, and because of the nature of community in the early part of the twentieth century, she becomes involved in the lives of the people who hire her.

The writing is simple, the story is simple, the lives straightforward, yet the complexities of the greater world are always in the background – WWI, illness, environmental destruction, racism. Since the story is told by an omniscient narrator sometime in the future, there are glimpses of events that will impact the land and the lives of the characters, such as the Dust Bowl and the Depression. Gloss did an astounding amount of research for this novel. The reader will learn quite a bit about horses, tack, life on a small ranch in a bygone era, the hardships and joys of being a horse whisperer and of being a woman alone in a man's world. Highly recommended. (4.5/5)
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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 01-26-10: The Hearts of Horses

2010-01-25T17:40:00.000-08:00

Martha had set out from Pendleton meaning to live a footloose cowboy life and see the places she'd read about in Western romances - she hadn't come down to Elwha County intending to stay. But a winter's worth of work would suit her about right. She had watched a few wranglers riding a circle and she knew the work was hard, riding half a dozen different horses every day, some of them considerably rougher than others and sometimes needing to change saddles or hackamores to fit their different shapes, and then another half-dozen the next day. You were in the saddle dawn to dark six or seven days a week, pretty much regardless of the weather.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in fictional Elwha County in eastern Oregon. It's 1918 and I'm a 20-something woman traveling the county breaking wild horses.

The Sunday Salon- 01-24-10: Book reviews

2010-01-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

Hello bloggers and blogees! Happy Sunday. We've had a couple of spring-like days here in Portland this week, but it looks as though the rain is returning. The weather forecast says High: 44°; Low: 44°. We don't get a lot of variety here in the winter.

A couple of months ago I posted about redecorating my blog and attempting to do more book reviews. I've been 100% successful since the first of the year re: the book reviews! Even though I enjoy writing, for some reason I haven't felt very confident about my reviews. Or maybe it's some PTSD around all those book essays that I had to write in college. I'm not even very big on reading book reviews, at least before I read the book. I just don't want to know that much about it.

Then at some point I realized that by writing reviews I might actually remember some things about the books I've read! I don't seem to retain many details about books anymore, except that I loved it or hated it. So when someone with a mind like a steel trap comments on a book I read last month (or last week): "Oh, didn't you just love it when the priest and the rabbi walked into the bar...." and I mumble "Oh, uh-huh," because my mind is more like a steel sieve (except I can remember lyrics from really BAD 60s songs). Maybe I'll even start taking notes when I read. I have put the book darts to good use to mark some of my favorite passages.

So far in 2010 I've had some great reading - all six of the books I've read have earned at least 4 of 5 stars. Here's the list to date:

The Bone People, 4 stars (Review)
The Mammoth Cheese, 4 stars (Review)
Let the Great World Spin, 4 stars (Review)
Peace Like a River, 4.5 stars (Review)
The Dew Breaker, 4 stars (Review)
Under the Greenwood Tree, 4 stars (Review)

I'm just starting The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss, a Portland writer. I loved the other two books of hers I read and this one looks very promising. I hope it's good, since I recommended it to my book group!

I hope you have a great week and get to read great books.

Under the Greenwood Tree - Book review

2010-01-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

Under the Greenwood Tree, published in 1872, is the first Thomas Hardy book I’ve read. I’ve been informed that this book is Hardy-Lite, that his later books are much more serious and well written. But I thoroughly enjoyed this short novel and was pleasantly surprised by the humor and, even with plenty of dialect in the dialogue, the easy readability.

There are two stories going on in the novel. The first involves the Mellstock Quire – a group of men who have been the church musicians for ages, singing and playing (stringed instruments ONLY: Strings alone would have held their ground against all the new comers in creation… clarinets was death… sinners… miserable dumbledores! Page 31) The men suddenly find themselves deposed by an organist – a beautiful young woman, Fancy Day, who steals not only their coveted musical role but also the hearts of several men in the village, among them Dick Dewey.

Which leads to the second story – the courtship between Dick and Fancy. There are the usual problems of class and gender differences, miscommunications, secrets, jealousy and lack of trust between the two lovers. And they must abide by the Victorian mores, hiding their relationship and sneaking kisses.

With much humor and irony, Hardy explores the gender disparity. My favorite scene involves Dick waiting for Fancy while she has a dress altered. It’s a rare half day off work, and he wants to go nutting with Fancy (harvesting nuts in the woods). He’s a good sport while he waits – at first - then Hardy evokes the epitome of boredom and restlessness:

Still the snipping and sewing went on. The clock struck four. Dick fidgeted about, yawned, privately, counted the knots in the table, yawned publicly, counted the flies on the ceiling, yawned horribly, went into the kitchen and scullery and so thoroughly studied the principle upon which the pump was constructed that he could have delivered a lecture on the subject…the clock struck five, and still the snipping and sewing went on.

Dick attempted to kill a fly, peeled all the rind off his walking-stick…produced hideous discords from the harmonium, and accidentally overturned a vase of flowers, the water from which ran in a rill across the table and dribbled to the floor where it formed a lake, the shape of which after the lapse of a few minutes he began to modify considerably with his foot till it was like a map of England and Wales. (page 140)

It’s a fun, sweet story, not great literature, but a pleasure to read. One complaint I have about the novel is that Hardy dropped the story about the choir almost completely after the romance began to bloom. I so enjoyed the sparring and teasing of the choir members among themselves that I wanted more. But I will forgive him this gaffe and recommend this book. (4/5)
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The Dew Breaker - Book Review

2010-01-22T13:13:00.001-08:00

After the devastating earthquake last week, I wanted to read more about Haiti, and after hearing Edwidge Danticat interviewed on NPR, I remembered I had a couple of her books on my shelf.

The Dew Breaker is a collection of short stories – but I almost hesitate to call them that. The stories are stand-alone but they are also intricately linked to each other, sometimes by characters, sometimes by events. These links are not obvious at first; they are often “AHA!” or “I did not see that coming” moments.

Most of the stories are of Haitian immigrants to the United States. There are harrowing stories just under the surface of conventional veneers, and Danticat slowly and expertly reveals them. Many of the immigrants escaped the terror of the Duvalier dynasty; some participated. All bear the scars, both literally and figuratively. We get glimpses of executions, uprisings and the overthrow of Baby Doc in the stories that take place in Haiti.

In the final –title - story, we learn the story of the dew breaker, the torturer/murderer. It is somewhat sympathetic, as we learn bits of his childhood and of personal struggles. We come to see that the jailers in Haiti are as much prisoners of their lives as their victims are. Fear is a constant, trust is non-existent. What people must do to survive such a violent, poor and chaotic country is far beyond what I can imagine.

I’ve read another of Danticat’s books – Breath, Eyes, Memory– and thought it stunning. I plan to read Krik? Krak! soon. The Washington Post Book World wrote of it, pre-earthquake: "If the news from Haiti is too painful to read, read this book instead and understand the place far more deeply than you ever thought possible." The Dew Breaker was an eye-opener, as I'm sure her other books are.

Highly recommended. (4/5)
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Peace Like a River - Book Review

2010-01-17T23:36:00.000-08:00

Reuben Land is the 11 year old narrator of Peace Like a River. He’s the middle child of single father Jeremiah and brother to Davy, age 17, and Swede, his precocious 9 year old sister. There is just one mention of the children’s mother, who left them some years ago.

It’s the early 1960s; the Lands live in a small town in Minnesota where Jeremiah is the high school janitor. He is a humble man devoted to his children and his God. And he occasionally performs miracles.

Reuben’s adolescent voice is consistent throughout, and it’s like listening to a conversation rather than reading a narration. He is reminiscent of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird – in fact, the story often reminded me of that most excellent book, with Jeremiah a bit like Atticus, the loving and fair-minded father, and Swede and Reuben like Scout and Jem, the precocious, adventurous and motherless children who observe the adults and tell the story while getting mixed up in the drama that unfolds.

There are some lovely humorous moments in the story, usually involving Swede. When she and Reuben agree to break their brother out of jail, Swede steals four steak knives:

Gravely she offered me the box. I chose two and with grim aspect slid them in my belt. Swede crossed her arms. She might’ve sailed with Francis Drake. She said, “We are of a noble tradition, Reuben.” I buttoned up a flannel shirt and drew blood from three knuckles tucking it in. (page 92)

This is a story of love and loyalty, of faith and miracles. Enger’s writing is beautiful and his storytelling superb. Here there is lovely prose, poetry (Swede is writing an epic poem), mystery, adventure and not a few surprises. Not to mention a sweet romance.

Highly recommend. (4.5/5)
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The Sunday Salon- 01-17-10: By the Numbers

2010-01-17T00:44:00.000-08:00

Hello Sunday Saloners! I hope your week has been a good one.

I'm showing off my Excel spreadsheet this week - the one I'm using to keep track of my reading challenges and other reading stats. I used a spreadsheet last year, but it was pre-beginner's Excel; I had no formulas, no way of tracking the books listed in columns, other than using my fingers and toes. It was essentially a journal. But this year - enter Laura, my Geeky-Excel-spreadsheet-and-statistic-loving friend! She showed me how to create some formulas so the numbers will just keep adding up as I go. What a concept! It looks something like this (click on it to enlarge to its full magnificence):

Beautiful, eh? But wait! There's more! I actually ventured off on my own and figured out how to formulate some statistics! I'm starting small - comparing # of male to female authors. But maybe by the end of the year I'll have figured out some more complex stats.

I couldn't wait to finish my first few books so I could watch the magic as I entered the data. Such small pleasures.

I'm on my fourth book for 2010 - Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. It's a wonderful story and the writing is superb. I'll have a review of it up in a day or two. Then I think I'll read Edwidge Danticat's The Dew Breaker - short stories about Haiti.

If you're looking for a good place to donate for Haiti relief, check out my friend Sasha's organization, SOIL. They've been working in Haiti for years on sanitation and sustainability and are now directing all their resources and efforts to disaster relief. Thanks.

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Let the Great World Spin - Book review

2010-01-15T19:52:00.001-08:00

It was so much like having sex with the wind. It complicated things and blew away and softly separated and slid back around him. The wire was about pain too: it would always be there, jutting into his feet, the weight of the bar, the dryness at his throat, the throb of his arms, but the joy was losing the pain so that it no longer mattered. So too with his breathing. He wanted his breath to enter the wire so that he was nothing. This sense of losing himself. Every nerve. Every cuticle. He hit it on the towers. The logic became unfixed. It was the point where there was no time. The wind was blowing and his body could have experienced it years in advance. (page 241)

Let the Great World Spin is a historical novel about Philippe Petit who, in 1974, walked a tightrope between the World Trade Center towers. But we don’t hear much about this factual character. We catch fictional glimpses of him throughout the novel, from spectators, from the judge who sentenced him for his bold act, even from some geeks in California who hack into the phone lines and get some odd eyewitness reports of “the walk,” as it’s referred to.

It had never occurred to me before but everything in New York is built upon another thing, nothing is entirely by itself, each thing as strange as the last, and connected. The dozen or so characters we meet in the book are somehow connected by this moment in time – some as witnesses to the event and some by having a life-changing event happening to them at the time of the walk.

Petit isn’t the only person in the story who does the impossible; others are walking the tightrope that is life, performing such death defying acts as enduring the death of a child; devoting a life to helping the hopeless, the hookers and pimps and destitute; watching a brother sink into an impossible life; losing a new love. We are the spectators to this diverse bunch of people, some who conquer the tightrope and some who slip and fall.

One of my favorite characters is Gloria, a Black woman who seemingly plays a minor role until the end of the book. She tells her story of growing up in Missouri, with a devoted mother and father.

That was the sort of everyday love I had to learn to contend with: if you grow up with it, it’s hard to think you’ll ever match it. I used to think it was difficult for children of folks who really loved each other, hard to get out from under that skin because sometimes it’s just so comfortable you don’t want to have to develop your own. (page 289)

There is one photo of the actual tightrope walk in the book. In an eerie foreshadowing, there is a plane above Petit that looks as though it’s about to hit one of the towers. McCann’s character Jaslyn, in 2006, references it in an elegant way: One small scrap of history meeting a larger one…the collision point of stories.

McCann writes beautifully and I will be reading more of his books in the future. (4/5)

Rachel Maddow- Haitian ambassador shames Pat Robertson

2010-01-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

I find Pat Robertson's "declaration" about Haiti despicable, dangerous and irresponsible.

From MoveOn.org: These three charities, and many others, are providing care. If you can contribute to help fund their emergency efforts, please do.

Doctors Without Borders

Oxfam America

Yéle Haiti

The Sunday Salon: The Mammoth Cheese - Book review

2010-01-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

The Mammoth Cheese is full of surprises. I expected a light funny read, but this book is chock full of people with common problems and a few not so common. There are many stories taking place in the novel and they all twine together nicely.

In the small town of Three Chimneys, Virginia, Margaret Prickett is a single mom to 13 year old Polly. Margaret is trying desperately to keep the family dairy farm afloat. Threatened with foreclosure, she puts all her hopes and energy into electing Adams Brooke president. Brooke’s campaign promise of forgiving the debts of all family farms keeps Margaret going through a very challenging year. She tends the farm, makes cheese, raises Polly and works tirelessly on Brooke’s campaign.

Meanwhile, her neighbor, Manda Franks, has just given birth to 11 babies. You didn’t misread that. Eleven. The town – and the whole country – have gone into typical media frenzy over the births. The only person seemingly not thrilled by this historic event is Manda (and the nutcases who write threatening letters).

Many other characters and minor stories enter into play. August Vaughn has worked on Margaret’s dairy farm for many years. He’s been in love with her since they were teenagers, but she’s clueless. August still lives with his parents, the Reverend Leland Vaughn and Evelyn, and he travels around the region portraying his hero, Thomas Jefferson.

Some characters are just despicable; Holman may have gone a little overboard with her portrayal of Polly’s father Francis and of Patrick Lewis, the local weatherman-turned-feature reporter. Mr. March, Polly’s history teacher, is the lowest of the low.

There are so many themes running through this book, it could almost make up three or four books – but because Holman weaves it all together so nicely, it didn’t feel overwhelming. Some of the issues include:

corporate farms vs family farms
food politics
coming of age
the ethics of fertility therapy
dishonesty in politics
patriotism
media responsibility
strengths and weaknesses of community
unrequited love
child sexual abuse

One of the things Holman does so well is depicting setting. I felt damp and dank after reading the description of Leland’s visit to Manda’s after some of the babies come home:

“Manda, could I trouble you for some Tylenol? I have a vicious headache,” said the preacher, wanting to break the depressing spell cast by the wet dogs and the musty food, the unmucked pen and the relentless drizzle. He was getting soaked, and a dull pain was blooming behind his left eye. (snip)This would be the weather in Hell, Pastor Vaughn thought dully. Not an infinite inferno, but one long unsettled day in between seasons, too hot to wear a sweater, too rainy to go without one, a muggy, clammy, oppressive sort of day, when all the world’s sins would stick to a man like dust from the road. - pages 151 and 154.

Made me want a shower.

Holman does a great job with her characters (with the exceptions above) and the story, chunky as it could be, really flows. And what is the mammoth cheese? It’s a 1,235 pound block of Margaret’s artisan cheese destined for an unforgettable road trip to Washington D.C. I won’t reveal more – but Holman’s book is not predictable! Recommended. (Shortlisted for the 2005 Orange Prize.)

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 01-05-10: The Mammoth Cheese

2010-01-05T00:37:00.000-08:00

The large room was dark and still. Even after nearly two hours, the tall, weather-beaten man who spoke had not found comfort with his voice, never made for public speaking in the first place, which came out whistle-thin, as if someone had siphoned off half of it before it reached his lips.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in Three Chimneys, Virginia, about to embark on a mammoth cheese making endeavor (1,235 pounds worth).

The Bone People - Book review

2010-01-04T22:21:00.000-08:00

The Bone People has been on my shelf for years and I've never had enough curiosity to pick it up. I read it for a book group this month, though, and I'm really glad I waited until now to read it. I'm a better reader these days, more willing to suspend my need for rigid writing styles, more eager to explore stories of other cultures and better able to appreciate the poetry of language, which Hulme does so stunningly well in this book.

It was a tough read, though, for the subject matter. Child abuse, graphically rendered, makes for nightmares and soul sickness for a few days. But it isn't gratuitous violence, it is central to the story of the broken lives of (at least) three individuals.

The story takes place in New Zealand, in the small town of Whangaroa. Keriwen Holmes, part Maori and part European, is a strong, fiercely independent woman who builds herself a tower home with a spiral staircase rising through the center. An unexpected "guest" surprises her one day, a young mute boy named Simon, who comes with a label explaining his disability. He also comes with a foster father (Joe) and a load of complications, including vandalism, thievery, physical violence and a mysterious past.

Hulme's writing style is an interesting mix of stream of consciousness and poetic narrative.

...dear soul, imagine if you could pass all memories, but selectively...keep the sweet things, the first flows of joy at colour and shape and sound (chime of tuis, lichen at Moerangi, rich cadmium yellow on black and red rock; the ratpad ticker of the clock that beat time time time to my guitar; rainbows and storm clouds and dragons of the sunset, and mists set in motion by the breathing of the sea....) - page 289

Hulme does a great job of making a parallel between the destruction of people's lives and souls and the destruction of culture (Maori) and environment, not only causally, but metaphorically. That the three main characters had to practically disintegrate down to the bone to heal and transform is, I think, what is likely to be required of Mother Earth.

I am still struggling with the ending. No spoilers - but could this be a dream sequence? It was just too tidy after the chaos of the rest of the story.

I feel like I've experienced this book rather than just reading it. Hulme is a brilliant writer. (4/5) (Winner - 1985 Booker Prize.)

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 12-29-09: One Amazing Thing

2009-12-28T23:04:00.000-08:00

Farah. She had entered Tariq's life innocuously, the way a letter opener slides under the flap of an envelope, cutting through things that had been glued shut, spilling secret contents.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in an unnamed city in the US (probably LA or San Francisco). We've just experienced an earthquake, and I'm trapped in the basement of the Indian consulate with a group of people I don't know.

The Sunday Salon: Farewell 2009

2009-12-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday to all you Saloners and other readers! I hope the holidays are being sane and peaceful for you. We've had a quiet week - by design. The most exciting event was our puppy Liza Jane getting her new toys out of her stocking. She already had a stuffing-free moose, and now she's added a polar bear and a penguin to the collection. Our living room floor looks a bit like an Arctic massacre took place.

2009 is going out with a flutter rather than a bang in terms of my reading. I tapered off during the summer and in the fall, my reading was almost non-existent. But I'm back in the groove and 2010 looks like a good reading year. Most of what I plan to read is already on my shelf, which is a great feeling. And I generally move books along after I've read them, unless it's one I know I'll want to re-read in the not too distant future. So I'll be making room for more books throughout the year!

Some of my 2009 reading highlights (starred books are the best of the best):

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak*
The Help by Kathryn Stockett*
The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent*
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich*
The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey*
The Colour by Rose Tremain*
The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan*
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon*
The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan*
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver*
The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson*
Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence by Matthew Sanford
Stitches by David Small (graphic memoir)

I've reviewed some of these; in the sidebar, 'Books I've Read in 2009' has links to reviews.

I'll be starting 2010 off with a classic, Dr. Zhivago and some more Orange prize winners/nominees for Orange January, from among these:

Home by Marilynne Robinson
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin
Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett
Ursula Under by Ingrid Hill

Got suggestions?

Happy 2010 to all of you - may the year be peaceful, prosperous and include plenty of good books!

The Sunday Salon: 12-13-09

2009-12-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to have a book review to post this week, but alas, I have yet to finish one for December! I'm making progress on The Lacuna, and enjoying it a lot, just not reading much at a go. Hopefully after next week's choir concert, I'll have some more reading time and energy. Some of the music we're learning for the concert is quite challenging - not a bad thing, but it takes a LOT of time to learn and memorize. Plus, I'm singing a solo in the matinee concert and have had an unfriendly flu bug plaguing me all week, so I need to recover my voice slowly.

So since I don't have much bookish news to report, here's a poem that is the basis for one of the songs we're singing in the concert. It's written by Carolyn Forché:

Song Coming Toward Us

I am spirit entering
The stomach of the stones

Bowls of clay and water sing,
Set on the fires to dry
The mountain moves
Like the spirit of the southeast morning

You walk where drums are buried
Feel their skins tapping all night
Snow flutes swell ahead of your life
Listen to yourself

I am spirit living
Thin wooden years
Around the aspen

You live
Like a brief wisp
In a giant place

Have a wonderful Sunday, whatever you're doing today. Maybe next week I'll have a book report!

Planning Ahead to 2010

2009-12-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

Even though I'm still in a reading slump, I'm making plans for reading in 2010. Just a couple of challenges this year, and nothing so grandiose as 125 books. Plus: most of what I've got on my lists are books that are already on my shelves!

First off, I joined the 1010 Category Challenge over at Library Thing. The idea is to come up with ten different categories in 2010 and read any # of books in each category - you decide the # for yourself. Though many people are reading 10 in each, I decided to go easy on myself and choose five for each one.

I've picked my categories and have most of the books chosen in each one, though that's flexible.

Here are my categories:

A day without Orange is like a day without sunshine - Orange prize winners and nominees
We Like Short Shorts! - short story collections
She’s a Classic - classics written by women
Booker, Dano! - Booker prize winners and nominees
Dust Collectors - books that have been on my shelves more than two years
Border crossings - books from countries other than the US or UK
The Bigger they are, the harder they fall - chunksters, 500 pages and over
News to me - authors new to me
Pulitzer Prize winners
The whole truth and nothing but the truth - nonfiction

Bonus category:
11. Play it again, Sam - re-reads, or books I started and didn't finish and want to try again.

Yesterday I stumbled across the 2010 version of my favorite 2009 reading challenge: What's In a Name. I jumped right into this one in '09 and met my challenge by the end of February.

Six new categories this year and some possible books to meet the challenge:

A book with a food in the title: The Mammoth Cheese; Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit; Sexing the Cherry; Fruit of the Lemon; The Fortune Cookie Chronicles; Winter Wheat
A book with a body of water in the title: Peace Like a River; Pilgrim at Tinker Creek; The Sea, The Sea; The Sea
A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: Madame Bovary; The Master; The Princess Bride; The Queen of the Tambourine; The Emperor of Scent; The Senator’s Wife
A book with a plant in the title: The Poisonwood Bible; Like Trees Walking; The Lotus Eaters
A book with a place name in the title: A Sand County Almanac; The View from Castle Rock; The Septembers of Shiraz; The Little Giant of Aberdeen County; Moonlight in Odessa
A book with a music term in the title: Song of Solomon; A Continuous Harmony; The Fish Can Sing; An Equal Music; Dirt Music

A few of these are crossovers with the 10/10 challenge. That's all perfectly legal!

I'm looking forward to a lot of these books. Mostly right now I'm looking forward to finishing a book this month.

Image from Vladstudio.

The Pink Glove Dance: Breast Cancer Awareness

2009-12-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

This video has gone viral -- it was filmed at a Portland hospital - where I had surgery in August! I knew these people were cool.

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 12-01-09: The Lacuna

2009-11-30T17:46:00.001-08:00

Mother is right about the city ending just south of where we live. It isn't South America, but the streets turn to dirt lanes and it's like a village, with families living in wattle huts around dirt courtyards, children squatting in the mud, mothers making fires to cook tortillas. Grandmothers sit on blankets weaving more blankets for other grandmothers to sit on. Between the houses, gardens of maize and beans.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

It's 1929, I'm 13 years old and live with my mother in a hacienda on Isla Pixol, an island jungle in Mexico.

Friday Fill-ins 11-20-09

2009-11-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. We need the towel rack, grab bars and shower curtain rod installed to FINISH the new bathroom! woot!

2. I flushed our new toilet for the first time and it made me smile.

3. If you want to get in touch with me, email is the best bet

4. I have potty mouth today because I'm so excited about our new bathroom!

5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think I have no opinion about this, other than it seems arbitrary.

6. Being with our friends and family makes for a happy holiday.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to some quiet time at home, tomorrow my plans include a rehearsal and attending a house concert and Sunday, I want to perform with Gwen in our own house concert !

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 11-17-09: Elizabeth and Her German Garden

2009-11-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have been much afflicted again lately by visitors - not stray callers to be got rid of after a due administration of tea and things you are sorry afterward that you said, but people staying in the house and not to be got rid of at all. All June was lost to me in this way, and it was from first to last a radiant month of heat and beauty; but a garden where you meet the people you saw at breakfast, and will see again at lunch and dinner is not a place to be happy in.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

It's the end of the 19th century and I'm living on a German estate north of Berlin, enchanted by the wild gardens; I spend every waking moment outside, after leaving the stultifying dullness of Berlin society.

The Sunday Salon: 11-15-09

2009-11-15T00:03:00.000-08:00

I was going to wish you a happy Ides of November, but apparently, according to Answers.com, in November, ides are on the 13th:

Ides: pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)The 15th day of March, May, July, or October or the 13th day of the other months in the ancient Roman calendar.

Who figures these things out anyway? OK, I'm just stalling here, because I've hardly read ten pages this week. I'm in what is known as a reading slump. It's not that I haven't anything interesting to read - my shelves are full of luscious books waiting to be devoured. I'm actually stuck in the middle of two excellent books: Life and Fate by Vasilly Grossman - a Russian tome about WWII and the Holocaust; and The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls - a memoir about Walls' exceedingly dysfunctional family. So what's not to love?

I'm afraid if I set them aside and move on to other reads, I won't ever pick them up again, and I really do want to read them. And I have some very compelling books waiting in the wings: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, the newest recipient of the Man Booker prize and The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver's first novel in nine years. Oh, so hard to resist. But resist I will. I feel compelled to finish the other two books, I just need to plunge back in.

What about you? What do you do when you're in a reading slump? Do you power through a book or two or just take a break?

I hope you're enjoying your Sunday, wherever you are. It looks like it will be a rainy one here in Portland.
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Weekly Geeks 2009-42: Podcasts?

2009-11-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a Weekly Geeks post for quite awhile! This week's topic:

Share with us a podcast you love, preferably book related, but not necessarily so. Give us the link, of course, and share with us details about that podcast and why you enjoy it so much. If you have a couple or three favorites, share them all!

I used to listen to podcasts a lot more when I was working - often to drown out the noise of downtown construction or of chatty co-workers. The ones I listened to most are not necessarily book-related, but authors are often interviewed and it sometimes piqued my interest about their books. These are all such high quality shows and the podcasts are all quite reliable (not all programs are!)

Fresh Air with Terry Gross. I'm so glad this is a podcast because I rarely remember to tune in when it's on the radio. Terry is a fabulous interviewer and her guests cover a very wide spectrum, from authors to generals to actors.
Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippet - this is where I heard Matt Sanford interviewed about his book, Waking, that I reviewed last week. She has very thought provoking shows with guests such as Karen Armstrong, Rachel Naomi Remen, the late poet John O'Donohue and Mary Doria Russell.
The Story with Dick Gordon. Wonderful interviews with everyday folk who have interesting stories to tell.
This American Life with Ira Glass. Just brilliant. Sometimes funny, often poignant. David Sedaris is a regular guest as is Sarah Vowell. Hint: you need to download this one the week immediately following the airing of the show for the free podcast; after that they're available for 99 cents each (still a good deal).

I'm grateful for this theme this week because now I'm remembering how much I enjoyed listening to these shows while I worked or rode the bus. I must make time for them again.
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Friday Fill-ins 11-13-09

2009-11-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. The last band I saw live was probably the same band I’m going to see tomorrow – Motherlode

2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is time with our families.

3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is almost non-existent.

4. Thoughts of music fill my head. (Of course, now that you mentioned bagpipes, Amazing Grace is running through my head!)

5. I wish I could wear pierced earrings.

6. Bagpipes can sometimes make me feel melancholy.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to quiet time at home, tomorrow my plans include a band rehearsal, dinner with friends and a concert, and Sunday, I want to read and sing.

Teaser Tuesday and Where In the World Are You? The Glass Castle

2009-11-09T19:56:00.000-08:00

After dinner, the whole family stretched out on the benches and the floor of the depot and read, with the dictionary in the middle of the room so we kids could look up words we didn't know. Sometimes I discussed the definitions with Dad, and if we didn't agree with what the dictionary writers said, we sat down and wrote a letter to the publishers. they'd write back defending their position, which would prompt an even longer letter from Dad, and if they replied again, so would he, until we stopped hearing from the dictionary people.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

Hmm, where am I? Bouncing around between small mining towns, big cities (Phoenix, Las Vegas), West Virginia, the desert; living in trailers, an abandoned train depot, available shacks, with family - never very long in one place, with parents like mine.

Liza and the shoes

2009-11-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

Our six month old puppy Liza loves to go for walks. She can tell when I'm putting on my shoes that it's time - see how she "helps" me put them on?

Sunday Salon: RW&R Rising from the Dust

2009-11-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Poor little blog, you look so lonely. I've been off spending time with my photo blog and neglecting you. So in honor of my decision to pay more attention to you (including writing book reviews) I've decided on a makeover. What do you think of your new look?

So first, Saloners and other readers (if there are any of you left!) a little update on my reading progress. I was aiming for 125 books for 2009, but at some point last month, I realized I'll be lucky to reach 100. And that's just fine. My challenges were tending to cause me angst, which defeats the whole purpose of reading books, yes? I do have a fun challenge set up for 2010 (more details later) that involves a lot of the books I've been wanting to read anyway, and almost all of which are on my bookshelves already.

Just to have some closure on my challenges: out of nine challenges, I've completed all but two. Here are the stats:

What's In a Name: 6 of 6
Dewey's Books: 5 of 5
Decades: 6 of 10 (I'll be reading at least one more of these before year's end)
Pub Challenge: 9 of 9
Booker Prize Challenge: 10 of 12 (The 2009 winner, Wolf Hall, is waiting in the wings, very close at hand)
Orange Prize Challenge: 12 of 12
Essays: 20 of 20
Short Stories: 25 of 25
Classics: 4 of 4

As of today, I'm at 79 books read for the year.

And as promised, here is a book review.
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Waking by Matthew Sanford

I heard Matt Sanford on an NPR program about a year ago and his story touched and fascinated me. In 1978, at age 13, he was in a terrible auto accident that killed his father and sister and left Matt a paraplegic. In this memoir he tells of years of pain, anguish and coming to terms with his paralysis and the grief of losing his father and sister.

Matt spends a number of years in a gray world, disconnected emotionally and spiritually from his body. At some point he becomes aware that his healing story will not involve walking or becoming like one of the super hero paraplegics paraded in front of him for inspiration. Eventually Matthew is introduced to yoga and experiences what he calls an "energetic sensation within my mind-body relationship." He pursues yoga intensely - though it is not a linear progression; he experiences many setbacks. Eventually, Matt goes on to teach yoga to both walking people and those with disabilities.

I was drawn to Matt's story partly because of my own experience with yoga and with progressive physical limitations. It is a good reminder to all of us to stay conscious of our bodies, not to take them for granted; and that we can change the healing stories that practitioners tell us and that we tell ourselves.

Beautiful writing; highly recommended.
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How to Tell People They Sound Racist

2009-11-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

Friday Fill-ins 11-06-09

2009-11-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. Plans and schedules are necessary evils.

2. I'm happy when things flow.

3. The last thing I drank was coffee (duh).

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is friendship.

5. I like feta cheese on my pizza.

6. Dear November, Thank you for the beautiful autumn leaves.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet evening, tomorrow my plans include not much and Sunday, I want to do more of the same.

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Friday Fill-ins 10-16-09

2009-10-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. So are we going to New York in September?

2. A finished bathroom! is what's up ahead.

3. I love to sing.

4. I have a virus of some sort.

5. I walk a puppy almost every day now.

6. A good book is one of the true elixirs of life!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting over my virus, tomorrow my plans include reading and Sunday, I want to go visit my Dad.

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 10-13-09: Life and Fate

2009-10-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Nearly everyone believed that good would triumph, that honest men, who hadn't hesitated to sacrifice their lives, would be able to build a good and just life. This faith was all the more touching in that these men thought that they themselves would be unlikely to survive until the end of the war; indeed, they felt astonished each evening to have survived one more day.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in Russia; it's 1942 and I'm alternately in a German concentration camp, a Russian labour camp, Kazan, Stalingrad, on a cattle car bound for the gas chamber and a tank corps in the Urals. Life is not easy for any of us.

Friday Fill-ins 10-02-09

2009-10-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. I have a history of procrastination; I’ve been meaning to write about it but keep putting it off.

2. Fluent Spanish is something I wish I knew.

3. I'm eating (or recently ate) too much.

4. Time to get on the road to better health.

5. So that's it, that's all she wrote!

6. Enough is better than nothing!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to pampering our puppy after her surgery, tomorrow my plans include tile shopping and the farmers market and Sunday, I want to read!

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Friday Fill-ins 09-25-09

2009-09-24T23:15:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

And here we go!

1. One week ago I was a week younger than I am today.

2. I thought I could fly like Peter Pan when I was young.

3. Mama told me I couldn’t.

4. It’s all up to you and me.

5. Take your time figuring out what to do with the rest of your life – and have fun doing it.

6. Gas will pass!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a Middle Eastern dinner, tomorrow my plans include driving to the beach and introducing our puppy to the ocean and Sunday, I want to hang out at the beach and read and nap.

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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 09-22-09: The Earth Hums in B Flat

2009-09-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know why my feet are taking me along this road. There are plenty of other roads to walk. Maybe I need to take notice of my feet as well as listen to my own head. Maybe my feet are telling me something my head doesn't know.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm a precocious 12 year old girl living in a small village in Wales.

Friday Fill-ins 09-18-09

2009-09-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. My car really needs to be washed.

2. The autumnal equinox is coming up next.

3. Lately, things seem a little crazy with the health care issue causing so much polarization. I don’t understand why people think it’s not a good thing for everyone to have health coverage.

4. My cottage / studio is one of my favorite 'hiding' places.

5. What happened to hope?

6. Good health care for all is not impossible!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet reading evening, tomorrow my plans include the farmers market, if it’s not raining, and shopping for tile for our new bathroom and Sunday, I want to read.

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 09-15-09: Women of the Silk

2009-09-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

The house rattled hollow in the strong, persistent winds. At night, when the winds blew, they were like voices coming through the house. Yu-sung lay in bed for hours listening to what they were saying. Sometimes she imagined them to be the voices of her daughters, returning to tell her of their lives. 'It is all right, Ma Ma,' they told her. But when she sat up slowly, so as not to disturb Pao, and listened harder for their distant voices, the noise was simply the winds of a storm approaching.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

It's 1925 and I'm in Yung Kee, China working in a silk factory.

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Friday Fill-ins 09-04-09

2009-09-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. I feel that no one should die because they cannot afford healthcare. No one should go broke because they get sick, and no one should be tied to a job because of a pre-existing condition or to get health care.

2. Singing with my friends is always fun.

3. Right now, I can hear these things: my laptop fan; my puppy barking in her sleep (dog dreams); fireworks from downtown where the symphony is playing The 1812 Overture.

4. It feels like fall and I'm glad it’s going to rain soon.

5. The last time I played my guitar was too long ago.

6. My birthday falls on this Labor day weekend.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading, tomorrow my plans include a birthday dinner and Sunday, I want to celebrate my birthday and go to a block party. And Monday I want to celebrate my birthday at a brunch with friends and then go to a root beer party!

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Friday Fill-ins 08-28-09

2009-08-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. He was a complicated man who did a lot of good things for this country. Ted Kennedy RIP.

2. Autumn chill, long nights, quiet days is what I look forward to most this time of year.

3. My best friend is not a term I use.

4. My intention is always to be honest with you.

5. Appearances can be fun and creative!

6. The last person I gave a hug to was Laurie. Why don't we do that more often?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading my book and watching The Matrix, tomorrow my plans include going to a house concert to hear my friends perform and Sunday, I want to finish my current book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay!

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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 08-25-09: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

2009-08-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.

This week my teaser is from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, page 61:

Finally, Josef had to reach into the coffin and grasp the Golem around the waist, elevating its lower body several inches, before Kornblum could tug the trousers over the feet, up the legs, and around the Golem's rather sizable buttocks. They had decided not to bother with underwear, but for the sake of anatomical versimilitude - in a display of the thoroughness that had characterized his career on the stage -- Kornblum tore one of the old tallises in two (kissing it first), gave a series of twists to one of the halves, and tucked the resulting artifact up between the Golem's legs, into the crotch, where there was only a smooth void of clay.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in Brooklyn, 1939, having arrived in a circuitous route from Czechoslovakia to Lithuania, Russia, Japan and San Francisco. I'll soon be making my debut in the comic book industry.

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Friday Fill-ins 08-21-09

2009-08-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. I remember, I remember...hmmm, no I don’t.

2. Dear Laurie, I want you to know how grateful I am for you in my life (I want to see if she reads this!)

3. Is that my puppy’s EARS!!??!!

4. I'm trying to resist the temptation of more coffee and ice cream.

5. I'm saving a cuddle just for you!

6. If I made a birthday list a beach trip would definitely be on it!!!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to visiting with my friend Wendy, tomorrow my plans include a little more visiting and some reading and Sunday, I want to heal!

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 08-18-09: The Day the Falls Stood Still

2009-08-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

But I am not so quick to rule out mystery and magic. I like the astonishing and do not doubt that it exists. What is God, after all, if not mystery and magic, and astonishing? I have little inclination to scoff at Tom’s bit of mystery. From my window seat at the academy, I saw prayers in the rising mist.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in 1915 Niagara Falls, Ontario. I'm learning some interesting history about the Falls and getting acquainted with some colorful and mystical folks who live and work around here.

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Friday Fill-ins 08-07-09

2009-08-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. A root beer float is my favorite summertime dessert.

2. My favorite John Hughes movies is (I had to look up who this was; I don’t often track directors) Planes, Trains & Automobiles, hands down.

3. My puppy’s soft soft ears is something I love to touch.

4. The full moon makes me smile. Every time.

5. I’m feeling confident about next week’s surgery right now.

6. When daylight fades I want to take pictures in the sweet dusky light.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading and blogging, tomorrow my plans include doing a photo shoot with Ms. P and her parents and going out to dinner with Laurie and Sunday, I want to pick up my sister from the train station and have some good time together, and my last good meal before surgery!

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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 08-04-09: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

2009-08-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

Still the whispers circulated in the mouths of the people seated behind her, occasionally spilling out whole words and fragments that Mercy could just overhear. 'Disappeared,' she thought she heard, and 'little child' and 'neigh distracted.' Also one word, more often than all the others, the word she dreaded: 'witch.'

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in Salem, Marblehead, and Boston Massachusetts alternating between the 17th and 20th centuries as I put together the story of accused witch, Deliverance Dane.

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Friday Fill-ins 07-31-09

2009-07-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

Janet is our fantastic host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. It's time for the bi-annual family reunion!

2. The basement: it's not a bad place for the bedroom on these hot hot nights.

3. I must be ten pounds lighter after sweating in 106 degree heat.

4. Love is the best thing I have ever known.

5. My puppy is simply the cutest, sweetest and funniest EVER.

6. The last time I laughed really loudly was with my laughing buddies, Nan and Gwenlyn; we always laugh loudly!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing my oldest sister, tomorrow my plans include spending time with both my sisters and Sunday, I want to spend time with the whole fam damily! at the reunion!

Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 07-24-09: When I Lived in Modern Times

2009-07-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

From a young age I had stood at my mother's side at the salon, handing her pins and clips, listening ungratefully while she taught me everything she knew. I was sent on humble errands to Steckyn's on Wardour Street to pick up shampoo capes and sleeping nets and snoods. As others hoarded string, we were sharp-eyed for hairpins that had strayed on buses or in the street, collecting them up in our handbags, knowing that the metal they were made of was diverted into the production of aeroplanes and helmets and ships and bombs and that these few slivers of steel had to be gathered and kept in a safe place, sometimes when there were shortages, under lock and key.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm back and forth in time and place between London and Palestine, hoping to be part of creating the new Zionist state.

Friday Fill-ins 07-17-09

2009-07-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Janet is our brilliant host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. Stir fried tofu and rice make a quick and easy dinner.

2. Old Filth by Jane Gardam is the book I'm reading right now.

3. July brings back memories of a rocket firecracker blowing up in my face when I was ten! I was lucky – no long lasting effects.

4. It‘s obvious that the climate crisis is mostly human caused, but there are still deniers. What’s up with that???

5. They say if you tell your dreams it helps you to sort out the meaning; it can be very therapeutic.

6. I usually have to think it over before I respond in a conflict.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting over the flu, tomorrow my plans include getting over the flu and Sunday, I want to be over the flu!
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Weekly Geeks 2009-26: Globe Trotting

2009-07-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

This week's Weekly Geeks asks you to tell us about your globe trotting via books. Are you a global reader? How many countries have you "visited" in your reading? What are your favorite places or cultures to read about? Can you recommend particularly good books about certain regions, countries or continents? How do you find out about books from other countries? What countries would you like to read that you haven't yet?

This was my own WG topic, so I guess I'd better get a post up about it! I've enjoyed reading books from other countries/cultures for a number of years but haven't been conscientious about it until the last couple of years, since I've been on Library Thing. There I find lots of interesting discussions about books from around the world, ones I probably wouldn't have heard of otherwise. One of the forums on LT is Reading Globally - I get a lot of good book recommendations there.

So, where have I been? I tend to read a lot of Asian lit, particularly Chinese and Japanese authors. There's a spareness about the writing that I love. Gail Tsukyama is one of my favorite Japanese writers.

South America is another favorite place to visit - Isabelle Allende, from Chile, is one of my very favorite authors and I will read anything she writes!

I've read quite a few books by African writers lately -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote the Orange Prize winner Half of a Yellow Sun, which is a stunning book about the Biafran civil war, of which I was completely ignorant.

Most of the books I read from other countries are heavy on cultural and/or political themes, so as well as reading some fresh new writing, I also learn a great deal about other places in the world. It feels expansive and is a much easier way for me to learn about a place than reading history books. And since I know I won't be traveling to most of these places, I get to "visit" them via writers who've lived the experience.

Where have I been? This map gives you a fairly good idea:

55 countries, or 24% of the total. I can see I need to fill in a lot of blanks in Africa, the Middle East and, surprisingly, Europe - Austria, The Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, and many of the eastern European countries. I have a few on my list - do you have some recommendations for me? Venezuela -- Morocco -- Romania -- Croatia -- Kuwait -- Saudi Arabia?

Visit Weekly Geeks to find out where in the world other readers have been.
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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 07-14-09: Fugitive Pieces

2009-07-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

...my hands remembered the crazed and embossed leathers, corners eroded to board, paperbacks soft from the sea air. And slipped between books, newspaper clippings fragile as mica. When I was young I searched among them for the one book that would teach me everything, just as I would look for one language, just as some would look for one woman's face. There's a Hebrew saying: Hold a book in your hand and you're a pilgrim at the gates of a new city.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I started out in Biskupin, Poland; was rescued from the Nazis and taken to Zakynthos, Greece. Then we moved to Toronto. I'm now back in Greece on the island of Idhra.

Friday Fill-ins 07-10-09

2009-07-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Janet is our brilliant host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. The last thing I ate was ice cream and coffee.

2. Puppy food is something I recently bought.

3. When it rains, it turns everything a luscious green, which is why I love Oregon.

4. Laurie was the first person I talked to today.

5. Hugs are essential.

6. I take my own pillow with me for extra comfort.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading and playing with Liza, tomorrow my plans include a potluck-song circle with a bunch of women friends and Sunday, I want to play with Liza!

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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 07-07-09: The Colour

2009-07-07T00:28:00.000-07:00

It was Pare's weeping that brought four year old Edwin to the place where she sat. He'd been lolling in his totoki tree, letting his pet brown caterpillar promenade up and down its branches, when he'd heard an unfamiliar sound. Pare's was a musical kind of weeping, and Edwin wondered whether this noise could be a giant Moa Bird crying for its lost ability to fly.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I'm in New Zealand near Christchurch at the beginning of a gold rush in 1861.

The Sunday Salon: Second Quarter wrapup and a new puppy!

2009-07-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Happy July! Now there are two of my favorite events in July - Wimbledon and Orange July! I'm watching the men's final as I type, with my first cup of coffee at hand and our brand new puppy, Liza Jane, in my lap. Something tells me I won't get quite as much reading done with this little bundle of joy in our lives.

First off, here's my second quarter report. I read 25 books this quarter, some amazingly good and some forgettable. My favorites include:

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Master by Colm Tóibín
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Spare Room by Helen Garner
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Three Junes by Julia Glass
Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff (short stories)
The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys
Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (graphic short stories)

Among these I'd have to claim the Erdrich as my favorite, though it's difficult to choose from this stellar list. A couple of surprises: Oryx and Crake was a book I'd tried to read two or three times in years past and hadn't gotten far. The timing was right this time, it was a great sci-fi story and Atwood's writing, as always, is incredible. I'm anxious to read her brand new book, due out soon. The Woman in White was a nice surprise. I hadn't heard of Wilkie Collins until recently - he's a contemporary of Charles Dickens and this was a great story with mystery, intrigue and plenty of humor and memorable characters. Sarah Waters, who apparently was a Collins fan, disappointed me a bit with her new novel, The Little Stranger. It just didn't have the pizazz that her other books have had, but I still enjoyed it.

And now, let me introduce you to Liza. She's 1/2 dachshund and 1/2 chihuahua, nine weeks old, full of piss and vinegar, sweet and cuddly and quite smart. We were relieved that the neighborhood fireworks didn't seem to faze her last night; she did keep us awake a lot her first night, though, not quite getting the message that her bed is separate from ours. I'll keep you posted on her progress as she settles in. Enjoy your July reads!

Liza Jane

See more photos of her on my photo blog.
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Friday Fill-ins 07-03-09

2009-07-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

Janet is our charming host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. When I heard Michael Jackson died I was shocked.

2. Good friends are the best medicine.

3. It's late, but I want to finish this book!

4. I’ll be loving you Always.

5. My eyes have seen many changes; I wonder what’s yet to come.

6. Coffee. Now. And strongly.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cooling off from the heat wave, tomorrow my plans include welcoming our new puppy home and Sunday, I want to play with the puppy and get to know her – and probably take a picture or two!

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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 06-30-09: The Invention of Everything Else

2009-06-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.

This week my teaser is from The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt. I'm bending the rules a bit, but could not resist this teaser from Page One. It needs to be longer than a couple of sentences too.

Take for example the dust here in my hotel room. Each particle says something as it drifts through the last rays of sunlight, pale blades that have cut their way past my closed curtains. Look at this dust. It is everywhere. Here is the tiniest bit of a woman from Bath Beach who had her hair styled two days ago, loosening a few small flakes of scalp in the process. Two days it took her to arrive, but here she is at last. She had to come because the hotel where I live is like the sticky tongue of a frog jutting out high above Manhattan, collecting the city particle by wandering particle. Here is some chimney ash. Here is some buckwheat flour blown in from a Portuguese bakery on Minetta Lane and a pellicle of curled felt belonging to the haberdashery around the corner.

If the rest of the book is half this good, I'm in for a treat!

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I am in a hotel in Manhattan. I've lived here a long time. I have pigeons who come and keep me company.

Weekly Geeks 2009-24: Trivia!

2009-06-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Suey hosted WG this week and invited us to play trivia games of our choice (with a literary focus, of course).

I drew on one of my favorites from last year -- below you'll find seven partial book covers (all are well known books). All you have to do is come up with the titles and put your answers into a comment. Have fun!

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The Sunday Salon: Orange July!!!

2009-06-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

Last year my friend Jill over at The Magic Lasso came up with the brilliant idea of Orange July. It was her personal commitment to read books that had won or been short or long listed for the Orange Prize; she invited anyone who was interested to join in at any level, whether you chose to read just one of the books or a dozen. It turned out to be such a popular challenge that we repeated it in January. And now it's almost time for the second annual Orange July.

Why Orange Prize books? I think they are the best contemporary women's fiction being written today. Of the seven I read last July, one received an average rating (3 1/2 out of 5 stars) and the rest were all 4 to 5 star books. The Orange prize books are consistently among my favorite reads of the year.

On deck for me for this year's Orange July are:

Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
The Colour by the beloved Rose Tremain (I'm savoring her books, reading one every six months or so)
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman

And today I received in the mail from the publisher (LOVE free books!) another one that made this year's short list: The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt.

What about you? Have you read any of these books? Have a suggestion which one I should start with? Are you reading Orange this July?

Links of interest:
The Orange Prize Project
Official Orange Prize website

Whatever you're reading, I hope it's enjoyable!
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Friday Fill-ins 06-26-09

2009-06-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Janet is our stellar host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

1. She had a great smile that drew me to her immediately.

2. Lady Luck is by my side, always.

3. I know this: life is unpredictable.

4. Silent, peaceful, still.

5. These words apply to me: coffee addict.

6. When I woke up this morning the sun was shining.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet evening reading, tomorrow my plans include game night with a friend and Sunday, I want to read up on puppy raising; she arrives next week!

Photo from Google Images
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Booking Through Thursday - Unique Sorting

2009-06-25T09:40:00.001-07:00

Deb at Booking Through Thursday says:

Browsing through my blog, I found a link to this post about the “Sorted Book Project.” Go read it. I’ll wait.

The idea is to take a few books and physically sort them in such a way that the titles make some kind of sense … something that I’ve never quite gotten around to doing and photographing, but which fascinates me.

What title/combinations can you come up with? (Bonus points if you actually assemble the books and photograph them, like in the original post.)

Oh I love this sort of word play! I came up with several, and started reorganizing my bookshelves to boot! Hm, maybe I should organize them by phrases.

The Map of Love Written on the Body

A Fine Balance: Sacred Hunger, Sacred Time, Sacred Hearts

Trail of Crumbs In the Kitchen: What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

Bleak House, The Unconsoled, The Well of Loneliness: When Will There Be Good News?

Edited to add (sorry, no photo):

What the Body Remembers: Great Expectations

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Weekly Geeks 2009-23: Reading Challenges

2009-06-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

This week's Weekly Geeks topic was suggested by Sheri of A Novel Menagerie. She writes:

Reading Challenges: a help or a hurt? Do you find that the reading challenges keep you organized and goal-oriented? Or, do you find that as you near the end of a challenge that you've failed because you fell short of your original goals? As a result of some reading challenges, I've picked up books that I would have otherwise never heard of or picked up; that, frankly, I have loved. Have you experienced the same with challenges? If so, which ones? Do you have favorite reading challenges?

This is the first time I've attempted reading challenges other than the 100 books a year or the perpetual Booker and Orange awards challenges the last couple of years. I had mixed feelings about starting in on a bunch of challenges - would it take away the enjoyment of reading? Would it feel too much like being back in school, when I never got to choose what I wanted to read?

But then a couple of them really sparked my interest - especially What's In A Name? This challenge has a list of categories, such as "a book with a building in the title; a book with a medical condition in the title." The categories change every year. I found this one easy and most of the books I chose were already on my TBR shelves. It was fun to match titles with categories. I finished this one (6 books) by mid-February.

I also enjoyed the challenge to read five books that Dewey (the originator of Weekly Geeks) had read and reviewed. We had pretty similar tastes in books, so it was easy for me to find five that I could enjoy and probably would have read anyway.

I can't say that the challenges are introducing me to many books I wouldn't have read; that's a bigger picture for me -- book blogs and Library Thing have been the motherlode of new authors for me in the last two years.

I usually save this for the last Sunday Salon of the month, but this is a good time to do an update on my reading challenges.

What's in a Name: completed 6/6 DONE!
Decades Challenge (one book from each decade of the 20th century): completed 6/10.
The Orange Prize and Booker Prize challenges are perpetual, but I've set a personal goal to read 12 of each this year (some are crossovers). Orange Prize: 11/12; Booker Prize: 7/12. With Orange July just next month, I'll be able to knock that one off easily! I already have seven books chosen for that month.
Dewey's Books: 5/5 DONE!
Pub Challenge (reading books published in 2009): 8/9
Short Stories: 21/25
Essays: 0/20
Jane Austen: 0/1
Classics (other than Austen): 4/4 DONE!
These last two are personal challenges. By my definition, Classic is any book older than me that has a high level of notoriety. There are a few exceptions (e.g. To Kill A Mockingbird).

I'm doing pretty well on these! The one I'm running behind on is my 125 book challenge - at the midway point, I've read 47 books. So I might just make it to 100 unless I blog less and read more!

And no, I don't feel like a failure if I don't meet my goals. They are just goals, not requirements.
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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 06-23-09: All Over Creation

2009-06-23T00:28:00.000-07:00

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.

From All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki, page 259:

He sailed in, staying low and light on his board, ducking and weaving. By the time the CEO saw him coming, Mr. Potato Head had achieved what was later judged to be perfect pie proximity. Frankie drew back his arm and let the pie fly.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I am in Liberty Falls, Idaho, near Pocatello on a potato farm. Controversy is brewing between farmers, agribusiness and those opposed to genetically modified plants. I'm learning a lot about the politics and the science of GMOs and about the future of food and seeds.

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TSS: Something Beyond Greatness - Book Blog Tour and Book Giveaway

2009-06-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

TLC Book Tour: Something Beyond Greatness

In Something Beyond Greatness: Conversations with a Man of Science and a Woman of God, the authors conclude:

What the world needs now is not only individual moments of greatness or even individual lives of greatness, but whole communities of greatness. We need to move beyond admiring greatness in the other to becoming like that ourselves.

This slim volume, written by Judy Rodgers and Gayatri Naraine, explores what it means to do great things and what qualities are commonly possessed by people who have done selfless deeds or who live their lives dedicated to the service of others.

The woman of God in the subtitle refers to Indian spiritual leader Dadi Janki, a leader of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. The man of science is Humberto Maturana, professor of biology at the University of Chile and founder of the Laboratory for Experimental Epistemology and the Biology of Cognition. The two of them reach a similar place, though they take different paths to get there.

I was particularly intrigued by Maturana's discussion of linear thinking and acting. He points out that our goal oriented cultures cultivate linear thinking and acting.

We want success; we want efficiency; we want perfection....But when we configure our thinking in such a linear way, we fail. Linear thinking, pursued to its extreme, unavoidably leads to the destruction of humanness, because it leads to the blind destruction of the systemic conditions of life - the biosphere and the anthroposphere that make human existence possible. (Page 97)

It is this linear way of being that prevents the big picture way of viewing life and therefore prevents us from acting spontaneously "sometimes in ways that we later can only explain as miracles." One of the examples cited was Wesley Autrey who jumped onto the New York subway tracks in front of a train to save a man who had fallen. He acted spontaneously. "Whatever he saw in that moment ... evoked an instant response in him. Maturana and Dadi Janki would likely call it love."

Though nods are certainly given to universally known people of greatness - Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. - most of the examples are people who are relatively unknown, people who commit single acts of greatness, like Mr. Autrey, or those who devote their lives to "improving the life and/or awareness of others with no self-interest," such as Hafsat Abiola who "works to promote women, youth and democracy in her home country of Nigeria" through several initiatives that she founded.

The stories of most of the people they interviewed were sparse, and there was a fair amount of repetition in the book. Overall, this is an inspiring, thought provoking book that left me wanting more.

Links of interest:
Something Beyond Greatness blog
Dadi Janki discussing Something Beyond Greatness (YouTube)
Humberto Maturana discussing Something Beyond Greatness (YouTube)

Book giveaway! The publishers kindly sent me an extra copy of Something Beyond Greatness. To sign up for a chance to win, send an email to: maryalicequinn@live.com with the subject line "Reading, Writing and Retirement contest."
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Book review: The Woman in White

2009-06-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Book review.

I wonder why I'd never heard of Wilkie Collins before. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, complete with mystery, intrigue, betrayal, love, Victorian morals and much humor. His writing is on par with his contemporary, Charles Dickens, and one of my favorite contemporary writers, Sarah Waters, has obviously been inspired by Wilkie Collins' writing.

Collins has peopled his book with some flamboyant, fussy and farcical characters. One of the most flamboyant, Count Fosco, narrates part of the tale and declares, "What a situation! I suggest it to the rising romance writers of England. I offer it, as totally new, to the worn-out dramatists of France."

Another of the most memorable characters, Uncle Frederick Fairlie, laments "It is the grand misfortune of my life that no one will let me alone."

The story is narrated by a number of different people through journal entries, letters, and straight narration as if it were an epic inquest. Collins was probably one of the first to use this technique in English literature. It works very well in this tale. Some of the voices are a bit too similar, but others, such as Fairlie and Fosco, lend a wonderful color to the narration.

I have another Collins book on my shelf - The Moonstone -- and look forward to reading it. I'm also itching to read some Dickens now. Collins has managed to start me on a path from which I may not return for quite awhile!
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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 06-16-09: The Woman in White

2009-06-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.

From The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, page 193:

The main body of the building is of the time of that highly-overrated woman, Queen Elizabeth. On the ground floor there are two hugely long galleries, with low ceilings lying parallel with each other, and rendered additionally dark and dismal by hideous family portraits - every one of which I should like to burn.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

It's 1850 and I'm at Blackwater Park, Hampshire, England. My sister Laura has married Sir Percival Glyde and I am living with them at his estate.

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Friday Fill-ins 06-12-09

2009-06-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

Janet is our amazing host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

And...here we go!

1. I grew up thinking I couldn’t have my own opinions; but I got over that!

2. Library Thing was the last website I was at before coming here.

3. Why don't you do something nice for yourself today?

4. Reading helps me relax.

5. Thanks for the Friday Fill-Ins, Janet!

6. People who think they have all the answers are very off-putting.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spaghetti dinner with friends, tomorrow my plans include reading and Sunday, I want to read!

Booking Through Thursday - Niche Books

2009-06-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

Deb at Booking Through Thursday asks:

There are certain types of books that I more or less assume all readers read. (Novels, for example.)

But then there are books that only YOU read. Instructional manuals for fly-fishing. How-to books for spinning yarn. How to cook the perfect souffle. Rebuilding car engines in three easy steps. Dog training for dummies. Rewiring your house without electrocuting yourself. Tips on how to build a NASCAR course in your backyard. Stuff like that.

What niche books do YOU read?

Looking at my Library Thing tags, there are 118 books I've tagged Spirituality. These cover a pretty wide range within that category including Buddhism, meditation, paganism, tarot, recovery, goddess religion and yoga.

I'm beginning to collect quite a few books on photography, my newest passion. They're mostly how-to books and some on specific types of photography, such as macro and portrait. And I have a fair number of gardening books, even though I've mostly just photographed the garden in the last couple of years.

And, yes, Dog Training for Dummies! Since the puppy will be arriving in a few weeks, we've been boning up (pun intended!) on how to raise the little bundle. Dog ownership has changed over the years - now it's more like adopting a child, including doggy day care! So we have much anxiety about doing it right and have checked out a bunch of books and videos from the library. Wish us luck!

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Teaser Tuesday and Where Are You? 06-09-09: The Monsters of Templeton

2009-06-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read (without spoilers, of course) to entice you to read the book.

From The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff, page 88:

When I was small and easily wounded, books were my carapace. If I were recalled to my hurts in the middle of a book, they somehow mattered less. My corporeal life was slight; the dazzling one in my head was what really mattered. Returning to books was coming home.

It's Tuesday, Where Are You? is hosted by an adventure in reading.

I've returned to my hometown of Templeton in upstate New York after a disastrous love affair in the Alaskan tundra.

Friday Fill-ins 06-05-09

2009-06-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Janet is our amazing host for this weekly event.

My responses are in italics.

And...here we go!

1. The beach is my home away from home.

2. My favorite thing for dinner lately has been dessert.

3. I hope we won’t be hearing this from our new puppy: bark! bark! bark!

4. A nice long walk is what my body could use.

5. We could really use some good news about the planet.

6. When all is said and done, add a full stop.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading or watching movies, tomorrow my plans include reading and watching some movies and Sunday, I want to take some photos and read some more!

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