Observations of a Librarian

Un Lun Dun

2012-01-25T02:30:00.010-06:00

Un Lun Dun: China Mieville: Normally, I don't comment on books before I finish them, but I just wanted to say a few things about China Mieville's foray into YA lit. It reminds me very much, so far, of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, with the idea of a London that exists alongside and unknown to the London of our reality.

In Mieville's story, one girl, Zanna, is the Chosen One -- what she's chosen for, she has no clue about, but she first realizes that something is watching her and and another malevolent force is out to hurt her when she's at school with her friends. After an accident that is clearly somehow related to her, she and her friend, Deeba (who is the only one to stick by her after the accident) stumble into Un Lun Dun, where they begin their journey to find out why and for what Zanna is chosen.

Un Lun Dun contains themes that are found in many Mieville tales -- the idea that an entire reality can exist alongside another with the citizens of at least one of those realities completely ignoring it is especially realized in his novel, The City and the City. His take on this theme for a YA audience is so far enjoyable and appropriate for that audience, while not being dumbed down in the least. I first discovered Mieville when I picked up The City and the City for its lovely cover. I've continued to read his novels and short stories and he has yet to disappoint me. Although Un Lun Dun is written for a younger audience, older readers can also enjoy this story of an alternate London where milk cartons can be pets.

Castle Waiting

2011-12-04T15:10:00.008-06:00

Castle Waiting: Linda Medley: This image is from volume 1 but I've read volume 2 as well and like them both. According to Wikipedia, Medley is currently taking a break from the Castle Waiting series, and I think that's a shame. I love the mix of fairytale and modern touches found in these books.

In volume 1, Medley first retells the Sleeping Beauty story and you see the castle become surrounded by brambles. A century later, Sleeping Beauty's castle has first been abandoned and then taken over by a motley crew of interesting characters -- Simple Simon and his mother; Lady Jain and her odd but cute baby; Sister Peace (a bearded nun), and Rackham (a stork who acts as steward in the castle.) Sleeping Beauty's ladies-in-waiting also live at the castle, which seems to exist as a haven for those who need it.

Instead of retelling fairytales, Castle Waiting provides the reader with an insight into the daily lives of the characters who inhabit the castle. There's also backstory for Lady Jain, who has fled her husband and is in search of a place to stay, and for Sister Peace, who started out as the daughter of a pub owner and, when she began to exhibit facial hair, left to join the circus, and ended up as a nun in a convent of similarly bearded women. I liked both storylines and I liked both volumes of this graphic novel -- although they are both over 300 pages, they take no time at all to read. I just wish Linda Medley hadn't taken a break from the story because volume two just ends -- period -- at what seems to be the start of a new storyline involving dwarves (here called Hammerlings).

The Constant Gardener

2011-10-24T20:38:00.012-05:00

The Constant Gardener: John Le Carre: It's rare that I like a movie more than I enjoy a book -- very rare. But with The Constant Gardener, that appears to be the case. It's not that I didn't like the book; I did. I just didn't love it, and I loved the movie. But le Carre's book was much more confusing than the movie was and more didactic as well. The major plot regarding the murder of Tessa Quayle and how it may or may not be traced back to a pharmaceutical giant and its rush to market of a drug for TB, is just too preachy. There are some subplots that didn't need to be present at all -- all the business with Sandy (who wanted to be High Commissioner in Kenya) -- much of it was superfluous. And although Gloria, Sandy's wife, was kind of funny, we didn't need so much of her. Ghita's trip to the area where Tessa was killed didn't even really need Ghita at all -- someone else could have done it -- it could have been part of Justin's journey to find out what happened to his wife. The confrontation with Bernard Pellegrin (played by Bill Nighy in the movie) didn't feel as emotionally satisfying in the book as it did in the movie. All in all, the book ranks about average for me.

A Feast for Crows

2011-08-27T10:10:00.008-05:00

A Feast for Crows: George R. R. Martin: I loved the first three books in the Song of Ice and Fire series, but this one is by far my least favorite. By far. Characters that we have come to expect to hear from are not present -- no Tyrion Lannister, no Dany, no Jon Snow. Martin says he felt he had to divide this book from A Dance With Dragons because the story was just getting too unwieldy. I feel that if he had had proper editing, the relevant chapters from this book and the relevant ones from DWD could have been combined into one book about the length of A Dance With Dragons without losing anything essential from the story (having read DWD, I know there's far too much pointless meandering in that book.) As it is, we follow Brienne, the Maid of Tarth, as she wanders here and wanders there looking for Sansa Stark. We get much too much of a peek into Cersei's mind as she descends into paranoia and makes stupider and stupider decisions. What's done with Sam Tarly in this book is nowhere near as interesting as it could have been and there was far too much of this uninteresting story -- I'm tired of hearing Sam call himself a craven when it's clear he's anything but. A lot of this was just useless. And Arya -- I just don't care about her story in this book -- she seems more of an "eye on Braavos" character than anything else. I now know all about Braavos but less and less about Arya, and what's worse is that I just don't really care. She's always been one of my favorite characters, so to be bored by her was disappointing, to say the least. I'm not sure how I feel about the chapters set in Dorne -- interesting enough but too much of them. The only thing that I really loved about A Feast for Crows was the development of Jaime Lannister's character; he becomes much more interesting and unpredictable in his behavior. And he's surprisingly likable -- sort of. I'm just thankful that I came to the series only because I saw HBO's Game of Thrones; if I'd had to wait and wait for the latest book and then got this, I would have been very unhappy. As it is, I was just mostly bored.

Game of Thrones

2011-07-09T10:21:00.007-05:00

A Game of Thrones: George R. R. Martin: I came late to this series, discovering it through the HBO series. Because Game of Thrones won't be back until 2012 and I missed that world, I decided to start reading the books.

I don't think I've ever seen such a faithful adaption of a book anywhere. I think I could have started reading the second book without having read this first one because the HBO series dealt with the plots and characters from this book in much the same way Martin does. That said, I'm glad I read A Game of Thrones as I feel it gave me further insight into the motivation of each character. I ended up feeling sorrier for Sansa in the book than I did in the series; she was younger in the book (most of the characters are) and more innocent and trusting.

Arya is still my favorite and I look forward to reading more about her exploits in A Clash of Kings. Running a close second to Arya is Tyrion Lannister -- the Imp. I don't know if that's because of Peter Dinklage's portrayal of him in the series or because I just would have gravitated toward his brand of snarkiness anyway; probably a little of both.

Supernatural

2011-06-16T19:55:00.008-05:00

Supernatural: One Year Gone: Rebecca Dessertine: Given that this is a novel based on characters in a tv show I watch, I probably shouldn't be as bothered by this book as I am. However, it's been awhile since I read it and the sheer badness of it still appalls me. The funny thing is, it had all kinds of things to appeal to me:

the Salem witchcraft trials

The year between the end of season 5 and the time Dean finds out Sam is alive

Soulless Sam

The Necromonicon

The endorsement of Eric Kripke, the show's creator

But in the end, none of that meant anything; the book was just plain bad. The characterization was thin -- I know I am and should be familiar with these characters from the show, but please! Give them some personality; don't depend so much on my familiarity with them. I could barely distinguish Sam from Dean, nor was it clear to me that Sam was Soulless Sam -- he could have been anybody given that he was so one dimensional.

And the plot was all over the place. It's as if Dessertine decided she'd throw in all kinds of supernatural creatures -- ghosts (pirate ones at that), a ship that's just a museum that suddenly drifts out to sea while Ben and Dean are touring it, witches. The witch story was the strongest, why not just stick with it? I expected more of a book endorsed by Kripke and written by his assistant. Apparently, I shouldn't have.

Never Let Me Go

2011-03-22T02:47:00.005-05:00

Never Let Me Go: Kazuo Ishiguro: It's hard to say anything about this book's plot without revealing details that are best discovered by the reader. Suffice it to say that when we meet the narrator, Kathy, she is 31 and looking back on her life and friendships at Hailsham -- a school for special students. The students are so special that even they don't really realize the nature of that specialness; they are, as one of the teachers says, "told and not told" about it, so they don't have a real understanding of their purpose. When they do find out, it's brutal. Kathy's narration, with its passive and calm tone, acts as a counterpoint to the brutality and horror of the truth that Kathy, Ruth and Tommy will discover.

Ishiguro's style is literary in the best sense of the word; Never Let Me Go is about more than just friendship and loss -- compassion and forgiveness. Its themes cover the nature of humanity and society, all in an intimate story with only three main characters. I liked this book when I first read it, but it stuck with me and I keep thinking about it, turning over what it means in my mind. Now I love it. It's the best book I've read this year.

My Reading Life

2010-11-15T18:42:00.005-06:00

My Reading Life: Pat Conroy: Ever since I read The Water is Wide, I've loved Pat Conroy, and every book of his I've read since has made me love him more, excepting South of Broad -- I just didn't care for that book at all -- it was missing something -- the heart that's present in most Conroy novels. Anyway, to run across this new book where he talks about the books and the writers and the teachers and the librarians who influenced him and ultimately made him into a writer was a real thrill for me. Despite the fact that Conroy's usual writing weaknesses are present here -- he's often criticized, and not unfairly, for overblown prose -- this book was a delight to read since his strengths are present also. I read it in a day and I'd go back and read it again. Or I might simply pull out my favorite Conroy novel, The Prince of Tides, and read it for the fifth time, or possibly re-read Beach Music, which I've only read once.

Design

2010-09-15T16:46:00.001-05:00

I've had the old design ever since I've had this blog, and I just wanted something with the ocean on it.

World War Z and Dreams

2010-07-28T15:02:00.002-05:00

Okay then. I haven't finished World War Z yet -- I 'm not anywhere near it. But it made me have nightmares last night and woke me up! I don't think this is a good thing. I'm less than 50 pages in and this happened to me. I've read scarier books than what I've read so far and none of them gave me nightmares. I have no clue why this book did.

Faithful Place

2010-07-25T13:47:00.005-05:00

Faithful Place: Tana French: I've read all three of Tana French's novels, and while In the Woods and The Likeness were excellent, Faithful Place is French's best novel yet. The characters, Frank Mackey and his dysfunctional family (most of whom he has not seen in over twenty years until a mystery from his past draws him back to his old neighborhood) are interesting and compelling. I was drawn into the story practically from the opening pages, and, although I had to put it down for such things as sleep, I really just wanted to keep on reading until I finished. One of French's strength as a novelist is in portraying characters to whom it's easy to relate, even if you don't always agree with their actions. Frank, for instance, can be aggravating -- it does seem, as one of his brothers says, that he sees himself as better than the rest of his family and above the rules. Even his choice of work as a cop -- in Undercover where it's often necessary to break the rules -- seems to bear this out. Despite Frank's flaws, he is a character I wanted to like and his poignant backstory helps provide me with reasons to like him. My only quibble with this novel is that I knew WAY too early who the villain was. Despite that, I loved this novel and I look forward eagerly to French's new novel (I hope she's working on one right now!)

A Little Reading

2010-06-05T10:55:00.010-05:00

Him Her Him Again the End of Him: Patricia Marx: I understand the reviewers who said this book, although quite short, dragged on just a bit too long -- it did. But I still got a laugh out of Eugene and our nameless heroine's inability to quit him, even though it was beyond my capability to understand. Eugene is just so beyond pretentious that he falls into the funny category for me. The parts I had the hardest time with were the whining about Eugene sections -- but then again, so did our narrator's friends. This book was a quick and funny read.

The Prince of Mist: Carlos Ruiz Zafón: I will admit I bought this book for the cover just like I bought one of Zafón's previous books, The Shadow of the Wind, for the title. I didn't know this was a YA book until I got it. I enjoyed the story of three children, Roland, Alicia, and Max, who learn about evil and magic during a summer that Max and Alicia's parents decide to move to a coastal town to escape the growing war in Europe. At first, I didn't understand why this book had to be set during World War II -- the war only enters into the story once when Roland says if the war is not over by the end of the summer he will probably be called up. Then I saw that Zafón meant the war to hover evilly over the lives of the characters in the same way the Prince of Mist does. It's not a necessary setting but it doesn't detract from the story either.

Never Tell a Lie: Hallie Ephron: I enjoyed this novel about the disappearance of one woman at the yard sale of another woman despite the fact that I predicted every single (it's possible I missed a few) plot twist and turn from the moment Melinda steps into the lives of Ivy and David Rose. The novelty of a massively pregnant woman as the heroine of the story was interesting, especially since she wasn't a passive player in her story. She was going to find out the truth behind Melinda's disappearance and the odd behavior of her own husband even if she ended up destroying her life to do it -- she didn't want her "happy" life to be predicated on a lie. This was a quick, enjoyable read and it's only the second piece of long fiction I've enjoyed reading on my Nook.

Trouble reading

2010-04-20T12:50:00.003-05:00

After The Unlikely Disciple, I am having problems finding something else to read. If you know me at all, you know that lack of book availability isn't the problem. I've started at least five books, all of which I'm pretty sure I would like if I were in the mood for them: The Summer We Fell Apart, Lark and Termite, The Italian Secretary, Lady Killer and a couple of other books. I can't get past the first chapter of any of them.

I've had this problem before and I know that I just need a really fast read to jump start my reading. Any suggestions? Remember, fast and easy.

2010-04-17T02:51:00.003-05:00

Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University: Kevin Roose: Kevin Roose was A.J. Jacobs' (The Year of Living Biblically) assistant; during the research for Jacobs' book, Roose, a student at Brown University, got interested in Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. He decided to spend a semester as a Liberty University student to see what the lives of the students were like. He applied and enrolled just like any other student and was accepted. This account of that semester, which happened to coincide with Falwell's death (adding more drama to the story) is compellingly readable and interesting. Roose went to Liberty expecting one thing, but what he found there was something else altogether -- compassion, faith and friendship, friendship that lasted even after Roose's return to Brown. I liked this book a lot and would read it again, which I don't often do with books like this.

2010-04-10T10:03:00.006-05:00

The Postmistress: Sarah Blake: I'm of two minds about this book -- possibly because it seemed like it was telling two separate stories that didn't have a whole lot to do with each other, and when the stories did meet, the convergence seemed forced. First, there's the titular postmistress whose name (Iris James -- I thought it was Alice) I had to look up in order to write this. Then there's Frankie Bard, a reporter covering the Blitz in London. Frankie comes alive on the page -- her rage, her sorrow, her desperation to let America know what's happening to the Jews in Europe -- all her emotions seem real to me. The sections of the book that dealt with Frankie just flew by for me. Whenever I had to read about Iris and Emma on the home front, I got bogged down -- neither of the characters were that interesting to me. It took me several days to read this book because of these two people. Iris was quirky, which I usually like, but there wasn't enough of a story about her to keep it interesting. And Emma, around whom the story of the postmistress and Frankie revolves, is so less than interesting that she makes me want to fall asleep -- she's a passive person, just waiting for the world to act upon her. And I don't find that to be compelling reading. I would have loved The Postmistress if it had been called The Reporter and was Frankie's story alone.

Fantasy reading

2010-03-23T20:48:00.006-05:00

The Name of the Wind: Patrick Rothfuss: If you like your fantasy fast-paced and action-filled, this is not your book. If, however, you don't mind a book that takes its time to develop its characters so that you can get to know them, this may be a book you'll enjoy. I've seen it called the Harry Potter for grownups, and I guess in the sense that it's about a young boy, Kvothe, who discovers his magical abilities at a young age and ends up at a university where magic is taught, the comparison is valid. But The Name of the Wind is more than just Harry Potter for adults; it's its own magical universe. There's also a dread that builds up in this book -- the fear of what Kvothe is going to have to eventually face -- that I never quite felt in the HP books. I am actually afraid for Kvothe -- for what he is going to have to do and what he's going to have to become to defeat his enemy, the Chandrian, legendary figures he learns are all too real. The Name of the Wind can be slow at times, and Kvothe's obsession with this girl, Denna, can be tiresome, but even given all that, the book is well-written and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

My Nook

2010-03-02T20:18:00.004-06:00

I got a Nook instead of a Kindle. Mainly because I could demo it in the store and see how it worked -- that's always easier for me -- to try things out before I buy. I knew I wanted to buy an ereader because I'm so sick of carrying tons (sometimes almost literally) of books with me when I travel -- once I carried a huge Stephen King book with me + several others -- that hurt my back. I'm never sure what mood I'm going to be in, so I have to take several books with me to be sure I accommodate the mood I end up in. This is tedious. Very tedious. Tediousness and lack of space was the same reason I eventually got an iPod -- it cut down on the stacks of cds I took with me when I travelled.

Do I like my Nook? Yes -- yes, I do. The screen is easy to read -- it's small but the fonts are clear and easy on my eyes. I didn't read the instruction manual (mainly because I never do) but I was still able to figure out how to operate it. I don't like that there is no option for me to set the screen to backlight so that I can read in the dark, but if I'd read B & N's FAQ on the Nook in the first place, I would have known this.

Will it replace the physical book for me? No. But I always knew that. It does satisfy the needs for which I bought it -- space for books and easy carrying of my books when I travel. Plus it has the cute little covers of the books on it.

A Non-ghostly Book

2010-01-24T18:12:00.005-06:00

The Girl Who Played With Fire: Stieg Larsson: I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by this same author. And I was fully prepared to love this one as much. I didn't. I didn't hate it; I just didn't love it and I'm not sure why. I think it may have been the translation or something, but that doesn't make sense because Reg Keeland translated both novels. I still like the characters, especially Lisbeth Salander. And I liked the story, which revolved around sex trafficking in Sweden. It was also nice the way Lisbeth was forced to confront her past. She becomes less of a shadowy character as we learn more about her in this novel. The language was flat, though, and the dialogue was stilted. Often I'd find myself thinking during conversations, "Oh, please! No real person talks that way!" In some places, this was so bad that I'd be completely thrown out of the story. And there were a couple of things that I'm not really sure why they were in the novel as they weren't related back to the story in any way -- mostly the mathematical equations and Lisbeth's attempt to solve Fermat's Last Theorem. They were interesting but that's all. All that said, I liked this book and am looking forward to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

ALA Midwinter

2010-01-14T12:23:00.003-06:00

I'm heading out to Boston for ALA Midwinter. I'm still puzzled by the fact that ALA always holds Midwinter in freezing places and Annual (June-July) in places such as New Orleans that are known for their heat and humidity. I hope I won't freeze to death in Boston. I'm really looking forward to this trip as Boston is one of those cities I've always wanted to go to but have never been.

Ghosts Again

2009-12-21T06:50:00.007-06:00

2oth Century Ghosts: Joe Hill: Although short stories are not my favorite genre, I bought this book after I read Hill's novel, Heart-Shaped Box . I had the book hanging around my house for awhile but was finally inspired to read this collection because Les liked it. These stories are something completely different from Hill's novel. Not all are scary and I think only two involve actual ghosts, but all the stories are masterfully written. Pop Art, a story about an inflatable boy, is surprisingly heartbreaking, while My Father's Mask is a creepy tale about people made of cards. Not all stories have such potentially whimsical premises; most have characters who are reality-based (besides the ghosts). I found myself wishing that some of the stories weren't so short and that the book itself was longer. I will keep this book because I will definitely read these stories again. Even if you don't like the short story as a genre, Joe Hill's are worth reading.

A Ghost Story

2009-12-12T06:45:00.005-06:00

Her Fearful Symmetry: Audrey Niffenegger: I like a good ghost story as much as (probably more than) anyone. Peter Straub's Ghost Story, Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, the short stories of M. R. James are all works that I've loved. I didn't come to Her Fearful Symmetry with the same preconceived notions as readers of The Time Traveler's Wife; I've yet to read that book. Yet I was still vaguely disappointed. With its evocation of William Blake and its interesting premise, I just expected more than this book delivers. I found myself annoyed by the two major protagonists -- the twins, Julia and Valentina -- as they seem passive participants in their own lives, especially Valentina. They are so passive that I couldn't remember their names; I had to look them up before writing this. The most vivid and interesting character is Martin, the OCD afflicted upstairs neighbor of the twins; yet I'm not really sure why he was such a major character in the novel -- his story seems separate from the twins' story. Her Fearful Symmetry is about the special bond twins share -- Julia and Valentina are so entwined in each other's lives that it's impossible to separate them, but that's what Valentina wants -- to lead a live separate from Julia's. And in the end, it's her solution (aided by the ghost of her aunt Elspeth) to this problem that annoyed me most about this book -- it seemed just too extreme and was bound to go wrong from the beginning. And yet, despite being annoyed and disappointed, I don't regret reading this book; the writing is lovely and the characters are well-drawn.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T09:13:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. This is my absolute favorite holiday -- no one expecting any presents -- just dinner with family and friends and a nice time around the table talking about stuff and being thankful for the good things in our lives. Appropriately, after dinner and pie (I was in a pie baking mood the night before so we had the choice of key lime, pumpkin, butterscotch or chocolate pie) we watched the History Channel's Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower.

Neil Gaiman and ALA

2009-10-29T02:31:00.004-05:00

Someone's comment on an older post reminded me that I never posted anything about ALA in Chicago -- in JULY! Neil Gaiman was there as he was the winner of the Newbery Award for The Graveyard Book. Yes -- that is my signed copy of it to the left. I, for some stupid reason, did not realize he was going to be there until Babelbabe told me. And I had no clue he was going to be signing at the exhibits the day I went. My brother-in-law dropped me off early at the convention center (really early -- like 7:00am) and there were people waiting in line. I asked what the line was for and when they told me, I practically geeked out! I had no Gaiman works with me at all but the publisher was selling copies of The Graveyard Book, so I bought it so I'd have something for him to sign. I was something like the 10th person in a line that turned out to be very long. A woman in front of me must have brought everything Gaiman ever published for him to sign, including her 10 ton Absolute Sandman copies -- 4 volumes! I would never have lugged those around; he said he wouldn't have either as they were too heavy. That was the highlight of my Chicago visit.

American Wife

2009-10-24T09:32:00.010-05:00

American Wife: Curtis Sittenfeld: I would not normally have picked up this book because I wasn't particularly interested in a novel based on the life of Laura Bush, but Samantha liked it, and we have similar taste in books. This book is not fast paced, so if you're looking for a quick read, American Wife is not for you. But if the life of a quiet woman who finds herself profoundly affected by a tragic accident in her teens and then is caught up in the swirling life of a big political family in her 30s, is of interest to you, then this is your book. Sometimes I found myself very frustrated by Alice -- it's as if, after the accident, she was a passive participant in her own life. She had excuses for everything, including the mistakes of her husband the president, rather than deal with any incident upfront. But, nevertheless, I liked her. I especially liked her the few times she showed some backbone and stood up to Charlie. American Wife is well-written and enjoyable; my only quibble is with the end, after Charlie is in the White House. The book seems to lose Alice's story here and just ends -- it's as if Sittenfeld didn't know how to end the novel. Despite the lackluster ending, American Wife is a good read and I would consider reading it again at some point.

Shelby Lynne

2009-09-11T16:00:00.008-05:00

Shelby Lynne played the Saenger on Thursday night, and she was just wonderful. It was good to hear her live -- she doesn't just sing the songs so that you might as well be listening to a cd; she has new arrangements for them, making her songs fresh and new. She did many of my old favorites, such as Where I'm From (which I swear is on I am Shelby Lynne, but it's not listed on the amazon.com track list), a song about Alabama that is so beautiful it makes me want to stay here the rest of my life. What was really nice, however, was that she did songs from the new album she's working on --- one probably called I'm No Fool and the other most likely titled Your Alibi. Both were songs about the end of a relationship, making me wonder if that's going to be the theme of her new album. They also made me think that the new record (she actually used that word -- "record"!) is going to be more similar in tone to Suit Yourself, which is lovely, than to Identity Crisis, with its delightful surprises (like the gospel-infused 10 Rocks and the rock-country flavored Buttons and Beaus. )

The Audience

I expected a rowdy audience, even though the concert was on a Thursday night, because Shelby Lynne is a hometown girl (her grandmother and other family were in the audience) and she hasn't played Mobile since 1991. I wasn't disappointed. My ears, however, were assaulted by some woman behind me who kept whistling in this really high pitch, the frequency of which really hurt my ears, and yelling, "Shelby, we love you!" at the top of her lungs. On the other side of the theater, people were yelling, "Shelby, Shelby!" and "Welcome home, Shelby!" She was gracious about all this and didn't tell people to shut up, which I might have considered, and she seemed genuinely glad to be back in Mobile. It was great to see her -- too bad the audience also had to be there.

South of Broad

2009-08-20T20:19:00.008-05:00

South of Broad: Pat Conroy: I love Pat Conroy; he is probably one of my favorite Southern writers. His ability to inject South Carolina's Low Country into his novels as a character, not just a setting, is breathtaking. Every time, a new Pat Conroy book comes out, I'm thrilled and can't wait to read it. That said, I'm really disappointed in South of Broad. All the usual Conroy

themes are there -- suicide, depression, abusive families, chosen family -- and there's nothing wrong with these, in general. What's wrong with them specifically in South of Broad is that Conroy does nothing new with them. The reviewer in EW

said that the main character reminds him of Tom Wingo in the far superior The Prince of Tides. I wouldn't go that far, but Leo King doesn't bring anything interesting to the world of Conroy characters. What's frustrating to me about a less than wonderful Conroy novel is that we have to wait so long in between books; he's not prolific like Stephen King, so that I can ignore the books I don't like, knowing a new one will be coming along soon. Beach Music was his last novel and that was in 1995. I hope the next Conroy novel is better -- maybe I'll still be alive for it.

Quitting Books

2009-08-06T00:57:00.003-05:00

I've decided to officially quit reading Amy Bloom's Away. It's not that there's anything wrong with the book -- I'm just not in the mood for it. I will probably go back to it eventually but not right now. You'll notice I've read several books since I started Away, but I'm not anywhere near finishing that book -- in fact, I've only read three pages. I hate giving up on a book, but I'm doing that with this book for now.

Elegance of the Hedgehog

2009-07-06T09:04:00.002-05:00

The Elegance of the Hedgehog: Muriel Barbery: If you're looking for a book long on plot but short on words, don't pick up this book. The plot is very very thin, yet the book is extremely wordy. It concerns a 12-year old girl and a concierge in a French apartment building populated by the rich. Neither are quite what they appear to be. Renée, the concierge, was raised in poverty yet discovered the life of the mind and is interested in Culture and the Arts (and, yes, it's Culture with a capital C that interests her, although the fact that she also loves Michael Connelly endeared her to me). This is an interest she tries to keep from the rich people in her apartment building, hiding behind the stereotypes such people would have about a concierge. Paloma, the girl, hides herself from her family, preferring to live within her thoughts, which are so gloomy that she has decided to kill herself on her 13th birthday. The lives of these two change when a new tenant, a rich Japanese businessman, moves into the building. This is also the point (nearly halfway through the book) where I finally became interested in the story -- the convergence of the lives of Renée and Paloma. Kakuro Ozu is a man who can actually "see" these two people -- he understands almost immediately that they aren't who they appear to be, and he is the instrument of change in both of them. Through him, they both learn that other people can be a source of enrichment in your life not just a source of irritation and pain. Until Ozu appeared in the book, I'd considered just quitting reading it because I'd been a little frustrated with just living in the minds of the characters -- I wanted to see what their lives were like not just their thoughts. Although I ultimately enjoyed this book, it isn't one I'll reread.

Nuttiness and Bees

2009-05-28T18:21:00.015-05:00

I've decided that Amazon is crazy. When I follow the link in my sidebar for Laurie R. King's The Language of Bees, I get taken to the page for the book with the cover image and everything. However, if I search for The Language of Bees in Amazon, I get this result:

The Language of Bees (Hardcover)by Laurie R. King (Author) Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available.

There's no cover image -- nothing -- but this book is already out -- it's been out. I bought it and read it.

The Language of Bees: Laurie R. King: I love this series about a young American feminist, Mary Russell, married to Sherlock Holmes. She brings humanity to the character of Holmes by giving him a personal life. In The Language of Bees, we meet Holmes' adult son, Damien Adler, who is an artist and a troubled man. He enlists the help of Russell and Holmes to help him find his missing wife and child. The wife has an interesting past, so the reader is never sure for quite some time if she's really missing or if she's just left Adler. Damien Adler's past also makes you wonder how complicit he is in his wife's disappearance -- after all, he's murdered before, maybe that makes it easier for him to commit other types of crimes. I like that I, along with Russell, am kept guessing about Adler and his wife throughout this book. And I enjoyed the book. Booklist calls The Language of Bees the best in the Mary Russell series; I'm partial to Locked Rooms because we learn so much about Mary in that novel that we never knew, but The Language of Bees is easily second.

Jazz Fest

2009-05-02T14:00:00.004-05:00

Jazz Fest was a mixed bag for me. One of my son's friends went with me and that was fine ; he talked me into going to see Pete Seeger, who is now 90 years old. I'll never get a chance like that again and it was a lot of fun. He sings with his grandson Tao Rodríguez-Seeger and I enjoyed listening to them both. And they did "This Land is Your Land" -- love that song.

After that concert was over, we wandered the fairgrounds, looking for food and making our way toward the venue where Wilco would be playing. I know things are typically overpriced at Jazz Fest but $10.00 for some sunscreen? I stupidly hadn't brought any chairs with me and, while standing through the short Seeger concert was fine, I didn't want to do it for the much longer Wilco concert. $95.00 for two chairs!

Made it to the Wilco venue and they were wonderful. My seats at the concert in Mobile were much better, of course, because they weren't on the grass and they weren't general admission. But the relaxed attitude of everyone at Jazz Fest was nice and conducive to a good time. Wilco sang my absolute favorite song, "Forget the Flowers," which they hadn't done at the Mobile concert. Here's the set list for anyone interested:

Walken
Handshake Drugs
Company In My Back
You Are My Face
Pot Kettle Black
A Shot in the Arm
Side With The Seeds
Jesus, etc. (another favorite)
Impossible Germany
California Stars
Forget The Flowers
Box Full of Letters (the guy behind me said, "See, even songs from A.M. can rock!"
The Late Greats
Hate It Here
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm The Man Who Loves You
Hoodoo Voodoo (with shirtless bass/guitar/keyboard tech Josh on cowbell)
Casino Queen
Outtasite (Outta Mind)

What made Jazz Fest such a mixed bag for me had nothing to do with the artists and everything to do with my daughter. She has such an exaggerated sense of how well she can take care of herself. During the final Wilco encore song, she told me was going to head out and she'd be just a little bit ahead of me. I couldn't find her anywhere! I asked to borrow someone's cell phone and she didn't answer her phone. I was pretty hysterical. I finally decided to walk back toward where we were supposed to meet my son's friend, and there she was! I had been so scared that I screamed at her like some crazy person and embarrassed her. So that was Jazz Fest for me -- mostly fun but scared at the end.

Ben Folds

2009-04-22T04:57:00.006-05:00

The Concert

I don't know why it's taken me so long to write about this, but I saw Ben Folds at the Saenger Theater on April 6. Simply put, he was amazing! He'd been sick before he got here and still the energy he displayed on stage was unbelievable. He was non-stop -- across the stage -- standing up playing the piano -- jumping on top of something (I couldn't see what it was and although I bought my tickets late, my seats were still very good.) His energy was infectious. He did old, beloved songs (beloved by me anyway) such as Rockin' the Suburbs and Jesusland and he performed tunes from his latest album, Way to Normal.

Set List

Bitch Went Nutz
Effington
Sentimental Guy
Annie Waits
Cologne
Jesusland
Old Bastard
Lovesick Diagnostician
Fred Jones pt 2
Lullabye
The Last Polka
Improv
Brick
The Luckiest
Zak And Sara
Frown Song
Emaline
You Don't Know Me
Still Fighting It
Rockin' The Suburbs
Free Coffee
Landed
Army
Bitches Ain't Shit
Encore: One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces

The Audience

Anyone who reads this or knows me is going to be shocked -- I can't complain about the audience -- not at all. Yes, they were loud and some of them were drunk, but most of them had obviously been to Ben Folds' concerts before, and he used their knowledge of his work and their rambunctiousness to his advantage -- he drew energy from the crowd until it became a back-and-forth thing between him and the audience. While I've seen excellent shows before (Wilco just stunned the crowd into submission), I've never seen an artist have such a good rapport with the audience.

Sarah's Key

2009-04-01T20:30:00.003-05:00

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: I got this book because, not only is it a novel of the Holocaust, but it takes an aspect of the Holocaust that I knew nothing about and fictionalizes it. Sarah's Key is set against the backdrop of The Vélodrome d’hiver Round-up: July 16 and 17, 1942 -- a massive roundup of Jewish families by the French police. From camps inside occupied France, men, women and children were sent to their deaths in Auschwitz. Before the deportations, the families were kept in a stadium for several days under deplorable conditions.

I find I am of two minds about this book -- which is fitting since part of the book takes place in 1942 and part of it happens in contemporary France. The main character, Julia Jarmond, is assigned a story on the roundup for the sixtieth anniversary of the event. She learns that her life is deeply entangled with the life of a 10-year-old girl, Sarah, caught up in this mass-arrest. While I found Sarah's story compelling, Julia annoyed me. I found her to be whiny, and her deep emotional involvement with Sarah's life before she even knew that there was a connection between them was insufficiently explained.

Even the parts of the book that tell Sarah's story from her own point of view instead of from Julia's seem to be better written and less whiny than the sections of Julia's life that are told from the first person point-of-view. I found some of Julia's actions inexplicable; she gave no thought as to if or how her actions might hurt other people. And Julia's husband, Bertrande! For Pete's sake! I found I couldn't muster any sympathy for him at all. In spite of the book's faults however, I did enjoy it and was interested to read about this aspect of the Holocaust.

Pride and Prejudice

2009-03-04T21:44:00.004-06:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!: by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith : Because we all know that that's what was really missing from Pride and Prejudice all along -- zombies! I actually cannot make up my mind if I'm going to read this. I kind of like the idea of it. Maybe I'd be sure if it were vampires, I don't know. I'm not that big into zombies.

Watchmen and Coraline

2009-02-28T10:18:00.005-06:00

I'm in full geek mode here -- reading the graphic novel again before Watchmen comes out on Thursday. Look at that! I even know what day it comes out -- that's rare for me. I'm glad I'm reading it again because there are several things I've forgotten. I heard the movie is getting mixed reviews but I don't care. I'm off on Friday because I'm working today so I may even go to the midnight showing. Probably not though because I expect it will be too crowded, but I'll go on Friday.

Coraline: I saw this movie in 3D. I'd read the novel and the graphic novel before seeing it, and although a couple of things are different, such as Coraline's friend WhyB who is not in the book, that didn't detract from the enjoyment I got from this movie. When I first heard it was going to be an animated instead of a live action film, I was disappointed, but the stop-motion animation allows the movie to bring the characters to life in a way that a live action film could not have done. I loved it.

Predictability

2009-02-21T17:07:00.002-06:00

A Darker Domain: Val Mcdermid: I'm ambivalent about this one. Most Val Mcdermid books I've read have been the Tony Hill novels -- those that the BBC show Wire in the Blood was based on. I get really involved in those and find those characters interesting and often unpredictable. A Darker Domain is a stand-alone novel, and, while I found the story interesting and the history of the 1984 Scottish miners strike thought-provoking, I knew all along what had happened with the two intertwined murders that DI Karen Pirie must solve. That would have been fine if Karen herself had been more compelling -- in the middle of the novel I had to go back several pages because I'd forgotten her first name. Mcdermid gives us some glimpses into the character that, if she'd fleshed them out, would have helped make the Detective Inspector a more intriguing person. That way I would have cared less that I'd predicted the entire solution to the mysteries. Instead of being annoyed that they couldn't seem to catch up to me in solving the crimes, I would have just wanted to read the book to see what finally got Pirie to the same point I was at. Also the ending of this novel feels rushed to me -- as if Mcdermid were writing about all these characters and then suddenly a few hundred pages in realized she needed to end the novel.

Typealyzer

2009-02-03T19:20:00.005-06:00

Because I saw the Typealyzer on Jess's blog and thought it was interesting, I decided to enter my blog into it and see its personality type. Evidently my blog is The Independent and Problem Solving Type. It is a "master of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously" and prefers to think for itself and it also likes to avoid interpersonal conflict.

Much of this is like me -- I don't like interpersonal conflict and, therefore, tend to avoid it -- but much of it is not. Good thing the Typealzer includes this disclaimer: "Note: writing style on a blog may have little or nothing to do with a person´s self-perceived personality. " Otherwise I would be seriously worried about the fact that my blog appears to seek fun, action and risk in its personal life while I'm more risk averse!

Denver

2009-01-26T16:31:00.002-06:00

I doubt you can see this that well but this is what the Colorado Convention Center looked like this morning. This is a big deal for me as Lower Alabama never gets snow so I'm not that used to it. I love the huge blue bear in front of the center -- I don't know why he's blue though -- if there's some legend about a blue bear associated with Colorado -- or if that's just the color the person decided to make him.

I'm at ALA Midwinter as you can probably guess from the fact that I'm in a cold snowy place. The American Library Association always does this -- Annual which is in June/July is in some hot place (it's been in New Orleans twice since I've been going) and Midwinter is always in some freezing place -- last year it was Philadelphia.

A Couple of Books and a Shuffle

2009-01-06T07:51:00.022-06:00

Why We Suck: Denis Leary: I love Denis Leary and so does my husband. I got this book for him for Christmas and he read it very quickly, laughing out loud the entire time. So I was expecting to do the same thing. I didn't. I think I would have found a lot of the things he talks about funnier if I'd been watching him or listening to him. As it was, I really only laughed out loud a few times. A lot of the time I felt that he truly believed that mothers with children should stay home -- which is fine if you are him and can afford it, and he did say something about mothers who HAD to work weren't included in this group, but still, I felt attacked for choosing to work and choosing to have children as well. I understand his humor -- I truly do -- and most Denis Leary fans will probably love this book. I was just probably a little "tetchy" about that subject.

Birmingham, 35 Miles: James Braziel: I read this as part of my apocalypse-themed reading, plus it's set in Alabama. In this future, the holes in the ozone layer have become so big that now most of the South is a desert, where the people dig for clay rocks to get money from the government -- it's "make work" and they know it, but it's work. The book goes back and forth in time, but I wasn't bothered by that. What did annoy me was the inertia of the main character, Matthew. In the novel, it's difficult to get to the "Saved World" (the world that's not been destroyed by the opening of the ozone layer) but Matthew has a visa that will allow him to go there. He spends most of the book avoiding leaving. Overall, I did like this book, but Cormac MacCarthy's The Road is a better apocalyptic novel, although I'm not sure the comparison is fair.

Friday Shuffle on Tuesday

The Ice is Getting Thinner: Death Cab for Cutie from Narrow Stairs
Washed Ashore: The Platters from Enchanted
Doginabag: The Fratellis from Costello Music
The Great Beyond: R.E.M. from In Time
Honey Bee: Lucinda Williams from Little Honey
Traveling Miles: Cassandra Wilson from Traveling Miles
Black Hole: She & Him from Volume One
Death and All His Friends: Coldplay from Viva La Vida
Harbor Lights: Boz Scaggs from Silk Degrees
Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart: Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone

New Years in Mobile

2008-12-31T14:14:00.002-06:00

Moon Pie Over Mobile: Yes -- that's what we're having in Mobile tonight. We can get a piece of the world's largest moon pie and then an electric one will rise over our city at midnight. I can't decide what I think about this. Mobile's Mardi Gras parades are the only ones that I know of where they throw moon pies and now we get to have a large electric one. Yippee!

Happy New Year's everyone.

Agatha Christie and Dr. Who

2008-12-03T21:05:00.006-06:00

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie: An episode of Dr. Who from series 4, The Unicorn and the Wasp, which features Agatha Christie, reminded me that I'd never read any Agatha Christie -- ever. So I thought I'd remedy that. I liked the title of this one, so I chose it as my first Christie novel. I liked it, and I loved Miss Marple -- she's a sharp one. The maid finds a dead body in the library of some friends of Miss Marple; no one knows who she is but of course the friend talks Miss Marple into helping her find the killer. I knew who the murderer was as soon as I met the person, but then Christie would say something and I'd think, "Oh, this character is a red herring." Then I'd be back to thinking I was right in the first place. I liked that -- the feeling that I was possibly wrong about who the killer was.

2008-11-06T11:33:00.005-06:00

November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. As someone who's had epilepsy since she was 8 and who has a son with epilepsy, I just want people to be aware of what it is and not be so afraid of it. I remember being embarrassed when I had a seizure at school and hearing people talk about it behind my back. When my son had a seizure at school, his experience was entirely different because he was lucky enough to have a teacher whose father has epilepsy. She was able to explain to my son's class what had happened and to make them understand that my son was no different because of this. People with epilepsy don't have demons inside them and we can do pretty much what we want. I was raised to not allow this condition to put limitations on me and I've raised my son the same way. I know seizures can look scary but they don't hurt. If you're curious about what epilepsy is, check out the Epilepsy Foundation's site.

Neil Gaiman

2008-10-28T18:52:00.008-05:00

Yes, I have been on somewhat of a Neil Gaiman roll there lately -- one broken only by Michael Connelly's The Brass Verdict. I think there's Gaiman reading I've done that's not even included in my list, such as the daily reading of Neil's blog. And I just bought Neverwhere and the graphic novel version of Coraline. I don't really know why I'm on such a Gaiman kick lately -- I think it's circular -- I started reading the Lucifer comics, which are based on the version of Lucifer from the Sandman, then I got an urge to read Sandman again, which put me in the mood for The Graveyard Book (just in time for it to be released), which then made me want to read the Coraline graphic novel (I've already read the book), which put me in the mood for another Gaiman book I'd previously read, Good Omens, which puts me right back with Lucifer.

The Graveyard Book: Neil Gaiman: I liked this little book. It's about a very small boy who escapes the murder of his family in the most innocent sounding way possible -- he toddles out of his crib and out into the night. He ends up in a graveyard, is adopted by two of the ghosts, given a name (Nobody (or Bod to his friends) Owens), and given the Freedom of the Graveyard. This freedom keeps him safe; as long as he's in the graveyard he can't be hurt. But he's a young boy -- he's going to want his real freedom, but the Man Jack, who killed his family, is still out there looking for him. I loved the story, was a little disappointed in the reason why the Man Jack killed Bod's family, and loved the ending -- it was perfect for this book.

Amos Lee

2008-09-24T19:49:00.003-05:00

I like Amos Lee, he was in town last night for free, and he was playing outside so I could sit by the water and be all peaceful and everything. What could go wrong? Anyone who has ever read this blog and chanced across any posting of any concert (except Wilco) that I've ever attended is raising their hand and saying, "Oh! Oh! I know! It's the audience, right?"

Right.

Given that it was outdoors, it was a restaurant venue, the concert was free, and they were serving alcohol, I understood that the audience would be drunk and rowdy. Really, I promise that I did understand that going into the concert. So my usually tight-assed standards for audience behavior were really relaxed. Even so, I left. That's the first time I've ever left a concert. I couldn't hear the opening act, but I figured that once Lee came out, the audience would quiet down. They didn't. They got louder. Amos Lee adjusted his singing level to account for the talky, rowdy audience, but he couldn't adjust it enough. And it wasn't that I was far away -- I wasn't. If a drunk guy hadn't stepped in front of me to talk to two women and thus, with his big head, blocked any view I had of Amos Lee, I could have taken a recognizable picture with my cell phone to include with this post. I'm glad the concert was free as I would have had to demand my money back otherwise.

Morbidly Thinking About Books

2008-09-10T19:52:00.003-05:00

Today I was in Barnes & Noble, just innocently browsing, when I was struck by a thought that occurs to me occasionally. I will never ever finish everything I want to read before I die. Never. I won't even finish everything in my house before that happens. When I'm struck by this thought-bolt, I, ironically, find it hard to read at all. Nothing interests me because I think, "What if by choosing to read Bleak House, I'm making it so that I will never read The Left Hand of Darkness, which I might like better?" Each decision I make to read or not to read a book seems vitally important then. Maybe reading Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day isn't the best reading choice after all. Or maybe it is because it makes me laugh.

Aftermath of Gustav

2008-09-03T08:24:00.004-05:00

Turns out that I live just outside the cone of Gustav. We just got tropical storm size wind and rains. I can deal with that. We didn't leave although I was nervous about it because the storm could have shifted, but it didn't. Our power went out for an hour -- that was it. We didn't even have any trees down or anything. I'm very grateful for that. I worried more about Marsha because she does live inside the cone of that storm.

Hurricanes

2008-08-30T14:01:00.004-05:00

It's around the same time as Katrina in 2005 and look what's out there coming toward us.

It's Gustav! Right now, it's around Cuba and its got category 4 winds. Who knows what it will be once it reaches the Gulf. And, as with Katrina, my school still has not announced what it will do. I don't know whether to leave now or stay. Oh, and tomorrow is my wedding anniversary.

Nerves + Michael Phelps

2008-08-10T08:16:00.005-05:00

First the nerves: When my daughter was a baby, she had an inherited childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma. She was operated on and has been fine since and she's now in her teens. Because she can't really see out of the eye the cancer was in, she doesn't use it; this lack of use caused her eye to drift out. Friday, she had an operation to straighten that eye. It was supposed to take about an hour, but because of scar tissue from the earlier operations, it took a lot longer. My husband and I were fine, until the nurse came out to tell us why it was taking longer. We hadn't been keeping track of time, but suddenly we began to keep track of every second. We were nerve wracked by the time the doctor came to get us. Again she's fine, but the idea of her being under anesthesia for so long was scary. And she starts school Monday -- I was hoping her eye wouldn't still be swollen by then (and it probably wouldn't have if it hadn't been for the scar tissue) but it looks like she'll be starting her first day of high school with a slightly swollen eye. Poor thing.

I knew I missed this! I looked for it on the TV schedule and couldn't find it -- Michael Phelps in the 400 Men's Relay:

Movies and other video

2008-07-23T19:00:00.006-05:00

Dr Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog: This is an exclusive to iTunes project by Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. Neil Patrick Harris is an extremely nerdy supervillian who, although he can make freeze rays and death rays, cannot talk to girls. Nathan Fillion, of Firefly and Serenity, is his nemesis, Captain Hammer, who, naturally, gets all the women. The show was extremely funny and very touching -- I find Whedon's ability to portray the comic right alongside the tragic to be one of the best things about him. Eventually, Dr. Horrible will be released on dvd; right now, it's only available on iTunes. It's worth the money.

The Dark Knight: I loved this movie. Yes, everyone hypes Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker, but they are right to do so -- he's embodies the complete psychopathic nature of this character -- you're never allowed to take him as a joke. He's downright scary and, oddly, a little sad, and I've never been scared by the Joker before. What I worry about, in the all of the hullabaloo surrounding this performance because of Ledger's death, is that the performances of Aaron Eckhart, as Harvey Dent, and Christian Bale, as Batman, will go totally unnoticed. Aaron Eckhart, in particular, was touching. His transition from crusading DA to what he eventually becomes is sad and moving to watch. The only weak point in this movie, for me, was the character of Rachael Dawes. This wasn't Maggie Gyllenhaal's fault either -- the character is simply boring. I couldn't really bring myself to care what happened to her. Otherwise, The Dark Knight is the best movie I've seen all summer and I loved Iron Man -- this movie just tops it.

Audio Books

2008-06-25T18:51:00.007-05:00

I'm generally not a big fan of audio books because I'm a person who gets distracted easily. I have to be a captive audience to actually be able to finish one, which means the only place I can listen to them is in my car. Currently I'm listening to Stephen King's The Gingerbread Girl, read by Mare Winningham and am enjoying it. On the way home from Montgomery this weekend, I tried to listen to Jeffrey Archer's A Prisoner of Birth and just could not get into it. I don't know if it was the story or the reader. Here's my hands-down pick for favorite audio book:

The Tin Roof Blowdown: James Lee Burke, read by Will Patton: Everything comes together in this reading of a Dave Robicheaux novel set in South Louisiana during and immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastate the Gulf Coast. The story is well told and the mystery is satisfying. Burke's anger over what happened in the aftermath of those storms is an underlying subtext of the story and is palpable in his descriptions of New Orleans after the storms. Will Patton picks up on this anger and translates it well. His reading of the novel and his rendition of the characters feels authentic -- from Dave's New Iberia accent, to Clete Purcell's harsher New Orleans one, to the softer South Carolina accent of one of the villains, Ronald Bledsoe. It took me forever to listen to this novel because it's 14 discs and I only listened to it in the car and I didn't take any long trips, but ultimately I'm glad I took the time to listen to it. It struck me again that with audio books, it's essential to have the right reader, and Will Patton was the perfect one for The Tin Roof Blowdown.

I'm going on vacation starting Monday and won't be back to work for three weeks. Yay! I cannot wait. I'm going to be in South Carolina for a few days and I hope to be at the beach for a week.

A Meme to Pass the Time at Work

2008-05-31T11:22:00.003-05:00

I'm at work today and I am extremely bored. It's pretty outside. Who wants to be in a library on a beautiful Saturday? Hence, the meme, which I got from Hilda:

If you were stuck in traffic, who would you want to be stuck in traffic with? My friend Sabrina -- she'd make funny comments and be entertaining
Would you rather be late to the party, or the first person to arrive? First to arrive
Be honest, have you ever sung into your hairbrush like it was a microphone? Of course -- I can't imagine anyone who hasn't, except maybe my husband.
What is the first thing you do when you come home from work? Take off my bra -- I hate bras.
Can you be found blogging in your pajamas? Yes
Be honest, have you started to save money for Christmas yet? No -- that would be planning ahead -- we can't have that.
Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola? Coca Cola
What concession stand snack(s) must you have at the movies? I don't buy concession stand snacks -- I'm too appalled at their prices.
What do you call your TV's remote control? The flipper
If you could work for any company in the US (without having to relocate if you didn't want to), what company would you want to work for? I'm not sure, but I'd want to work for a library that would let me work from home at least a few days a week. Preferably everyday, so I could go to the beach and do my work.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

2008-05-09T10:16:00.004-05:00

A Canticle for Leibowitz: Walter M. Miller, Jr.: This is another one of those books I've started a million times but never got past, "Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim . . . ." I heard Mary Doria Russell, author of the excellent The Sparrow, speak about her love for this book and thought I might try it again. It's a novel that fits within the same apocalyptic tradition as Alas, Babylon and The Road. Only it covers centuries. It begins with the discovery of the "blessed documents"; items from the time before an unexplained but likely nuclear event plunged the world into a new dark age. We follow the brothers of the Order of Leibowitz through the centuries as they struggle to get their patron canonized and also maintain what little knowledge is left until the world is ready for it again. The novel is divided into three parts that take place in different eras; Fiat Homo (when the documents are discovered), Fiat Lux (when man is beginning to show an interest in knowledge again -- especially science), and Fiat Voluntas Tua (what man does with that knowledge.) A Canticle for Leibowitz also addresses issues of faith, human nature and the rise and fall of civilizations; it is steeped in Catholicism and Latin. The Latin was annoying to me because I don't know it, but I could always get the gist of the conversation from surrounding textual clues. The Catholicism, however, was like coming back to the place where you born -- I know it and understand it. It's been several weeks since I finished this book, but I still miss the brothers of St. Leibowitz, and I will re-read this novel -- I can't think of a higher compliment. If I were rating this novel as Les does, I'd give it a 4.9 out of 5.

Friday Shuffle -- one actually done on Friday!

The Sporting Life: The Decemberists from Picaresque
Casino Nation: Jackson Browne from Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2
Myriad Harbour: The New Pornographers from Challengers
15 Step: Radiohead from In Rainbows
I Can't Quit Her: Blood, Sweat and Tears from Greatest Hits
The Wreck of the Barbie Ferrari (I love the title of this song): John Hiatt from Perfectly Good Guitar
Heaven Help Us All: Madeleine Peyroux and Willie Galison from Got You On My Mind
Conquest: The White Stripes from Icky Thump
In the Ghetto: Elvis Presley from Elv1s 30 #1 Hits
American Woman: Lenny Kravitz from Greatest Hits

Book Reviewing

2008-05-03T13:34:00.005-05:00

Hilda had a badge on her blog that links to the National Book Critics Circle's Campaign to Save Book Reviews. They're concerned because many newspapers such as The Atlanta Journal Constitution are simply eliminating the book reviewer position from their newspapers. If they are still publishing book reviews, they are getting them from national services. I find this to be a disservice to both local audiences and local authors. The importance of the local book reviewer has always been to let his or her audience know about books that would be of interest to the local community. This is often the only way a local author has of getting noticed as many of them will rarely show up in national review sources. I find this a disturbing trend and hope it doesn't continue. I know our local paper has often been a source of information on Alabama authors for me -- I don't have time or the inclination to hunt all these authors down, so learning about a possibly interesting book in the paper is important to me. I wouldn't have known about Ravi Howard's Like Trees, Walking about the Michael Donald murder, a subject of interest to me, if it hadn't been for our local paper. So I wish the NBCC luck with their campaign.

Friday Shuffle

Bad Habit: Joss Stone from Introducing Joss Stone
Happy Girl: Martina McBride from Greatest Hits
My Dream: The Platters from Enchanted: the Best of the Platters
Begin the Beguine: Sheryl Crow from De-Lovely
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out: Eric Clapton from Unplugged
What am I Living For?: Van Morrison from Pay the Devil
Late Breaking News: Jorma Kaukonen from Stars in My Crown
Wayfaring Stranger: Emmylou Harris and Ricky Skaggs from Heartaches and Highways
Cloud 9: Rahsaan Patterson from Wines & Spirits
Honestly OK: Dido from No Angel

Dark of a Thousand Nights

2008-04-12T10:08:00.009-05:00

Alas, Babylon: Pat Frank: When I was a kid, I went through this apocalyptic fiction phase -- I read every novel like that I could get my hands on. Shockingly, I never read a classic of the genre, Alas, Babylon. I remember trying to read it, but I never got past the first page. Les's positive review of it encouraged me to try reading it once again. It's an amazing read. Despite the fact that America is destroyed by nuclear bombs, Frank's novel is a hopeful one. His characters come together to take care of each other and to rebuild their world. The main character, Randy Bragg, who before The Day, seemed pretty much aimless, steps up to the plate and shows that he is strong and becomes a leader in his small town of Fort Repose, FL. Some of the stereotypes of women and blacks bothered me, but only for a minute -- the novel was written in 1959 after all. Helen, for instance, although a completely capable woman in all other respects, is one of those women who needs a man. Randy's wife, Lib, hesitates to suggest something because she feels that what she's thinking about should be first brought up by a man. Helen's daughter, Peyton, longs to be a hero like her brother but is told that the things she wants to help with are better left to boys and men. Despite the stereotypes, you can feel all the women beginning to chafe against these arbitrary rules. In some ways too, in its treatment of African Americans, Frank's novel and his character are just a little ahead of the times. Randy feels that race shouldn't matter -- this is vividly pointed out when after The Day, Randy is in a park staring at two water fountains trying to remember why there are two separate ones like that. The characters eventually realize that they are all interdependent on one another and race becomes unimportant. Randy's niece and nephew, who've come to Florida from Omaha, have grown up expecting that their schools will be integrated. In spite of that, Randy's friend, Malachi, whom he's known his entire life, calls him, "Mr. Randy." All that said, Alas, Babylon, is a wonderful read with characters you can relate to and care about.

Friday Shuffle on Saturday

Come Pick Me Up: Ryan Adams from Heartbreaker
I Must Be High: Wilco from A.M.
What a Wonderful Man: My Morning Jacket from Z
Off Broadway: Ryan Adams from Easy Tiger
Pot Kettle Black: Wilco from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Another Rainy Day: Corinne Bailey Rae from Corinne Bailey Rae
Somebody's Baby: Jackson Browne from Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2
Old Times Sake: Shelby Lynne from Suit Yourself
All We Can Really Do: Melissa Etheridge from The Awakening
White Rabbit: Patti Smith from Twelve

Piles of books

2008-03-29T03:21:00.003-05:00

I've got a whole pile of books by my bed that I haven't read yet, but still yesterday I felt the need to buy more. I came home with Keith Olbermann's Truth and Consequences, Shalom Auslander's Foreskin's Lament (who could resist that title?), David Gerrold's The Martian Child, and Pat Frank's Alas Babylon, a book I've always felt I should read since I went through this apocalyptic fiction phase but never read one of the classics of the genre. I've already finished Olbermann's collection of his special comments from his show, Countdown. It was interesting, reminded me of things I'd forgotten and was a quick read.

Friday Shuffle

15: Rilo Kiley from Under the Blacklight
Strong and Wrong: Joni Mitchell from Shine
Sejedo: Angelique Kidjo from Djin Djin
When the Man Comes Around: Jorma Kaukonen from Stars in My Crown
Sweet Sacrifice: Evanescence from The Open Door
That's How I Got to Memphis: Solomon Burke from Nashville
T.V. Age: Joe Jackson from Night and Day
Follow: Brandi Carlile from Brandi Carlile
No Other Way: Jack Johnson from In Between Dreams
My Lover's Box: Garbage from Garbage

Bridge of Sighs

2008-03-22T14:27:00.006-05:00

Bridge of Sighs: Richard Russo: There's something about a Richard Russo novel that bores me somewhere in the middle. This happened with Empire Falls and Straight Man. Maybe all of his books should be about a third shorter than they are. That said, Bridge of Sighs is a wonderfully sad tale ending in hope. It's the story of three characters whose families and lives intersect in the declining town of Thomaston, New York. Depicting economically depressed towns and their decline is something Russo is a master at; I was able to vividly see Thomaston's West End (where the people are poor), it's East End (filled with people who are mainly middle class) and the Borough (where the rich people live.) What I was not able to picture was The Hill, where Thomaston's black population lives, because Russo's characters don't go there. Bridge of Sighs centers around Lou C. Lynch, Sarah Berg, and Bobby Marconi. It's the decades long tale of their lives, told from the points of view of Lou and Bobby mostly. I was thrown by Sarah's sudden point of view in the novel because up until page 300 and something, the narrative switched between Lou and Bobby. Sarah was a character but she wasn't a voice, and the interjection of her point of view so late in the novel was jarring. I was also annoyed by Lou (nicknamed Lucy) and his unquestioning acceptance of his annoyingly optimistic father; he's so accepting that he doesn't like his own mother for questioning Big Lou's belief in the unfailing goodness of mankind. Lucy and his father are also extremely needy -- they need people and they cling to them. This is never more noticeable than in Lucy's friendship with Bobby -- they live near each other but rarely see each other because of Bobby's abusive father. When both families move, this is still true. When Bobby's family moves to the Borough, Lucy doesn't see Bobby again until high school, yet he clings to his friendship as if they saw each other every day. When Bobby flees Thomaston, Lou continues to write to him, always with a "Remember when . . ." in the letter -- something Bobby usually does not remember. Lucy clings not only to people and places but to the past as well; part of the underlying theme of this novel is Lucy's learning to let go of the past and appreciate the present. Despite being annoyed by some of the major characters and some false notes (Russo's depictions of African-Americans aren't very realistic), I loved Bridge of Sighs; it's my favorite Russo novel yet.

Wilco

2008-03-09T14:44:00.004-05:00

The Show

I've never seen Wilco before and never really thought that they'd come here, but they did. Thanks to Robin, I found out in time to buy really good tickets -- I was three rows back and almost in the center. I've been to so many shows where I couldn't see the band that well but I had no trouble seeing Wilco. Sorry the picture is so small and unclear -- I really should have learned to use my digital camera before the concert, not during. They opened the show with You Are My Face and did almost everything I love except Forget the Flowers. I'd heard that they played 2 and a half hours at the Ryman right before this concert and, of course, they'd been on Saturday Night Live, so I wasn't expecting much from this show, figuring they'd be tired. If they were tired, they didn't show it. They played a straight 2 and a half hour show here too that was energetic and simply amazing. And the show was TIGHT -- I like other artists better than I like Wilco (and please don't get me wrong -- I love Wilco) but I've never seen a better show than the one Wilco put on. I understand why people travel to see them; if they come to Atlanta, I'll go. I don't have the world's best memory, so this is the set list someone posted on Via Chicago from our show -- I think there was more and the list is in no order:

Airline to heaven
California Stars
Box Full of letters
Pick up the change
Passenger side
Monday
Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Kingpin
Muzzle of Bees
Hummingbird
Handshake Drugs
Wishful thinking
Theologians
You are my face
Impossible Germany ( absolutely incredible solo by Nels)
Side with the seeds
Hate it Here (this was fun with the audience also singing the "hate it here" part)
Walken
What Light
Via Chicago
A Shot in the Arm
War on War
Jesus Etc.
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm the man who loves you
Pot Kettle Black
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Magazine called Sunset

I'd heard a rumor or read somewhere that once they did Heavy Metal Drummer, they didn't do any more songs. It must not be true; they came out for an encore where they did at least five songs.

The Audience

You know I have to describe the audiences because they are always so awful here -- this was not true of the Wilco show. People listened and responded to the band, but there was no one really obnoxious except the Drunk Rowdy Guy sitting right next to me. He shouted, "Whoooo!!!!" right in my ear -- I finally told him that when he did that, he actually hurt my ears. DRG said, "Well you must have never been to a rock concert and the band must really bother you then." I said, "They are not shrieking right in my ear like you are." I finally decided to ignore him -- he was NOT going to ruin my Wilco experience. His friend got up and changed seats with him so I was no longer next to DRG.

The Shuffle

Howlin' Down the Cumberland: John Hiatt from Master of Disaster
Gone Daddy Gone: Gnarls Barkley from St. Elsewhere
Impossible Germany: Wilco from Sky Blue Sky
I'm the Man Who Loves You: Wilco from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Goodbye to You: Michelle Branch from The Spirit Room
Hate It Here: Wilco from Sky Blue Sky
Since U Been Gone: Kelly Clarkson from Breakaway
Oh, Mary Don't You Weep: Bruce Springsteen from We Shall Overcome
Gravedigger: Dave Matthews from Some Devil
Amy, Amy, Amy: Amy Winehouse from Frank

Duma Key

2008-03-02T14:32:00.011-06:00

Duma Key: Stephen King: When I first read the premise of this book, about a man who is in a horrific, life-changing accident, I thought to myself, "No, Steve, please! Not another story that is really about your own accident -- get past it, write about something else!" I turned out to be very glad that King returned to that gold mine of his accident yet again to turn out Duma Key. The novel is set in Minnesota first, where our protagonist, Edgar Freemantle (if you're a fan of King's, Edgar is no relation, as far as I can tell, to Abigail Freemantle of The Stand), has his accident. It is one he is lucky to emerge from alive; he does lose his arm and his marriage though. Believing a change of scenery will help, Edgar moves to a Florida Gulf Coast barrier island, called Duma Key. There, after long hard work, many things blossom for him, including an artistic talent that's always been there but he's never worked with it much before. On Duma Key, this talent becomes so great that he is given a show in a local gallery; of course, this being a Stephen King novel, we've known all along that there's something sinister about his newly developed talent. Edgar begins to discover that he can make things happen with his art and the plot unfolds from there, revealing the unsettling past of one of the island's two other residents. This novel is part psychological thriller and part supernatural thriller, but very rarely is it straight up horror. It's also the best novel Stephen King has written in awhile. I can still hear the shells whispering underneath Big Pink.

Friday Shuffle -- the Sunday Edition

ELT: Wilco from Summerteeth
Your Heart is an Empty Room: Death Cab for Cutie from Plans
Alright: Joan Armatrading from Into the Blues
Unwritten: Natasha Bedingfield from 2007 Grammy Nominees
Wrapped Around Her: Joan Armatrading from Square the Circle
Taxi Ride: Tori Amos from Scarlet's Walk
My Heart: Lizz Wright from The Orchard
No More Walks in the Wood: Eagles from Long Road Out of Eden
Rough and Rocky: Emmylou Harris from Blue Kentucky Girl
What the Devil Wanted: Whiskeytown from Pneumonia

The Boy and the Library

2008-02-25T20:27:00.003-06:00

My son just came into the library to get my extra iPod cable from me and "borrow" my debit card. He didn't look good; his eyes were tired looking and his hair was dirty. I asked him about it, and he "Doesn't want to talk about it." He's 22 and I know I should let it go, but it's hard, really hard, not to worry about your kids -- alleged adult or not. Then he says things like, "Why does it matter to you?" He doesn't get that it will ALWAYS matter to me. Always.

On a lighter note, why do patrons come into the library with their mp3 players, turn the music up so loud that I can hear it far far away from where they are and then just look astounded and offended when I tell them to turn it down? I should not be able to identify singer, album, and song from 50 feet away! Okay, not 50 feet, but still . . .

Demon Days and the Friday Shuffle

2008-02-16T06:42:00.003-06:00

Mister B. Gone: Clive Barker: It's funny how people's tastes can be so different. I like Clive Barker - - always have. He can have a real turn with a phrase, and he can really ratchet up the dread in his books. Not so much dread here, but I still liked the book. I appear to be the only person who did if you check out the amazom.com reviews. Do I think it's the best novel Clive Barker has ever written? No -- I would go with The Damnation Game for that -- but neither do I think it's as bad as some of his detractors would have you believe. It's a quirky little story that begins with the narrator -- a demon trapped in a book -- begging you, the reader, to burn the book you hold in your hand. As an enticement for you to do so, the demon, Jakabok Botch, tells you snippets of his story from his childhood to how he got in the book. There is no intricate world created here, like Barker does in such books as Imagica and Weaveworld; the narration skips over centuries at a time and is at times thin, but the book was still, for me, a quick and enjoyable read. I wouldn't recommend it if it's the first Clive Barker novel you've ever read, but I didn't find it a disappointment.

Friday Shuffle

15 Step: Radiohead from In Rainbows
At My Window Sad and Lonely: Billy Bragg and Wilco from Mermaid Avenue
What If: Lucinda Williams from West
Bend & Break: Keane from Hopes and Fears
No Vacancy: The Subdudes from Behind the Levee
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: Shelby Lynne from Just a Little Lovin'
Corazon Espinado: Santana from Supernatural
The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Carly Simon from Clouds in My Coffee
Amy Amy Amy: Amy Winehouse from Frank
Walk Away: Christina Aquilera from Stripped

Book meme

2008-02-12T20:58:00.004-06:00

From Hilda:

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more - No cheating.
Turn to page 123 and find the first five sentences.
Now post the next three sentences.
The fun begins - - tag some people to play along. I'm not going to tag anyone - if you want to play please let me know in my Comments.

His digestion was poor, and he had a weeping eye. But as his youth died out,
his gaiety increased; he replaced his teeth with jests, his hair with joy, his
health with irony, and his weeping eye was always laughing. He was dilapidated, but bedecked with flowers.

From Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee.

Dreamers and the late Friday Shuffle

2008-02-09T11:02:00.000-06:00

Dreamers of the Day: Mary Doria Russell: Have you ever read a book and become so immersed in that world that when you finish, it's hard to pick up another book? That's the case with me right now. I was so thrilled when I heard this book was coming out -- I could barely wait for it. The Sparrow, Children of God, and A Thread of Grace are three of my favorite books. Then it turned out I didn't have to wait; I got an advance reader copy when I was at ALA. Then I was nervous about it -- what if I didn't like it as much as the other three? After all, the subject matter was something I knew nothing about -- the Cairo Peace Conference that established Iraq as a country. While Dreamers did not turn out to be my favorite Russell novel, it was still brilliant. She has a way of creating characters and making them memorable. Here, Agnes Shanklin is a woman who has always followed her mother's wishes for her and believed the things her mother has said about her -- she's mousy and uninteresting. When her family dies in the 1918 influenza epidemic, Agnes is left alone with money and the opportunity to redefine herself out of her mother's shadow. Her decision to follow her sister's footsteps and take a trip to Egypt is fateful for both her and for us. In Egypt she meets her sister's friend, T. E. Lawrence -- that Lawrence -- Lawrence of Arabia. In doing so, she falls into a social circle with Gertrude Bell and a youngish Winston Churchill and becomes privy to the events and arguments that end in the creation of Iraq. In the hands of Russell, these huge historic figures become human -- Lawrence, with his giggle, and Gertrude Bell, with her disdain for other women, and finally Winston Churchill, charging about the Middle East, annoying his bodyguard. All of this history takes place around Agnes' more everyday romance with a man she meets at her hotel. Agnes tells us we cannot understand our current story unless we understand her history, and she is right. Her story, taking place on the periphery of historic events, helped me understand more about some of the current tensions in the Middle East than any history book could have. Like I still miss Emilio Sandoz, I will miss Agnes as well. This is a novel that stays with you. It is also the only novel where I saw the sense of humor that Russell displayed in her speech at ALA; there are some genuinely funny sections in this book.

Friday Shuffle

Thread: k.d. lang from Watershed
Square One: Coldplay from X & Y
International Echo: Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello from The River in Reverse
Little Bird: Emmylou Harris from Stumble into Grace
Foolin' Around: Patsy Cline from The Patsy Cline Story
Cross My Fingers: John Hiatt from Perfectly Good Guitar
Lubbock or Leave It: The Dixie Chicks from Taking the Long Way
I Really Hope: The Cranberries from Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
Last Good Time in Town: The Eagles from Long Road Out of Eden
From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea) : The Decemberists from Picaresque

Night before Mardi Gras day

2008-02-04T21:42:00.000-06:00

The library is opened on the day before Fat Tuesday, a day all students, faculty and staff have off (Fat Tuesday, that is.) I'm so bored I can barely stand myself. I've been here since 6:00pm and I've been asked 2 questions. I don't see much point to being opened on Monday and then closed Tuesday. Why can't we have Monday off as well? Do you think I could be any whinier?

Weird Questions at the Library

2008-01-28T18:55:00.000-06:00

I'm working tonight and I've had some weird questions so far, only an hour into my shift. Is it a full moon?

Do you have any free coffee? Answer: No -- we don't even have coffee you can pay for. (Answer that makes us all sad, since when this building was being planned, all the library staff argued for a cafe in the library.)
Do you have any peppermints? Answer: No. (Thought to myself, "Why are you asking me this? Is your throat bothering you?")

Apparently our students are hungry and thirsty tonight, or else they are unable to stay awake and they are coughing and need something to calm their throats down.

Books and my own library meme + the Friday Shuffle

2008-01-25T12:13:00.000-06:00

I love this meme which I found on several book blogger sites.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. I have tried to read it but I just can't. I have the worst time with Chabon -- it took me forever to finish Summerland and I was never able to finish The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. So I guess it's not really irrational since I've had bad reading experiences with Chabon before, but still, I just can't read it.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Dream from the Sandman series (he's my fictional crush), Roland from Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and Morgaine from The Mists of Avalon. None of these people would actually get along, I don't think, so the event would probably be hard to plan. I think I'd play it safe and have them all to dinner to discuss each of their worlds. Dream would probably claim he invented all their worlds, so even dinner would be difficult. Maybe I should have Dream over for a separate dinner.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

Herman Melville's Moby Dick or else any Tom Clancy book -- I just don't care about all that shipbuilding and stuff.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?

Moby Dick -- I don't bother to pretend I've read any Tom Clancy. For a long time I pretended I'd read Pride and Prejudice until I actually read it last year.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?

No, that's never happened.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalise the VIP)

Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill -- I guess my fictional VIP is a politician because I think it's important for her to know the dangers of mercenary private armies.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

Spanish -- there are so many Latin American writers, such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose works I'd like to read in the original language.

A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I love Arthurian legend and this book tells the story from the points of view of the women and it does it extremely well.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

Val McDermid -- I'd seen Wire in the Blood on dvd but I'd never read any of her books. Also I discovered Mary Doria Russell -- first with A Thread of Grace and then with The Sparrow and Children of God. Both of these authors were courtesy of Babelbabe.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leather bound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

I don't want it to be too big but there's room for a sofa and a couple of chairs. It's a well-lighted space with windows, high ceilings and good lamps. Underneath the windows are window seats, so I can read by the windows. All the walls that don't have windows have built-in bookshelves and there are steps and walkways that go around each level of book so I won't have to use a ladder to get to books that are up high, since the bookshelves go up to the top of the high ceilings. I'm scared of heights. The books are well read. Some are leather bound, some are paperback -- I'd not include mass market paperbacks in my library though as they are hard for me to read. Many books have been signed by their authors. I'd also, like Superfast Reader, add a touch of magic -- I'd have Dream's library (he of Sandman fame) -- the library of books that haven't been written or were lost -- incorporated into my library.

Friday Shuffle

Cash Grab Complications on the Matter: The White Stripes from Conquest (EP) where they worked with Beck.
Broken Bricks: The White Stripes from The White Stripes -- two in a row!
My Lover's Gone: Dido from No Angel
She Came Along to Me: Billy Bragg and Wilco from Mermaid Avenue
The Lonely One: Wilco from Being There
All I Want is You: Barry Louis Polisar from the Juno soundtrack
Addicted: Kelly Clarkson from Breakaway
I'm Gone: Shawn Colvin from These Four Walls
Magic: Ben Folds Five from The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner
And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going: Jennifer Hudson from the Dreamgirls soundtrack

ALA Midwinter

2008-01-20T15:58:00.000-06:00

I'd never been to ALA's Midwinter conference before, so it was an interesting change of pace from the annual conference. A lot of committee meetings and discussion groups as opposed to panels. The reason I'm really really glad I went though is the Author Forum put on by the Exhibitor's Roundtable. This year the authors were Mary Doria Russell and Geraldine Brooks.

Mary Doria Russell was absolutely fabulous! I've read all of her books and she writes serious books so I wasn't expecting her to be funny. But she was. She made me laugh so many times during her speech that I lost count -- she referred to librarians as "pushers" and carried the joke through her entire speech. And her delivery made it funny. After the forum, the exhibits opened and I went to see if they had any copies of The Sparrow that I could buy and get her to sign. Well, they had advanced reader copies of Dreamers of the Day, her new book! So I got it for free and she signed it. (Bablelbabe, I tried to get you one but they only let you have one and when I went back the next day, figuring they wouldn't remember me, they were all gone.)

Geraldine Brooks was interesting too, just not as funny as MDR. Even though she has written several novels, she still sounds like a journalist. She made her new book, People of the Book, sound really interesting even though I've read it's kind of "blah," so I bought it and had her sign it. No arcs since the book had already been released, but it was half the price I would have paid in a store.

Trip to Philadelphia

2008-01-19T18:17:00.001-06:00

This was the first time I've allowed a couple of extra days to see the city when I've gone to a conference. This was the view outside my hotel room -- City Hall with William Penn on top.

I could walk almost anywhere I needed to go, which was cool, since I can't do that here. You have to have a car to get around where I live.

While also attending the conference, I made time to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

I also went to the Constitution Center but they don't allow you to take pictures there. Being in all these places where our country began was affecting. You realize how much work the founders of our country did and how much they valued the idea of freedom. I found myself so angry at some of our leaders today who have referred to the Constitution as "just a piece of paper" -- it's so much more.

Down the street from my hotel was Love Park and the muncipal hall which was kind of fun -- it has game pieces in front of it -- giant Parcheesi pieces and dominoes and chess pieces.
I loved Philadelphia and wished I could have taken even more time to visit the city.

Philadelphia and Dr. Who

2008-01-07T19:30:00.000-06:00

Not that these two have anything in common that I know of, they are just linked in my thinking right now. I leave for Philadelphia, for the American Library Association's Midwinter conference, on Thursday. Although I'm looking forward to it, as I've never been to Philadelphia, I'm also making myself cold just thinking about it. Cold here is 20 degrees Farenheit -- maybe a little colder, but not much.

Dr Who: I bought series 1-3 of this television show about the last of the Time Lords for my husband for Christmas. Guess who spent all of her Christmas break watching the three seasons? That's right -- I did, accompanied by my daughter. Sometimes we even stayed up really late just to finish a disc. That's how much we enjoyed this series. I watch it on SciFi with my husband and liked it, but I'd missed almost all of series 3. The doctor gets a new companion, Martha, in that season, and I was attached to Rose. Series 3 turned out to be my favorite of all the seasons. Martha is a fitting companion for the Doctor and the story lines were inventive and fun. I liked visiting Shakespeare, and the episodes with the Master (played by John Simm from Life on Mars) were stunning. The visual effects on this series are better than the ones on the older Dr. Who series, but they still aren't great, which just goes to show, stellar writing can overcome mediocre special effects every time.

Stars in My Crown

2007-12-15T09:36:00.000-06:00

Stars in My Crown: Jorma Kaukonen: A solo album by one of the founders of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. This acoustic offering has a lovely sound to it. There's classic gospel, evidenced by a good cover of the title song, mixed with reggae (Kaukonen does a credible version of The Rivers of Babylon), mixed with blues, in the form of Come Back, Baby. Kaukonen even does a version of Johnny Cash's The Man Comes Around, that, while not quite as powerful as Cash's, still does credit to Kaukonen, Cash, and the song. This is an album that I'm glad I bought in its entirety, not song by song, as every song seems to fit together despite the varying genres.

Wilco: They are coming here in March and I have decent tickets, thanks to Poppy! Yay! I would never have known they were coming here if it hadn't been for her -- that's how good the advertising is in our area; an out-of-state resident had to let me know one of my favorite bands was coming to my town.

Friday Shuffle

Hand Me Down: The Wallflowers from Breach -- Jakob Dylan's song about his dad -- at least that's how it sounds to me.
Like a Star: Corinne Bailey Rae from Corinne Bailey Rae
Prairie Fire: Cris Williamson from Prairie Fire
Sister's Coming Home: Emmylou Harris from Blue Kentucky Girl
Hell Hound on My Trail: Cassandra Wilson from Blue Light Till Dawn
Catching On: Son Volt from Trace
Is There Life After Breakfast: Ray Davies from Other People's Lives
In California: Neko Case from Live From Austin, Texas
Dark as a Dungeon: Johnny Cash from Unearthed
Scythian Empires: Andrew Bird from Armchair Apocrypha

Christmas -- trying to get in the mood

2007-12-10T16:29:00.000-06:00

This is from bb and was apparently originally an email -- now it's a meme. Here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags -- they are so much easier and I am lazy.

2. Real tree or artificial? Real -- no one can convince me those sprays smell just like a real Christmas tree doe.

3. When do you put up the tree? After my children, who are no longer small, badger me enough that I can't take it anymore.

4. When do you take the tree down? It always stays up through January 6 -- I don't know why -- I got that tradition from my mom.

5. Do you like eggnog? No, but I've never had the real stuff just the eggnog from the carton.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I'm sure it was a book.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. My mother-in-law gave it to us the first year we were married -- it's absolutely beautiful -- here's my favorite piece from it -- the angel Gabriel.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My son -- I've never known what he wanted.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My daughter -- she makes lists and tells me what she wants all through the year.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I cannot remember anything that fits here.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? I try to mail them but I get later and later with them every year.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Some version of a Christmas Carol -- usually the Patrick Stewart one.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometimes not till Christmas Eve. This year I actually bought my first Christmas present in November - that was a miracle!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Stuffing and this thing my mother-in-law used to make called pretzel salad -- it wasn't a salad -- it had cream cheese and strawberries and used pretzels as crust. She gave me the recipe but it doesn't turn out right when I make it. I think she left something out of the recipe.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored.

17.Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night

18. Travel for Christmas or stay home? Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? No. Donder and Blitzen and Dasher -- that's about it.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? An angel I found in St. Augustine when we were first married and I liked Christmas.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The way stores bring out Christmas stuff in October.

23. What I love most about Christmas? The quiet on Christmas morning.

Beach Getaway

2007-12-01T12:26:00.000-06:00

I'm looking outside at the day, and the weather is perfect for going to the beach -- even if a tad chilly. The irony is that I can't go because, on a Saturday, my husband and our one car are at work. But we went last weekend when it was cold and rainy. Blissfully, it was just me and my husband -- unusual, since I don't think we've been anywhere by ourselves since our son was born. But the boy surprised us and volunteered to stay with the girl (who emphatically did not want to go), so we took ourselves off to the beach for a three day getaway. It was lovely. Our hotel room faced the ocean and had a little kitchenette. It was so peaceful, plus the bonus of having no kids. Here's what the water looked like:

We frequented the local book stores, bought some books, and went out on the beach and read about Blackwater and 9/11 and the Bill of Rights. Even with those topics, we were oddly at peace.

Friday Shuffle -- the late again edition

Steppin' Out: Joe Jackson from Night and Day
In the Garden: Johnny Cash from Unearthed IV: My Mother's Hymnbook
If it Wasn't for the Whiskey: Zac Hacker -- this is from the fifth season of Nashville Star and I got the song from iTunes. It's amazing.
Up to the Mountain: Solomon Burke from Nashville
Anyway the Wind Blows: J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton from The Road to Escondido
Hell Hound on My Trail: Eric Clapton from Me and Mr. Johnson
You Send Me: Sam Cooke from The Man and His Music
Fragile: Sting from The Very Best of Sting and the Police
Shake it Off: Wilco from Sky Blue Sky
Cabin Essence: Brian Wilson from Smile

After 9/11

2007-11-28T19:06:00.001-06:00

The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America by Susan Faludi: In the tv show, Battlestar Galactica, some ominous voice occasionally says, "Everything has happened before, and it will all happen again." In The Terror Dream, Faludi advances the theory that America's response to 9/11 played out the way it did -- reverting to a myth of protective men and dependent women -- because this response had been predetermined when the country had experienced incidents of terror threatening our homes in the past. And she wasn't referring to Pearl Harbor, instead she traces this myth back to Puritan America and the need to protect families from Indian raids. The Terror Dream is well-written and well-argued. I just wish Faludi had spent less time on the Jessica Lynch story and the lies made up to fit this story into the prevailing mythos. I got a little bogged down and a bit bored at the length of this portion of the book. I would have preferred that Faludi had spent time on more important issues that grew out of 9/11 and the Iraq war. For instance, that picture of the woman soldier standing over and torturing Arab men at Abu Ghraib -- how does that stand the myth of "protective man/dependent woman" on its head? Or does it, in fact, play into and reinforce that myth? Instead, Abu Ghraib gets mentioned just in passing while I thought the Jessica Lynch segment would never end. Overall, Faludi's book is well-worth reading for anyone interested in post-9/11 America -- you can skim the Jessica Lynch section.

Point Clear + a Shuffle

2007-11-17T10:54:00.001-06:00

Point Clear by Jennifer Paddock: I picked up this novel because it's set right across the bay from me in an absolutely beautiful town. The main character, Caroline, leaves her two jobs in New York to go to Point Clear and work through the writer's block that's plagued her since she left school. She arrives at the Grand Hotel just in time for Hurricane Ivan, and this is the point where the character just irritated me no end. In spite of a mandatory evacuation and the fact that Ivan is a Category 4 hurricane expected to hit right at Point Clear, Caroline decides to hide in the hotel and ride out the storm. How stupid is that! I realize there would have been no story without this decision, but having to realize that took me out of the story and I found that annoying. I like to be able to suspend disbelief for an entire novel, not be in the story, then thrown out and have to work my way back in. After the hurricane, Caroline has a casual meeting with a man on the beach who has also stayed in Point Clear for the storm. He's preparing to go for a swim in a bay still full of debris from the hurricane -- another stupid decision. They exchange greetings and part. Later, he turns up missing and Caroline was the last person to see him. Her struggle to explain in writing what could have happened to him helps Caroline work through some family problems and her writer's block. It also gives the story some focus. The book was a quick read, it was okay -- I didn't hate it, the writing is pretty decent, but I don't think I'll read this again although I will keep it because I love the cover picturing Middle Bay Lighthouse.

Friday Shuffle

Shadow on the Wall: Brandi Carlile from The Story
Jesus Children of America: Stevie Wonder from Innervisions
Put It On Me: Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals from Lifeline
Photograph: Weezer from Weezer (Green Album)
Your Memory, Me, and the Blues: Delbert McClinton from Cost of Living
Outsiders: Franz Ferdinand from You Could Have It So Much Better
Distant Lover: Marvin Gaye from Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin Gaye
One With the Sun: Shelby Lynne from Identity Crisis (I love this album)
The Gutterati? : The Fratellis from Costello Music
Under the Bridge: Red Hot Chili Peppers from Blood Sugar Sex Magik (this was the song that made me love the Peppers)

Friendly Differences and a shuffle

2007-11-09T07:10:00.000-06:00

I thought this was interesting because sometimes our differences from our friends can be illuminating. This is from Hilda:

Name a CD you own that none of your friends do - I have a weird, eclectic collection but the one cd I own that my friends don't is Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP
Name a book you own that none of your friends do - La Vendee by Anthony Trollope. Not a good Trollope novel but part of my thesis was about it.
Name a movie you own on DVD/VHS/whatever that none of your friends do - Starship Troopers. I recognize that this is a bad movie but I still like it anyway.
Name a tourist attraction in the US that you have visited that none of your friends have - the Vulcan statue in Birmingham, Alabama

Friday Shuffle

Blues Power: Eric Clapton from The Cream of Clapton
Blame it on the Stones: Kris Kristofferson from Kristofferson
I Found My Everything: Mary J. Blige from The Breakthrough
World Without Sound: Roseanne Cash from Black Cadillac
A Change is Gonna Come: Aaron Neville from Bring It On Home
A Song for You: Gram Parsons from G.P./Grievous Angel
Fame Infamy:Fall Out Boy from Infinity on High
Let's Build a Home: The White Stripes from De Stijl
Wolves: Garth Brooks from No Fences
I Trained Her to Love Me: Nick Lowe from At My Age

Michael Chabon and the Friday Shuffle

2007-11-02T14:03:00.001-05:00

I've decided to completely give up on The Yiddish Policemen's Union, especially since I've read several books since in an attempt to avoid it. I always thought I would go back to it, so I haven't returned it to the library. I think today I'll do that. I may pick it up again some day but today is not that day.

It's a beautiful day -- sun all shining and not too cold. We are going to the beach tonight and will be gone all weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. I don't sleep well and my sleep is never restful. We learned once, when we were at the beach, that I do sleep restfully there -- especially when we have an ocean view room.

Friday Shuffle

Colorado Dustbowl Days: Cris Williamson from Prairie Fire
Gentle on My Mind: Johnny Cash with Glen Campbell from Unearthed III
Good Woman Down: Mary J. Blige from The Breakthrough
Ain't That Good News: Sam Cooke from The Man and His Music
Cigarettes: The Wreckers from Stand Still, Look Pretty
Lost & Found: Adrienne Pierce from the Veronica Mars soundtrack
Plain Ole Miner Boy: Rita McNeil and the Men of the Deeps from Mining the Soul
The Dark of the Matinee: Franz Ferdinand from Franz Ferdinand
He's Mine: The Platters from Enchanted: the Best of the Platters
Why Don't You Come Over: Garbage from Bleed Like Me

Text messaging and the Library

2007-10-31T20:28:00.000-05:00

I will usually admit that I don't find much use for texting -- it always seems to be too much work. But on Halloween night, I just had the easiest reference question in the world. A guy came in looking for a book and didn't know much about it. While I was talking to him, he got a text message from a friend with all the information he needed, and we found the book right away.

Fairytales and Lost Things

2007-10-22T12:28:00.001-05:00

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly: I love fairytales partly because they tell us universal truths about life and partly because they are fun. And I loved this book for both reasons. It's the story of a 12-year-old boy, David, whose mother dies, and who consequently immerses himself in books. He can hear the books in his room whispering to him, telling their stories in low voices. When his father remarries and has another child, the story takes a turn that is reminescent of the movie, The Labyrinth. David is thrust into another realm where the fairytales and adventure stories are real, only they don't turn out the way either David or the book's reader expects them to. The character of the Crooked Man, who has been shadowing David since before his mother died, is genuinely creepy; it took me awhile to actually identify him with his associated fairytale -- he's much scarier here. David's journey through this new realm, to find the king and the book of lost things, is a typical quest tale and reminded me of one of my favorite Stephen King novels, The Talisman. David, like Jack Sawyer, has to find the strength within himself to survive in this new land, to protect his family, and to return home. One of the really nice things about this copy of The Book of Lost Things is that the fairytales are included in the back of the book as well as notes from the author, so if you don't remember the story, you can read it again.

Christmas

2007-10-21T13:23:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know -- it's way too early for Christmas, but Marsha gave me this award:

I have a hard time getting in the spirit of Christmas -- it's worse for me every year and I feel grouchier every year -- so it touches me that Marsha feels I'm kind to her. I hope that I am but with me you never know. In the spirit of this award, I'd like to pass it on to Hilda, Sari (with good wishes for her new baby), and Lazy Cow. Sari and Lazy Cow make me think about mothering, with their posts about their children that are always written with such love and kindness. Hilda makes me think about the world with her passionate writing about how important it is that we pay attention to what's going on in our wider, global community.

To pick up your award go to Santa's Community Blog: The Spirit of Christmas Award

The award is given to bloggers who have the spirit of Christmas, that is to say that they show kindness toward others. If you know of a blogger who has this type of spirit, why not stop on by Santa's blog and pick up this award and pass it on to one of your blogging buddies.

Types of Readers

2007-10-17T20:00:00.000-05:00

Superfast Reader had this on her site and I liked it. This is the type of reader I am. How about you?

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Jane Austen -- sort of

2007-10-13T15:10:00.000-05:00

I'm having a hard time with The Yiddish Policeman's Union, so I gave up for awhile (in fact I may give up on Michael Chabon altogether) and read Faye Kellerman's The Burnt House and Karen Joy Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club. Kellerman's was typical Kellerman -- a fast read -- but more boring than usual and full of improbable coincidences and a Rina Lazarus who's even more insufferably good than usual ; that's all I'm going to say about that book.

The Jane Austen Book Club: Karen Joy Fowler. The reviews of this book have been really good and I liked the idea of a book club devoted to one author, so I picked this one up. I didn't hate it but I wasn't as enamored of it as the reviewers were. Five women and one man start a book club where all they read is Jane Austen novels. I liked the discussion of the different Austen books and the way in which Fowler segues those discussions into reflections on the characters' lives -- I've seen this done much less skillfully before in Elizabeth Noble's The Reading Group. The characters' personal lives fit Fowler's thesis, stated in the prologue, that "Each of us has a private Austen." Jocelyn is so much like Emma it's a wonder that she herself doesn't remark on it. What I didn't like was the sheer number of characters -- some of them, such as Prudie, seem completely unnecessary to the plot and Fowler spends far too much time dwelling on Prudie's new sexual awareness without doing anything with it. Some characters such as Prudie's husband, whatishisname, are thinly drawn. Other characters, such as Bernadette, are a distraction from the main story, which is really about Allegra, Jocelyn, Sylvia, Daniel and Grigg.

Friday Shuffle -- the late edition

I'm Not Bitter: Minus 5 from Down With Wilco
Bloodletting (The Vampire Song): Concrete Blonde from Bloodletting
I Never: Rilo Kiley from More Adventurous
Me and Baby Jane: Leon Russell from Carney
The Right Place: Taylor Hicks from Taylor Hicks
Promises: Eric Clapton from The Cream of Clapton
Change: Tracy Chapman from Where You Live
Meadowlake Street: Ryan Adams and the Cardinals from Cold Roses
Salala: Angelique Kidjo featuring Peter Gabriel from Djin Djin
Vapour Trail: Aqualung from Memory Man

Lot of books

2007-10-09T15:37:00.000-05:00

From Lazy Cow. Another meme I can't help but do. I discovered that I didn't hate anything I read. * I had to edit this because I just noticed The Catcher in the Rye which I do hate.

These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users, as of I don't know what day -- the original said "today" but I got this a week or so ago. As usual, bold what you have read, italicise that you started but couldn’t finish, and strike through what you couldn’t stand. Add an asterisk* to those you’ve read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude *
Wuthering Heights *
The Silmarillion (I'm pretty sure I would've hated this if I'd finished it.)
Life of Pi: a novel
The name of the rose: I'm pretty sure I'll be going back to this one though.
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre *
A Tale of Two Cities *
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife: again, another one I'll probably be going back to.
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway: I've started this several times; eventually I have to finish it.
Great Expectations *
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave new world
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s pendulum
Middlemarch: This is a "guilt" book that I know I'll eventually finish
Frankenstein *
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula *
A clockwork orange *
The once and future king *
The grapes of wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & demons
The inferno
The satanic verses
Sense and sensibility
The picture of Dorian Gray *
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist *
Gulliver’s travels
Les misérables
The corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The prince
The sound and the fury
Angela’s ashes : a memoir
The god of small things
A people’s history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners *
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The mists of Avalon *
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
~~The Catcher in the Rye~~
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an Inquiry into Values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield*
The three musketeers

Burning Down the House

2007-10-06T11:49:00.000-05:00

An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England: Brock Clarke: I bought this because of the title -- you know that, right? I'm of two minds about this book. I expected it to be a lot funnier than it was, but on the other hand, it was still funny -- just in a different way than I expected. The main character, Sam Pulsifer, is released from prison, where he's been because he "accidentally" burned down Emily Dickinson's house and killed two people he didn't know were in the house. After his release there is a series of arsons involving other writers' homes. Of course, Sam is the main suspect, and he bumblingly attempts to prove his innocence. The story is well told but Sam is too passive a character for me; he is also a completely unreliable narrator. I was disappointed when Clarke reveals the arsonist -- I just didn't see the motive, or if it's there, it's completely trite. But then again, I was satisified with the ending of the novel; it was completely in character and made sense within the structure of the novel.

Book Meme

I got this from Hilda, and it's about books -- I couldn't help myself.

Hardcover or paperback, and why? Depends on the book -- if I know I'm going to keep it, I want hardcover, but if I think I'm just going to give it away eventually paperback is fine because it fits in my purse and I need a purse book.

If I were to own a book shop I would call it: I can't think of anything -- I'm not that imaginitive -- my favorite bookstore name has already been taken -- The Dusty Bookshelf.

My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is: Currently, it is this from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

The author (alive or dead) I would love to have lunch with would be: I have to agree with Hilda on this one -- Harper Lee

If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except from the SAS survival guide, it would be: Maybe Robinson Crusoe -- it might help me survive on the island.

I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that: backlights my book but isn't an e-book reader and never runs out of batteries (that part's wishful thinking.)
The smell of an old book reminds me of - The Dusty Bookshelf in Manhattan, KS, my favorite bookstore ever.

If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be: Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird.

The most over-rated book of all times is: I actually have two: Moby Dick -- I have never been able to finish that book -- I just do not care about all that shipbuilding stuff. Number 2 is The Catcher in the Rye; I just find Holden Caulfield to be annoying, sniveling and whiney.

The Actual Concert

2007-09-30T09:06:00.000-05:00

I can't be as detailed as Poppy was about Wilco because my memory isn't as good and my powers of description are much poorer, but Emmylou was wonderful. She had no opening act -- that's the first time I've seen that. When she started (exactly on time), she sang for two straight hours without a break. We were so close that I could actually see her -- only about 10 rows back -- it's hard to believe that woman is 60. She did old and new songs, including one of my favorites from the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack -- Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby. On the album, she sings it with Gillian Welch and Alison Kraus; here she did it with the members of her band and it was just as affecting. I was struck more than ever by how she enjoys collaboration. Often on her albums, she sing duets or she'll be the backup for artists like Neil Young or Warren Zevon. Here, it wasn't as if her band was a backup band, it was more like they were her partners. She only did one song without them.

The Audience

Because audiences are so terrible here, I usually have to describe them separately. This time the audience was relatively well-behaved. The perpetually late people missed several songs, since Emmylou started exactly at 8:00. Once someone yelled out, "Welcome home!" but that was forgivable since Emmylou Harris is from Alabama. The only annoying thing was someone in the front kept yelling out, "Gram Parsons!" Emmylou handled that well; she just said, "Gram Parsons. Yes." She did start out singing with him, and many of her albums contain his songs, but geez! Parsons died in 1973; she's been doing her own music for more than 30 years. She's practically a country music icon; I think she's entitled to do a concert without doing a Gram Parsons' song.

Emmylou Harris

2007-09-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

Tonight I'm braving the horrible audiences of this city to see Emmylou Harris. I've loved her music for a long time but I've never seen her -- I can't wait. As soon as tickets went on sale, I snapped up two of them. In honor of the concert, an all Emmylou shuffle:

Michelangelo: Red Dirt Girl
Sorrow in the Wind: Blue Kentucky Girl
So You Think You're a Cowboy: Honeysuckle Rose
Love Hurts (with Gram Parsons): G.P/Grevious Angel
Pancho and Lefty (with Rodney Crowell): Luxury Liner
Satan's Jewel Crown: Elite Hotel
Calling My Children Home: Spyboy
Wayfaring Stranger: Roses in the Snow (yay! I love this song by almost everyone who sings it.
Loving the Highwayman (with Linda Rondstadt): Western Wall
If I Needed You (with Don Williams): Cimmaron

Where's the Music?

2007-09-24T05:13:00.000-05:00

The last album I bought was the remastered version of John Lennon's Imagine -- an album that I find still holds up after all these years. But where's the new stuff? In May and June, there was a whole flurry of music I bought or wanted to buy -- the new Wilco, the new White Stripes, the new Angelique Kidjo. Now there's nothing. I haven't bought anything new since Icky Thump, which was released in June. I know that coming up on the horizon are the new Melissa Etheridge, the new Annie Lennox, the new Jill Scott and the new Meshell Ndegeocello, but this has been a long dry spell with no new music I've been interested in. That's all the whining for today.

"... a single man in possession of a good fortune,

2007-09-20T19:58:00.000-05:00

. . . must be in want of a wife." My God, y'all! Why didn't someone tell me Jane Austen was hysterically funny?! I'd read Northanger Abbey and thought it was hysterical, but I also thought that was an aberration. I've always said that I prefer to get my Austen from the movies. I was so wrong. Pride and Prejudice is the funniest book I've read in a long time. I've started it many times before in years past but must have been humor-impaired. Not only is Elizabeth Bennett an intelligent heroine but she has a dry wit and a sense of sarcasm that gels with my own and makes me laugh. She is also (for a character written in the 1700s) a woman I'm able to empathize with and relate to.

My Color Green

You Are Emerald Green

Deep and mysterious, it often seems like no one truly gets you.
Inside, you are very emotional and moody - though you don't let it show.
People usually have a strong reaction to you... profound love or deep hate.
But you can even get those who hate you to come around. There's something naturally harmonious about you.

What Color Green Are You?

A Break

2007-09-05T19:05:00.000-05:00

Since it's painfully obvious that I've been taking a blogging break because I have nothing to say, I thought I would just announce it so you would know for sure that's what I'm doing. I'm still reading but inexplicably find myself with nothing to say about anything -- either about what I'm reading or about what's going on in my life. And it's really sad that I've written a relatively long post about the fact that I have nothing to say. Hopefully, I'll be back soon.

Heir to the Glimmering World and a book meme

2007-08-21T02:34:00.000-05:00

Heir to the Glimmering World by Cynthia Ozick: I bought this book because of that wonderful title; unfortunately there is nothing that glimmers in this novel. Rose's story of growing up unattached and in a precarious position is interesting enough. That she finds her way to a house of equally unattached people, the Mitwissers -- fugitives from Nazi Germany -- as a research assistant, nanny to the children, and caretaker to the "madwoman in the attic" reminds me very much of Jane Eyre. But Rose is a frustrating heroine for me; she's so passive. When she gets to the house and finds out she has no salary at all, she still stays even though she has money to leave. When someone, who has no right to do so, demands that money of her, she gives it away. When her cousin Bertram shows up at the Mitwisser household, she allows him to come in and eventually usurp anything that makes her useful in that place. Ozick's writing is good and kept me reading the book, but for a novel that revolves around character to have its central character be nothing but a backdrop -- that was too much for me.

Book Meme

I got this meme from Amanda at A Patchwork of Books.

What are you reading right now? I just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and am now reading Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper -- it looks to be the first book in The Dark is Rising series.

Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that? Next I will read either The Last Witchfinder or Children of God (which is the sequel to The Sparrow).

What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read? I have never ever been able to make it through chapter 1 of either Moby Dick or Ulyssess.

What's the one book you always recommend to just about anyone? The Sparrow. This book was recommended to me by babelbabe and I love it. Also Anne Fadiman's essays from Ex-Libris and from At Large and At Small.

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they? Of course. But then again I work there.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all? I'm always afraid to recommend books in case this happens. So mostly I don't unless I know the person's taste is pretty similar to mine.

Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? I read everywhere.

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits? I read a lot of biographies when I was a kid; other kids always preceded my first name with "Biography."

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down? The Book Thief .

The Night

2007-08-11T13:55:00.000-05:00

". . . it is curious," says Cyril Connolly, as quoted by Anne Fadiman (thanks again Nutmeg for introducing me to her -- I love essays and hers are excellent) in At Large and at Small, "that although I do not despise people who go to bed earlier than I, almost everyone is impatient with me for not getting up." I've been a night owl all my life and have always found this to be true. I'm married to a lark -- that man wakes up naturally at 5:00am and is ready to go for the day. What kind of person wakes up at 5:00am without 3 alarm clocks? What can possibly be natural about that? I have to arrange my life around a mostly 8-5 job; the only day that truly feels productive is my one evening shift a week. If our library were open 24 hours, as some libraries are, I'd volunteer for night work. I'd be the one lonely vampire librarian, however. Everyone else feels as if they are missing out on the day if they aren't up early. But my ability to think clearly and focus on a problem gets better the later the hour. My little night owl daughter and I have even been known to take nocturnal strolls around our neighborhood, looking at the moon and the stars. This weekend, I'm by myself so I can indulge my night owl persona by staying up as late as I want without someone saying to me (as happens every night), "It's late. Are you coming to bed soon?" Freedom!

Friday Shuffle

Sky Blue Sky: Wilco from Sky Blue Sky
Enough Cryin: Mary J. Blige from The Breakthrough
Metal Heart: Garbage from Bleed Like Me
Get Over It: The Eagles from The Complete Greatest Hits
In and Out of Love: Bon Jovi from Cross Road
Matrimony: Whiskeytown from Faithless Street
Is There Life After Breakfast?: Ray Davies from Other People's Lives
Liza: Joan Armatrading from Into the Blues
Satan Gave Me A Taco: Beck from Stereopathetic Soul Manure
Can't Wait: Bob Dylan from Time Out of Mind

Books on Books and a late Friday Shuffle

2007-08-05T17:07:00.000-05:00

I seem to be reading a lot of books about books this year, from Anne Fadiman's Ex-Libris (thanks Nutmeg) to Maureen Corrigan's Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading to Sara Nelson's So Many Books, So Little Time to Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping vs. the Dirt. I've even just ordered The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop (isn't that a great title?) by Lewis Buzbee and bought The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. I think this qualifies as an obsession and I need to back off the books about books for awhile. Even some of my fiction choices, such as The Thirteenth Tale, Shadow of the Wind, and The Book of Air and Shadows, have books as a major plot point.

A review of a book that's not about books:

Kabul Beauty School: Deborah Rodriguez: The story of Rodriguez's move to Afghanistan to help establish a school to train hairdressers is compelling. Once you get into it, it reads almost as easily as a novel. I was, however, troubled by her attitude toward the Afghan people. She says she loves them, but it seems as if she holds herself a little bit above the Afghans. They all call her "Miss Debbie," while she calls them all by their first names. She is often very unaware of Afghan culture -- wanting to dance in celebration with some of the women in front of men. She often refers to her students as "kids" even though it's clear they are not children. While I enjoyed the book, this attitude was a distraction for me. Rodriguez's decision to marry an Afghan man is presented in an almost off-handed manner. Although it may not be true, her book leaves the impression that she married this man, whose language she could not even speak nor could he speak English, on a whim -- without thought -- or as a way to stay in Afghanistan without incurring problems. Recently an NPR story reported that this book has actually put Rodriguez's students and their families in danger, making moot any sense that Deborah Rodriguez might have done some good in Afghanistan.

Friday Shuffle

Portions for Foxes: Rilo Kiley from More Adventurous
Werewolves of London: Warren Zevon from Excitable Boy
In California: Neko Case from Live From Austin, Tx
Orphan Girl: Emmylou Harris with Daryl Johnson from Heartaches and Highways
That Teenage Feeling: Neko Case from Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Your Memory, Me, and The Blues: Delbert McClinton from Cost of Living
Child is Father of the Man: Brian Wilson from Smile
When My Love Crosses Over: John Hiatt from Master of Disaster
Everyday is Like Sunday: Morrissey from Viva Hate
Lose Control: Evanescence from The Open Door

Public Transportation

2007-08-01T04:48:00.000-05:00

Why can't every town have good public transportation? When I was in Washington, D.C., I took the Metro everywhere that I couldn't walk. I loved it and the feeling of freedom it gave me; the not having to depend on anyone to get anywhere. That independence was also what I loved about the car my sister gave me last year. We'd been a one car family up until that point as we really couldn't afford two car payments.

Last weekend, I was in an accident -- I'm fine but the car was totaled. We will not be getting enough money to get a new car and I'm just sick at the thought of going back to being a one car family. This town does not have decent public transportation, and my daughter's school is near my husband's work, so he is the one who will always have the car. He acts like it's not a big deal but he's not the one who's losing his independence. Nor does he understand the importance of that independence -- he got his license at 16 like most people. I could not do the same -- I didn't get mine until I was 31. Some places I lived had good bus systems, so it wasn't a problem but most places did not and I was stuck. I had to depend on my husband to take me everywhere I wanted to go. When I would say something about hating this, he would say, "Ask me anytime and I'll take you." But every time I asked he said, "I don't feel like it right now. Can we do that later?" With good public transportation, it wouldn't matter what he felt like. I can, of course, always take the car myself when I need to go somewhere if it's not during the day. I hate this.

Harry Potter

2007-07-26T19:29:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to say much about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows except to mention that I enjoyed it. Anything else would give too much of the plot away. I think that of all the Harry Potter books, this one is my favorite, and J. K. Rowling wrapped the series up in quite an acceptable way.

The week it came out, I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Given that OotP is my least favorite Harry Potter book, I expected to dislike the movie as much as I'd disliked the book. Surprisingly, I didn't. I guess because they shortened the movie so much, they had to leave out all the things that made the book tedious for me. It still wasn't my favorite Harry Potter movie -- that's a tie between The Prisoner of Azkhaban and The Goblet of Fire -- but it wasn't bad.

The Book

2007-07-18T19:24:00.000-05:00

Good thing I liked the book because apparently this is me. I changed one answer to one question and became another Garcia Marquez novel -- Love in the Time of Cholera. So no matter what I say I'm Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

You're One Hundred Years of Solitude!
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Lonely and struggling, you've been around for a very long time.
Conflict has filled most of your life and torn apart nearly everyone you know. Yet there
is something majestic and even epic about your presence in the world. You love life all
the more for having seen its decimation. After all, it takes a village.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Friday Shuffle -- the back home edition

2007-07-13T11:28:00.000-05:00

After a ten hour drive, I'm back home -- I arrived last night. I enjoyed visiting my friends and my family but frankly I'm glad to be back home where I don't have to worry about conforming to other peoples' standards of housekeeping or living. After awhile that gets just plain tiring. I did read while I was gone despite the fact that my sidebar says I'm reading nothing:

The Tenth Circle: Jodi Picoult: I read this because it was a quick read. I'd not liked an earlier book, My Sister's Keeper, not so much because of the story but because of the ending -- I thought it was a cop out. But since so many people like her, I thought I'd give her another chance. Picoult tells a decent story and that's what saves her in The Tenth Circle. I liked this book but it was crammed with tragedies -- I thought she'd have been better off focusing on one thing with maybe one subplot included. Not only is our main character, Trixie, raped, but her boyfriend commits suicide (maybe), her mother has an affair, her father is accused of murder, then Trixie herself is accused of the same murder so she runs away, making herself look guilty. And it's all wrapped up in a little allegorical package using Dante's Inferno, too heavily for my tastes. Trixie's mother is a Dante professor at a nearby college and we are treated to some of her interpretations of The Inferno. Trixie's father is a comic book artist and while I liked the inclusion of his comic art as breaks in this novel, the story, of course, was a retelling of The Inferno and it paralleled our heroine's journey from innocent little girl to someone who has a better comprehension of how the world works. I did find myself disturbed by some aspects of this novel. Trixie is 14 and she goes to parties where having sex, or at least oral sex, is expected of girls. She's only 14! I'm not positive I knew a whole lot about sex at 14. Because of these parties, whether or not Trixie was actually raped is a question. I liked this book but I wouldn't read it again.

Friday Shuffle

Coconut Skins: Damien Rice from 9
Put Your Records On (Acoustic version): Corrine Bailey Rae from Corrine Bailey Rae
Anytime: Robert Cray from Shoulda Been Home
You Can't Make Love: Don Henley from Building the Perfect Beast
Get Him Back: Fiona Apple from Extraordinary Machine
It Beats 4 U: My Morning Jacket from Z
Lived in Bars: Cat Power from The Greatest
Zombieland: T Bone Burnett from The True False Identity
Another Perl: Badly Drawn Boy from Hour of the Bewilderbeast
Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair: Nina Simone from Verve Jazz Masters 17

Out of Town

2007-07-10T10:43:00.000-05:00

I'm out of town visiting my sister right now. My daughter usually comes and stays with her aunt for about four weeks during the summer. I've brought her up here and am staying for a few days. This is the first chance I've got to write anything. I'm having a good time visiting family and swimming.

I met four of my college friends up here as well. We visited for the weekend. I hadn't seen some of them since we graduated from college but we'd kept in touch via email so we had some clue about each others' lives. It was so nice to actually see them again though.

Rockin' and Blogging

2007-06-30T12:21:00.000-05:00

Hilda at The Mind Wobbles tagged me with a Rockin' Girl Blogger award and gave me a badge and everything. Here it is:

I feel honored because I hardly think of myself as "rockin'" -- more like boring. Anyway, I'm very late getting to this (Hilda bestowed this upon me on June 22), but the rules are: "If you get tagged, grab the pretty badge up top (because you deserve it!) and then list five women bloggers who are TOTALLY ROCKIN’."

Like Hilda, I have a lot more than five and I tried not to include people who'd already been tagged, but here's my list:

Babelbabe: She keeps me entertained with stories of her boys, she makes me think about issues such as voting and buying foods locally by the passion she displays about these subjects, and she always has a new book for me to read -- most often something I wouldn't have thought of before.
Nutmeg: She and Babelbabe are similar in the their rockingness -- Nutmeg's stories of her girls and of life in Australia keep me interested -- she's an excellent writer. Her reviews of books keep my tbr pile filled with new books.
Lesley at Lesley's Book Nook: Her reviews of books are thoughtful and interesting. I read Cormac McCarthy's The Road because of her review and I'm glad I did.
Vampire Librarian: Her tales of her work in Library X usually have me laughing out lot. And who else but VL would post a youtube video, The Adventures of Jack Sparrow: Part 1: The Library?
Jess at Garish and Tweed: She takes wonderful pictures of the area where she lives and the food she bakes. She also tells interesting tales of library school and writes reviews of books that make me want to read them. I'd never heard of Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now until Jess reviewed it. I read it and was glad that I had -- I gave it to my daughter to read.
Christina at Exena-Vision: I know that's more than five, but she's got the greatest taste in music -- I couldn't leave her out -- I look forward to her Friday Shuffles every week.

Sightseeing, ALA, and the Friday Shuffle

2007-06-29T18:48:00.000-05:00

I got back from Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Alabama is hot, but D.C. was hotter. It's been a long time since I've done that much walking -- my shin splints and blisters have their own shin splints and blisters. ALA was its usual conferency self except I think the exhibit area was bigger than I've ever seen it. I walked through the exhibits for several hours and never visited every booth -- I didn't even get to see all the vendors I wanted to see. I did get a free advance reader copy that I can't wait to read -- The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman. I also got tons of crap that I didn't really need.

I took an extra day just to see some of the sights since I'd never been to D.C. My two favorites were:

The United States Holocaust Museum: I had second thoughts about going here since I knew it would be hard on me, but it's worth the visit. We saw the permanent exhibit and an exhibit about a book called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion -- a fraud known to be published and distributed by the Russian secret police about the conspiracy of the Jews to take over the world. It was interesting but didn't show me anything I didn't know -- what it was good at was emphasizing how often this thing has been proven to be a fraud but people still find ways to use it to justify antisemitism.

The permanent exhibit is arranged by floors -- each floor with a theme. You begin the tour on the fourth floor with the rise of the National Socialist Party and Hitler's appointment to Chancellor. The third floor contains artifacts and films dealing with the Final Solution. It was here I had my worst moments. At one point, to continue the exhibit, you have to walk under a sign reading "Arbeit Macht Frei" -- "Work makes you free" -- the sign over Auschwitz. I found myself unwilling to go under the same sign (actually a casting) under which so many people passed to their deaths. I thought I'd be able to get around it on the sides but that wasn't possible, so eventually I was forced to walk under that gate to get to the 2nd floor and the end of the war and the liberation of the camps.

The Vietnam Memorial: What's impressive here is the sheer number of names on the wall. You look at those names and think of all the individuals who died for a purposeless war and can't help think about how it's happening again.

Friday Shuffle

All Jacked Up: Gretchen Wilson from All Jacked Up
From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea) : The Decemberists from Picaresque
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting: Elton John from Greatest Hits
Maybe Sparrow: Neko Case from Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Broken Drum (Boards of Canada remix): Beck from Guero
Orange Crush: R.E.M. from In Time
Maria Maria: Santana featuring the Project G & B from Supernatural
Untitled: Shelby Lynne from Suit Yourself (this song is actually Rainy Night in Georgia; I don't know why they call it Untitled.)
Where Did My Baby Go?: John Legend from Once Again
Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down: Uncle Tupelo from March 16-20, 1992

An Arrest and a Meme

2007-06-20T19:11:00.000-05:00

My husband works with this man who was arrested for making terrorist threats to employees of a local tv station, and he sent them from the library where I work! D says he was always a nice and quiet guy; I guess it really is true -- it's always the nice and quiet ones you have to watch out for. See the MSNBC story.

Nutmeg tagged me for this one word meme. This is going to be hard for me as I can be wordy.

1. Where is your mobile phone? purse
2. Relationship? better
3. Your hair? messy
4. Work? non-stop
5. Your sister(s)? younger
6. Your favourite thing? music
7. Your dream last night? concert
8. Your favourite drink? tea
9. Your dream car? efficient
10. The room you're in? reference
11. Your shoes? sandals
12. Your fears? unnecessary
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? fitter
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? family
15. What are you not good at? singing
16. Muffin? orange-cranberry
17. Wish list item? imagination
18. Where you grew up? Army
19. The last thing you did? emailed
20. What are you wearing? red
21. What are you not wearing? dress
22. Your pet? cat
23. Your computer? built
24. Your life? okay
25. Your mood? blah
26. Missing? watch
27. What are you thinking about? songs
28. Your car? gift
29. Your kitchen? pink
30. Your summer? rainy
31. Your favourite colour? green
32. Last time you laughed? yesterday
33. Last time you cried? month
34. School? enjoyable
35. Love? indispensable

I have to explain number 7 -- the dream. I dreamt I met Jack White of the White Stripes (they are going to be in this state next month) and he gave me four tickets to the concert in Birmingham.

Washington, D.C. and the Friday Shuffle

2007-06-15T17:35:00.000-05:00

Today, 1000 yards! I promise I'll quit that -- I'm just not used to it yet. I'm going to Washington, D.C. for the American Library Association conference at the end of June. I'm pretty excited about this because I've never been to D.C. I know I should've taken my kids there, but I never did. I'm taking an extra day since I'd like to see some things while I'm there. My plans are to see the Vietnam Memorial -- I remember the controversy when it was built, how everyone thought it wasn't a proper memorial. Now it seems that if someone is going to cry at a memorial, it's that one. I'm going to see the Library of Congress as well and the Smithsonian. I know there are other things I should see but I only have one day.

Friday Shuffle

Everybody's Wrong: Buffalo Springfield from Buffalo Springfield
Optimistic: Radiohead from Kid A
9 Crimes: Damien Rice from 9
Next Exit: Interpol from Antics
Anytime: My Morning Jacket from Z
The Forecast (Calls for Pain): Robert Cray from Midnight Stroll
Muddy Water: Madeleine Peyroux from Dreamland (it's been a long time since she's showed up on a shuffle.)
God Bless the Child: Blood, Sweat and Tears from Greatest Hits
Meadowlake Street: Ryan Adams and the Cardinals from Cold Roses
Fine and Mellow: Billie Holiday from Golden Legends

When we’re in the water, we’re not in this world -- Gertrude Ederle -- U.S. Swimmer

2007-06-13T19:36:00.000-05:00

Guess what I did today for the first time is over a year? That's right -- I jumped in something that looked very similar to this:

I'd forgotten how much I missed the water -- the way being immersed in it makes me feel. Since it's been over a year and I am extremely out of shape, I wasn't expecting much. Imagine my surprise to discover that I'd swum 700 yards by the end of my swim! I hope I'm not hurting tomorrow but even if I am, it'll be worth it. It's been several hours -- I went right before lunch and it's now evening -- and I still have that swimmer's high. I missed that too.

Two Things in Common

2007-06-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

The two books I just finished have two things in common: maternal sacrifice and the fact that I could predict most of the events; however, the feelings I had after finishing each book couldn't be farther apart.

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble: I was looking for something light, plus the structure of this novel appealed to me. The chapters are based on a book the group is reading during a particular month. I also liked the books they chose (Ian McEwan's Atonement, Willa Cather's My Antonia, and Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca are a few.) The women begin talking about the books, but their discussions always devolve into stories about their lives. I think you're supposed to be able to thematically tie what happens in each woman's life to the book of the month, but the links are too tenuous. For me, the characters felt flat -- I had a hard time distinguishing one from the other, and they all could be easily labeled -- Clare, the infertile one; Nicole, the woman who stays with a cheating husband; Harriet, the one who doesn't realize what she has; and Polly, the one who finds joy in sacrificing her life for her child. Plus, I think there are more women but I can't remember who they are. Blah.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini: This seems like simply the tale of two women who learn to love each other and value their friendship over the course of several years, but it's so much more than that. It's the history of Afghanistan from Soviet rule to the Taliban to the present. It's also a commentary on the state of marriage in Afghanistan -- what men could do to women inside the bounds of marriage and never be held accountable for. And last, it's a book about the necessity of having a purpose in life. Hosseini's writing style is clear, concise and just lovely in this novel. The story is told in several parts -- first is Mariam's story. She is the illegitimate daughter of a rich man and is forced into marriage when her mother dies. Second is Leila, the daughter of progressive parents, who is forced into marriage with Mariam's husband when her parents are killed. The third part is their life together. Like The Reading Group, maternal sacrifice is a consideration but I didn't think in my head, "Oh, honestly!" when it becomes an issue. It tops my list of favorite books ever read, let alone, favorite book of the year.