GoodReads

I recently closed my account on a professional social networking site and viciously "unfriended" nearly fifty people on on another site. I guess I was feeling a bit over extended, but it had also occurred to me that I wasn't gaining anything from being thusly connected and many of my online "friends" were people who I hadn't seen in years, let alone spoken to or engaged with in 2011 (or 2010 for that matter). I think this may have been a nice gesture to make to myself as the year closed.

On the other hand, I have opened an account with the virtual Pandora's box that is GoodReads. I don't need another social networking outlet, and I certainly don't need another virtual time-sucking tool, (I suspect you don't either) but this one is a gem...

GoodReads is a space for readers to catalog the books they've read, books they want to read, and explore books the website suggests based on how readers rated the books they've already read. Readers can organize books on virtual shelves and create their own library. GoodReads also provides statistics on how many books and pages you've read each year if you input the dates you finish each book. Probably not the most important research, but I thought it was interesting to see my progress.

Further exploration allows readers to connect with fellow bibliophiles, recommend books to one another, and comment on each other's books and reviews. I can't tell you how much time I've spent reading one-star reviews of books that garner nothing but five stars from other readers. The blind hatred alone is priceless.

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I hope that as the year draws to a close you find yourself in a peaceful and pleasant place. I will be with dear friends as the clock chimes midnight, and will be in bed a half hour later :) I also hope that our readers look forward to 2012 and the books they'll read. I'm excited to explore books with the Riverview Book Club for another year and share what I find here with you, our fellow promiscuous readers.

Happy New Year!

In Favor of Children's Literature

I was surprised when I learned that it wasn't until the Harry Potter series began that the New York Times didn't have a bestseller's list for children's books. I don't remember when or how I heard this, it could be totally untrue, but it began for me a renewed appreciation for books written for people in primary and secondary schools. I hadn't felt such an affinity for Dr Seuss, the American Girl books, Betsy-Tacy, or the Boxcar Children since I was in junior high.

In the last ten years or so, I have focused energy on appreciating and understanding the value behind children's literature, be it chew-able, non-toxic, un-rippable books for my infant niece to gum up, picture books about train engines overcoming steep mountains, chapter books about little girls caught up in our nation's history, or young adult books full of angst, I really treasure them all. I am particularly fond of books written by Patricia McLachlan, Scott O'Dell, and Ann Rinaldi, as well as so many in the pantheon of children's picture books.

I recently learned about a book club through NPR designed for families with children: the Backseat Book Club. I've only just jumped on board, but thus far the books look lovely. In November, the chosen book was Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth and I read it over Christmas weekend. It was a sweet story, with a very simple plot about a boy rescuing a pair of princesses. The value in the book lay in the wordplay and nonsense. I liken it to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland but with a plot and at least some direction. In the end, I enjoyed it much more than the Alice books.

I've been on the list to receive the December book: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu for weeks, so I hope to be next on the cue soon. I'd like to encourage readers to take time each month for a favorite book from their childhood and savor the story why you loved it then. Some will disappoint and some will be just delicious for your soul. Either way, it is good to stay connected to what our community's children are reading and what made reading so exciting for you in the first place.

You can also check out the various lists at libraries and bookstores of books for this sort of child or that. The New York Times does have a couple bestseller lists for children's literature. Whether they are recently started or not I cannot really say. But I'm so glad they do.

2012 Reader Challenge

Every December, as New Year's Eve approaches, I find myself thinking about resolutions. I'm pretty happy with my lifestyle and can't really think of anything that I need to change so much that I should make a ceremony out of proclamations and promises in the dead of winter. Also, so many resolutions that people choose just aren't any fun.

This week I've been looking at my stacks of unread books and it occurred to me that some of them are pretty hefty. I can handle hefty, and I love a good history book, but I also love beautiful stories and between what I pick up and what book club chooses, I don't end up with a lot of time for tomes.

So! I've decided to challenge myself in 2012 with something that I hope to find enjoyable, informative, and satisfying:

In 2012, I would like to read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I picked up a copy at Booksmart in Uptown at our book crawl in October and I've heard that it is the definitive text for amateur historians. There are 25 chapters and assuming that I'll start with some zeal, if I commit to reading two chapters a month I should finish by the end of 2012.

I'll update my progress not more than monthly, so keep your eyes peeled for updates if you find yourself interested. The text begins in 1492 and goes all the way up to 2001 and the War on Terror so I anticipate it will fill in a lot of holes in my knowledge. Join me if you're able and have a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Stories

I've always enjoyed enhancing each season with the books I read. It makes everything more festive and helps me to experience the seasons deeply. This is the first Christmas season that I've sought specific and relevant books. In past years, I've spent an afternoon during December reading the children's picture books we've collected over the years, but this year I branched out a little:

For book club, we chose Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It was my first foray into Dickens' bibliography, and I was glad that I was familiar with the story. Dickens is not all together difficult, but when I next read The Chimes I had a tough time discerning the point of the story. A Christmas Carol though was lovely and it as clear why it has become the holiday favorite.

I followed with Barbara Robinson's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This is a middle-school level story about a group of horrible neighborhood children who manage to get themselves cast as all the leading characters in the church Christmas pageant and the chaos that ensues. It is a very funny, sweet, and, in the end, heartwarming story. It brings the reader to a more humble understanding of the Christmas story without being overly holy and sacred.

Finally, I read the lovely story of The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke. This is the short story of Artaban, the fourth Wise Man, who missed the caravan and spent thirty-three years on the heels of Jesus, missing him every time, and spending his gifts for the King (a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl) on various acts of great love. Finally, as the ground shakes when Jesus is crucified, and as Artaban has given away his last gift, the story of God's great love is revealed. It is a gentle, lovely, and beautifully told story, again, without religion being thrown at you.

Each year Christmas is met with such joy. I love the comfort of old stories and the excitement of new ones. I hope each year to revisit the classics that I grew up with and find new stories to help enrich the season. I hope that you had a happy holiday and wish all our readers a very blessed New Year!

How to Work A Room

By Susan RoAne

I found this book while browsing through available e-book titles on the library's website.  With the popularity of e-readers and a limited selection of e-books, sometimes you have take what you can get.  This one was immediately available and I'm always game for a short book with helpful tips on how to navigate life easier.

The premise of How To Work A Room is to give the reader tips to overcome negative feelings that may arrive when you are faced with meeting a group of new people.  Susan RoAne focuses mainly on work functions, but these tips can carry over into other social events as well.  I didn't run across any earth-shattering or life-changing actions in this book.  However, she introduced the concept of moving from "guest" behavior to "host" behavior in new situations.  According to RoAne, it will make you feel more comfortable extending yourself to others because it is your job and others will be drawn to you.  Here are some tips and examples from her book:

• The hosts exhibit gracious manners - meeting people, starting conversations, introducing others, and making sure their needs are met.

• Volunteer to be on the greeting committee of your organization

• The host's job is to extend herself to guests and make them feel comfortable - when the guests arrive, welcome them at the door, take their coats and invite them in.  Introduce them around, provide conversation starters.

My weakness for cook books

I don't buy many books.  Usually my reading material comes from the library or friends.  However, cookbooks are my kryptonite.  Especially the great finds at garage sales and Half Price Books.  The more photographs, the better.  These have their own special shelf in my kitchen; with plenty of Post-It flags highlighting favorite recipes, or recipes to try in the future.  Here are a few creations stemming from these books:

These are corn on the cob cupcakes from a cupcake cook book.  Yellow frosting, jelly beans are topped with squares of yellow Starburst "butter".

American flag brownies for my Fourth of July celebration.

Thanksgiving appetizers.  The recipes weren't from a cookbook, but the decorating ideas came from a Thanksgiving cookbook.  Next year I want to try home-made stuffing from this book.

Caramel pralines from Betty Crocker.  

Another favorite book of mine is "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen."  It is not a cookbook, it is part-history book and part-science book on where our food comes from and how cooking transforms it .  If you've seen any of Alton Brown's shows or cookbooks, I think it must be one of his science references.  There are entire chapters on single subjects, like dairy, eggs, meat, sauces and seeds.  

What we love

The Encyclopedia of Gratitude loves used and independent bookstores too!

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

By Mindy Kaling

I love hearing about down to earth, sane people who make it big in Hollywood.  One takes a gamble reading a memoir or Rolling Stones article on a celebrity - you may be better off not knowing the gory details of their past.  I remember reading an article about Justin Timberlake.  Before that article I was a huge fan of his solo CDs and appearances on Saturday Night Live.  Then I read about him in Rolling Stones and was deeply disappointed in all of his drinking and pot smoking references.  Still a fan, but with a grain of salt.

That same sense of disappointment was not there with Mindy, who writes for The Office and plays Kelly Kapoor.  I found out about this one on Goodreads, with its excellent recommendations based on my past reading.  She is a writer, actor and producer that you laugh with as you read along and isn't on the crazy train.  Being that we are in the same generation, I can relate to her childhood experience (80's children's clothes anyone?) as well as college and career stories.  There were many laugh out loud moments in the book.  See for yourself in an excerpt of her book.

If you need more after reading her book, you can also check out her blog for more Mindy.  Here are some of the chapter titles to give you a taste of her humor:

• Don't Peak in High School
• Failing at Everything in the Greatest City on Earth
• Non-Traumatic Things That Have Made Me Cry
• Why Do Men Put on Their Shoes So Slowly

Common Good Books in St. Paul, MN

I went to a great book store in St. Paul today. Tucked underneath Nina's Coffee Cafe, Common Good Books is a great general bookstore located on Western and Selby. It's an aesthetically appealing store to the cozy eye - exposed brick walls, twisting and turning back hallways showing you the world of books never ends! For the poetry lovers, this is a large wall dedicated to the genre. There are a few sections of nonfiction, but I would say mostly the store covers new books and general fiction. There are also special sections for children and local writings.

Books are sold at their list price, however they do offer benefits to regular customers. If you join their frequent buyer club, after purchasing 12 books, your next book is free, based on the average of your 12 books. You can even put your friend's/family's purchases on your list if they don't want their own list.

This store will be a MUST on our next book crawl!

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

While waiting for The Princess Bride to arrive at Common Good Books in St. Paul, MN, I chose a short book from my iPad freebies.

As one who personifies pets, I was immediately drawn to this book, narrated from the mind of a St. Bernard, Buck. The book held true to the hard working and loyal nature of a dog. But this personification allowed my heart to sink deeper and deeper as Buck and his teammates were driven far beyond what I thought they could allow. It was difficult to read about the ferocious fighting between dogs, the harsh weather conditions, the deep starvation of animals, and worse of all, the lack of camaraderie between man and animal. The animals continue to be sold from one worse team to another.

To the rescue, Buck is saved by John Thorton, as the rest of his previous crew fall to their deaths ... literally. Rescued as well is my heart, as Buck and Thorton build a relationship that defines "Man's Best Friend." The daily lives and thrilling tales of Buck and Thorton made me beam, as my "best friend" curls up on the couch next to me.

However, as one who personifies pets, I did not understand Buck's final "Call of the Wild" in the end. To me, dogs are the docile type of canines, put on this earth to provide companionship to humans. Sure, Buck showed some ferocious characteristics during his desperation and starvation periods, but his relationship with Thorton brought what I thought is a dog's true character.

London has Buck answer this "Call" to join the wolf pack to answer a legend of the Yeehat tribe in Canada - they noticed a change in the breed of timber wolf - seen with splashes of brown on their muzzles and heads which may have come from breeding with another type of canine. While this legend in the end explained to me the purpose of Buck's travels/life to get him to that point, I still prefer a story of a loyal house dog who is one of the family.

The Poisoner's Handbook

Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age of New York - by Deborah Blum.

This book has one heck of a catchy title.  It also can draw some worried looks from people who take a glance at what you are reading, and slowly inch away.  It is the fascinating tale of the birth of modern toxicology in the 1920s and 1930s.  In my professional life, I work closely with toxicologists to receive pertinent health information to protect workers.  So this book connected the current field with its origins for me.  The origins stemmed from the need to track down criminals for poisoning cases, and later evolved to include workplace toxins.  Too often, the courts would let probable criminals go free due to a lack of analytical methods or vice versa, send innocents to the Sing Sing facility in New York for execution.

Each chapter is dedicated to a poison, and gives case studies of how methods were developed relative to certain crimes taking place, mainly in New York City.  Charles Norris is the chief medical examiner that ultimately sets a model to be replicated across the U.S. for how forensic medicine should be conducted.  His overworked, underpaid, yet dedicated employee, Alexander Gettner laid the foundation for many analytical techniques that came to cited in medical textbooks and as part of the forensics program for the MDs in New York.  The poisons include: chloroform, wood alcohol, cyanides, arsenic, mercury, carbon monoxide, methyl alcohol, radium, ethyl alcohol and thallium.  What amazed me was how readily available these toxins were at the pharmacy or hardware store.  Some were known to be toxic (the arsenic and cyanides used for pest control) yet others were touted as health tonics (radium water for a healthy glow).

Despite Gettner and Norris' work, the creation of stronger safety regulations and the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA, we still face many of these poisons today.  Undoubtedly, there will be cases of carbon monoxide deaths this winter due to poorly maintained furnaces and space heaters.  We are still dealing with lead clean-up in homes and soils.  There are still concerns about toys containing lead paint.  The older poisons have been well characterized in terms of their health effects, how to treat them and how to prevent illness in the first place.  But there are 1000's of new chemicals being produced each year, and we have to keep our eyes on them.  Just because there aren't immediate health effects, doesn't mean there aren't longer term health or environmental effects.

The author has to cover some gory details in her tale - the results of autopsies and acts of murderers, but she does it in a way that did not leave me feeling too disturbed.  Instead, I felt empathy for Norris and Gettner as they tried to advance their field in a way to keep up or even ahead of the criminals.  They took it personally if the jury did not understand their evidence, and worked hard to learn from their mistakes and not work harder on the next case.

This is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone in a public health or preventative health field.  The organic chemistry discussed may be a little off-putting to some, but you don't need a major in chemistry to get through the book.

Astrid & Veronika

Today I read Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson. I have had a couple busy weeks and next week doesn't look any different so it was nice to literally curl up with a quiet book that didn't ask anything of me and let me drink my weight in tea while I read.

A story of friendship, loss, and reconnection to one's life, Astrid & Veronika is gracefully written. Olson allows the story to unfold quietly as she alternately uncovers the tragedies in each woman's life and how they help one another to cope and resurface from the depths of their colossal losses.

While I'm not sure I'll carry this story with me, it did introduce me to the poetry of Karin Boye, which I appreciate. I look forward to discovering her catalog and perhaps exploring other Scandinavian writers as well.

Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland

While I appreciate McCourt's laid back approach to Ireland's history, his style in Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland revolved around individuals and I feel that there is so much missing from his narrative. I didn't actually get a sense of the Irish people themselves or any of the major events.

McCourt explains events such as the Easter Rising and Bloody Sunday only in contexts of who was involved. This tactic resulted in a vague and disjointed telling of the story, as well as a lot of redundancies. I read a review that questioned the editing of the book and I totally agree, it wasn't well-formatted.

The sections on Irish writers and Mary Robinson were particularly good, though I found it odd that Oscar Wilde wasn't included in the former. I also noted the absence of Roger Casement from the chapter on the Easter Rising.

Overall, it was very clear that this wasn't necessarily a history of Ireland, but was instead a collection of what McCourt happens to know. Not a terrible waste of time at all, just not very comprehensive, not particularly well written, and sometimes politically dry.

This Child Will be Great

For my second book club meeting of the week, our group read the memoir "This Child Will be Great" by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.  Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Leymah Gbowee and Tawakel Karmen.  Sirleaf is the first female president of Liberia.


I haven't read many memoirs, so I don't have much to compare it to.  In this case, Sirleaf's story reads more as a series of dry events that could be one long bulleted list.  I wonder if this writing style is a reflection of her time spent in the business world, where that type of writing is more common than a sentimental style.  Either way, as I reflect on all she has encountered, and what she has accomplished, it is apparent that she is quite the amazing human being.  Here is a series of her passages that spoke to me, almost as tidbits of advice:


Still, once I took the position, I had stepped into a stream that would carry me along toward the future of my professional development.  So often it is the small decisions in life that end up shaping our future the most. p 32

• The learning here - pay attention to your small decisions as they may have bigger repercussions than you may originally anticipate.  

All of this I said, but in the end, it was really one word - idiots - that got me into trouble.  That was the word that did it.  That was the word that they really, really did not like.  p 123

• The learning here - people may focus on one or two points and ignore the rest of your message.  The theme of education, or lack there-of, is common when defining a gap for Liberians in this book.  I wonder if this is why the word "idiot" offended so much - many of the regime did not have much of a formal education, and did not want to appear weak because of it.  

Leadership has many challenges, and those challenges are serious.  Too often people, in their eagerness to stand and shout 'Follow me!,' neglect to consider the downside.  They do not, for example, consider the possibility of ostracism.  But the truth is that if you want to lead and be hailed, you must also be prepared to be ostracized, because it surely will happen at some point in your career.

• The learning here - there are ups and downs to any situation.  Leaders may be glorified on one hand, but there will be people wanting to tear you down and you must be prepared for both aspects to move ahead.

On the challenges Sileaf faced as newly-elected president: "On that glorious day Liberians had not experienced government provided electric power for more than sixteen years... Pipe-borne water was nonexistent in the city center and parts beyond.  Civil servants' salaries were in arrears and woefully inadequate at any rate.  Our schools were in ruins, not just physically, but also in terms of the loss of trained teachers.  Mortality rates among all sectors of our population were frighteningly high.  Our hospitals lacked equipment, drugs, and most critically, doctors..." p 273

• The learning here - it would be difficult enough becoming leader of a developed nation today, and yet knowing the state of Liberia and what she faced, Sirleaf fought for her election to bring change to these situations.  Wow.  What a strong, brave woman!

The Devil in the White City

This week, I will be attending two different book club events.  For one club, I read The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  Three sets of stories are melded together in this piece of non-fiction.  It is the tale of a murderer, a serial killer, and the building of the Chicago World's Fair in the early 1890s.  


Before reading this book, I did not know much about World Fairs.  Now, I know a bit about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and a smidgen about the Paris World's Fair of 1889, to which the Chicago team used as their standard to surpass.  It was nicknamed the White City based on its appearance from the white exterior architecture of the buildings.  While the Chicago Fair was being designed and built to honor the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus "discovering" America, H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer was on the loose in Chicago.  





While reading this work of non-fiction, I started to take notes on familiar items and names that were started or associated with the Chicago World's Fair.   I've included a few that stuck out for me in the following list.  


Structures and inventions of note:

• Light bulbs.  The war of DC vs AC light bulbs was intense at this point, and Westinghouse won the lighting contract for the Fair with their AC bulbs, at a bid of $399,000.  As the author states, "The exposition went with Westinghouse, and helped change the history of electricity"
• Ferris wheel.  This was the Chicago Fair's answer to rival the Eiffel Tower of the Paris World Fair.  
• Exhibits of new inventions:  "The first moving pictures on Edison's Kinetoscope...the first zipper; the first all electric kitchen...Aunt Jemima's...Juicy Fruit, and caramel coated popcorn called Cracker Jack..."
• Midway.  The idea of Midway really took off with the Chicago Worlds's Fair, and carries on to this day.  One of the exhibits at the Midway was the California Ostrich farm which "offered omelets made from ostrich eggs, though in fact the eggs came from domestic chickens."  Shredded wheat was introduced as a cereal item that is still carried in grocery stores.  
• Museum of Science and Industry.  The Fair's Place of Fine Arts, transformed into a permanent structure, now houses the Museum of Science and Industry. 

Names of note:

• Frank Lloyd Wright.  He was a junior architect with Louis Sullivan's firm, and was fired for using his free time to design houses for clients of his own.    
• Elias Disney helped build the White City.  According to the author, Elias's son Walt may have been influenced by the White City in his creation of the Magic Kingdom.  

My review:
Genre: Non-fiction, history, true crime


Who I would recommend this to? Anyone with an interest in U.S. history that likes a detailed look into a set of events in a specific time frame should enjoy this book.  Even though it involves a serial killer, I did not find it too off-putting and enjoyed the majority of the book. 
If you're more of a fan of movies based on books, it is rumored that Leonardo DiCaprio will play Holmes in a 2012/2013 movie release.


Would I read other books by this author?  Erik Larson has other books available, and I may consider reading In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin when the waiting list isn't so long at the library.  

Tina Fey is Bossypants

If you like Tina Fey in 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, you may want to check out Bossypants.  I started to read it at Barnes and Noble, and then quickly added it to my library queue.

My first question was, why is it called Bossypants?  Quoting Tina, it is in response to the question she often gets, is it hard for you, being the boss?  I like her philosophy of hiring good people and then getting out of their way.  As she says "being the boss almost never involves marching around, waving your arms, and chanting 'I am the boss!  I am the boss!'"

There are plenty of laugh out loud moments as she tells stories about her childhood, college and career.  The one passage I flagged in the book was this advice from Tina:

"When faced with sexism or ageism or lookisim or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: Is this person in between me and what I want to do?  If the answer is no, ignore it and move on.  Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way.  Then, when you're in charge, don't hire the people who were jerky to you.  If the answer is yes, you have a more difficult road ahead of you."

Books that define an age

Not too long ago, fellow promiscuous reader Angela shared a link with a decision tool for choosing sci-fi and fantasy books.  It's a flow chart for navigating NPR's top 100 sci-fi and fantasy books.  I took a walk down memory lane as I made my way through the fantasy side.  It made me think about the fantasy book series that have stood out as favorites as I've grown.

Middle School

During middle school, my cousins and I would team up for long sessions of Hero Quest (think Dungeons and Dragons) during sleepover weekends.  From this, I learned about the Dragonlance series.  Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman started this books series, based on their own D&D type game play.  They wrote several trilogies that explored the world of a set of characters.  From there, other authors took the denizens of Krynn through many adventures.  I've lost count, but I've read close to 60 of these novels.  These were definitely a young adult series.

High School

A friend of mine recommended the Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley during junior year of high school.  I'm sure reading this took precedence over my assigned English class reading.  This is an Arthurian/Camelot story from the point of view of Morgainne le Fey.  As the saying goes, every story has many sides and the plethora of Arthurian books attests to this.  In the Mists of Avalon, the priestesses of the Goddess in Avalon are trying to save their traditions from being swallowed by the encroaching priests of Christianity and their God.  I was hooked after reading Mists, and moved on to the many other books Zimmer Bradley wrote in this story-line.  She connects Avalon back to Atlantis, and even reaches ahead to Helena, the mother of Constantine.  

College

I read many books in college to give my brain a rest from studying.   I have to say, I wasn't too creative in my search and went to well-known books to keep myself entertained.  The series included the Harry Potter books and The Golden Compass trilogy.  My list also included other Arthurian novels like Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy.

Grad School 

In graduate school, a fellow student introduced me to Mercedes Lackey.  Lackey has many different series, and I've thoroughly enjoyed three specific series.  I started with the Valdemar books, and polished off 30 of these my first year of grad school.  It was a typical fantasy series, with many strong female characters that appealed to me.  During my second year of grad school, I delved into the Elemental Masters series and the 500 Kingdom series.  Both of these re-work traditional fairy tales and put a new, sometimes much more adult spin on them.  Lackey is still publishing, so I keep my eye on her list for new books to check out at the library.  

What is next?

Surely, there is no shortage of fantasy/sci-fi series to discover or those yet to be written.  I'm truly looking forward to reading the rest of the All Souls Trilogy and was recommended to check out Connie Willis.  Thank goodness for recommendations from friends and the internet!

The Shadow of the Wind

I have spent the last week absolutely spellbound by Carlos Ruiz Zafón's novel, The Shadow of the Wind, and all I can think to write about it in a blog post is a simple plea to readers everywhere: please read this book.

Set in Spain in the first half of the twentieth century, the book follows the story of the boy, Daniel, who discovers a book that he finds absolutely spellbound. He goes on to discover the tragedies surrounding its origin and the eerie disappearance of all of the author’s other works. What ensues is the dovetailing of Daniel’s story with Julián Carax, the author whose life seems to exist in shadow.

At times quietly funny, and at others terribly violent, The Shadow of the Wind is a spooky, erotic, and beautifully written story of the magic and tragedy of life. It shocked me and held me captive. A prequel, The Angel’s Game apparently exists and I plan to hunt it down. I haven’t been so enamored by a story since my reread of One Hundred Years of Solitude or The House of the Spirits, which, anyone who has met me knows, are annual vices.

I can’t say enough about how fantastic a story Ruiz Zafón weaves. I’m positive I’ll return this loaned copy and buy my own because I’ll need to read it again next year. And probably every year thereafter.

A lesson on keeping it real.

http://i.imgur.com/uVCM4.jpg

A reader's dilemma

There is a fine balance to keeping a number of books on hand to read so one does not run out of reading material. As a reader that relies heavily on the library, this can have complications for me. I prefer to have three or four books in waiting, and this has not been a problem while being a member of two book clubs. I tend to be on several waiting lists for the more popular books at the library, and this is where things can get interesting. For instance, with three books due for book club in the next month and a half I've been taking it easy with "other books" by reading some shorter mystery books. Then all of a sudden, I had several long awaited books arrive for pick-up at my local library. Here's how what I've managed in the past month.

The Diva Runs out of Thyme by Krista Davis

While waiting for my book club books to arrive (Orwell!), I picked up a few mystery books to hold me over. The Domestic Diva mystery series caught my eye, and I've read the first three so far. I'm not a great mystery solver, so my strategy is to read through these quickly to figure out "whodunit" instead of trying to figure it out myself.

The main character, Sophie, ends up solving crimes in old town Alexandria, VA, while running her successful party planning business. Natasha is another party planner in the book that seems to be a younger Martha Stewart. The start of each chapter has a Dear Sophie or Dear Natasha question and response for party planning help. It is hilarious to read their respective responses, and try to figure out how that topic will work its way into the chapter. Note of caution - don't read these on an empty stomach - the descriptive food details will make you hungry.

The Pillsburys of Minnesota by Lori Sturdevant from the Minneapolis Star Tribune

I found out about this book via an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It showed up at the library the same day as my assigned reading, 1984 and Animal Farm. Since the Pillsbury book had a three week limit with no options for renewal, I tackled it first. For a historical book, I was surprised at how much of a page-turner this was for me. This family has had a positive, and widespread impact on the state of Minnesota, starting in the 1850s.

The foreword contains a summary of family values that sticks with me: don't hold grudges, if you do, you become the problem; the arts are important, they communicate in a universal language; integrity is the most important attribute in making choices; joy comes from helping others, character comes from when you don't get credit for it.

If you are familiar with the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, you will recognize many of the names, businesses and locations that were associated with this family. Here are a few: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Blake School, General Mills, Pillsbury flour, Cargill, Dunwoody, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Gale Woods Farm, James J. Hill, Lowry, Loring, the Minneapolis Park Board, Lakewood Cemetery, Orchestra Hall, Peavey, Washburn, Nicollet Island, University of Minnesota and the list goes on...

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

This may be my favorite book of the year. Like the Pillsburys, I read a review about this in the Star Tribune and added it to my library queue. Before being able to start Orwell, this showed up at the library. It too has a three week due date so I had to get cracking. This is the type of book that keeps me up past midnight on a work night. I flew through the 600 page book in two days (with the consequence of a much neglected to-do list). As I reached page 400, I could tell the story would not finish with this book. Sure enough, it is book one of a trilogy, with the other two yet to be published. This made me sad that I will have to wait until 2012 for the next installment, but happy that the story will continue.

It starts with Dr. Diane Bishop, conducting research in the Bodleian library at Oxford. Diane is a witch, from a prestigious line of witches on both her mother and father's sides of the family. She tries to suppress her powers, in order to get credit for her work as a normal human. Diane specializes in 17th century alchemy, and how this lead to modern day science. The book goes on to involve the other "creatures" of vampires and daemons. These creatures may be facing extinction, and an unlikely team gathers to look into this and risks their lives to break thousand year old traditions in their quest. I can't wait for 2012 to see what happens next.

September 24 - 25 is the National Book Festival

Check out more at: http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/

Now, on to Orwell!

Book club at sea

I just found out the Princess cruise ship line includes a book club discussion as one of it's on board activities. Check out the rotation here: http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/activities/book_club/bookclub.html

last month...

Since returning from our foray into the romantic Pacific Northwest last month, I've felt compelled to finish books that have been lying around my house, waiting to be read. Something about the looming Minnesota winter demands that I take some constructive action against clutter in my home so I don't feel burdened by its weight. Rather than complete reviews, I'll sum...

• Little Bee by Chris Cleave. This is a book about a 16-year-old Nigerian refugee girl written by a middle-aged British white guy. In the same way that I felt troubled by the way Kathryn Stocket wrote The Help (first person), this book seemed awkward. Alternating chapters told a terribly heartbreaking story from the perspective of this Nigerian girl and a thirty-something woman, neither of whom seemed particularly well-written. It was, however, a very compelling story that gave an interesting perspective of illegal immigration that is totally different than what we in the United States encounter.
• Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. (This is the same author, fellow promiscuous reader, Lindsay, will recognize, who wrote The Passion of Artemisia.) This book is eight vignettes telling the story of a painting by Johannes Vermeer. (Vermeer, one might recall, is the similarly glorified painter of Girl With a Pearl Earring, book written by Tracy Chevalier, who writes beautifully.) I read this over Labor Day weekend on the North Shore and it was a pleasant book to keep coming back to. Gently written, concerned with the way light creeps along the edges of days.
• Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees: Honey Production, Pollination, Health by Richard E Bonney and Malcolm T Sanford. Because one must keep one's options open.
• Animal Farm by George Orwell. I'll get to this when I finish 1984.
• King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. This was assigned in one of Dr Poole's history classes at Scholastica that I, unfortunately, didn't get a chance to take. It explores the Belgian king's complete takeover of the Congo River Basin and the gross human rights violations that ensued as he viciously destroyed the indigenous communities for ivory and then rubber during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is gruesome and terrible but readable and informative. An estimated ten million Congolese people died during this period. Look it up.

So! On to other things...

No Shortage of Reading Material in DC

On a recent trip to our nation's capitol, there was no shortage of reading material to be found. It ranged from short instructions on how to ride the Metro to the book shops at the Smithsonian museums to the Gettysburg Address carved in the Lincoln Memorial. The hardest part was tearing myself away from the reading material to actually step back and see the sights themselves.

My number one place to visit was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. As a biology geek, this was a natural place to want to visit, right? In addition to the animals, fossils and architecture, what I really wanted to see was the Hope Diamond. Before this trip was even planned, I read an entire book solely on the Hope Diamond - The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem. It is by Richard Kurin, who is the Under Secretary for History, Art and Cultural Heritage with the Smithsonian. He traces the path of the mythological blue diamond from its probable discovery in India to the collection of Louis XIV as a 67 carat cut gem, to its theft and reappearance in England. Through several more changes of hand, the now walnut sized, 45 carat gem ended up being "donated" by Harry Winston to the Smithsonian in 1958. My pictures from the gallery do not do this gem any justice, so you'll have to check it out for yourself. I also highly recommend the book, so you can see why a gem of this size and color that would be worth an estimated $20 million on its own, is actually valued at more than $200 million because of its storied history. The one picture I will share is of the Star Wars recipe book - Wookie Cookies - which we found in the basement bookstore of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum:

Since this is a blog about books, I will skip past my other touristy stories and pictures of all of the grand, white marble structures and get right to the Library of Congress. At the end of our trip, I decided to make one last stop to see this set of buildings on Capitol Hill. The pictures I share here are in the Jefferson Building - the Great Hall and the Main Reading Room. The intricate detail throughout the building was breathtaking and the sheer number of books housed within this system was mind boggling. There are 838 miles of shelves in the three buildings on Capitol Hill, holding more than 33 million books and printed materials. My little reading heart was happy to have visited this collection.

The Great Hall - Library of Congress - Jefferson Building

The Reading Room - Library of Congress - Jefferson Building

A Snapshot of Summer Reads

Summertime offers a plethora of places to read. You can tote your books to the beach, patio, outside for a lunch break in addition to the indoor couches, coffee shops and libraries. And the longer daylight hours encourage reading later into the evening. I've had the pleasure of watching my younger cousins a few weekdays this summer. I took them to the newly renovated Roseville library. Our favorite hangout spot was the set of green benches near the windows in the kids section. Between the three of us, we could easily sprawl on the length of the benches. It was great to see them plow through books on Vikings, duck billed platypus and several joke books.

Here are some of the books I've enjoyed this summer:

The Case of the Missing Servant and The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing. These are two Indian mystery books by Tarquin Hall. A friend from work recommended these. The series features Vish Puri, India's Most Private Investigator. I don't usually seek out mysteries, but I thoroughly enjoyed these two books. A glossary of terms is helpfully contained at the back of the books. Hall is a very descriptive writer, so the reader can readily picture the sights, smell the aromas and be transported across the world to India. Even though many of the food and beverage terms were unfamiliar, I found myself craving and then enjoying a nice cup of chai while reading these.

Delicious Memories by Anna Boiardi. I often browse the featured books in the main entrance of the library. One of the recommended summer reads was this cookbook from a grand-daughter of the "Chef Boyardee" family. Anna shares family recipes, in addition to her family's history. Each chapter has a thorough introduction, and each recipe has a memory associated and written down with it. I'm only halfway through this book, and I have some recipes flagged, including: roasted peppers, grilled party vegetables, grape tomato bruschetta, Italian style potato salad, penne rigate and rigatoni with roasted tomatoes.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Like the mystery books featuring Vish Puri, Snow Flower transported me to a different world. In addition to other customs and rituals during this time in rural China, it describes the process of foot binding. It is a touching tale of two girls growing up and apart through the various stages of life. I really had a hard time reading the descriptive pages of the process of foot binding. I didn't realize what a lengthy process it was and how the result could really define your lot in life.

Travel Books. In September, I'm headed out to Washington D.C. The library offers plenty of guidebooks, so I've been using these to plot out destinations. Between those and the Metro, there should be no shortage of places to see. Feel free to offer suggestions!

A Tale of Two Pacific Northwest Cities

This month my Love and I celebrated our anniversary in the Pacific Northwest, spending time in Seattle, the Olympic Peninsula, and Vancouver. We had a fantastic time and I was able to pick up two books along the way:

Seattle’s Market Ghost Stories by Mercedes Yaeger is a sweetly written memoir of the more haunted side of Seattle’s Pike Place Market. The Market is, of course, one of Seattle’s more famous landmarks and is absolutely, overwhelmingly fantastic. The Market hosts the original Starbuck’s, the Millionaire’s Club (they’re even better live), every kind of sea food one can imagine, and brimming with people from all corners of the globe. We had a great time strolling through all the stands for an afternoon before heading out of town to climb mountains in Olympic National Park.

Yaeger runs the Market Ghost Tours. I had the opportunity to meet her as we passed by on our way to the Gum Wall. She is full of great information about Seattle’s history and Pike’s Place Market, and clearly has a passion for the city. We didn’t have a chance to attend her tour, but I purchased this book as a souvenir and enjoyed reading it on the train to Vancouver two days later.

The book pauses at different places in the Market and alternates between bits of Seattle’s history and stories of people who have passed through the Market and now spend their time haunting the spaces they used to frequent. In a particularly personal verse, Yaeger tells the story of Princess Angeline and then of the Battle of Seattle, addressing the injustices done to the First Nation people with candor and dignity. With straightforward prose, Yeager tells the stories of the people who built the Market with a voice that betrays the fondness she has for them and weaves in her own experiences without pretense or agenda. It is clear that she is writing not only the history of the Market, but of her own Seattle city.

The Raven Steals the Light by Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst is a collection of Haida myths accompanied by beautiful drawings by Haida artist Bill Reid. I purchased the book in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The museum was something I was really looking forward to on our trip and I wasn’t disappointed. Full of a wonderful collection of pieces from various periods in the history of the peoples of the Pacific Northwest, it was the first place I was able to glean real appreciation for the culture of the First People there. I thought the totem poles, in particular, were fantastic.

The Haida are one of the First Nations bands who live along Alaska’s southernmost and Canada’s western coasts. Their spiritual home is called Queen Charlotte Islands in our language and Haida Gwaii in theirs. The book is full of great stories of the trickster Raven: how he created the sun, moon, and stars by stealing the light from an old man and his granddaughter and spilling it as he escaped from them; how he lost his beak, quite painfully, by tricking a hunter away from his home so he could have some personal time with the hunter’s wife, and then of how he regained the beak again, and so on.

The illustrations by Bill Reid mirror the artistic style he applies to his sculpture, jewelry, painting, and printing pieces. He artfully combines traditional Haida imagery and style with modern techniques and mediums to create pieces that celebrate the Haida culture. It was very neat to see his statue of the Raven and the First Men in the Museum and then see a drawing in the book as well. The last chapter in the book refers to a missing story called The Dogfish Woman and leaves the reader with a heavy sadness for all the pieces of life that so many First Nations people are missing as a result of European imperialism and, more recently, US and Canadian policy toward First Nation and Native American people. It makes one really treasure the ten little stories and the lovely artwork that illustrates only a sliver of the Haida culture.

Is there a perfect book for book club?

I promise, I've been reading this summer, even if the blog posts do not reflect this. As I've been reading for fun and for book club, I was wondering - is there such thing as a perfect book for book club?

Currently, I am reading "Cleopatra: A Life" by Stacy Schiff for one book club. It seemed like a good choice: getting to the historical fact of one of the richest and most intriguing females of all time. It has been on the best seller lists for a bit, and there is talk of a movie being made based on it. We should all love it and find it hard to put it down, right? In all honesty, it has taken me the longest time to read compared to anything else this year. My method was to read a chapter or two, pick up another book for fun, and return to it for another chapter or two. Some of the other book club members put it down and moved on to something else. I think the main reason is that it is written more as a history text, and less as a novel. It is not a quick read.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book immensely as it separated out probable falsehood from what may be closer to the truth. Schiff uses the premise of how history is written by the winners, and so much of what has been said about Cleopatra via the Roman writings should be taken with a grain of salt. Her Cleopatra is a cunning politician, who relied much more on her brains than beauty to rule one of the richest empires in an Egyptian society that was ahead of its time in gender equality.

So we had a good recipe for a book club book with "Cleopatra: A Life", yet not everyone in the group was a fan. With this, I have good reason to believe we will have a spirited discussion while enjoying some great Mediterranean food. I doubt there is the "perfect" book club out there, especially if your club has more than one person. So what makes a great book club selection? Does everyone have to love it and gush about it? If one person doesn't like it or doesn't finish it, does that ruin the selection? From two formal and one informal book club, here are my musings on what makes a great book club book:

- Let everyone have a say in the book selection. Whether it is rotating by person, or creating a list in advance, it will keep your group on target. I appreciate the fact that in the Riverview Bookclub, we have the opportunity to have a say in each choice.

- Avoid things on Oprah's book club list. I don't have a great reason for this, and nothing against Oprah. But if you avoid things on best sellers lists, you won't have to be on a huge waiting list for a copy at the library. If you plan to borrow from the library, also avoid things being made into movies.

- Have a healthy dose of respect for the person choosing the book. If it is a book no-one has read, the group is going out on a limb. I haven't seen any finger pointing or blame in my book clubs, and I think that helps keep the groups running smoothly.

- Consider something relevant to the interests of the groups. Our Riverview Bookclub tends have a focus on books with women as main characters. Its been anywhere from Lizzy Bennett, to Alice in Wonderland, to Laila in Kabul.

With that said, does anyone disagree and is there really the perfect book club book out there?

The Help

“Sensational Bestseller” is what I found on the Internet that describes the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I don’t tend to appreciate hype given to books, especially one that so obviously would have ended up on Oprah’s Book Club (oh wait), but I’ve heard from two promiscuous readers whose taste I trust that this one is worth it, and it was.

The Help addresses race relations in 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi with particular attention paid to the unique relationship of white women and the African-American women they hire as domestic help. These women raise white children, clean homes, and are subjected to daily microaggressions (and oftentimes macroaggressions) and indignities, most notably in having to use a separate toilet. Recall, this is when Jim Crow was reigning supreme and “separate but equal” was accepted as appropriate.

The story is centered on the experiences of three women in particular: Aibileen is an African-American domestic housekeeper for a beta-level socialite, Minny is an African-American domestic housekeeper who regularly is fired for mouthing off to her employers, and Skeeter is a Caucasian-American college graduate with the drive to make things happen. The story is written by a Caucasian-American woman whose family employed African-American domestic housekeeper when she was a child. This seemed on the one hand bold that she would expose a shameful part of her culture but also risky that 2/3 of the book was written from the perspective of the help. I’m not in any position to know if she did this with grace and humility as I am not African-American, didn’t grow up in the time period, and have never been employed as full-time domestic help.

As this is, primarily, a book review, I should add that I’m not sure this book was particularly well written. I got so frustrated at times that I began to keep a list in the back. More notably:

1. Why did the author introduce the central conflict on page ten in the first chapter? This is way too soon. I wish she had given the story a bit of time to unfold.

2. Further, I don’t understand how on Earth Skeeter was ever friends with Hilly and Elizabeth and who in God’s name is this Hilly woman? She is absolutely awful and I’m in no position to know this, but were people really that awful? Maybe they were and I am being consciously naïve about race relations in the South in the 1960s, but Hilly doesn’t seem like a real person to me, no one is that horrid. This might be my problem.

3. Also, I never really understood why Skeeter cared. What event or experience raised her awareness to this blatant violation of human rights? I never really caught on to that.

4. And I am so petty, I’m sorry, but using the phrase “She is the child now and I am the mother” just seemed like such a cliché. There had to be a better way to illuminate the gravity of that situation.

However, the themes addressed are profound and heartbreaking and the story is very good. I would highly recommend reading it and I am looking forward to Viola Davis’ performance as Aibileen in the movie coming out in August. It looks like it will be a very emotional film and my hope is that it will spur conversations about our shared history in the United States and what micro— (and macro—) aggressions look like today.

Prodigal Summer

I’ve written about how much I love Barbara Kingsolver’s books before, and my promiscuity really knows no bounds when it comes to her books. She is one of a few authors whose work I will pick up and read not really even caring what the book is about. The grace and mysticism with which she writes about human relationships is just too good to pass up.

Prodigal Summer tells three stories that don’t necessarily overlap other than taking place in the same county during the same sultry summer. There are Deanna and Eddie who collide despite their polarizing differences; Lusa whose world collapses and who finds herself facing choices she didn’t know she was prepared to tackle; and Garnet and Nannie, elders who go to lengths to work at odds even as they try to preserve the same land. Kingsolver is able to intertwine the stories in a way that makes them feel relevant to one another and not at all choppy or out-of-place. They are full of heartbreak, humor, lessons in biology and conservation, and the underlying truth that everyone has needs and those needs are oftentimes much more similar than we realize.

Prodigal Summer is alive with life and brought two things to my attention that I previously hadn’t noticed:

1. There are no antagonists in Kingsolver’s stories. There are people who antagonize one another, but there is no single character or group who plays the “bad guy” or wicked stepmother. I really appreciate this as in life there are no evil characters, just folks who, through their own needs, are antagonistic. We are all humans, we all have needs, and sometimes we step on one another in an effort to fulfill those needs.

2. In Kingsolver’s writing, the setting is a character in the story alongside the human players. The mountain comes alive as the coyotes return, bringing Eddie and Deanna together. Lusa comes out of the ash of her life and into gardens that refuse to stop producing. And Garnet and Nannie bicker over how to tame the wild land they farm as it grows out of control. This overabundance coupled with some intensely beautiful human intimacy lends undertones of reproduction and sweaty connection to the stories that give them a very organic feel, like the whole thing is happening in a hothouse.

This was a great book to read in July, particularly during the hot hot heat that we’ve had recently in Minnesota. Prodigal Summer takes place in southern Appalachia, a part of the country I know nothing about, but it sounded eerily familiar. Minnesota is known for, if nothing else, the diversity of weather we get and the book could have just as easily taken place here. There is going to come a time when I will need to read Kingsolver’s catalogue a second time and I’ll be sure to read this one in the summer, it just doesn’t belong anywhere else.

Why yoga is like reading

Stay with me on this one. As I branched out with a different yoga opportunity today, I started comparing how two of my favorite hobbies are related, other than comfy clothes being involved. I've been reading since before kindergarten, but have only practiced yoga for the last year and a half. Why do I crave both of these activities? With how busy life can get, why do I always feel so much better after reading or practicing? Here is my countdown of how these activities are similar, with a focus on their benefits.

5) You get to branch out and try new things

Books: When you discover a new book series, you can rest assured that you won't have to search out new reading material until close to the series end. This is comforting until the "to read" pile starts to dwindle. Then what? How do you move on? It is time for something new. You are forced to head to the library, the bookstore or to new recommendations from friends for fresh ideas.

Yoga: With the right instructor, a yogi will always be challenged with new and more advanced poses. One of the first ones for me to conquer was Tree Pose, or Vrksasana. It literally forces you to "branch out" with your arms as you move on in difficulty with this pose. The instructor will offer words of encouragement, much like a friend with a great book recommendation, "grow your branches, move out of your comfort zone."

4) Improve upon your abilities

Books: Have you ever gone back to read a childhood or adolescent-hood favorite? Was it as exciting later on in life? With a few of my favorites of younger days, I've been disappointed or bored re-reading them as an adult. Now I think hard about re-reading books because my tastes have changed and my ability to tackle tougher books has improved. And anyhow, there are so many good books that I haven't read!

Yoga: After the first few yoga sessions, you start to listen to the instructor and move into poses without looking up or thinking too hard about the posture. I have a beginners DVD that I can proudly say is "too easy" for me. I have moved on from supporting my Side Plank Pose, or Vasisthasana, to being able to prop myself up on two feet.

3) Mental benefits

Books: This one is obvious for books. From continuous reading we learn new vocabulary, learn about new cultures in non-fiction, discover entirely new worlds in fiction. Then we take lessons from these sources to apply in every day life.

Yoga: There's no doubt about it, you can get a great physical workout from yoga. For me, the mental benefits are even more significant. The instructor is always gently or enthusiastically encouraging you one to higher levels. I swear their motto in school must be "you won't know if it's possible unless you try." So today I tried Wild Thing Pose, or Camatkarasana. There's nothing like challenging yourself mentally to move into one of these contortions with an audience of other yoginis around you. Maybe one day I will be able to move from Three Legged Dog with a Yogi Toe hold into Side Plank Pose. Until then, the calming breathing techniques will carry me through stressful situation with more calm and poise.

2) There are favorites that you can return to time and again

Books: A great book can be counted to to deliver a fantastic story again and again. You grow to care for the characters even more. There is comfort to know what is going to happen, and you may discover things you did not see in a previous reading. Even a familiar author can offer the promise of more great books to come.

Yoga: In yoga there is also comfort in returning to a familiar pose after trying something new and challenging. Say your calf cramps up in the middle of Scorpion pose, you can move on into Cow Face Pose, or Gomukhasana, for a calming stretch of the arms and legs. Nothing lasts forever, yet it is worth finding a few favorite instructors that you know will be an inspiration in your practice.

1) They clear your mind

The number one reason that I enjoy books and yoga SO much is that they can completely clear my mind of all other worries, to-do items and anxieties. For years I have read before falling asleep to ease that transition. Now I use yoga in a similar way to wake up in the morning and prepare for the day, as well as at the end of the week to transition from work to the weekend. And no matter who the instructor is, I can rest assured that the practice will include Corpse Pose, or Savasana to end the practice.

After reading this, do you want to give yoga a try? From the comfort of your own home, you can view the Yoga Journal 21-Day Challenge to see how you like it.

The Wind in the Willows

In June I stopped by Midway Used and Rare Books on University and Snelling amidst all the light rail construction (which really is a mess right now). I wanted to find a lovely used copy of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and I found exactly what I was looking for. The Wind in the Willows was originally published in 1908 and the copy I picked up was published in 1960, so quite a few decades later. However, this copy can hardly have been read since it was published. It is in perfect condition, has the original dust jacket, and a lovely dedication handwritten on the title page:

Peter & Betty

May your friendship together be as strong as say, Rat's with Badger.

Much Love,

The Harts

Sunday April 17

Which Sunday, April 17 between 1960 and now is left to the imagination. Another appealing aspect of this particular copy is that the illustrations were all done by Ernest H. Shepard of the original “Winnie-the-Pooh” illustrations. And some are in color. Bonus!

So I followed the “Harry Potter” series with The Wind in the Willows and, actually, it was a bad choice in the end. It’s hard to go from the spectacular magic and drama of “Harry Potter” into ambling stories about Mole, the Water Rat, and Mr. Toad’s instabilities. It just wasn’t that interesting and there were no female characters which I let irritate me.

However, the descriptions of the scenery were just beautiful, and I especially enjoyed the “Wayfarers All” chapter. Also “Dulce Domum” would be a nice read at Christmastime. I recommend the book, but it should be read when you’re in a quiet place and don’t need to be impressed by a lot of action, maybe up at the cabin or (better yet) on the banks of a river in summertime. Also, though it is a child’s book, parents should be aware that apparently “ass” wasn’t a curse word in the early twentieth century, as it is used a couple times in the book and not in reference to a donkey but similarly to the way we might use the word “idiot” which also isn’t a particularly nice thing to say.

One thing that I found fun was that reading The Wind in the Willows made me want to go back and read all the Beatrix Potter books because the characteristics that Grahame inhibits his animals with seem similar to the ways Benjamin Bunny, Jeremy Fisher, and Jemima Puddleduck wore clothes, kept houses, and interacted with perfect diction and English grammar. Potter’s works were published in 1902-1930 so I can’t imagine they weren’t aware of one another and the work other was doing. I can appreciate any text that makes me feel encouraged to explore another topic or author.

Harry Potter

I am an unabashedly enthusiastic Harry Potter fan. In May I decided to read the series for a third time in anticipation of the final film, coming out July 15^th. I figured I should give myself seven weeks to complete the task: one week for each book, knowing some I would finish sooner and others would take a bit more time. I underestimated myself though, and finished the seventh book a mere 29 days after having begun the first. This is a pretty clear indication of their engrossing nature.

I did not jump on the Harry Potter bandwagon right away. I am wary of bandwagons in general and tend to reject anything associated with a particular following to avoid unwanted judgment. However, there comes a point when one has avoided something long enough. I gradually came to the understanding that anything with a bandwagon and groupies must be at least somewhat entertaining if it has so many dedicated followers. I decided to give these movements a try before I get the reputation for being a trend-aversive hater.

Thus began the love affair. I can’t imagine why anyone would reject the opportunity to fall into a deep state of joyful glee when faced with books about a fantastic world of wizards, witches, centaurs, elves, and mail delivered by snowy owls. This is a place full of people just like us who experience the same emotions and challenges, but exist in a world where gardens have to be de-gnomed, dishes will do themselves with enough coaxing, goblins run the economy, sports are played on brooms…in the air, and when you turn eleven, you go to Ollivander’s to get your first wand.

What further compels me to go back and re-read the stories are their universal age-appeal. While they are written at progressively higher levels (an eleven-year-old who begins the series may get quite bored as the themes intensify and the characters progress through adolescence), each age group will find something to appreciate. Older children will enjoy the first couple books, as the themes are serious but not overwhelming. However, as the story progresses, the themes intensify and it becomes clear that childhood has been left behind. How often can a young person grow up with a set of classmates in a book from age 10 through high school? I’m so excited to read the series again with nieces, nephews, and my own children. Think of the new perspectives! The renewed delight!

Furthermore, the virtues of loyalty, deep love, and honoring the value in all creatures that the series is built around are universally appreciated. The moral of the broader story is that with enough courage, love can best evil. This is a tall order; I’ve seen love fail. But if we compel ourselves to focus our energies on respecting the value in all things, then I imagine many troubles could be remedied without anger, hurtful words, or unpardonable shaming.

If you haven’t given the books a try, please give yourself the opportunity. Don’t reject fantasy outright and don’t hate on people who find pleasure in something as innocent and positive as a set of lovely books. Get over your fear of nonsense and understand that there is so much about our lives on this planet that already doesn’t make sense. Miscarriage, for instance, doesn’t make sense. Just because we’re used to it doesn’t mean it is logical. Magic, therefore, isn’t so absurd: even before I read the books, I longed for an accio charm to telekinetically summon things to me; in my laziness it just made sense.

Harry Potter haters can file their emotions under “Unappreciative Cynic,” “Imagination Deficiency,” or “Bezoar-Hearted Nincompoop.” This is one bandwagon worth joining.