Teaser Tuesday 12-16-08 : Matrimony

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read to entice you to read the book.


This week's book: Matrimony by Joshua Henkin, page 7:

The session lasted an hour and a half, and at the end of it all eighteen freshmen from Julian's entryway were sent off with a contraceptive loot bag that included spermicide, dental dams, and condoms, miniature red and black satchels of their own taken from the larger satchels the PCC-ers carried with them. Carefully, seriously, respectfully, the girls took their satchels upstairs to their rooms, while the boys tossed the contents at one another and dissected them, and Hartley, from across the hall, filled his condoms with water and jettisoned them out the window into the courtyard, seeing if he could get them to explode.

See details in this post about a Matrimony giveaway!

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Matrimony: Book Giveaway

I'm reading Joshua Henkin's novel Matrimony, "a stunning novel of love and friendship, money and ambition, desire and tensions of faith" (from the back cover). Josh contacted me about reading and reviewing his book and hosting a giveaway and I jumped at the chance, since I tried two or three different times to win this book from other bloggers.

Matrimony was named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book for 2007, and according to The Washington Post it "elicits a passionate investment in the fate of its characters -- truly an up-all-night read." I can't wait to dive into this book tonight and tomorrow and I'll post my review when I finish it.

Meantime, you can read some other reviews, starting with Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit. Serena has links to other reviews and she's also hosting a giveaway (double your chances!).

So here's the deal: leave a comment below and tell me what you think of matrimony (the institution, not the book). A comment will count as one entry. If you blog about this giveaway, come back and let me know and you'll get an extra entry. This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere on the planet. Josh will send you a signed inscribed copy of Matrimony if you're the winner. Contest will be closed and I'll announce the winner on Monday, December 22nd at 5pm PST. Good luck!

Update December 23rd: Michelle emailed me that she's already won a copy of the book elsewhere; so the NEW winner of Matrimony, chosen by a random number picker, is Stacey. Congratulations Stacey! I sent an email to you with info on getting your book.

In an email today, Joshua reminds us that the book industry is experiencing some very difficult financial problems, partly as a result of the tanking economy. This affects book stores, publishing houses and of course, authors (and ultimately, readers). Josh says:

Many classics (books we read in our English classes in high school and college, books our children read or will read), simply wouldn't be published by today's standards and, if they were published and didn't sell well immediately, they would be removed from the bookstore shelves. This is why it's so important that you buy books for the holidays. There's a website dedicated to this enterprise, Books for the Holidays, which you might want to check out, and publishing houses are running ad campaigns focused on holiday book-giving. You really can make a difference. A typical paperback novel costs less than fifteen dollars, far cheaper than a necklace or a sweater or dinner at a nice restaurant.

So buy a book or two for your sweetie, your kids, your Aunt Edith, your best friend; support your local independent booksellers. If you don't know exactly what book they'd like, buy them a gift card from their favorite bookstore. Support your favorite authors!

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The Sunday Salon - Potpourri

Not much reading news to report this week. Since my centennial read last week, my reading has slowed to a crawl, but that's just temporary. It's partly due to a cold that took up residence in my head this week; I doze off every twenty minutes or so, usually while I'm reading (fortunately, not while I'm driving). From the sounds of it, we'll be hunkered down here all week with frigid temps and possibly snow or, more likely, one of our lovely Portland ice storms. So lots of reading time ahead next week.


My book blogger Secret Santa, Lynne, sent me a wonderful book, one that was high on my wish list: The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield. I love his writing, his speaking, his Buddhist teaching, and I've looked forward to this book since it came out last summer. Thank you Lynne! I hope my gift recipient is as thrilled with what s/he was sent! This was another of Dewey's projects as a way of building community - she and Ana organized the annual swap. Thank you Ana! And I'm sure this won't be the last time we send a little thank you blessing out to Dewey's spirit.



Speaking of Dewey, there's one more reading challenge out there that I'm going to sign on to for 2009: Dewey's Books. Robin and Chris are hosting this challenge; in Chris's words:

Dewey was such a prolific reader and her reviews were honest, intriguing, and beautifully written. What better way to celebrate her wonderful life than by having a year long challenge in her name!

Dewey and I had similar tastes in books, and there are several I picked that were already on my TBR shelves; but I also found a few that I hadn't heard of before, so it will be a good mix.

Check back here on Monday for details about a book giveaway. Joshua Henkin sent me a signed copy of his book, Matrimony, and will do the same for the lucky winner of the giveaway. Stay tuned!


And now, since we're well into double-digit December days (that's my cue), I have to admit that the holidays are upon us. I wish you all a joyous, peaceful, sane holiday season. Stay warm if you're in the northern hemisphere, stay cool if you're in the southern. And don't forget the mistletoe!

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Friday Fill-ins 12-12-08

Janet is our friendly host for this weekly event. My responses are in italics.


1. Friends know my quirks and love me anyway.

2. Pay attention to your health; it's easier to prevent illness than it is to cure it.

3. I'm ready for snow and cold – it’s a good thing, because it’s on the way! Not ice though – never ready for ice.

4.Vanilla is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells. Perfume = eeewwww.

5. The oldest ornament I have is my Christmas stocking, knit by my mother about 30 years ago.

6. Take some friends mix it all together and you have a party.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting over my cold with lots of tea and naps, working on holiday cards and very belated thank you notes; tomorrow my plans include staying warm, reading, taking naps, making soup; and Sunday, I want to walk in the snow (if it comes) and take photos of it, and then read some more! And did I mention taking naps?

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Wordless Wednesday - Mt. Hood from Mt. Tabor 12-10-08

Click photo to enlarge for a spectacular view of our mountain.

Check out other Wordless Wednesday participants. Or become one!
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Teaser Tuesday 12-09-08 : Affinity

Should Be Reading - Miz B - hosts this weekly event. We throw out a couple of sentences from our current read to entice you to read the book.


This week I'm reading another Sarah Waters book, Affinity. From page 43:

The sun grew brighter as I stepped into the cell, and after the shadowy monotony of the passage-way its whitewashed walls were dazzling, and made me put my fingers to my brow, and blink. It took me a moment, then, to realize that Dawes had not stood and curtseyed, as all the other women had; nor had she set her work aside, nor did she smile, or speak. She only raised her eyes to gaze at me in a kind of patient curiosity--her fingers all the time plucking slowly at the ball of yarn, as if the coarse wool was a rosary and she was telling off the beads.

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The Sunday Salon: I Did It! 100 books!!!

Happy Sunday, bloggers and bloggees!

I reached a milestone this week: read my 100th book for 2008! I reached my reading goal with almost 4 weeks to spare. The rest is just frosting on the cake.

I thought I'd do a little 2008 wrap-up today. It's been a great reading year: I've discovered new (to me) authors; read books from countries I hadn't "visited" before; read a couple of classic tomes that I never thought I'd read (War and Peace was a major accomplishment!).

Below is a list of books I read and rated either 4, 4.5 or 5 stars out of 5. All of these are highly recommended. I've linked to my reviews for the ones I have. The asterisk * indicates a new-to-me author; a plus sign + indicates a country new to me in literature.


5 stars:

• Small Island by Andrea Levy*
• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie* +
  
• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• The Girls by Lori Lansens*
• The Secret River by Kate Grenville* +
  

4.5 stars:

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy*
• Year of Wonders: a Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks*
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (graphic novel)*
• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro*
• The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell*
• When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka*
• Sorry by Gail Jones*
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer*

4 stars:

• Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Kraybill, Nolt and Weaver-Zercher
• An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• At Mrs. Lippincote's by Elizabeth Taylor*
• Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
• Blankets by Craig Thompson (graphic memoir)*
• Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
• Chocolat by Joanne Harris
• Come to Me by Amy Bloom (short stories)
• Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
• Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles*
• Disgrace by JM Coetzee*
• Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn*
• Fifth Business by Robertson Davies*
• Gardens of Water by Alan Drew* +
• Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs (graphic novel)
• Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier*
• In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
• In the Wake by Per Petterson
• Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan*
• Light on Snow by Anita Shreve*
• March by Geraldine Brooks
• Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively*
• Mosquito by Roma Tearne* +
  
• Mudbound by Hillary Jordan*
• Music and Silence by Rose Tremain*
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout*
• Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle*
• Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi +
  
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi*+
• Restoration by Rose Tremain*
• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff*
• The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (Group Read)
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan*
• The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery*
• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers*
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss*
• The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville
• The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan (graphic novel)
• The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean*
• The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (Group read)
• The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell
• The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney*
• The Translator by Daoud Hari*+
• The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton*
• The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson*
• Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
• Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo*
• Unless by Carol Shields
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (with caveat - difficult emotional read)*
• Wild Life by Molly Gloss

And the clunkers (aka The Poo Pile - courtesy of Irish) - some I slogged through, some I quit on - generally earned 2 or fewer stars. I save the 1/2 star for the worst of the poo - sort of like tipping your bad waitress a penny.

• A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
• Digging to America by Anne Tyler
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen*
• Peony in Love by Lisa See
• The Alchemist by Paul Coelho*
• The English Major by Jim Harrison*

And the number one clunker of 2008, earning the rarely presented One Half Star award:

• Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah* -- I found this one impossible to finish.
  

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I'll be doing a book giveaway in a couple of weeks - Matrimony by Joshua Henkin (signed by the author, no less!). Matrimony was named one of the New York Times 2007 Notable Books. Details coming soon! Read More!

Weekly Geeks #27 - for Dewey

This week our Weekly Geeks are celebrating Dewey. Many book bloggers have joined together in a remarkable team effort to keep Dewey's projects going.

In January, we'll have a new edition of Weekly Geeks with a different blog address. Meantime, we're going to take a break and honor Dewey with a month of "silence" (at least in terms of WG).

Dewey was one of those people who could create something from nothing - sort of a wizard or magician. When I started this blog in March, I kept seeing her name or her blog name or some project of hers every single week. I started participating in Weekly Geeks right away. Sometimes Dewey would have us visit other blogs, sort of like a scavenger hunt, just so we'd get to know other bloggers.

One of my favorite WGs was interviewing another blogger about a book they'd read. I got acquainted with Beastmomma through that assignment and we've been visiting each other's blogs ever since.

It's an interesting process trying to fill the ginormous shoes Dewey left behind -- it takes a whole village -- and it speaks to the caring community that Dewey nurtured here. I think she's smiling, knowing what she created is in loving hands and will carry on.

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Are You Ready?

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Friday Fill-ins #101- 12-05-08

Janet is our lovely host for this weekly event. My responses are in italics.


1. Snow doesn’t come to Portland enough.

2. I'm looking forward to Solstice and Hanukah celebrations, time with friends + family.

3. This is the best time ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is Bewitched.

5. I'm done with work! Because I am retired!

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is the lights.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to learning about my NEW camera, tomorrow my plans include taking lots of photos and Sunday, I want to hang out with my friends and write and shoot photos! Read More!