Who is revealing something about me? My bookshelves, of course. Although I didn't realize it until I saw this at Dorothy's site. Originally from Ella at Box of Books. My shelves are screaming the following things:
1. "We want more room!" The top shelve of one is bowed, due to the double- and triple-stacked books placed on top of it. Subtext: I hate to shop and continue to put off buying another bookcase. And really, do I need that stack of New Yorker guilt staring at me every day? I really should pitch some of those old magazines. I can get it on line!
2. "Lots of new books here!" There are lots of new acquisitions in my library, although not all are recently published. Untold story: I had to send most of my library to the dump about seven years ago due to a flood. Although I think my buying has slowed a bit, I think there for awhile I was trying to build, in quantity at least, the same sized library I had previously. While I could buy new copies of the books, I couldn't replace the well-worn, cracked bindings of my favorite books, or replicate the notes I wrote in some of them. Some of the books I miss most frequently are the anthologies that I used in school -- often I think of a passage of an essay, or poem and I can visualize exactly where it was in the book. How I would love to walk into the other room, search for a few minutes, until I found the book I was thinking of, then flip to some dog-earred, fingerprinted page to read the passage. While I may be able to find a copy of most of those works, I can't go back and revisit the notes I might have written when I first encountered it, the words I might have highlighted, the definitions I wrote in the margins. I miss visiting that old reader and her thoughts.
3. "Disorganized!" There is little reason as to where my books sit on the shelves. Generally, of the two bookcases in living room, one is works that I have read, and the other is works that I haven't read yet. Both need to be weeded and organized and many of the books should go to Book Mooch. Why? So I can get more books, of course!
4. "Someone in this house likes...."
...."Art!" I have several art exhibit catalogs. When I travel, I like to visit art museums and I have acquired several books on art as a result. The oldest exhibit catalog I have is from the first special art exhibit I remember seeing -- an exhibit at the Royal Academy in London on Post-Impressionism in 1979. The most recent is the book of photos and critical essays that accompanied the exhibit "The Americans" by Robert Franks, at the Metropolitan Museum last fall. I've looked through this book numerous times in the last three months; I am in awe of these photographs. Franks said of his photographs: "When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice." Robert Frank, LIFE (26 November 1951), p. 21. He was right about the quality of his photos, but it isn't just reading a line twice - it is reading the poem over and over again.
..."Poltical History!" I have a special table top shelf that features several presidential biographies. My husband started on a project to read a biography of each American president. I keep thinking that maybe I'll start reading them too, but somehow that reading project never gets off the ground.
..."Theology". I used to belong to a monthly book club that met at a church and usually read something related to faith and spirituality. If this says anything about me it is that a) I'll read anything, and b) I'm a seeker.
..."Reads 2 -3 crappy novels a year". Most of the junk stuff was acquired due to my other monthly book club. Two or three times a year someone picks a real dog, again proving that I'll read anything -- at least for a few pages. I could say that I keep these to protect against me becoming a complete literary snob. So far, it isn't working. I often wonder why I even bothered to buy them. Most embarrassing: Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. A close second: anything by Jodi Piccoult or Barbara Delinski. I refused on principle to buy or bring into my house Glen Beck's The Christmas Sweater.
... "Likes to cook". I do like to cook, but I like to eat more. I have a huge bookcase in my kitchen with over 100 cookbooks, and lots of miscellaneous recipe cards, notebooks, magazine pages. Besides art-related books, the other souvenir I would ever consider buying when I travel is a cookbook. Most are in English; some aren't, which has lead to some interesting culinary recreations in my kitchen.
6. "Needs more bookcases!". I have piles of books in nearly every room. The Shelves cry out for more; the books cry out: "Shelve us!" My spouse and I once had a discussion if 52 books on the nightstand, beside the bed, under the quilt rack, etc. was too many. Can you guess my answer?
What are my bookshelves saying about me? That I am a reader!
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
02 February 2010
07 July 2009
15 in 15
I started this almost a month ago, but never found the time to go back to proof and publish. But, I really did this in 15 minutes. I am resisting the urge to change some of these now that I've had time to reflect, but I am leaving them as-is.
15 Influential Books (list comprised in 15 minutes):
1 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Although I first read this in English, I remember it because it was also the first book I ever read in French. I read several French existentialist while a student, but Saint-Exupéry's book is the one that I not only remember, but I remeber enjoying. Besides, isn't it nicer to remember a fairy tale that Sartre's "L'enfer, c'est les autres"?
2 The Witch of Blackbird Pond A Newberry Award Winner. I remember this book because I didn't want to return it to the school library. I renewed it so many times that the librarian refused to let me check it out again. A boy in my class wanted to keep a book about the WWI and the Red Barron. We checked out each other's book and traded, content to continue reading our chosen books.
3 Biography of Jane Addams - The first biography I ever read. I remember this was part of a series of biographies. The books were covered in blue cloth and had nice end papers. The series was mostly about men, but three books were about women.
4 Biography of Amelia Earhart This book was in the same series as the Jane Addams book. (The other woman was Dolly Madison.) I remember that these books were my companions during a period when it seemed like I was continually grounded. Seems like I read them in my room on rainy Saturday afternoons.
5 The Great Gatsby. F.Scott Fitzgerald. I have read this book many times. It was required reading in high school and in two college classes. Each time I have read it, I have discovered something new that is particularly wonderful, whether it is Nick's elegy about the green light at the end of Daisy's dock in the final paragraphs, or the desolate description of Jay Gatsby's mansion after he has been killed, or the languorous way that Daisy and Sigourney endure the heat and boredom seated on a sofa, or the sense of fatality in the party scene when the group rides into the city before Myrtle is killed. There isn't a bit in this book that didn't awe me the first time I read it and I am never disappointed when I re-read it.
6 The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs. I read this three years ago and it opened my eyes to not only the horrifying nature of poverty in much of the developing world, but the equally horrifying realization that even though it is solvable, the "haves" of this world are not doing nearly enough.
7 Moby-Dick. Herman Melville. I read this during a short summer session while in college. Daily, I would pull my lawn chair into the yard of the run-down house I rented, grease myself up with suntan lotion, take a few cold beers from the fridge, and read. And read. And read. If it rained, or was just too hot, I would shift my location to the dive bar where my roommate worked, where I would sit at the end of the bar, usually the only "customer" in the afternoon, and continue plowing through this tome. I was surprised that I not only finished the assigned reading, but that I loved the book. All of my classmates thought I was crazy. Maybe it was the ever-flowing beer, but I think not. Although I don't know that I'll ever re-read Moby-Dick in its entirety, I think it will always remain near the top of my Best. Books. Ever. list.
8 Fire-Starter, Stephen King. This book was given to me as a birthday present, shortly before I graduated from college. The gift-giver told me to try to not be a snob and enjoy the book. It was the first book by Stephen King that I ever read and it taught me that there is a lot of merit in reading pop culture-type books. A good lesson for a snobby, newly graduated English major - especially as she learned in the midst of a recession that the real-world of work was not nearly as nice as the world of literature.
9 A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle. This may be the book that got me to give up on reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I thought L'Engle could see inside my head and based the character of Meg on me: smart, nerdy, few friends, short-tempered. I so wanted a Mrs. Whatsit or an Aunt Beast to drop into my world and take me away to some planet where I could be nurtured by them.
10 The World According Garp, John Irving. After reading Stephen King, I thought I could try another foray into pop culture. I had heard that Irving was a good writer, but I laughed at the marketing of the book (you could buy the book in one of several different colored covers). I rushed home every evening from a routine job -- my first "real" full time job -- to sit on the patio of the dull, little apartment I rented to read about the life of Garp. I thought it was wonderful that when he first meets his wife, she tell Garp that she wants to be a reader. How could I not love a book about someone who wanted to be a writer, and someone who wanted to be a reader?
11 A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving. It was several years later when I read A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is the Irving novel that I most often recommend. By far my favorite one of his books.
12 A MidSummer Night's Dream. William Shakespeare. It is possible that I saw the play before I read the play. I know that MidSummer's Night Dream is not the first Shakespeare play that I had read. High school requirements forced me to read Julius Ceaser, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. Hamlet, Lear and Richard III were all required reading early in my college work. But it wasn't until I read MidSummer Night's Dream that I fell in love with Shakespeare. I'm a sucker for any version of this play, and I think that I've seen most of the film adaptations of it.
13 Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain. I can remember my grandfather coming to live with us when I was about 14. I was intrigued that he would read books like Alice in Wonderland and Huck Finn. (He read the encyclopedia too.) He told me I should read Huck, but I had a difficult time with the dialect. A few years later, during my Jr year in high school, Huck Finn was on the syllabus. My grandfather had just died, and I insisted on reading his copy of the book, having to cross reference the assignments from the school-issued version and mine. My English teacher was one of the coolest teacher's that I had; when she first spotted the dogeared volume I had, held together with two rubber bands, she asked about it. I explained it was my grandfather's. The next week, she had a special assignment sheet for me, adjusted for the page numbers in my book. While my reading that copy of the book was an emotional thing, Huck Finn is the book that I credit as being one of the most influential in making me a lifelong reader. And, when people have asked me if I want to write the "Great American Novel", I'm often tempted to say: "Already done. Go read Huck Finn.
14 Love Story, Erich Segal. Laugh. Snicker. Snear. Why is this book on here? It was one of the first "forbidden" books that I ever read. My mother had a copy on her nightstand and I would sneak into her bedroom to read it every day as soon as I got home from school. I would get about 3 pages read during the 10 minutes I had before my older sister would arrive home. I distinctly remember that the characters frequently called peopled sobs. I couldn't figure out what that meant. (Give me a break; I was 12). It took me most of the book before I understood that it was an abbreviation because I was reading a Readers' Digest Condensed version. I imagine that "sonofabitch" was just too racy for Readers' Digest.
15 The Once and Future King. T.H. White. I was mesmerized by this book. I never could understand why Guenevere would have fallen in love with Lancelot because Arthur was so wonderful. I had read A Sword in the Stone in 9th grade and didn't want the book to end. A few years later, when I learned that it was part of a longer novel (see note on English teach & Huck Finn), I had to get the book. It remains one of the few books over a 1000 pages that I have ever completed willingly and without being "required" reading. (Thanks to a short attention span.)
15 Influential Books (list comprised in 15 minutes):
1 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Although I first read this in English, I remember it because it was also the first book I ever read in French. I read several French existentialist while a student, but Saint-Exupéry's book is the one that I not only remember, but I remeber enjoying. Besides, isn't it nicer to remember a fairy tale that Sartre's "L'enfer, c'est les autres"?
2 The Witch of Blackbird Pond A Newberry Award Winner. I remember this book because I didn't want to return it to the school library. I renewed it so many times that the librarian refused to let me check it out again. A boy in my class wanted to keep a book about the WWI and the Red Barron. We checked out each other's book and traded, content to continue reading our chosen books.
3 Biography of Jane Addams - The first biography I ever read. I remember this was part of a series of biographies. The books were covered in blue cloth and had nice end papers. The series was mostly about men, but three books were about women.
4 Biography of Amelia Earhart This book was in the same series as the Jane Addams book. (The other woman was Dolly Madison.) I remember that these books were my companions during a period when it seemed like I was continually grounded. Seems like I read them in my room on rainy Saturday afternoons.
5 The Great Gatsby. F.Scott Fitzgerald. I have read this book many times. It was required reading in high school and in two college classes. Each time I have read it, I have discovered something new that is particularly wonderful, whether it is Nick's elegy about the green light at the end of Daisy's dock in the final paragraphs, or the desolate description of Jay Gatsby's mansion after he has been killed, or the languorous way that Daisy and Sigourney endure the heat and boredom seated on a sofa, or the sense of fatality in the party scene when the group rides into the city before Myrtle is killed. There isn't a bit in this book that didn't awe me the first time I read it and I am never disappointed when I re-read it.
6 The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs. I read this three years ago and it opened my eyes to not only the horrifying nature of poverty in much of the developing world, but the equally horrifying realization that even though it is solvable, the "haves" of this world are not doing nearly enough.
7 Moby-Dick. Herman Melville. I read this during a short summer session while in college. Daily, I would pull my lawn chair into the yard of the run-down house I rented, grease myself up with suntan lotion, take a few cold beers from the fridge, and read. And read. And read. If it rained, or was just too hot, I would shift my location to the dive bar where my roommate worked, where I would sit at the end of the bar, usually the only "customer" in the afternoon, and continue plowing through this tome. I was surprised that I not only finished the assigned reading, but that I loved the book. All of my classmates thought I was crazy. Maybe it was the ever-flowing beer, but I think not. Although I don't know that I'll ever re-read Moby-Dick in its entirety, I think it will always remain near the top of my Best. Books. Ever. list.
8 Fire-Starter, Stephen King. This book was given to me as a birthday present, shortly before I graduated from college. The gift-giver told me to try to not be a snob and enjoy the book. It was the first book by Stephen King that I ever read and it taught me that there is a lot of merit in reading pop culture-type books. A good lesson for a snobby, newly graduated English major - especially as she learned in the midst of a recession that the real-world of work was not nearly as nice as the world of literature.
9 A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle. This may be the book that got me to give up on reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I thought L'Engle could see inside my head and based the character of Meg on me: smart, nerdy, few friends, short-tempered. I so wanted a Mrs. Whatsit or an Aunt Beast to drop into my world and take me away to some planet where I could be nurtured by them.
10 The World According Garp, John Irving. After reading Stephen King, I thought I could try another foray into pop culture. I had heard that Irving was a good writer, but I laughed at the marketing of the book (you could buy the book in one of several different colored covers). I rushed home every evening from a routine job -- my first "real" full time job -- to sit on the patio of the dull, little apartment I rented to read about the life of Garp. I thought it was wonderful that when he first meets his wife, she tell Garp that she wants to be a reader. How could I not love a book about someone who wanted to be a writer, and someone who wanted to be a reader?
11 A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving. It was several years later when I read A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is the Irving novel that I most often recommend. By far my favorite one of his books.
12 A MidSummer Night's Dream. William Shakespeare. It is possible that I saw the play before I read the play. I know that MidSummer's Night Dream is not the first Shakespeare play that I had read. High school requirements forced me to read Julius Ceaser, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. Hamlet, Lear and Richard III were all required reading early in my college work. But it wasn't until I read MidSummer Night's Dream that I fell in love with Shakespeare. I'm a sucker for any version of this play, and I think that I've seen most of the film adaptations of it.
13 Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain. I can remember my grandfather coming to live with us when I was about 14. I was intrigued that he would read books like Alice in Wonderland and Huck Finn. (He read the encyclopedia too.) He told me I should read Huck, but I had a difficult time with the dialect. A few years later, during my Jr year in high school, Huck Finn was on the syllabus. My grandfather had just died, and I insisted on reading his copy of the book, having to cross reference the assignments from the school-issued version and mine. My English teacher was one of the coolest teacher's that I had; when she first spotted the dogeared volume I had, held together with two rubber bands, she asked about it. I explained it was my grandfather's. The next week, she had a special assignment sheet for me, adjusted for the page numbers in my book. While my reading that copy of the book was an emotional thing, Huck Finn is the book that I credit as being one of the most influential in making me a lifelong reader. And, when people have asked me if I want to write the "Great American Novel", I'm often tempted to say: "Already done. Go read Huck Finn.
14 Love Story, Erich Segal. Laugh. Snicker. Snear. Why is this book on here? It was one of the first "forbidden" books that I ever read. My mother had a copy on her nightstand and I would sneak into her bedroom to read it every day as soon as I got home from school. I would get about 3 pages read during the 10 minutes I had before my older sister would arrive home. I distinctly remember that the characters frequently called peopled sobs. I couldn't figure out what that meant. (Give me a break; I was 12). It took me most of the book before I understood that it was an abbreviation because I was reading a Readers' Digest Condensed version. I imagine that "sonofabitch" was just too racy for Readers' Digest.
15 The Once and Future King. T.H. White. I was mesmerized by this book. I never could understand why Guenevere would have fallen in love with Lancelot because Arthur was so wonderful. I had read A Sword in the Stone in 9th grade and didn't want the book to end. A few years later, when I learned that it was part of a longer novel (see note on English teach & Huck Finn), I had to get the book. It remains one of the few books over a 1000 pages that I have ever completed willingly and without being "required" reading. (Thanks to a short attention span.)
14 June 2009
What are you reading this summer?
Poets and Writers Magazine posed the question on their FaceBook page Friday: What's your summer reading list? I don't usually have a specific reading plan, regardless of the season, but it seemed a good time to look at some of the books that I have 'on deck'. My resolve to not buy any books this year hasn't held, but I have made a slight progress through the mountains of unread books. My list is 10 books, and 3 books of poems. Probably a bit idealistic, but I on extended summer until the first frost, I may be able to complete at least 50% of this list. What is your summer reading list?
Novels:
The Time Traveler's Wife. Audrey Niffenegger. My book group read this a few months ago, but it was during a period when I was busy with work, so I only completed the first few chapters. Reading LitLove's recent review has brought this back towards the top of the reading pile.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Anne Tyler. This is the selection for my book group this month. This has been on a list of books to read for years. I'm looking forward to reading this.
City of Thieves, David Benioff. In a weak moment, (as far as my "no new books" rule) I was talked into buying this by a clerk at Border's. I have only read the first few pages so far -- not enough for it to capture my full attention, although I have heard very promising things about this book.
Short stories:
In Our Time, Ernest Hemingway. I was thinking about this book recently, and was prompted to buy a copy when I was bookbrowsing in Paris. Yes, it's an American writer, a book in English, but I was at Shakespeare and Company, a place where Hemingway hung out in the 20s, so buying a book by him while there didn't seem so out of place, just a bit touristy. Courtney wrote a few weeks ago about launching a "Haunted by Hemingway" reading group. I hope she includes this book.
Non-fiction:
Mark Bittman Food Matters. I purchased this book several weeks ago and was eager to read it immediately, but was disappointed when I opened the book to realize that the first page was page 53. I did exchange it for a copy that had all of the pages -- and in the right order -- but it seems to be a book that I'm reading in short spurts. Somewhere in the stacks are other books by Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and Barbara Kingsolver on food and ethics of eating local and organic.
My Stroke Of Insight, Jill Bolte Taylor. I'm reading this for another book discussion group. A brain scientist, Bolte Taylor was able to learn about her area of expertise in a way few of her peers ever had when she had a devastating stroke at 37. This book is about insights learned during her long recovery.
Leaving Mum and Pup, Christopher Buckley. I saw an interview with Buckley a few weeks ago and was intrigued enough to go buy his book. The first few chapters have made me laugh in parts, and, in other parts, sympathize with his pain over the deaths of his parents. I've read about a third of the book, and while it can't help but be name-dropping -- it's about Bill Buckley the standard-bearer of conservatism for decades, for christssakes -- there is something in this book that goes beyond the celebrity nature of Buckley's parents. I'll probably write a post about this book at some point. I have a copy of one of Christopher Buckley's novels that a friend gave me a few years ago. It promptly made its way to the bookshelf with the cover not even having been opened. I may find that book when I'm done with this, as I do like his prose style.
Letters On Cezanne, Rainer Maria Rilke. Another book that I've had for some time. Rilke's letters to his wife regarding multiple visits to a Cezanne exhibit. I find writing about art very difficult because I do not have the vocabulary of an art critic. These letters, though, are not a critique, but a description of a personal experience with the paintings. I'm planning to avoid the lengthy commentary at the beginning of the book until after I read through the letters.
Spiritual
I usually have a book or two with a theological or spiritual focus that I'm reading. Right now it is L William Countryman's The Poetic Imagination: An Anglican Spiritual Tradition. I am expecting a heavy dose of Donne and Herbert in this book, but I am mostly interested in reading this because I have an interest in exploring the intersection of spirituality and art. This may be a bit too academic for "summer reading" -- maybe for any kind of light reading.
Poetry
Always have a few books of poetry that are close at hand for perusing, rather than languishing on the bookshelf. Current volumes are:
Sixty Poems by Charles Simic
After by Jane Hirshfield.
While in Paris, I purchased Into the Deep Street: Seven Modern French Poets, 1938 - 2008. The poems are in both the original French, and translated into English. This may take a long time for me to get through, but it should be interesting and challenging. I am unfamiliar with the 7 poets in the volume: Jean Follain, Henri Thomas, Philippe Jaccottet, Jacques Reda, Paul de Roux, Guy Goffette, Gilles Ortlieb. Actually, I'm unfamiliar with any contemporary French poet.
And, as for working on my French skills, I had to purchase a copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince while I was in Paris. A favorite of mine since childhood, I use to have a copy in french that I first purchased in Paris 30 years ago, but I couldn't find it recently when I wanted to. I'll probably reread this again soon.
That's enough to last me through the season and beyond. We'll see how many of these are read in the next few months or what other books may grab my attention.
I'd love to read what you is on your summer reading lists. Leave it in the comments.
Novels:
The Time Traveler's Wife. Audrey Niffenegger. My book group read this a few months ago, but it was during a period when I was busy with work, so I only completed the first few chapters. Reading LitLove's recent review has brought this back towards the top of the reading pile.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Anne Tyler. This is the selection for my book group this month. This has been on a list of books to read for years. I'm looking forward to reading this.
City of Thieves, David Benioff. In a weak moment, (as far as my "no new books" rule) I was talked into buying this by a clerk at Border's. I have only read the first few pages so far -- not enough for it to capture my full attention, although I have heard very promising things about this book.
Short stories:
In Our Time, Ernest Hemingway. I was thinking about this book recently, and was prompted to buy a copy when I was bookbrowsing in Paris. Yes, it's an American writer, a book in English, but I was at Shakespeare and Company, a place where Hemingway hung out in the 20s, so buying a book by him while there didn't seem so out of place, just a bit touristy. Courtney wrote a few weeks ago about launching a "Haunted by Hemingway" reading group. I hope she includes this book.
Non-fiction:
Mark Bittman Food Matters. I purchased this book several weeks ago and was eager to read it immediately, but was disappointed when I opened the book to realize that the first page was page 53. I did exchange it for a copy that had all of the pages -- and in the right order -- but it seems to be a book that I'm reading in short spurts. Somewhere in the stacks are other books by Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and Barbara Kingsolver on food and ethics of eating local and organic.
My Stroke Of Insight, Jill Bolte Taylor. I'm reading this for another book discussion group. A brain scientist, Bolte Taylor was able to learn about her area of expertise in a way few of her peers ever had when she had a devastating stroke at 37. This book is about insights learned during her long recovery.
Leaving Mum and Pup, Christopher Buckley. I saw an interview with Buckley a few weeks ago and was intrigued enough to go buy his book. The first few chapters have made me laugh in parts, and, in other parts, sympathize with his pain over the deaths of his parents. I've read about a third of the book, and while it can't help but be name-dropping -- it's about Bill Buckley the standard-bearer of conservatism for decades, for christssakes -- there is something in this book that goes beyond the celebrity nature of Buckley's parents. I'll probably write a post about this book at some point. I have a copy of one of Christopher Buckley's novels that a friend gave me a few years ago. It promptly made its way to the bookshelf with the cover not even having been opened. I may find that book when I'm done with this, as I do like his prose style.
Letters On Cezanne, Rainer Maria Rilke. Another book that I've had for some time. Rilke's letters to his wife regarding multiple visits to a Cezanne exhibit. I find writing about art very difficult because I do not have the vocabulary of an art critic. These letters, though, are not a critique, but a description of a personal experience with the paintings. I'm planning to avoid the lengthy commentary at the beginning of the book until after I read through the letters.
Spiritual
I usually have a book or two with a theological or spiritual focus that I'm reading. Right now it is L William Countryman's The Poetic Imagination: An Anglican Spiritual Tradition. I am expecting a heavy dose of Donne and Herbert in this book, but I am mostly interested in reading this because I have an interest in exploring the intersection of spirituality and art. This may be a bit too academic for "summer reading" -- maybe for any kind of light reading.
Poetry
Always have a few books of poetry that are close at hand for perusing, rather than languishing on the bookshelf. Current volumes are:
Sixty Poems by Charles Simic
After by Jane Hirshfield.
While in Paris, I purchased Into the Deep Street: Seven Modern French Poets, 1938 - 2008. The poems are in both the original French, and translated into English. This may take a long time for me to get through, but it should be interesting and challenging. I am unfamiliar with the 7 poets in the volume: Jean Follain, Henri Thomas, Philippe Jaccottet, Jacques Reda, Paul de Roux, Guy Goffette, Gilles Ortlieb. Actually, I'm unfamiliar with any contemporary French poet.
And, as for working on my French skills, I had to purchase a copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince while I was in Paris. A favorite of mine since childhood, I use to have a copy in french that I first purchased in Paris 30 years ago, but I couldn't find it recently when I wanted to. I'll probably reread this again soon.
That's enough to last me through the season and beyond. We'll see how many of these are read in the next few months or what other books may grab my attention.
I'd love to read what you is on your summer reading lists. Leave it in the comments.
01 February 2009
I'm Back -- with survey results
It has been almost a month since my Year End survey closed, but I had yet to post results. I decided today, that if I didn't do it today, I might never. Sometimes it's hard to get back into something if you leave it too long. But, I felt I couldn't post on anything else if I didn't publish the results. I wish more people had participated this year; maybe next year I'll do something different. So, here are the results
1. Favorite book you read this year:
Wesley the Owl
Imperium (nonfiction)
Paper Towns (YA)
Chess Story (Short fiction)
Stranger on a Train, Jenny Diski
The Gone Away World, Nick Haraway
2. Favorite Blog you read regularly:
Bookfoolery and Babble
Tales from the Reading Room
"I have too many to play favorites"
"I can't choose one favourite. I keep my blogroll small because it is the people I look forward to reading".
"I have a long list of blogs I read. I can't keep up with all of them on a daily basis. What I read each day depends on how much time I have and what sort of blog I want to read. I read some blogs that are strictly book reviews, others more general topics, some criticism, so it really just depends on my mood and available time. The problem with not reading some blogs every day is that you lose out on the comments discussions as others have moved on to more recent posts."
3. What surprised you most about blogging this year?
"How international blogging really is."
"How wide-spread the blog phenomena have become."
"How I really have come to know some bloggers, and regard them as friends. Sure, I only have a limited perspective presented in their blogs, in emails, etc., but I only present certain faces in some public arenas. I'm not sure what to call them if not friends."
"I didn't expect to get to meet so many bloggers in real life and to have online interaction with them in places other than my blog (email, Facebook, Twitter)."
"What always surprises me is that anyone out there wants to read what I write! And also, that a fair number of people are very interested in shoes."
4. Did your blogging change this year? Why?
"More posts."
"Yes, I feel as though the character of my blog 'settled' a bit and that my writing became freer."
"I began to post less frequently than in previous years, mostly because I have less time than I used to and perhaps a bit less energy too."
"It reduced, because I have less time at home."
"I thought I had posted less frequently but I checked and I had the same number of posts last year. I wrote less about books this year, but I also read fewer books."
5. How many books did you read this year?
21 -50 1 respondent
51-75 3 respondents
76-100 1 respondent
6. How frequently do you post?
1 -2 times a week - 2
3 -5 times a week - 2
daily - 0
1 -4 times a month - 0
Randomly - 1
7. If you participated in any sort of blogging challenge, how did it impact what you read and what you wrote? Did it challenge any assumptions you had? Change the way you read or wrote? etc.
"I hosted the Southern Reading Challenge. It opened my eyes to the amount of readers a little Mississippi blog could generate. I did add more "southern" posts during the challenge."
"The only thing challenges end up doing is frustrating me. I say I'm going to read many things, but the nature of my reading is more impulsive and I really like it that way. I still ended up reading and blogging on whatever I felt like. I don't know why I bother to do challenges, but I will probably do a few more next year."
"I didn't participate in any challenges. I'm trying to keep my reading plans as open as possible."
"I tried to participate in a reading challenge, and realised they are not for me. Even though I just fitted what I already wanted to read into the challenge, as soon as I committed to reading those books, I didn't want to. But, I thoroughly enjoyed NaBloPoMo, even though it was a lot of pressure. It showed me that I could find more blogging time when pushed (although I have fallen back into my old ways since)."
"I am always tempted to join every reading challenge I come across, but I've learned not to make commitments, since I never seem to meet the challenge. I do follow some of them though, as I discover interesting books that I might want to read. "
8. Participants:
Maggie Blogging since 2005
Ted Blogging for 1.5 years
Dorothy W Blogging for 2 1/2 years
Becky Blogging almost 2 years
Thanks to those who participated and thanks to all of you who continue to stop by my blog to help blow away the cobwebs. I intend to be posting more regularly in Feb and beyond. It was good to be away -- but it's always great to return to home!
1. Favorite book you read this year:
Wesley the Owl
Imperium (nonfiction)
Paper Towns (YA)
Chess Story (Short fiction)
Stranger on a Train, Jenny Diski
The Gone Away World, Nick Haraway
2. Favorite Blog you read regularly:
Bookfoolery and Babble
Tales from the Reading Room
"I have too many to play favorites"
"I can't choose one favourite. I keep my blogroll small because it is the people I look forward to reading".
"I have a long list of blogs I read. I can't keep up with all of them on a daily basis. What I read each day depends on how much time I have and what sort of blog I want to read. I read some blogs that are strictly book reviews, others more general topics, some criticism, so it really just depends on my mood and available time. The problem with not reading some blogs every day is that you lose out on the comments discussions as others have moved on to more recent posts."
3. What surprised you most about blogging this year?
"How international blogging really is."
"How wide-spread the blog phenomena have become."
"How I really have come to know some bloggers, and regard them as friends. Sure, I only have a limited perspective presented in their blogs, in emails, etc., but I only present certain faces in some public arenas. I'm not sure what to call them if not friends."
"I didn't expect to get to meet so many bloggers in real life and to have online interaction with them in places other than my blog (email, Facebook, Twitter)."
"What always surprises me is that anyone out there wants to read what I write! And also, that a fair number of people are very interested in shoes."
4. Did your blogging change this year? Why?
"More posts."
"Yes, I feel as though the character of my blog 'settled' a bit and that my writing became freer."
"I began to post less frequently than in previous years, mostly because I have less time than I used to and perhaps a bit less energy too."
"It reduced, because I have less time at home."
"I thought I had posted less frequently but I checked and I had the same number of posts last year. I wrote less about books this year, but I also read fewer books."
5. How many books did you read this year?
21 -50 1 respondent
51-75 3 respondents
76-100 1 respondent
6. How frequently do you post?
1 -2 times a week - 2
3 -5 times a week - 2
daily - 0
1 -4 times a month - 0
Randomly - 1
7. If you participated in any sort of blogging challenge, how did it impact what you read and what you wrote? Did it challenge any assumptions you had? Change the way you read or wrote? etc.
"I hosted the Southern Reading Challenge. It opened my eyes to the amount of readers a little Mississippi blog could generate. I did add more "southern" posts during the challenge."
"The only thing challenges end up doing is frustrating me. I say I'm going to read many things, but the nature of my reading is more impulsive and I really like it that way. I still ended up reading and blogging on whatever I felt like. I don't know why I bother to do challenges, but I will probably do a few more next year."
"I didn't participate in any challenges. I'm trying to keep my reading plans as open as possible."
"I tried to participate in a reading challenge, and realised they are not for me. Even though I just fitted what I already wanted to read into the challenge, as soon as I committed to reading those books, I didn't want to. But, I thoroughly enjoyed NaBloPoMo, even though it was a lot of pressure. It showed me that I could find more blogging time when pushed (although I have fallen back into my old ways since)."
"I am always tempted to join every reading challenge I come across, but I've learned not to make commitments, since I never seem to meet the challenge. I do follow some of them though, as I discover interesting books that I might want to read. "
8. Participants:
Maggie Blogging since 2005
Ted Blogging for 1.5 years
Dorothy W Blogging for 2 1/2 years
Becky Blogging almost 2 years
Thanks to those who participated and thanks to all of you who continue to stop by my blog to help blow away the cobwebs. I intend to be posting more regularly in Feb and beyond. It was good to be away -- but it's always great to return to home!
25 November 2008
New Books in My House
A box was left at the usual dropoff point, the place on the front walkway near the edge of the drive that looks like a front porch only to the driver of the big brown truck. I'd been looking for it for a few days, my latest order from Amazon.
It's an interesting collection of books, three books that have nothing to do with one another, that might appear to not have been ordered for the same reader.
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan, is a book I heard about on NPR when it was published a few years ago. It sounded like a interesting book but I never got around to ordering it. I thought of this book as recently as a few months ago -- I even remembered its name -- although I have no idea what caused the title of this book to drift across my brain. So, when I heard The Lemon Trees was the next title for one of my book clubs, I thought If only it was the same book.... This is not the type of book that we usually read, and the selections recently have been rather lightweight. When I went to order it, I was surprised to find that it was exactly the book I had heard reviewed previously.
The second book is for another book discussion group, and it, too, is unusual for this group. The Lemon Tree because it is non-fiction and somewhat serious might be an appropriate book for this second group. But, what are we reading for December? I rubbed my eyes in disbelief when I saw the email: Anne Rice's Christ the Lord Out of Egypt. I almost didn't buy it, but decided I was being too much of a snob. I have so many preconceived ideas about this book and am convinced that I will hate it. I decided I wouldn't spend more than $10. It was .20 cents over and I needed the extra to qualify for free shipping (so I could have it arrive on time, in the middle of the yard, in the rain...). The book was stuffed into the box in a way that crumpled the cover. Even though it is a book that I'm not too excited to have, I wasn't happy at the packaging. I read the first chapter. It is about what I expected and don't know that I'll make it through the entire 337 pages, but I'll try to keep an open mind. Blahhhhh!
The third book, and the one that I was most eager to arrive, is Sandi Shelton's Kissing Games of the World. I've been reading Sandi's blog for awhile now and I always find it worth my time to stop by to read her posts. BlogLily recently wrote a review of it that prompted me to click open another browser window immediately and order Sandi's book. I read the first chapter this evening and knew that if I didn't put it down, I would stay up all night reading it. Unfortunately, I have to work tomorrow, so it will have to rest until tomorrow night, when I can start to read it while doing some preparatory baking for Thanksgiving.
It struck me after I leafed through the opening pages of each of these books, that I have one book that is about a historical figure, but is completely a work of fiction as there is no historical record for when Jesus of Nazareth was seven years old, one work of fiction, that, in the first few pages, grabs you with very real characters, and one non-fiction book that tells the stories of several people, who in telling their stories, are conducting a very real political act.
It's an interesting collection of books, three books that have nothing to do with one another, that might appear to not have been ordered for the same reader.
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan, is a book I heard about on NPR when it was published a few years ago. It sounded like a interesting book but I never got around to ordering it. I thought of this book as recently as a few months ago -- I even remembered its name -- although I have no idea what caused the title of this book to drift across my brain. So, when I heard The Lemon Trees was the next title for one of my book clubs, I thought If only it was the same book.... This is not the type of book that we usually read, and the selections recently have been rather lightweight. When I went to order it, I was surprised to find that it was exactly the book I had heard reviewed previously.
The second book is for another book discussion group, and it, too, is unusual for this group. The Lemon Tree because it is non-fiction and somewhat serious might be an appropriate book for this second group. But, what are we reading for December? I rubbed my eyes in disbelief when I saw the email: Anne Rice's Christ the Lord Out of Egypt. I almost didn't buy it, but decided I was being too much of a snob. I have so many preconceived ideas about this book and am convinced that I will hate it. I decided I wouldn't spend more than $10. It was .20 cents over and I needed the extra to qualify for free shipping (so I could have it arrive on time, in the middle of the yard, in the rain...). The book was stuffed into the box in a way that crumpled the cover. Even though it is a book that I'm not too excited to have, I wasn't happy at the packaging. I read the first chapter. It is about what I expected and don't know that I'll make it through the entire 337 pages, but I'll try to keep an open mind. Blahhhhh!
The third book, and the one that I was most eager to arrive, is Sandi Shelton's Kissing Games of the World. I've been reading Sandi's blog for awhile now and I always find it worth my time to stop by to read her posts. BlogLily recently wrote a review of it that prompted me to click open another browser window immediately and order Sandi's book. I read the first chapter this evening and knew that if I didn't put it down, I would stay up all night reading it. Unfortunately, I have to work tomorrow, so it will have to rest until tomorrow night, when I can start to read it while doing some preparatory baking for Thanksgiving.
It struck me after I leafed through the opening pages of each of these books, that I have one book that is about a historical figure, but is completely a work of fiction as there is no historical record for when Jesus of Nazareth was seven years old, one work of fiction, that, in the first few pages, grabs you with very real characters, and one non-fiction book that tells the stories of several people, who in telling their stories, are conducting a very real political act.
20 November 2008
My Blog, Review Copies, Honest Criticism
I haven't participated in Booking Through Thursday before, but I do read the posts of some who do regularly. Today Ted's post caught my attention.
I received a review copy yesterday and I started reading it today. Someday I will post about it. But, like Ted, I have no obligation to write niceties about a book simply because the publisher or publicist gave me a copy. When I first started writing reviews, I tended to be very harsh in reviewing books that I didn't like. I have soften that somewhat -- not because I don't want to hurt the author's feeling, but because I don't want my blog to be a snark-fest. That doesn't mean that one can't be critical, however. If I choose to write about a book -- whether it is a review copy given gratis or a book I have purchased -- I will write about it honestly. As Ted writes in his post: This is my blog.
Only once have I had an author comment about a negative review. The comment was very simple; paraphrasing, it was something like: I'm disappointed you didn't like my book. It pained me at first to read that. I thought: Oh, he actually read my blog. I might have hurt his feelings. Then I recovered, realizing that he shouldn't -- who knows, maybe didn't -- expect all reviews to be positive.
Upon further reflection, I realized that I was not only disappointed in the book, but disappointed in the author's comment. I wish that he had addressed some of the issues I had brought up (this was a non-fiction book, and I questioned his approach and assumptions). It seems like there was a lost opportunity there.
I don't get too many requests to review books. I do get review copies sometimes through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program, and occasionally through a program offered by Harper-Collins. I have been approached a few times, but I've been wary about accepting them. When I first started blogging, I had someone, who appeared to be a publicist, request that I review a book. I agreed, but was astonished at how amateurish the book was. I didn't finish reading it and I never posted. I figured that if it wasn't published professionally, a negative review might not be accepted in a professional manner either. I never regretted not having reviewed the book.
I received a review copy yesterday and I started reading it today. Someday I will post about it. But, like Ted, I have no obligation to write niceties about a book simply because the publisher or publicist gave me a copy. When I first started writing reviews, I tended to be very harsh in reviewing books that I didn't like. I have soften that somewhat -- not because I don't want to hurt the author's feeling, but because I don't want my blog to be a snark-fest. That doesn't mean that one can't be critical, however. If I choose to write about a book -- whether it is a review copy given gratis or a book I have purchased -- I will write about it honestly. As Ted writes in his post: This is my blog.
Only once have I had an author comment about a negative review. The comment was very simple; paraphrasing, it was something like: I'm disappointed you didn't like my book. It pained me at first to read that. I thought: Oh, he actually read my blog. I might have hurt his feelings. Then I recovered, realizing that he shouldn't -- who knows, maybe didn't -- expect all reviews to be positive.
Upon further reflection, I realized that I was not only disappointed in the book, but disappointed in the author's comment. I wish that he had addressed some of the issues I had brought up (this was a non-fiction book, and I questioned his approach and assumptions). It seems like there was a lost opportunity there.
I don't get too many requests to review books. I do get review copies sometimes through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program, and occasionally through a program offered by Harper-Collins. I have been approached a few times, but I've been wary about accepting them. When I first started blogging, I had someone, who appeared to be a publicist, request that I review a book. I agreed, but was astonished at how amateurish the book was. I didn't finish reading it and I never posted. I figured that if it wasn't published professionally, a negative review might not be accepted in a professional manner either. I never regretted not having reviewed the book.
17 November 2008
Not at all James Bondian
Saturday morning, as I sat in Catherine's kitchen drinking coffee and watching the fog slowly lift to reveal the magnificent cathedral of St John's the Divine, the phone rang. It was her friend Taradina, who I had the pleasure of meeting while in NYC on business last year, calling from Senegal.
Catherine told her that I was in New York to meet someone from Germany, along with some NY-area people, none whom I had ever met in real life.
Really? Sounds rather James Bondian she said with a giggle.
Well, I didn't have to get any sort of combo driving-flying-boating spy vehicle to arrive at the rendez-vous point. There were no secret passwords or handshakes. I simply walked out the door and around the corner to the designated spot, The Hungarian Pastry Shop. I didn't even have cool boots and an umbrella a la Diana Rigg. The Avengers was always more my thing than Bond. Not that anyone would ever mistake me for Diana Rigg -- or a spy.
The Pastry Shop has more of a college vib than some sort of secret service haunt in a Rive Gauche cafe, a Monaco casino, or hookah bar in Marrakesh: cramped, crowded, oddly matched tables and walls covered with literate graffiti, flyers for happenings at nearby Columbia, ads for people selling dog-walking services or organizing one's apartment, people busily scribbling in notebooks or typing on laptops, or just chatting with friends. As I walked in, I only glanced for a nanosecond at the delicious baked goods in the display case. To walk past this is an act of courage for most sweet-tooths. I immediately spotted a table at the back with 6 people looking expectantly at each person who walked in the door. I immediately recognized Emily from pictures on her blog and Hobgoblin because I remember him writing once that he wore his hair in a ponytail. Then I saw Charlotte, who has also posted pictures of herself on her blog. Immediately I was introduced to them and to Dorothy, Marcy, and Becky.
We each had some sort of delicious baked good -- I had an apricot linzer torte & a cup of tea, perfect for a foggy, grey day -- and commenced talking. Hobgoblin and Dorothy know Emily and Becky. Emily, Becky and Marcy know each other through professional contacts as well as their blogs. Charlotte and I were the ones who hadn't met any of the others in real life. After a bite to eat, we were off to the Strand with its 18 miles of bookshelves. Charlotte wanted to see some of the city by walking, but the 7 miles to the Strand was a bit too far. We walked for a bit and then took taxis. I appreciated that everyone was understanding that I, feeble-footed as I still am from my accident last year, couldn't walk very far.
The Strand is one of those overwhelming bookstores that any booklover can't believe they've landed in. There are books on tables, books stacked on the floor, books on shelving up to the high ceilings -- on 3 floors. It is one of those places where you don't find books; they find you. My advice to anyone visiting the Strand - unless you have about a day & half to spend there -- is that you have a plan for 2, maybe 3 sections, that you want to browse. I immediately hit upon a section of travel essays and picked up two books, a translation of Guy de Maupassant's Afloat, and The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck: A Journey into the Himalayas and Down the Brahmaputra by Rory Nugent.
The de Maupassant book is described as a merging of
But my real find of the day was found on a remainders table between fiction, literary biography and poetry: a book reproducing William Blake's illuminated poems, Songs of Innocence and Experience, with transcriptions and commentary on each of the individual plates. When I showed it to Catherine that evening, she said (as anyone on the business side of publishing might), This is expensive paper. I don't know why they used it in the signatures that are just text, yet they were too cheap to use colored end papers. As a lover of books, of poetry, and of art, who first discovered Blake's paintings as a young college student wandering through The Tate, I don't care how unprofitable such a book might be; I just care that it is a marvelous book, beautiful to hold and to read. I even like the two brown ribbons, for page marking both the plate and the corresponding commentary, that match brown fabric on the spine of the book. It is lovely. Although heavy, I carried it aboard the plane today so that I wouldn't chance the airlines loosing it.
After The Strand, we had a late lunch. If you read Dorothy's blog today, you may have wondered about mimosas and mac 'n cheese. They don't really sound like they'd go together, but they mixed well with good conversation and an intermittent commentary on the 80's music that was playing. It was fun spending time with the other bloggers. As Dorothy wrote today, it does feel a little strange to meet people in real life who you know only through their blogs. It is like you know them, but yet, you only know their on-line persona, one aspect of their lives. I wasn't surprised by anyone though. I think that each is very similar to their online voice. I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet them. If you don't know any of these bloggers, go to their blogs now and meet them online.
PS -- I also discovered the real-life name of Dorothy & Hob's pseudonymous dog, Muttboy. All I'll say is that it is fitting, although I will always think of him as Muttboy.
Catherine told her that I was in New York to meet someone from Germany, along with some NY-area people, none whom I had ever met in real life.
Really? Sounds rather James Bondian she said with a giggle.
Well, I didn't have to get any sort of combo driving-flying-boating spy vehicle to arrive at the rendez-vous point. There were no secret passwords or handshakes. I simply walked out the door and around the corner to the designated spot, The Hungarian Pastry Shop. I didn't even have cool boots and an umbrella a la Diana Rigg. The Avengers was always more my thing than Bond. Not that anyone would ever mistake me for Diana Rigg -- or a spy.
The Pastry Shop has more of a college vib than some sort of secret service haunt in a Rive Gauche cafe, a Monaco casino, or hookah bar in Marrakesh: cramped, crowded, oddly matched tables and walls covered with literate graffiti, flyers for happenings at nearby Columbia, ads for people selling dog-walking services or organizing one's apartment, people busily scribbling in notebooks or typing on laptops, or just chatting with friends. As I walked in, I only glanced for a nanosecond at the delicious baked goods in the display case. To walk past this is an act of courage for most sweet-tooths. I immediately spotted a table at the back with 6 people looking expectantly at each person who walked in the door. I immediately recognized Emily from pictures on her blog and Hobgoblin because I remember him writing once that he wore his hair in a ponytail. Then I saw Charlotte, who has also posted pictures of herself on her blog. Immediately I was introduced to them and to Dorothy, Marcy, and Becky.
We each had some sort of delicious baked good -- I had an apricot linzer torte & a cup of tea, perfect for a foggy, grey day -- and commenced talking. Hobgoblin and Dorothy know Emily and Becky. Emily, Becky and Marcy know each other through professional contacts as well as their blogs. Charlotte and I were the ones who hadn't met any of the others in real life. After a bite to eat, we were off to the Strand with its 18 miles of bookshelves. Charlotte wanted to see some of the city by walking, but the 7 miles to the Strand was a bit too far. We walked for a bit and then took taxis. I appreciated that everyone was understanding that I, feeble-footed as I still am from my accident last year, couldn't walk very far.
The Strand is one of those overwhelming bookstores that any booklover can't believe they've landed in. There are books on tables, books stacked on the floor, books on shelving up to the high ceilings -- on 3 floors. It is one of those places where you don't find books; they find you. My advice to anyone visiting the Strand - unless you have about a day & half to spend there -- is that you have a plan for 2, maybe 3 sections, that you want to browse. I immediately hit upon a section of travel essays and picked up two books, a translation of Guy de Maupassant's Afloat, and The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck: A Journey into the Himalayas and Down the Brahmaputra by Rory Nugent.
The de Maupassant book is described as a merging of
fact and fiction, dream, polemic and documentation in a wholly original manner. Humorous and troubling stories, unreliable confessions, stray reminiscences, and thoughts on life, love, art, nature and society....The Pink-headed duck is about a journey through India, which appears to have much to do with India, and only a little to do with a bird that hadn't been seen in a half century. How could I pass up either of them?
But my real find of the day was found on a remainders table between fiction, literary biography and poetry: a book reproducing William Blake's illuminated poems, Songs of Innocence and Experience, with transcriptions and commentary on each of the individual plates. When I showed it to Catherine that evening, she said (as anyone on the business side of publishing might), This is expensive paper. I don't know why they used it in the signatures that are just text, yet they were too cheap to use colored end papers. As a lover of books, of poetry, and of art, who first discovered Blake's paintings as a young college student wandering through The Tate, I don't care how unprofitable such a book might be; I just care that it is a marvelous book, beautiful to hold and to read. I even like the two brown ribbons, for page marking both the plate and the corresponding commentary, that match brown fabric on the spine of the book. It is lovely. Although heavy, I carried it aboard the plane today so that I wouldn't chance the airlines loosing it.
After The Strand, we had a late lunch. If you read Dorothy's blog today, you may have wondered about mimosas and mac 'n cheese. They don't really sound like they'd go together, but they mixed well with good conversation and an intermittent commentary on the 80's music that was playing. It was fun spending time with the other bloggers. As Dorothy wrote today, it does feel a little strange to meet people in real life who you know only through their blogs. It is like you know them, but yet, you only know their on-line persona, one aspect of their lives. I wasn't surprised by anyone though. I think that each is very similar to their online voice. I am glad that I had the opportunity to meet them. If you don't know any of these bloggers, go to their blogs now and meet them online.
PS -- I also discovered the real-life name of Dorothy & Hob's pseudonymous dog, Muttboy. All I'll say is that it is fitting, although I will always think of him as Muttboy.
01 June 2008
Presidential Reading Recommendations
In today's New York Times, several authors were asked to recommend books to the 3 current Presidential contenders. Michael Pollan's recommendations are pertinent to anyone concerned about the environment and justice issues:
As a lover of literature, I enjoyed Gary Wills recommendations the most. Can one ever go wrong with Samuel Johnson, regardless of the era or political crisis of the day? (See page two of the article).
You can read the entire article -- including recommendations from a diverse group of writers such as Junot Diaz, Barbara Kingsolver, Scott Turow, John Irving, Steven Pinker, and a most succinct response from Gore Vidal -- here.
Cross-posted at EcoJustice08.
I would urge the three presidential candidates to read — or reread — two books from the 1970s that could help them confront the deepening (and now deeply intertwined) problem of our food and energy economies. Long before either climate change or the obesity epidemic were on the national scope, Wendell Berry’s “Unsettling of America” made the case for a way of life and a kind of agriculture that might have averted both — and could still make an important contribution to solving these problems. In “Diet for a Small Planet,” Frances Moore Lappé shone a light on the wastefulness and environmental costs of meat-eating, predicting that humanity’s growing appetite for meat would lead to hunger for the world’s poor. Together these two visionary writers — who fell out of favor during the cheap-food and cheap-energy years that began in the ’80s and are just now coming to a calamitous close — still have much to say about the way out of our current predicament.
As a lover of literature, I enjoyed Gary Wills recommendations the most. Can one ever go wrong with Samuel Johnson, regardless of the era or political crisis of the day? (See page two of the article).
You can read the entire article -- including recommendations from a diverse group of writers such as Junot Diaz, Barbara Kingsolver, Scott Turow, John Irving, Steven Pinker, and a most succinct response from Gore Vidal -- here.
Cross-posted at EcoJustice08.
28 May 2008
My obnoxious take on a meme
Because I'm in a contrary mood and in the middle of a bought of insomnia right now I think all memes that are I did/I haven't/I never will lists are obnoxious. So here's my take on possible reasons why these books are the most 'unread' on LibraryThing. There's a prize in this box of cracker jacks. Read on.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell The talking statues of Yorkminster? Magic? 800 pages?
Anna Karenina Likes trains, but not manic-depressive Russian housewives.
Crime and Punishment Thought it was written by Bush staffer responsible for throwing out habeas corpus.
Catch-22 Wanted to understand the cliche but realized reading the book would be one.
One Hundred Years of Solitude Thought it was a self-help book for the overworked needing to unplug
Wuthering Heights Cathy! Cathy!
The Silmarillion Thought similar to LOTR
Life of Pi : a novel Secondary source for research paper proving that 3.14159 = 3.243F6A8885A308D31319…
The Name of the Rose A rose by any other name...
Don Quixote Liked the musical Man of La Mancha
Moby Dick Likes to fish.
Ulysses Purchased by confused Freshman who mixed up Joyce & Homer.
Madame Bovary Soft core.
The Odyssey Bought before realized could pass the class without reading.
Pride and Prejudice Wannabe Austen Fan.
Jane Eyre Seeking lost inner teenage girl.
A Tale of Two Cities Travel guide?
The Brothers Karamazov Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Guns, Germs, and Steel On the NYT Bestseller list. Bought for Christmas for unlikeable relative. Regifted ugly sweater instead.
War and Peace Trying to look well educated or well-toned (well-tomed or well-toned?).
Vanity Fair Thought it was special edition of the magazine.
The Time Traveler’s Wife Book Club, never read.
The Iliad For Freshman Humanities class. Couldn't sell at used book store.
Emma Wannabe Austen fan.
The Blind Assassin Thought it was Robert Ludlum novel.
The Kite Runner No excuse.
Mrs. Dalloway To impress a cute girl.
Great Expectations To impress a cute grad assistant.
American Gods To impress a cute boy. Because Neil Gaimen is cool.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Couldn't resist the title, but found out it was about death, and raising a kid, and growing up.
Atlas Shrugged Could there be any other reason for thinking about reading Rand other than teenage angst?
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books Trying to look hip & PC.
Memoirs of a Geisha Missed the movie but wanted cocktail party chatter fodder.
Middlesex Confused by the title.
Quicksilver Impulse buy. No idea about the book.
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West Hey, if it's a musical with that short woman with a great voice, then the book must be good, right?
The Canterbury Tales Eager Freshman. Thought had to read all in Old English.
The Historian : a novel Brief faux-Goth stage.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Wanting intellectual sounding book on shelf.
Love in the Time of Cholera Thinking about being a doctor.
Brave New World Confused it with 1984.
The Fountainhead Could there be any other reason for thinking about reading Rand other than teenage angst?
Foucault’s Pendulum Wanting to learn about echo and other things about physics.
Middlemarch Wannabe Austen fan.
Frankenstein Disappointed that it wasn't by Mel Brooks.
The Count of Monte Cristo Trying to reclaim childhood.
Dracula Came with set of wax lips. Give-away during local station's late night horror movie marathon.
A Clockwork Orange Because the movie was rated X.
Anansi Boys To impress a cute boy. And because Gaimen is cool!
The Once and Future King If over 45: Loved Camelot. If under 45: Loved Spamalot.
The Grapes of Wrath Thought it'd make you well-read.
The Poisonwood Bible Liked Kingsolver's other books.
1984 Confused it with Brave New World.
Angels & Demons Couldn't find copy of DaVinci Code during it's popular phase. Book club read. Never finished.
Inferno Confused with Fahrenheit 451.
The Satanic Verses Looking for incantations.
Sense and Sensibility Wannabe Austen fan.
The Picture of Dorian Gray Thought Dorian was a cute girl.
Mansfield Park Wannabe Austen Fan.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
To the Lighthouse Wanted to not look stupid with the in-crowd of Women's Studies students.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles Wanted to be with the in-crowd of Women's Studies students.
Oliver Twist Didn't realize that A Christmas Carol was uncharacteristically short for Dickens. And a much better theatrical production.
Gulliver’s Travels Google employee who likes horses trying to understand origins of Yahoo.
Les Misérables Manic-depressive reader.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Tired of graphic novels.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Book club read. Read first and last chapter.
Dune Because all of the cool geeky people were reading it between games of D&D.
The Prince Wannabe poli-sci major.
The Sound and the Fury Anger management.
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir Book club read. Didn't get past children dying in first few pages.
The God of Small Things Totally confused.
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present Looking for cliff-notes.
Cryptonomicon ?
Neverwhere To impress a cute boy or girl. And, because Gaimen is cool!
A Confederacy of Dunces Felt sorry for Toole's mother.
A Short History of Nearly Everything Looking for cliff-notes.
Dubliners Thought it was about drinking games.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Liked anti-grav boots.
Beloved Liked Toni Morrison. Liked Toni Morrison's hair. Liked Oprah.
Slaughterhouse-Five Thought Vonnegut only wrote sci-fi comedy.
The Scarlet Letter High School Student afraid of not graduating heard there was a secret "mistake" in Cliff Notes only teachers knew so actually tried to read book.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves Thought it was a Rachel Ray "Oh Yum Vegan Delights" Cookbook.
The Mists of Avalon See Once & Future King. Girl version.
Oryx and Crake ?
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed Received as Hanukkah gift from depressive cousin.
Cloud Atlas Received as gift from relative who heard you wanted to be a pilot.
The Confusion A moment of clarity in the bookstore.
Lolita Because of renowned creepiness of Humbert Humbert.
Persuasion Wannabe Austen Fan.
Northanger Abbey Wannabe Austen Fan.
The Catcher in the Rye No angry young teen street cred without this on your shelf.
On the Road No rock-n-roll street cred without this on your shelf.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Likes UND.
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything Another Christmas-Hanukkah gift.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values For those angst-filled teens too cool to read Ayn Rand.
The Aeneid Companion to Ulysses and Odyssey
Watership Down Because bunnies are cute and reading Peter Rabbit after age 7 isn't.
Gravity’s Rainbow Gift from stoner boyfriend.
The Hobbit Gift from stoner girlfriend
In Cold Blood Bought during Realism phase.
White Teeth ???
Treasure Island Bought to read with Grandson.
David Copperfield Bio of the magician?
Guess which one of these is true for me and I'll enter your name in a drawing for a fabulous prize (on Sunday around noon Eastern time). There may be more than one possible correct answer. There may be more than one incorrect answer. Will draw a name from all correct guesses. And maybe will include answers that amuse me. Or maybe everybody who comments. Depends on my mood. No real written rules. No idea yet what the fabulous prize will be, but you won't want to miss entering this giveaway! After all, don't you have room for more unread books on your shelves?
18 Not read (yet)
27 Read
9 Started reading but couldn't finish
54 I've never owned, checked from library, thought about buying
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell The talking statues of Yorkminster? Magic? 800 pages?
Anna Karenina Likes trains, but not manic-depressive Russian housewives.
Crime and Punishment Thought it was written by Bush staffer responsible for throwing out habeas corpus.
Catch-22 Wanted to understand the cliche but realized reading the book would be one.
One Hundred Years of Solitude Thought it was a self-help book for the overworked needing to unplug
Wuthering Heights Cathy! Cathy!
The Silmarillion Thought similar to LOTR
Life of Pi : a novel Secondary source for research paper proving that 3.14159 = 3.243F6A8885A308D31319…
The Name of the Rose A rose by any other name...
Don Quixote Liked the musical Man of La Mancha
Moby Dick Likes to fish.
Ulysses Purchased by confused Freshman who mixed up Joyce & Homer.
Madame Bovary Soft core.
The Odyssey Bought before realized could pass the class without reading.
Pride and Prejudice Wannabe Austen Fan.
Jane Eyre Seeking lost inner teenage girl.
A Tale of Two Cities Travel guide?
The Brothers Karamazov Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Guns, Germs, and Steel On the NYT Bestseller list. Bought for Christmas for unlikeable relative. Regifted ugly sweater instead.
War and Peace Trying to look well educated or well-toned (well-tomed or well-toned?).
Vanity Fair Thought it was special edition of the magazine.
The Time Traveler’s Wife Book Club, never read.
The Iliad For Freshman Humanities class. Couldn't sell at used book store.
Emma Wannabe Austen fan.
The Blind Assassin Thought it was Robert Ludlum novel.
The Kite Runner No excuse.
Mrs. Dalloway To impress a cute girl.
Great Expectations To impress a cute grad assistant.
American Gods To impress a cute boy. Because Neil Gaimen is cool.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Couldn't resist the title, but found out it was about death, and raising a kid, and growing up.
Atlas Shrugged Could there be any other reason for thinking about reading Rand other than teenage angst?
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books Trying to look hip & PC.
Memoirs of a Geisha Missed the movie but wanted cocktail party chatter fodder.
Middlesex Confused by the title.
Quicksilver Impulse buy. No idea about the book.
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West Hey, if it's a musical with that short woman with a great voice, then the book must be good, right?
The Canterbury Tales Eager Freshman. Thought had to read all in Old English.
The Historian : a novel Brief faux-Goth stage.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Wanting intellectual sounding book on shelf.
Love in the Time of Cholera Thinking about being a doctor.
Brave New World Confused it with 1984.
The Fountainhead Could there be any other reason for thinking about reading Rand other than teenage angst?
Foucault’s Pendulum Wanting to learn about echo and other things about physics.
Middlemarch Wannabe Austen fan.
Frankenstein Disappointed that it wasn't by Mel Brooks.
The Count of Monte Cristo Trying to reclaim childhood.
Dracula Came with set of wax lips. Give-away during local station's late night horror movie marathon.
A Clockwork Orange Because the movie was rated X.
Anansi Boys To impress a cute boy. And because Gaimen is cool!
The Once and Future King If over 45: Loved Camelot. If under 45: Loved Spamalot.
The Grapes of Wrath Thought it'd make you well-read.
The Poisonwood Bible Liked Kingsolver's other books.
1984 Confused it with Brave New World.
Angels & Demons Couldn't find copy of DaVinci Code during it's popular phase. Book club read. Never finished.
Inferno Confused with Fahrenheit 451.
The Satanic Verses Looking for incantations.
Sense and Sensibility Wannabe Austen fan.
The Picture of Dorian Gray Thought Dorian was a cute girl.
Mansfield Park Wannabe Austen Fan.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
To the Lighthouse Wanted to not look stupid with the in-crowd of Women's Studies students.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles Wanted to be with the in-crowd of Women's Studies students.
Oliver Twist Didn't realize that A Christmas Carol was uncharacteristically short for Dickens. And a much better theatrical production.
Gulliver’s Travels Google employee who likes horses trying to understand origins of Yahoo.
Les Misérables Manic-depressive reader.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Tired of graphic novels.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Book club read. Read first and last chapter.
Dune Because all of the cool geeky people were reading it between games of D&D.
The Prince Wannabe poli-sci major.
The Sound and the Fury Anger management.
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir Book club read. Didn't get past children dying in first few pages.
The God of Small Things Totally confused.
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present Looking for cliff-notes.
Cryptonomicon ?
Neverwhere To impress a cute boy or girl. And, because Gaimen is cool!
A Confederacy of Dunces Felt sorry for Toole's mother.
A Short History of Nearly Everything Looking for cliff-notes.
Dubliners Thought it was about drinking games.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Liked anti-grav boots.
Beloved Liked Toni Morrison. Liked Toni Morrison's hair. Liked Oprah.
Slaughterhouse-Five Thought Vonnegut only wrote sci-fi comedy.
The Scarlet Letter High School Student afraid of not graduating heard there was a secret "mistake" in Cliff Notes only teachers knew so actually tried to read book.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves Thought it was a Rachel Ray "Oh Yum Vegan Delights" Cookbook.
The Mists of Avalon See Once & Future King. Girl version.
Oryx and Crake ?
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed Received as Hanukkah gift from depressive cousin.
Cloud Atlas Received as gift from relative who heard you wanted to be a pilot.
The Confusion A moment of clarity in the bookstore.
Lolita Because of renowned creepiness of Humbert Humbert.
Persuasion Wannabe Austen Fan.
Northanger Abbey Wannabe Austen Fan.
The Catcher in the Rye No angry young teen street cred without this on your shelf.
On the Road No rock-n-roll street cred without this on your shelf.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Likes UND.
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything Another Christmas-Hanukkah gift.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values For those angst-filled teens too cool to read Ayn Rand.
The Aeneid Companion to Ulysses and Odyssey
Watership Down Because bunnies are cute and reading Peter Rabbit after age 7 isn't.
Gravity’s Rainbow Gift from stoner boyfriend.
The Hobbit Gift from stoner girlfriend
In Cold Blood Bought during Realism phase.
White Teeth ???
Treasure Island Bought to read with Grandson.
David Copperfield Bio of the magician?
Guess which one of these is true for me and I'll enter your name in a drawing for a fabulous prize (on Sunday around noon Eastern time). There may be more than one possible correct answer. There may be more than one incorrect answer. Will draw a name from all correct guesses. And maybe will include answers that amuse me. Or maybe everybody who comments. Depends on my mood. No real written rules. No idea yet what the fabulous prize will be, but you won't want to miss entering this giveaway! After all, don't you have room for more unread books on your shelves?
18 Not read (yet)
27 Read
9 Started reading but couldn't finish
54 I've never owned, checked from library, thought about buying
02 April 2008
Top Contender for Worst Book I've Read This Year
I tried -- really tried -- to finish Holding Her Head High: 12 single mothers who championed their children and changed history, by Janine Turner (a book I received as a review copy through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program) but I can't do it. When you find you are reading with the purpose of counting the number of cliches per chapter, there is no point in wasting any more of your time. I had begun to feel like a roadside gawker at horrible highway accident.
For the record, in the chapters I read, the phrase -- as if you might not remember the title of the book -- holding her head high was used an average of 4 times per chapter. Maximum chapter High Head Count: 8. If that doesn't give you a sense of the tediousness of this book, I might discourage you with the following: improper use of quotations, misspelled words, poor (or wrong!) word choice, dull sentence structure, sloppy research, an inappropriately casual narrative voice, repetitive paragraphs, and poor organization. In general, it reads like a 8th grade term paper -- one that would get an 'C' from a burned-out easy grader.
How anyone could make the lives of some of the women profiled (Helena Augusta, Christine De Pizan, Abigal Adams*) boring is surprising. More surprising still is that this book was published (although I'd guess that Turner being a Hollywood actress may have had some influence on the book deal). Some LT reviewers commented that this book should have been marketed differently (as a devotional rather than a sociological or history work), suggesting that for a different audience it would fare better. I don't think so; poor writing is poor writing. A sad comment to make about a book with a topic that suggests that it could be so much more.
(*Note: Please don't bother to correct me about A. Adams. I know that Abigal Adams wasn't a single mother; John Adams outlived his wife. But, because she raised her children by herself during the Revolutionary War and Adams' ambassadorial trips to Europe, Turner chose to include her in this work. There are other profiles in this book that are, arguably, not about single mothers.)
For the record, in the chapters I read, the phrase -- as if you might not remember the title of the book -- holding her head high was used an average of 4 times per chapter. Maximum chapter High Head Count: 8. If that doesn't give you a sense of the tediousness of this book, I might discourage you with the following: improper use of quotations, misspelled words, poor (or wrong!) word choice, dull sentence structure, sloppy research, an inappropriately casual narrative voice, repetitive paragraphs, and poor organization. In general, it reads like a 8th grade term paper -- one that would get an 'C' from a burned-out easy grader.
How anyone could make the lives of some of the women profiled (Helena Augusta, Christine De Pizan, Abigal Adams*) boring is surprising. More surprising still is that this book was published (although I'd guess that Turner being a Hollywood actress may have had some influence on the book deal). Some LT reviewers commented that this book should have been marketed differently (as a devotional rather than a sociological or history work), suggesting that for a different audience it would fare better. I don't think so; poor writing is poor writing. A sad comment to make about a book with a topic that suggests that it could be so much more.
(*Note: Please don't bother to correct me about A. Adams. I know that Abigal Adams wasn't a single mother; John Adams outlived his wife. But, because she raised her children by herself during the Revolutionary War and Adams' ambassadorial trips to Europe, Turner chose to include her in this work. There are other profiles in this book that are, arguably, not about single mothers.)
15 January 2008
Best dedications?
I was book browsing in the poetry section of the store last week and decided I'd buy a volume of Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry. I've only read a few poems by Rilke and I don't know much about him or his writing. I decided that it was time that I did.
Next to Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke were two other volumes: Letters on Cezanne and Stories of God. I was intrigued and bought all three volumes.
This evening I started Stories of God. The dedication to this book is stunning:
How cool would it have been to be Ellen Key and to read that dedication?
Since I liked that dedication, I then had to see if there was a dedication to be discovered in Letters to Cezanne.
I think I will enjoy reading the two prose works. The poems I intend to savor over the next several weeks or months.
Next to Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke were two other volumes: Letters on Cezanne and Stories of God. I was intrigued and bought all three volumes.
This evening I started Stories of God. The dedication to this book is stunning:
My friend, once I put this book in your hands, and you were fonder of it than anyone before you. So I have become accustomed to thinking of it as belonging to you. therefore, permit me, not only in your own book but in all the books of this new edition, to write your name, to write:The Stories of God belong to Ellen Key.
Rainer Maria Rilke, Rome, April 1904.
How cool would it have been to be Ellen Key and to read that dedication?
Since I liked that dedication, I then had to see if there was a dedication to be discovered in Letters to Cezanne.
Somehow I too must find a way of making things; not plastic, written things, but realities that arise from the craft itself. Somehow I too must discover the smallest constituent element, the cell of my art, the tangible immaterial means of expressing everything...To Louis Andreas-Salome, August 10, 1903
I think I will enjoy reading the two prose works. The poems I intend to savor over the next several weeks or months.
31 December 2007
Survey Says....
The results from the Favorites of 2007 Survey have been compiled. As I did last year, I found the results surprising and interesting. A total of 12 different people replied, although not all completed every question.
1. Favorite Fiction Read in 2007 (12 responses)
- Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince & The A-List series.
- Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I loved Ishiguro's take on a science-fiction topic -- who would have thought a book about clones would be so beautiful?
- Is it too trite to say Margaret Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND? I was so, so surprised by it, not expecting to like it anywhere near as much as I did.
- Of Human Bondage, Somerset Maugham
- The Oasis
- A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
- Goldberg: Variations by Gabriel Josipovici - A favourite because it expanded my ideas of what fiction could be.
- The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
- Spook Country, William Gibson
- The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
2. Favorite Non-Fiction Book Read in 2007 (11 responses)
- James Boswell's Life of Johnson. This biography captured not only Johnson, but the 18C wonderfully well.
- That's a really, really tough one, but I think Rose Macaulay's PLEASURE OF RUINS just squeaks by (by a hair) Vicki Constantine Croke's THE LADY AND THE PANDA.
- The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
- Light on the Hill, by William D Snider
- Black Dog of Fate, Peter Balakian
- Demons and the Making of the Monk by David Brakke - A well-written, excellently researched, entertaining book about spiritual warfare -- often literally. Who could not love a book that combined philosophy with monks and demons duking it on a monastery terrace or at the bottom of a well in the desert?
- Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters
- The Wild White Swan by Jiyu-Kennett
- Fathers and Sons, Alexander Waugh
3. Favorite Author Read for the first time in 2007 (11 responses)
- Stephenie Meyer & Zoey Dean
- Gabriel Josipovici. Goldberg: Variations was an amazing novel.
- Armistead Maupin, no question or tough choices there.
- Richard Dawkins
- Wilson Crawford
- Khaled Hosseini
- David Treuer - His book enthralled me from start to finish. Outstanding. It was hard not to give his book to the top spot in "favourite fiction".
- Neil Gaiman
- Richard Morgan
- John Galsworthy
4. How many books did you read this year? (11 responses)
<10 0% (0)
<25 9.1% (1)
<50 27.3% (3)
<100 54.5% (6)
I was suppose
to be counting? 9.1% (1)
Books? 0% (0)
5. Favorite Daily Read (11 responses)
- Time & Nylon magazines, Stephanie Meyer, & perezhilton.com
- Tales from the Reading Room. The blog is always smart and the blogger always gracious.
- Ian's Blog. I'm biased. He's my brother, and it's a great way to keep up with each other, as we each lead such busy lives. But I know I'd read him everyday, even if he weren't my brother, because he's just so damn funny and such a talented writer.
- A Fraternity Of Dreamers Kookiejar discusses books and pop culture...what's not to love?
- http://progresscity.michaelcrawford.com/
- That's a hard choice, but probably Dovegrey Reader Scribbles.
- The Sharp Side I am guaranteed to learn something new, whether it's an "outmoded" author or a political issue overlooked by the media, and it's always told in the most spirited, engaging manner. Excellent stuff.
- Fraternity of Dreamers It's a favorite because I can count on her to post every day, because she post a lot of interesting tidbits besides just her book reviews, and because she's funny and smart.
- Very unfair to pick one but I've learned more from Achelois than almost any other blog - always funny and often challenging.
- Telecommuter Talk - with QC Report a close second, this post in particular. Both make me laugh and brighten my day.
6. I like to read blogs about.... (10 responses)
- The book industry 20% (2)
- Soon to be published books 40% (4)
- Literary Criticism 50% (5)
- Reviews of Books read 70% (7)
- Blogs that summarize and
link to other posts 20% (2)
- Reviews printed in newspapers first 0% (0)
- Some book news and reviews, but
other topics too 80% (8)
- Other (specific answers below) 30% (3)
**Cooking and recipes
**life, parenting, music, politics
**Whatever my favourite bloggers write about
7. Favorite Commenter (9 responses)
- Danielle, A Work in Progress. She asks great questions and makes great observations.
- Mandarine
- Jenclair, from A Garden Carried in the Pocket
- Stefanie at So Many Books
- Sylvia, from A Classical Bookworm - she's never afraid of challenging my views.
- Litlove, at Tales from the Reading Room. Her comments are insightful on other people's blogs, but I especially love the comment conversations on her blog.
- God! That one's too difficult.
- Emily, who lured me into this whole blogging thing in the first place.
8. How often do you post to your blog? (9 responses)
- Every Day 11.1% (1)
- 1-2 Times/Week 22.2% (2)
- 3-5 Times/Week 33.3% (3)
- A few times a month 0.0% (0)
- Infrequently 0.0% (0)
- Whenever I have something to say 33.3% (3)
9.Favorite Reading Meme or Challenge (7 responses)
- The Outmoded Authors challenge received 3 votes. Comments included:
I've really enjoyed which is getting me to read authors that are new to me
So far I have loved everything I picked up; and the posts by other bloggers completing the challenge are inspiring me to so many other authors too.
- TBR Challenge
- Russian Reading Challenge (but I guess that one doesn't count for 2007 yet. ;-) ) In 2007 I didn't participate in any challenges.
- The Great Imperative Meme
- The songs we sing meme
10. How has blogging changed the way you read this year? (# of books, type, etc.) (7 responses)
- I have read more books than ever before because blogs keep me focused a bit more on reading than I was before.
- I read more carefully, always mindful that I might want to post about the books I'm reading, which I didn't used to do, paying attention to quotable material. Blogging hasn't changed the number of books I actually read, but it's certainly changed the number of books I add to my TBR list.
- I'm reading more authors from other countries.
- I guess for me it's the other way around: reading changed the way I blog! I started a separate litblog this year besides my already existing blog. I wanted to blog about books and reading, my one lifelong passion.
- I've begun to search for and read Jamaican novelists for the first time! I'm very pleased about that.
- I've gone out and bought at least one book I wouldn't otherwise have.
- It has broadened my reading, and encouraged me to read more critically.
Thanks to all --whether identified or not -- who completed the survey.
The Participants (who identified themselves in blog comments):
Dorothy W., Of Books and Bicycles
Emily, Telecommuter Talk
Myrthe, The Armenian Odar Reads
Dewey, The Hidden Side of the Leaf
Imani, The Book of My Numberless Dreams
1. Favorite Fiction Read in 2007 (12 responses)
- Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince & The A-List series.
- Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I loved Ishiguro's take on a science-fiction topic -- who would have thought a book about clones would be so beautiful?
- Is it too trite to say Margaret Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND? I was so, so surprised by it, not expecting to like it anywhere near as much as I did.
- Of Human Bondage, Somerset Maugham
- The Oasis
- A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
- Goldberg: Variations by Gabriel Josipovici - A favourite because it expanded my ideas of what fiction could be.
- The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
- Spook Country, William Gibson
- The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
2. Favorite Non-Fiction Book Read in 2007 (11 responses)
- James Boswell's Life of Johnson. This biography captured not only Johnson, but the 18C wonderfully well.
- That's a really, really tough one, but I think Rose Macaulay's PLEASURE OF RUINS just squeaks by (by a hair) Vicki Constantine Croke's THE LADY AND THE PANDA.
- The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
- Light on the Hill, by William D Snider
- Black Dog of Fate, Peter Balakian
- Demons and the Making of the Monk by David Brakke - A well-written, excellently researched, entertaining book about spiritual warfare -- often literally. Who could not love a book that combined philosophy with monks and demons duking it on a monastery terrace or at the bottom of a well in the desert?
- Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters
- The Wild White Swan by Jiyu-Kennett
- Fathers and Sons, Alexander Waugh
3. Favorite Author Read for the first time in 2007 (11 responses)
- Stephenie Meyer & Zoey Dean
- Gabriel Josipovici. Goldberg: Variations was an amazing novel.
- Armistead Maupin, no question or tough choices there.
- Richard Dawkins
- Wilson Crawford
- Khaled Hosseini
- David Treuer - His book enthralled me from start to finish. Outstanding. It was hard not to give his book to the top spot in "favourite fiction".
- Neil Gaiman
- Richard Morgan
- John Galsworthy
4. How many books did you read this year? (11 responses)
<10 0% (0)
<25 9.1% (1)
<50 27.3% (3)
<100 54.5% (6)
I was suppose
to be counting? 9.1% (1)
Books? 0% (0)
5. Favorite Daily Read (11 responses)
- Time & Nylon magazines, Stephanie Meyer, & perezhilton.com
- Tales from the Reading Room. The blog is always smart and the blogger always gracious.
- Ian's Blog. I'm biased. He's my brother, and it's a great way to keep up with each other, as we each lead such busy lives. But I know I'd read him everyday, even if he weren't my brother, because he's just so damn funny and such a talented writer.
- A Fraternity Of Dreamers Kookiejar discusses books and pop culture...what's not to love?
- http://progresscity.michaelcrawford.com/
- That's a hard choice, but probably Dovegrey Reader Scribbles.
- The Sharp Side I am guaranteed to learn something new, whether it's an "outmoded" author or a political issue overlooked by the media, and it's always told in the most spirited, engaging manner. Excellent stuff.
- Fraternity of Dreamers It's a favorite because I can count on her to post every day, because she post a lot of interesting tidbits besides just her book reviews, and because she's funny and smart.
- Very unfair to pick one but I've learned more from Achelois than almost any other blog - always funny and often challenging.
- Telecommuter Talk - with QC Report a close second, this post in particular. Both make me laugh and brighten my day.
6. I like to read blogs about.... (10 responses)
- The book industry 20% (2)
- Soon to be published books 40% (4)
- Literary Criticism 50% (5)
- Reviews of Books read 70% (7)
- Blogs that summarize and
link to other posts 20% (2)
- Reviews printed in newspapers first 0% (0)
- Some book news and reviews, but
other topics too 80% (8)
- Other (specific answers below) 30% (3)
**Cooking and recipes
**life, parenting, music, politics
**Whatever my favourite bloggers write about
7. Favorite Commenter (9 responses)
- Danielle, A Work in Progress. She asks great questions and makes great observations.
- Mandarine
- Jenclair, from A Garden Carried in the Pocket
- Stefanie at So Many Books
- Sylvia, from A Classical Bookworm - she's never afraid of challenging my views.
- Litlove, at Tales from the Reading Room. Her comments are insightful on other people's blogs, but I especially love the comment conversations on her blog.
- God! That one's too difficult.
- Emily, who lured me into this whole blogging thing in the first place.
8. How often do you post to your blog? (9 responses)
- Every Day 11.1% (1)
- 1-2 Times/Week 22.2% (2)
- 3-5 Times/Week 33.3% (3)
- A few times a month 0.0% (0)
- Infrequently 0.0% (0)
- Whenever I have something to say 33.3% (3)
9.Favorite Reading Meme or Challenge (7 responses)
- The Outmoded Authors challenge received 3 votes. Comments included:
I've really enjoyed which is getting me to read authors that are new to me
So far I have loved everything I picked up; and the posts by other bloggers completing the challenge are inspiring me to so many other authors too.
- TBR Challenge
- Russian Reading Challenge (but I guess that one doesn't count for 2007 yet. ;-) ) In 2007 I didn't participate in any challenges.
- The Great Imperative Meme
- The songs we sing meme
10. How has blogging changed the way you read this year? (# of books, type, etc.) (7 responses)
- I have read more books than ever before because blogs keep me focused a bit more on reading than I was before.
- I read more carefully, always mindful that I might want to post about the books I'm reading, which I didn't used to do, paying attention to quotable material. Blogging hasn't changed the number of books I actually read, but it's certainly changed the number of books I add to my TBR list.
- I'm reading more authors from other countries.
- I guess for me it's the other way around: reading changed the way I blog! I started a separate litblog this year besides my already existing blog. I wanted to blog about books and reading, my one lifelong passion.
- I've begun to search for and read Jamaican novelists for the first time! I'm very pleased about that.
- I've gone out and bought at least one book I wouldn't otherwise have.
- It has broadened my reading, and encouraged me to read more critically.
Thanks to all --whether identified or not -- who completed the survey.
The Participants (who identified themselves in blog comments):
Dorothy W., Of Books and Bicycles
Emily, Telecommuter Talk
Myrthe, The Armenian Odar Reads
Dewey, The Hidden Side of the Leaf
Imani, The Book of My Numberless Dreams
23 December 2007
Mysteries: Help
Phone conversation today went like this:
Me: What can I get D for Christmas?
L: He's been reading a lot recently.
Me: READING?! Something other than the sports page?
L: Mysteries. Murder Mysteries. Thrillers. Political intrigue.
Me: You mean I should buy him books???
L: Or a gift card to the bookstore. He said recently I didn't have anything interesting to read. I told him it might be a novel idea if he bought some books for himself.
Thus started a holiday shopping trip in which I went searching in the last place I expected for a gift for my older brother.
I don't read murder mysteries. I haven't a clue what to buy. He's read everything by John Grisham and David Baldacci. Recently enjoyed Acts of Treason by Vince Flynn. I was totally perplexed at the store. This isn't my category.
Mystery and thriller fans: Any suggestions?
Maybe it was easier when I could pick him up anything at the Golf Superstore
Me: What can I get D for Christmas?
L: He's been reading a lot recently.
Me: READING?! Something other than the sports page?
L: Mysteries. Murder Mysteries. Thrillers. Political intrigue.
Me: You mean I should buy him books???
L: Or a gift card to the bookstore. He said recently I didn't have anything interesting to read. I told him it might be a novel idea if he bought some books for himself.
Thus started a holiday shopping trip in which I went searching in the last place I expected for a gift for my older brother.
I don't read murder mysteries. I haven't a clue what to buy. He's read everything by John Grisham and David Baldacci. Recently enjoyed Acts of Treason by Vince Flynn. I was totally perplexed at the store. This isn't my category.
Mystery and thriller fans: Any suggestions?
Maybe it was easier when I could pick him up anything at the Golf Superstore
03 December 2007
Early Reviews
LibraryThing (What? You don't know about LT? Go here!) has an Early Reviewer program where LT members can opt into a lottery for ARC's. I just received an email indicating that I snagged another one: The Story of Forgetting, by Stefan Merrill Block. It's a debut novel and it sounds interesting from the description of it on the LT web page:
I'm looking forward to this and hope I get my copy before my next business trip. An interesting novel is always good to take on a long plane ride, especially in winter when delays are possible.
I'm struck by this in the author's bio on the publisher's (Random House) web page: ...was born in 1982. I expect that he is an awesome writer if he has a first novel published at age 25. I won't hold it against him that I have shoes older than that. A bit humbling, actually, considering that it sometimes takes me an hour or more to write a simple blog post, and the various short stories & other writing ideas I have seem to develop at a glacial speed. To be clear: that's the speed glaciers have moved over the past centuries, not the speed that global climate change is causing them to melt.
..."[t]hree narratives intertwine to create a story that is by turns funny, smart, introspective, and revelatory....Through the fusion of myth, science, and storytelling, this novel offers a dazzling illumination of the hard-learned truth that only through the loss of what we consider precious can we understand the value of what remains.
I'm looking forward to this and hope I get my copy before my next business trip. An interesting novel is always good to take on a long plane ride, especially in winter when delays are possible.
I'm struck by this in the author's bio on the publisher's (Random House) web page: ...was born in 1982. I expect that he is an awesome writer if he has a first novel published at age 25. I won't hold it against him that I have shoes older than that. A bit humbling, actually, considering that it sometimes takes me an hour or more to write a simple blog post, and the various short stories & other writing ideas I have seem to develop at a glacial speed. To be clear: that's the speed glaciers have moved over the past centuries, not the speed that global climate change is causing them to melt.
26 November 2007
Some rambling thoughts on Beowulf
I went to see Beowulf over the holiday weekend with my son. He indicated that he had read the poem in High School. When it was assigned, he felt that he just couldn't get into it, and didn't do the reading. But, he said, as the class discussed it, he realized that it might be an okay story. So, he returned to the book, read the story and liked it. He retained much of it too, because he was able to explain to me what was in the original poem and what had been filled in.
I too remember being assigned Beowulf, though I don't recall if it was in high school or college -- or both. What I do remember is that it was boring and I didn't put forth any effort to read it. This has put my understanding of Beowulf at a disadvantage.
My initial reactions to the movie was that I didn't like the animation at all. I read almost nothing about the movie and had no idea that it was motion-capture. I almost immediately balked at this, thinking that I had wasted my money on the cost of the ticket. I found the not quite so lifelike animated figures to be a distraction at first. Why would they hire actors to play roles, only to turn their figures into animation? I thought that the point of advanced technologies was to make animated scenes look life-like. Instead, the movie makes real life look unreal. The actors are an odd cross between drawing and real life. It took me some time into the film to forget about the technique and just watch the film.
I found myself making comments such as whether the idea for the drawing of Grendel came from the Bodies exhibit. I thought Grendel's mother had been envisioned as a cross between the Oscar statuette and CatWoman. I found it laughable that although Beowulf is naked in the battle with Grendel, there was always something placed strategically to block potentially offending parts of his body. Was this because they were trying to get a lower movie rating? Or because the animators couldn't agree on how to draw him without pants? After all, Beowulf exaggerated all of his feats; drawing to scale might seem too ordinary for a hero like Beowulf. Draw him too large or out of proportion and risk the focus be on the art of the drawing instead. Or, was it just intended to be funny? If that was the intent, it worked, as B and I, predicting the shots and angles, laughed through this scene, despite its violence.
I did enjoy the movie, however; I thought it was fun to watch the boastful hero tell his stories and to fight his battle victoriously against the monster. The fight scene is tremendous, outdone only by the later battle with the dragon. When you see these things, you realize that animation was the correct approach for the movie. These scenes not only lend themselves to looking like action from a video game, they also are fantastic scenes that seem best in a fantasy-like setting. So animation/motion-capture seems a good choice in this case.
I found myself at the end of the movie wishing that I had read all of the book and that I had remembered it (to say nothing of wishing that I had appreciated it). I dug a copy off the bookshelf this evening and began reading the first few pages. I'm not sure how I could not have found this interesting 30 years ago when I first read it. Now, I'm planning on reading Beowulf again. I may post at another time about the differences between the movie and the book. It will be interesting to read the work and then see the movie again and analyze Neil Gaiman's screenplay in light of a fresh reading of the text.
I too remember being assigned Beowulf, though I don't recall if it was in high school or college -- or both. What I do remember is that it was boring and I didn't put forth any effort to read it. This has put my understanding of Beowulf at a disadvantage.
My initial reactions to the movie was that I didn't like the animation at all. I read almost nothing about the movie and had no idea that it was motion-capture. I almost immediately balked at this, thinking that I had wasted my money on the cost of the ticket. I found the not quite so lifelike animated figures to be a distraction at first. Why would they hire actors to play roles, only to turn their figures into animation? I thought that the point of advanced technologies was to make animated scenes look life-like. Instead, the movie makes real life look unreal. The actors are an odd cross between drawing and real life. It took me some time into the film to forget about the technique and just watch the film.
I found myself making comments such as whether the idea for the drawing of Grendel came from the Bodies exhibit. I thought Grendel's mother had been envisioned as a cross between the Oscar statuette and CatWoman. I found it laughable that although Beowulf is naked in the battle with Grendel, there was always something placed strategically to block potentially offending parts of his body. Was this because they were trying to get a lower movie rating? Or because the animators couldn't agree on how to draw him without pants? After all, Beowulf exaggerated all of his feats; drawing to scale might seem too ordinary for a hero like Beowulf. Draw him too large or out of proportion and risk the focus be on the art of the drawing instead. Or, was it just intended to be funny? If that was the intent, it worked, as B and I, predicting the shots and angles, laughed through this scene, despite its violence.
I did enjoy the movie, however; I thought it was fun to watch the boastful hero tell his stories and to fight his battle victoriously against the monster. The fight scene is tremendous, outdone only by the later battle with the dragon. When you see these things, you realize that animation was the correct approach for the movie. These scenes not only lend themselves to looking like action from a video game, they also are fantastic scenes that seem best in a fantasy-like setting. So animation/motion-capture seems a good choice in this case.
I found myself at the end of the movie wishing that I had read all of the book and that I had remembered it (to say nothing of wishing that I had appreciated it). I dug a copy off the bookshelf this evening and began reading the first few pages. I'm not sure how I could not have found this interesting 30 years ago when I first read it. Now, I'm planning on reading Beowulf again. I may post at another time about the differences between the movie and the book. It will be interesting to read the work and then see the movie again and analyze Neil Gaiman's screenplay in light of a fresh reading of the text.
25 November 2007
How Blogging Has Impacted My Life:
I need more bookcases!
Yes, stacked 2 or 3 deep!
And, elsewhere, we have stacks like this:
Exhibition Catalogs. As you can see, I acquired my first a looooong time ago....
And then there is the Presidential Biography project going on at Maison Camille. Spouse and a friend are undertaking this reading list -- all of the Presidents. I'm not exactly participating ....yet. But, I have heard details of each of the books read so far. I'm thinking I can jump in & catch up. Sequentially, household meter is at #3, Jefferson. Look closely...too optimistic?
19 November 2007
Roundtable: Books and Blogging (Part 1)
Recently, I asked for interested readers to participate in a roundtable discussion about books and blogging. What follows is the first of three installments of that discussion. I hope that you will want to continue this discussion in the comments.
The Participants:
Imani, The Books of My Numberless Dreams: Imani is a 23 year old, newly minted grad student who haunts book stores, art galleries, indie cinemas, libraries and the park in her spare time. The Books of My Numberless Dreams is where she records her reading experiences and waves her moleskin, in a threatening manner, at insecure print reviewers.
Emily, Telecommuter Talk: I'm an editor, a recent resident of Lancaster County, PA where my husband has taken his first job as a new Presbyterian minister. I'm passionate about books, music, writing, cooking, and math education. I love a good debate. My blog's title doesn't at all reflect the contents of my blog, although it did in the beginning. I just find it much more fun to write about almost everything other than telecommuting, although occasionally, a post about telecommuting still manages to sneak its way onto the screen.
Litlove, Tales from the Reading Room: I’m a 38-year-old UK academic and my blog is about exploring the fiction and the theory that I love and that I want to share with others who love reading too.
The eponymous Smithereens: I’m a French professional who loves reading and writing as a side. Or maybe the other way round: A passionate reader, dabbling writer who happens to have a very serious job.
How would you define your blog?
Imani: My blog is a journal or notebook of sorts. I share my thoughts on the books I read, provide links I find interesting (not always book-related), and occasionally post a fun rant.
Emily: An attempt to be funny while dabbling in psychology and rhapsodizing about books and other life passions.
Litlove: It’s a blog about ideas, which I explore through the medium of books.
Smithereens: A private place where I can express myself about writing and reading, and also a jumping board to read and discover other blogs and to participate in ongoing discussions in the lit-blog world.
What objectives did you have when you first started blogging? Have these changed over time?
Imani: When I started I thought I might post more personal musings about my adjustment to Canadian life, but I passed that over to focus on book talk. In my quest about reading Jamaican novels, I've found another outlet for that. Other than that, I've done what I intended which was to write about books, reveal my literary insecurities, and find like-minded individuals to converse with, since I wasn't getting that kind of intercourse off-line.
Emily: My objective was to write every day, which is one of the reasons I started my blog. I did in the very beginning (for, maybe something like a week). Unfortunately, I didn't realize that starting a blog would mean I'd find all these other blogs I wanted to read, and it's very hard to write every day and to read and comment on all the other blogs I want to read every day as well, without making it all a full-time job.
Smithereens: Mainly keep track of what I loved in all the books I read – this has not changed. I also had the idea that “going public” about my writing (how well or bad it goes) would give me some confidence or motivation to write more… I’m not too sure this works. I don’t write posts of (my) writing that much, but I do try to write on how writers write.
Emily: Smithereens, I didn’t think about this much before I started my blog, but I’ve come to rely in the confidence it’s given me. I still don’t always believe those who comment on my writing, but I tend to believe them more than I do friends in real life, because I figure they don’t really know me and have nothing to lose by not telling me they like what I write. It’s very interesting to get feedback from strangers. Of course, most of my commenters I’ve now come to think of as friends (something else I didn’t expect would happen when I started blogging).
Litlove: I just wanted to experiment when I started with a different, more informal mode of writing, and to compile a kind of database of concepts and texts that I was keen to discuss. I also intended to talk a lot more about having ME, but that always sounded like whining to my own ears and it wasn’t long before I mostly abandoned that topic. Now I think of it as a practicing ground for a way of writing I’d like to spend a great deal more of my career producing.
Emily: Litlove: you NEVER whine.
Cam: Litlove, do you think that blogging has or will have in the future a legitimate place in academia?
Litlove: I don’t think it will, because academics is slow to embrace change and quite rigid about its preferred formats. What we do see a lot of now, however, is online journals. That market is going to grow and grow. I think, though, that academic blogs will become important for networking purposes, where those are necessary to the research field. I also fear they may become places of one-upmanship and competition, and places to carry on pedantic arguments. Mind you, academics will never be without those elements in one form or another!
Emily: Cam, I’m convinced blogging will in the future be a legitimate place for academia, especially as those who are, say, twelve now, become the academics of the future
Cam: Imani, regarding your comment about not finding the book discussions that you wanted off-line: Do you think that by its nature, online discussion is more focused as opposed to just more prevalent in real life? What I’m wondering about is that most people don’t talk about books often IRL, except in a few circumstances. But, if they did, would it be different than what you experience on line?
Imani: I have one or two friends with whom I can discuss books and I enjoy it as much, if not more often than on-line. Simply having a person in front of you with whom you can react instantly is pleasurable, but the conversation is also more spontaneous. The chance that the other has different tastes is also higher in person, than on-line where you can narrow it down, and that can often lead to spirited arguments, which I enjoy.
Emily: Imani, I agree that it’s much easier to find like-minded individuals to converse with about books online than I was finding in real life, despite working in publishing. That’s another cool thing I meant to say about blogging, which is that, statistically, those of us who read are in a small minority, so having this outlet allows us to connect with others all over the world, people we’d never “meet” in real life. Cam, I think the discourse is different, too, because people take the time to really discuss a book, to think a lot about it and what they want to say, rather than just saying, “I loved this one; you’ve got to read it.”
Smithereens: It’s interesting that you mention this point. If I ever discuss books in real life, that would be with friends, in that case I try to adapt to the friend’s taste and not impose my opinion. Also, it’s rather awkward to mention among friends or colleagues that you read a 19C classics when they hardly ever read a novel.
Cam: Do you keep to a certain posting schedule? Writing some days, commenting on others?
Emily: For a while, I was posting one day, commenting the next, etc., but I’ve been out of that pattern for some time. I’d like to get back into it, though.
Do you have any self-imposed limitations on your blog -- things you would/would not post.
Imani: I do not write a lot of words on current events, or reveal much about my personal life. I prefer to keep things tidy. :)
Emily: My blog is pretty much like me in real life. I don't ever get too personal about bad things in my life except with very, very close friends and family members. I do the same with my blog. I'll take you up to a certain point, but won't cross that point. For instance, if I were to find out my husband was cheating on me or if I were to be fired from my job, I doubt I'd post about it while going through it. If it all turned out well in the end, I might then write about it, turning my experiences into something that others going through something similar might read to help them feel they're not alone, which makes me realize one of the things I think about blogs: they are a place for people to go where they kind find like-minded souls or those who are having similar experiences.
Litlove: I try to keep my personal life out of it, mostly, although sometimes I let it intrude. I try as well not to rant, although occasionally that goes out the window, too.
Smithereens: I try to stay focused on books and writing. I don’t want my blog to become a diary, so I try to limit the disclosure of too much personal information. Anything about my job and family life is clearly off limits, but sometimes I can allude to it sideways when reviewing a book that touches me in a particular way. I feel more free to slip personal stuff in my comments to other people’s “life” blogs
Do you write anonymously/pseudonymously? Why or why not?
Imani: I use my middle name on-line and there are pictures of me in archives as well as on a few book/social sites. So I don't put too many obvious bits of personal identification out there, but anyone who knows me would be able to pick up on the details easily enough. I'm instinctively a private person.
Emily: I sort of write pseudonymously, using my unmarried middle name as my last name, but if someone really wanted to find out who I am, they could. I think it's prudent for me, both for my career as an editor and for the fact that I'm a pastor's wife not to be extremely easy to find.
Litlove: I am mostly anonymous, if one can claim such a thing. There are people who know who I am, but on the whole I’ve retained anonymity because I would hate to upset the college I work at by any careless or critical remarks. However, recently I’ve joined Facebook, and for some reason I’m longing to publicise my blog on it, in order to keep in touch with former students of mine. That would completely ruin anonymity, though, so I’m restraining myself at the moment.
Smithereens: Yes, although I’m not sure if Smithereens is anonymous or pseudonymous… Anyway, I don’t want other parts of my life to get mixed with my blog (namely professional, social parts), I wouldn’t feel as free. Also, I don’t blog in my own language because I prefer the international community and I read most books in English.
Cam: Emily, you’ve written in your blog about your husband's career change, his job search, your fears about moving, and your new home. Do you think that as you and your husband become more settled in your new life that you will write more about it, or that, because of the nature of his job, you will need to filter out some of that? I think that there are few professions other than a church ministry – politics being another – where the actions of a spouse can have a direct influence on a person’s professional life. That said, I think that there are other professional reasons (and other professions) where anonymity may be preferable. In my case, my blogging is so distant from what I do professionally, that it is unlikely that anyone would happen upon my blog or care if they did. Still, I like that fact that I’m not Google-able. Working in high tech, it isn’t unheard of to use search engines while considering someone for a job. What do the others think?
Emily: Cam, I’m still trying to figure out that one. I, obviously, can’t write about our parishioners, no matter how much I may want to do so, because that would be a breech of confidence, and my conscience wouldn’t let me do it. However, I do feel I can probably blog about some things in a broad sense that I might want to get off my chest. I actually toyed with the idea of doing a new blog for clergy spouses called “The Pastor’s Spouse Speaks,” because I’m finding that all of us need support, but I just can’t see doing another blog at this point. I don’t know about others’ jobs, but the parent company of the company for which I work has all kinds of rules for blogging (both personal as well as work blogs. Who says corporate America isn’t a kingdom in which nobody is truly free, especially since many of us are owned by foreign corporations in the countries from which our forebears all escaped in order to get away from that kind of government?) I think I’m pretty safe, because I’ve never mentioned the name of the company for which I work, and blogging about my job is not something I’m very interested in doing. After all, I have colleagues for those types of discussions.
Smithereens: I too like not being Google-able, I’m kind of paranoid for my job. Also, it probably has to do with the bookish/nerdy reputation you get when people know you like to read books.
Cam: Litlove: Do you think that if there was a careless or critical remark made towards the college – intentional or not – that it could jeopardize your position? Do you think that it would open you up to more criticism (probably not of the constructive kind) from disappointed students. It may be a US thing, but I’m thinking about sites like ‘Rate your Professor’ where students don’t tend to give legitimate feedback, but rather appear to be rather complaining.
Litlove: Oh yes, my university is completely paranoid about adverse publicity, and if I said anything that was detrimental in an attention-grabbing way (if I said admissions interviews were unfair or something – and I hasten to add that they are not) and that got into the press (and they are always looking to cause trouble on sensitive issues) I would be in hot water. There’s a lot of ‘ifs’ however, and I’m pretty sure my blog is not going to be read by mainstream journalists! On the question of the students, I do talk about my private life a bit, and I wouldn’t want them to read that. Teachers should be mysterious, it adds to our allure. Ratings-wise, the students have lots of opportunity for giving anonymous feedback within the university and in my experience they have only ever used it to say nice things. The consumer culture is beginning to make itself felt here, but it’s not a big deal – yet!
Cam: Smithereens: Maybe pseudonymous is when your cover is blown, but you continue to write under that name anyway? I’m not sure that there is a difference, although if you read the ‘about’ page on Hobgoblin’s blog, he seems to think that there is. Quoting from his site: “I am making an important distinction between pseudonymity and anonymity. The latter is, I think, completely hiding yourself, while the former is more akin to wearing a mask.”
I think that when I first started blogging I didn’t want myself to be known, but the longer I blog, the more I realize that I couldn’t extricate myself from my blog – it’s very much me even if there weren’t any details about my daily life. Agree or not?
Smithereens: It is very much me, but not all of me. I think sometimes I may come out differently than the way I usually am IRL: maybe less shy, more argumentative, more positive. (I do censor the grumbling part of me!)
Emily: If those are the distinctions, then I’m definitely blogging pseudonymously rather than anonymously. And, yes, I also found it was very difficult to extricate myself from my blog. This was verified when my brother told me, “Your blog is SO you, Emily.”
Imani: I would definitely agree with that. The book blog is as “me”, it’s simply amplified a specific part of my character.
Tomorrow: Part II. Writing, Audience and Blogs.
Wednesday: Part III: Blogging about books.
The Participants:
Imani, The Books of My Numberless Dreams: Imani is a 23 year old, newly minted grad student who haunts book stores, art galleries, indie cinemas, libraries and the park in her spare time. The Books of My Numberless Dreams is where she records her reading experiences and waves her moleskin, in a threatening manner, at insecure print reviewers.
Emily, Telecommuter Talk: I'm an editor, a recent resident of Lancaster County, PA where my husband has taken his first job as a new Presbyterian minister. I'm passionate about books, music, writing, cooking, and math education. I love a good debate. My blog's title doesn't at all reflect the contents of my blog, although it did in the beginning. I just find it much more fun to write about almost everything other than telecommuting, although occasionally, a post about telecommuting still manages to sneak its way onto the screen.
Litlove, Tales from the Reading Room: I’m a 38-year-old UK academic and my blog is about exploring the fiction and the theory that I love and that I want to share with others who love reading too.
The eponymous Smithereens: I’m a French professional who loves reading and writing as a side. Or maybe the other way round: A passionate reader, dabbling writer who happens to have a very serious job.
How would you define your blog?
Imani: My blog is a journal or notebook of sorts. I share my thoughts on the books I read, provide links I find interesting (not always book-related), and occasionally post a fun rant.
Emily: An attempt to be funny while dabbling in psychology and rhapsodizing about books and other life passions.
Litlove: It’s a blog about ideas, which I explore through the medium of books.
Smithereens: A private place where I can express myself about writing and reading, and also a jumping board to read and discover other blogs and to participate in ongoing discussions in the lit-blog world.
What objectives did you have when you first started blogging? Have these changed over time?
Imani: When I started I thought I might post more personal musings about my adjustment to Canadian life, but I passed that over to focus on book talk. In my quest about reading Jamaican novels, I've found another outlet for that. Other than that, I've done what I intended which was to write about books, reveal my literary insecurities, and find like-minded individuals to converse with, since I wasn't getting that kind of intercourse off-line.
Emily: My objective was to write every day, which is one of the reasons I started my blog. I did in the very beginning (for, maybe something like a week). Unfortunately, I didn't realize that starting a blog would mean I'd find all these other blogs I wanted to read, and it's very hard to write every day and to read and comment on all the other blogs I want to read every day as well, without making it all a full-time job.
Smithereens: Mainly keep track of what I loved in all the books I read – this has not changed. I also had the idea that “going public” about my writing (how well or bad it goes) would give me some confidence or motivation to write more… I’m not too sure this works. I don’t write posts of (my) writing that much, but I do try to write on how writers write.
Emily: Smithereens, I didn’t think about this much before I started my blog, but I’ve come to rely in the confidence it’s given me. I still don’t always believe those who comment on my writing, but I tend to believe them more than I do friends in real life, because I figure they don’t really know me and have nothing to lose by not telling me they like what I write. It’s very interesting to get feedback from strangers. Of course, most of my commenters I’ve now come to think of as friends (something else I didn’t expect would happen when I started blogging).
Litlove: I just wanted to experiment when I started with a different, more informal mode of writing, and to compile a kind of database of concepts and texts that I was keen to discuss. I also intended to talk a lot more about having ME, but that always sounded like whining to my own ears and it wasn’t long before I mostly abandoned that topic. Now I think of it as a practicing ground for a way of writing I’d like to spend a great deal more of my career producing.
Emily: Litlove: you NEVER whine.
Cam: Litlove, do you think that blogging has or will have in the future a legitimate place in academia?
Litlove: I don’t think it will, because academics is slow to embrace change and quite rigid about its preferred formats. What we do see a lot of now, however, is online journals. That market is going to grow and grow. I think, though, that academic blogs will become important for networking purposes, where those are necessary to the research field. I also fear they may become places of one-upmanship and competition, and places to carry on pedantic arguments. Mind you, academics will never be without those elements in one form or another!
Emily: Cam, I’m convinced blogging will in the future be a legitimate place for academia, especially as those who are, say, twelve now, become the academics of the future
Cam: Imani, regarding your comment about not finding the book discussions that you wanted off-line: Do you think that by its nature, online discussion is more focused as opposed to just more prevalent in real life? What I’m wondering about is that most people don’t talk about books often IRL, except in a few circumstances. But, if they did, would it be different than what you experience on line?
Imani: I have one or two friends with whom I can discuss books and I enjoy it as much, if not more often than on-line. Simply having a person in front of you with whom you can react instantly is pleasurable, but the conversation is also more spontaneous. The chance that the other has different tastes is also higher in person, than on-line where you can narrow it down, and that can often lead to spirited arguments, which I enjoy.
Emily: Imani, I agree that it’s much easier to find like-minded individuals to converse with about books online than I was finding in real life, despite working in publishing. That’s another cool thing I meant to say about blogging, which is that, statistically, those of us who read are in a small minority, so having this outlet allows us to connect with others all over the world, people we’d never “meet” in real life. Cam, I think the discourse is different, too, because people take the time to really discuss a book, to think a lot about it and what they want to say, rather than just saying, “I loved this one; you’ve got to read it.”
Smithereens: It’s interesting that you mention this point. If I ever discuss books in real life, that would be with friends, in that case I try to adapt to the friend’s taste and not impose my opinion. Also, it’s rather awkward to mention among friends or colleagues that you read a 19C classics when they hardly ever read a novel.
Cam: Do you keep to a certain posting schedule? Writing some days, commenting on others?
Emily: For a while, I was posting one day, commenting the next, etc., but I’ve been out of that pattern for some time. I’d like to get back into it, though.
Do you have any self-imposed limitations on your blog -- things you would/would not post.
Imani: I do not write a lot of words on current events, or reveal much about my personal life. I prefer to keep things tidy. :)
Emily: My blog is pretty much like me in real life. I don't ever get too personal about bad things in my life except with very, very close friends and family members. I do the same with my blog. I'll take you up to a certain point, but won't cross that point. For instance, if I were to find out my husband was cheating on me or if I were to be fired from my job, I doubt I'd post about it while going through it. If it all turned out well in the end, I might then write about it, turning my experiences into something that others going through something similar might read to help them feel they're not alone, which makes me realize one of the things I think about blogs: they are a place for people to go where they kind find like-minded souls or those who are having similar experiences.
Litlove: I try to keep my personal life out of it, mostly, although sometimes I let it intrude. I try as well not to rant, although occasionally that goes out the window, too.
Smithereens: I try to stay focused on books and writing. I don’t want my blog to become a diary, so I try to limit the disclosure of too much personal information. Anything about my job and family life is clearly off limits, but sometimes I can allude to it sideways when reviewing a book that touches me in a particular way. I feel more free to slip personal stuff in my comments to other people’s “life” blogs
Do you write anonymously/pseudonymously? Why or why not?
Imani: I use my middle name on-line and there are pictures of me in archives as well as on a few book/social sites. So I don't put too many obvious bits of personal identification out there, but anyone who knows me would be able to pick up on the details easily enough. I'm instinctively a private person.
Emily: I sort of write pseudonymously, using my unmarried middle name as my last name, but if someone really wanted to find out who I am, they could. I think it's prudent for me, both for my career as an editor and for the fact that I'm a pastor's wife not to be extremely easy to find.
Litlove: I am mostly anonymous, if one can claim such a thing. There are people who know who I am, but on the whole I’ve retained anonymity because I would hate to upset the college I work at by any careless or critical remarks. However, recently I’ve joined Facebook, and for some reason I’m longing to publicise my blog on it, in order to keep in touch with former students of mine. That would completely ruin anonymity, though, so I’m restraining myself at the moment.
Smithereens: Yes, although I’m not sure if Smithereens is anonymous or pseudonymous… Anyway, I don’t want other parts of my life to get mixed with my blog (namely professional, social parts), I wouldn’t feel as free. Also, I don’t blog in my own language because I prefer the international community and I read most books in English.
Cam: Emily, you’ve written in your blog about your husband's career change, his job search, your fears about moving, and your new home. Do you think that as you and your husband become more settled in your new life that you will write more about it, or that, because of the nature of his job, you will need to filter out some of that? I think that there are few professions other than a church ministry – politics being another – where the actions of a spouse can have a direct influence on a person’s professional life. That said, I think that there are other professional reasons (and other professions) where anonymity may be preferable. In my case, my blogging is so distant from what I do professionally, that it is unlikely that anyone would happen upon my blog or care if they did. Still, I like that fact that I’m not Google-able. Working in high tech, it isn’t unheard of to use search engines while considering someone for a job. What do the others think?
Emily: Cam, I’m still trying to figure out that one. I, obviously, can’t write about our parishioners, no matter how much I may want to do so, because that would be a breech of confidence, and my conscience wouldn’t let me do it. However, I do feel I can probably blog about some things in a broad sense that I might want to get off my chest. I actually toyed with the idea of doing a new blog for clergy spouses called “The Pastor’s Spouse Speaks,” because I’m finding that all of us need support, but I just can’t see doing another blog at this point. I don’t know about others’ jobs, but the parent company of the company for which I work has all kinds of rules for blogging (both personal as well as work blogs. Who says corporate America isn’t a kingdom in which nobody is truly free, especially since many of us are owned by foreign corporations in the countries from which our forebears all escaped in order to get away from that kind of government?) I think I’m pretty safe, because I’ve never mentioned the name of the company for which I work, and blogging about my job is not something I’m very interested in doing. After all, I have colleagues for those types of discussions.
Smithereens: I too like not being Google-able, I’m kind of paranoid for my job. Also, it probably has to do with the bookish/nerdy reputation you get when people know you like to read books.
Cam: Litlove: Do you think that if there was a careless or critical remark made towards the college – intentional or not – that it could jeopardize your position? Do you think that it would open you up to more criticism (probably not of the constructive kind) from disappointed students. It may be a US thing, but I’m thinking about sites like ‘Rate your Professor’ where students don’t tend to give legitimate feedback, but rather appear to be rather complaining.
Litlove: Oh yes, my university is completely paranoid about adverse publicity, and if I said anything that was detrimental in an attention-grabbing way (if I said admissions interviews were unfair or something – and I hasten to add that they are not) and that got into the press (and they are always looking to cause trouble on sensitive issues) I would be in hot water. There’s a lot of ‘ifs’ however, and I’m pretty sure my blog is not going to be read by mainstream journalists! On the question of the students, I do talk about my private life a bit, and I wouldn’t want them to read that. Teachers should be mysterious, it adds to our allure. Ratings-wise, the students have lots of opportunity for giving anonymous feedback within the university and in my experience they have only ever used it to say nice things. The consumer culture is beginning to make itself felt here, but it’s not a big deal – yet!
Cam: Smithereens: Maybe pseudonymous is when your cover is blown, but you continue to write under that name anyway? I’m not sure that there is a difference, although if you read the ‘about’ page on Hobgoblin’s blog, he seems to think that there is. Quoting from his site: “I am making an important distinction between pseudonymity and anonymity. The latter is, I think, completely hiding yourself, while the former is more akin to wearing a mask.”
I think that when I first started blogging I didn’t want myself to be known, but the longer I blog, the more I realize that I couldn’t extricate myself from my blog – it’s very much me even if there weren’t any details about my daily life. Agree or not?
Smithereens: It is very much me, but not all of me. I think sometimes I may come out differently than the way I usually am IRL: maybe less shy, more argumentative, more positive. (I do censor the grumbling part of me!)
Emily: If those are the distinctions, then I’m definitely blogging pseudonymously rather than anonymously. And, yes, I also found it was very difficult to extricate myself from my blog. This was verified when my brother told me, “Your blog is SO you, Emily.”
Imani: I would definitely agree with that. The book blog is as “me”, it’s simply amplified a specific part of my character.
Tomorrow: Part II. Writing, Audience and Blogs.
Wednesday: Part III: Blogging about books.
18 November 2007
Sunday odds and ends
Today was a quiet day. Spent much of it reading an ARC (via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program), Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited. I started to read this a few months ago, but set it aside. The authors, Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein were interviewed on the Today Show yesterday. I only caught the last few sentences of the interview, but it reminded me that I hadn't finished the book.
I'm the child of an identical twin and can attest to many of the odd similarities between twin siblings. At the same time, I realize that there could have been no mistaking either for the other except during a quick glance. They were alike, but could be so different and distinct. So, I thought that I'd find this book interesting.
There are those sorts of twin oddities throughout the book. And, as you read Schein's and Bernstein's book, it's hard not to understand both the curiosity and the anxiety that must come from finding out as an adult that you have a twin. The book is written in diary form, alternating between twins. While this does give the reader a sense of reading both sides of the story, I found it confusing after awhile. The voice of both authors is too similar. At the same time, that similarity is an oddity -- is it because they are twins? I have a few more chapters to finish the book. I'll have to think for awhile whether this ultimately takes away or adds to the the work.
-----Other things----
- It has turned cold here this week, and despite some rain, the leaves are still on the trees. It has been a pretty fall. In the last few days I've seen a few trees that have more than one color leaf on them. I took the photograph below at a school near my home. Green, yellow, gold, orange, red, gold, and purple leaves were all on the same tree. I'm not sure that the picture does the tree's glorious color scheme justice. This is the first year that I remember seeing multi-colored trees, like this one. Maybe it has to do with the milder weather we've had recently.
- For the second time in less than a week, someone has recommended the book Three Cups of Tea. I think I will need to go to the store tomorrow to find this one. Repeat recommendations always prompt me to consider buying the book (unless it's something like The Davinci Code).
- Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Here is all I need to know about cooking a turkey: I am the middle daughter of a large family; I have plenty of sisters who will dry out a large bird in the oven for hours. I don't need to know how to carve either. I'm not bringing pies this year. I'm responsible for sweet potatoes. Not the mushy, sickening sweet marshmallow-y kind. I have three recipes to choose from:
1) sliced sweet potatoes with a lemon glaze. Good mixture of sweet and sour.
2) sliced and baked with apples, cranberries and pecans, topped with a small amount of cinnamon and brown sugar. If I feel exotic, I'll have a little bit of nutmeg and cloves too. Walnuts or pecans are optional -- which means I usually forget to add them to the baking dish.
3) baked, then mashed with cilantro and butter.
I like #3 the best, but I think #2 is best for the company on Thursday.
- Someone I used to be friends with recently published a first novel. I'm pleased for her for accomplishing her goal. And a bit jealous too. I hope that I'm not one of the evil characters in the book -- or a dead corpse.
- Philosopher Henri Frederick Amiel said: Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind..
- Maybe it is time that I make amends and call my old friend to congratulate her on her book.
- The blogging roundtable should be posted in 1 - 2 days. Please check back for some lively discussion by some interesting bloggers: Litlove, Imani, Emily & Smithereens.
I'm the child of an identical twin and can attest to many of the odd similarities between twin siblings. At the same time, I realize that there could have been no mistaking either for the other except during a quick glance. They were alike, but could be so different and distinct. So, I thought that I'd find this book interesting.
There are those sorts of twin oddities throughout the book. And, as you read Schein's and Bernstein's book, it's hard not to understand both the curiosity and the anxiety that must come from finding out as an adult that you have a twin. The book is written in diary form, alternating between twins. While this does give the reader a sense of reading both sides of the story, I found it confusing after awhile. The voice of both authors is too similar. At the same time, that similarity is an oddity -- is it because they are twins? I have a few more chapters to finish the book. I'll have to think for awhile whether this ultimately takes away or adds to the the work.
-----Other things----
- It has turned cold here this week, and despite some rain, the leaves are still on the trees. It has been a pretty fall. In the last few days I've seen a few trees that have more than one color leaf on them. I took the photograph below at a school near my home. Green, yellow, gold, orange, red, gold, and purple leaves were all on the same tree. I'm not sure that the picture does the tree's glorious color scheme justice. This is the first year that I remember seeing multi-colored trees, like this one. Maybe it has to do with the milder weather we've had recently.
- For the second time in less than a week, someone has recommended the book Three Cups of Tea. I think I will need to go to the store tomorrow to find this one. Repeat recommendations always prompt me to consider buying the book (unless it's something like The Davinci Code).
- Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Here is all I need to know about cooking a turkey: I am the middle daughter of a large family; I have plenty of sisters who will dry out a large bird in the oven for hours. I don't need to know how to carve either. I'm not bringing pies this year. I'm responsible for sweet potatoes. Not the mushy, sickening sweet marshmallow-y kind. I have three recipes to choose from:
1) sliced sweet potatoes with a lemon glaze. Good mixture of sweet and sour.
2) sliced and baked with apples, cranberries and pecans, topped with a small amount of cinnamon and brown sugar. If I feel exotic, I'll have a little bit of nutmeg and cloves too. Walnuts or pecans are optional -- which means I usually forget to add them to the baking dish.
3) baked, then mashed with cilantro and butter.
I like #3 the best, but I think #2 is best for the company on Thursday.
- Someone I used to be friends with recently published a first novel. I'm pleased for her for accomplishing her goal. And a bit jealous too. I hope that I'm not one of the evil characters in the book -- or a dead corpse.
- Philosopher Henri Frederick Amiel said: Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind..
- Maybe it is time that I make amends and call my old friend to congratulate her on her book.
- The blogging roundtable should be posted in 1 - 2 days. Please check back for some lively discussion by some interesting bloggers: Litlove, Imani, Emily & Smithereens.
17 November 2007
In My Library....
I drafted this meme more than a year ago, but never published it. Five questions on my library:
1. The oldest book in my library: Myths of the Northern Lands, published 1895.
2. The book in my library I've owned the longest: St. Exupery's The Little Prince. I own the copy I read in grade school 38 years ago. I own a copy in French I bought in Paris 28 years ago.
3. The book in my library I've read the most : Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. I read this book as an assignment in Jr. High, High School, and two college courses. I taught this book many times too. I've lost count how many times I've read it. While I wouldn't say that I know it by heart, I can open to almost any page and by reading a sentence or two, know exactly where in the book I am reading, what action has taken place, understand the tone and nuances of the specific scene, as if I had just re-read all of the preceding pages.
4. The most unusual book in my library: A musty-smelling book with a beautiful hand-painted front cover, a copy of Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse, found at a garage sale. While I've read stranger pieces of writing, the care that went into painting the book, and the neglect that let it molder intrigues me and earns it the 'most unusual' nomination.
5. A book everyone should read: whatever informs their lives, enriches their soul, forces them to think, or makes them smile.
No tag; you're it. If you want to do this, feel free.
1. The oldest book in my library: Myths of the Northern Lands, published 1895.
2. The book in my library I've owned the longest: St. Exupery's The Little Prince. I own the copy I read in grade school 38 years ago. I own a copy in French I bought in Paris 28 years ago.
3. The book in my library I've read the most : Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. I read this book as an assignment in Jr. High, High School, and two college courses. I taught this book many times too. I've lost count how many times I've read it. While I wouldn't say that I know it by heart, I can open to almost any page and by reading a sentence or two, know exactly where in the book I am reading, what action has taken place, understand the tone and nuances of the specific scene, as if I had just re-read all of the preceding pages.
4. The most unusual book in my library: A musty-smelling book with a beautiful hand-painted front cover, a copy of Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse, found at a garage sale. While I've read stranger pieces of writing, the care that went into painting the book, and the neglect that let it molder intrigues me and earns it the 'most unusual' nomination.
5. A book everyone should read: whatever informs their lives, enriches their soul, forces them to think, or makes them smile.
No tag; you're it. If you want to do this, feel free.
13 November 2007
$1/Day, Child-headed Households, 28 Million, A Continent Dying....Don't Look Away: Part II
I wrote yesterday that I would post a list of books about global poverty, the UN Millennium Development Goals, and Africa. These are books that I have read or am in process of reading. There is much more information out there. Reviews are from Amazon's web pages (linked).
On global poverty:
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Times Jeffrey Sachs, Penguin, 2005.
Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works, Stephen C. Smith, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,
What One Person Can Do, Sabina Alkire, Church Publishing, 2005.
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, Muhammad Yunus, Public Affairs, 2003.
On the AIDS crisis in Africa:
A Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa (CBC Massey Lecture) Stephen Lewis, 2006, House of Anansi Press
28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, Stephanie Nolen, Walker Publishing Company, 2007.
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children, Melissa Fay Greene, Bloomsbury, 2006.
On African Politics:
The Fate of Africa, Martin Meredith, Public Affairs, 2005.
Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
On global poverty:
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Times Jeffrey Sachs, Penguin, 2005.
From Publishers Weekly:
Over 18 chapters, Sachs builds his case carefully, offering a variety of case studies, detailing small-scale projects that have worked and crunching large amounts of data. His basic argument is that "[W]hen the preconditions of basic infrastructure (roads, power, and ports) and human capital (health and education) are in place, markets are powerful engines of development." In order to tread "the path to peace and prosperity," Sachs believes it is encumbant upon successful market economies to bring the few areas of the world that still need help onto "the ladder of development." If there is any one work to put extreme poverty back onto the global agenda, this is it. (Mar 21).
Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works, Stephen C. Smith, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005,
"We have an opportunity, in this generation, to reduce global poverty, both through acts of charity and by working as citizens to influence public policy. Stephen Smith offers reliable information, stories of success, and good advice on how to get personally involved in this important fight. Read it, and then take action. " --David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World
What One Person Can Do, Sabina Alkire, Church Publishing, 2005.
What Can One Person Do? confronts a poverty-stricken world, and with clarity of purpose offers practical steps to create lasting change.
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, Muhammad Yunus, Public Affairs, 2003.
It began with a simple $27 loan. After witnessing the cycle of poverty that kept many poor women enslaved to high-interest loan sharks in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus lent money to 42 women so they could purchase bamboo to make and sell stools. In a short time, the women were able to repay the loans while continuing to support themselves and their families. With that initial eye-opening success, the seeds of the Grameen Bank, and the concept of microcredit, were planted.
On the AIDS crisis in Africa:
A Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa (CBC Massey Lecture) Stephen Lewis, 2006, House of Anansi Press
"We have an opportunity, in this generation, to reduce global poverty, both through acts of charity and by working as citizens to influence public policy. Stephen Smith offers reliable information, stories of success, and good advice on how to get personally involved in this important fight. Read it, and then take action. " --David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World
28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, Stephanie Nolen, Walker Publishing Company, 2007.
From Booklist:
Nolen puts a very human face on HIV/AIDS in Africa, verbally and visually. A photograph accompanies each of the book's 28 personal histories (one subject stands for one million infected people in sub-Saharan Africa). The faces in the photos appear no different than faces of everyday Americans, but that appearance belies the horrific reality of lives shredded by devastating disease.
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children, Melissa Fay Greene, Bloomsbury, 2006.
From Publishers Weekly:
Not unlike the AIDS pandemic itself, the odyssey of Haregewoin Teferra, who took in AIDS orphans, began in small stages and grew to irrevocably transform her life from that of "a nice neighborhood lady" to a figure of fame, infamy and ultimate restoration. In telling her story, journalist Greene who had adopted two Ethiopian children before meeting Teferra, juggles political history, medical reportage and personal memoir.
On African Politics:
The Fate of Africa, Martin Meredith, Public Affairs, 2005.
From Booklist:
Meredith is a journalist, biographer, and historian who has written extensively on modern African history. His massive but very readable examination of African history over the past century unfolds like a drawn-out tragedy. Of course, the arrogance and ignorance of European masters planted the seeds of many of Africa's current problems. But Meredith refuses to let Africans off the hook for the endemic violence, corruption, and political repression that plague so many African states. While he pays tribute to icons like Mandela and Senghor, his contempt for the venality and worship of power that has characterized so many leaders from Nasser to Mugabe is palatable and justified by extensive documentation.
Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
From Publishers Weekly:
This absorbing account by a young man who, as a boy of 12, gets swept up in Sierra Leone's civil war goes beyond even the best journalistic efforts in revealing the life and mind of a child abducted into the horrors of warfare. Beah's harrowing journey transforms him overnight from a child enthralled by American hip-hop music and dance to an internal refugee bereft of family, wandering from village to village in a country grown deeply divided by the indiscriminate atrocities of unruly, sociopathic rebel and army forces....Told in clear, accessible language by a young writer with a gifted literary voice, this memoir seems destined to become a classic firsthand account of war and the ongoing plight of child soldiers in conflicts worldwide. (Feb.)
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