I've always wanted a secret passage...

Here's how not to do one, courtesy of the comic strip F MINUS by Tony Carrillo:

Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout

By Lauren Redniss

This is a fantastic and artfully done book about the husband and wife team of Marie and Pierre Curie.  Together, they discovered radium and polonium.  After four years of steady labor, four hundred tons of water, and forty tons of corrosive chemicals, on March 28, 1902, they managed to extract one tenth of a gram of radium.

Marie achieved many other notable firsts:

• First female to earn a PhD in France
• First female to win a Nobel prize. (She was born the year Alfred Nobel discovered dynamite)
• After Pierre's death, the Sorbonne offered her his professorship - first time in its 650 year history a woman was professor
• First person to win two Nobel prizes first in Physics, second in Chemistry.  Her daughter, Irene and her husband would win another Prize for their discovery of artificial radiation.

Goal Planning

Every year, my husband and I sit down in mid-January to plan our goals for the year.  Each year, it is a little bit easier and more fun.  We focus on things we want to do - travel plans, fitness goals, classes and family goals.  After making the goals for 2012, we hit the library for some resources:

• Computer books to make a lesson plan for my grandpa to learn about his new laptop
• Photography books for my new digital SLR
• A career improvement book to help me figure out my "leadership style"
• A personal finance book for my husband and me to figure out what "money type" we are

Catherine the Great: Portrait of A Woman

By Robert Massie

While on a kick of reading non-fiction, I added my name to the library waiting list for a recently written biography of Catherine the Great, Empress of All Russia.  Albeit a bit gun shy after a disappointing experience with Cleopatra, A Life; I gave Catherine my full attention.  At close to 600 pages, this was not a light read.  

It was a fascinating read!  I remember hearing about her in western civilization history courses, but before this book I could not have put her into context of a timeline or named any significant achievements (why was she "The Great"?)  If you are looking for a great biography with interesting world history, check this one out.  There are a few maps in the front of the book, but I found myself consulting world atlases to track her territorial expansion of Russia through various occupations and negotiations.

In addition to the expansion of her empire's boundaries, she had the personal goal of bringing the Enlightenment to Russia.  With regular correspondence with Voltaire and Diderot, she experimented with their ideas as she formed her government.  As the descriptions of the architecture and artwork left much to be imagined, I found it helpful to see these for myself (online, of course.  Thanks Google).  This book is worthwhile to get to know this empress, as well as to place her story on the timeline of western Europe and the American Revolution.  As I'm writing this blog post, I discovered Massie has also written a biography of Peter the Great.  That is being added to my list as well...

Thunderstruck

I spent the New Year's holiday weekend engrossed by Erik Larson's Thunderstruck. It renewed my delight in historical nonfiction, persisted in its tediousness at times, and told the story of an awful murder in the wake of Jack the Ripper's assault.

Thunderstruck intertwines the history of the invention of wireless communication with a story of murder most foul in Edwardian London. Set at the turn of the twentieth century, the prime players include an obsessive and scientifically haphazard Italian in his pursuit of trans-Atlantic wireless communication, a bodacious and outrageous babe who manhandles her husband to a tipping point, a mild-mannered and timid doctor with the capacity to astonish, and his lover: Ethel.

If one can find their way through technical descriptions of discovering something the inventor simply has a hunch is there, the story of the relationship that leads to murder is quite compelling. It was clear to me that the book was written by a gentleman due to its focus on the detail of methods and technologies used. A female writer might have spent more time on exploring the characters in the various relationships, but the lack of sensationalism is refreshing. The distilled view is direct, complete, and quite gripping.

Thunderstruck would be a very frustrating read for someone looking for just a good story. A good story it certainly is, but there is some effort involved. A "beach read" this is not. It would suit the fancy of those interested in the pursuit of progress and the development of communication. They would find themselves engrossed in the weird and very gruesome deception of Dr Crippen.

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.

~

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.