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.