Maren's Christmas Present

I started a tradition this year of giving Maren a very special book at Christmas time.

One that I have chosen very carefully and that she'll keep in a box for years and years to come. Or, at least, until she thinks that the tradition is bunk and discards them :)

This year I gifted a gorgeous collection of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales. Because now is a time for magic and wonder.

I've already purchased next year's book. Gyo Fujikawa's Mother Goose.  I love her gorgeous illustrations.  This book will help me remember the nursery rhymes I really should know.  Humpty Dumpty and all that.

Now if I was really getting ahead of myself, I would pick up one of the Puffin Books children's classics for sale.  They just happen to be at my fav store Anthropologie.  Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, Peter Pan.  How does one decide?

Restraint, Jen.  Seriously.  She can't even read yet.

Literary Resolutions

This new year, I commit myself to the following book goals.

1) Go to more author events. Talking Volumes, etc. Meet another personal book hero.
2) Go to storytime with Maren at Red Balloon or Wash Cty Library.
3) Support the local Newport library! Visit monthly.
4) Finally read the Allende or Uris book sitting on my shelf collecting dust.
5) Comment on reader's blogs and share my blog with fam and friends.
6) Re-design read52books.blogspot and post books read pre 2010.
7) Buy artwork for the blank wall in my library.
8) Read a classic.
9) Visit Wild Rumpus.
10) Cut out even more TV and maintain reading time when I return to work.

These, I hope, are resolutions I can keep.

What in the world of books do you wish for this year?

A Retrospective.

The Year in Review.  53 books + 2666 (a book I never should have opened).  I made it! 
So many lovelies . . . and my favorite book of the year - the Book Thief.
My favorite book "moment" of the year - meeting Anna Quindlen in person.  Bucket list check.

I've bolded my favs below.

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard
Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott
What Now? by Ann Patchett
Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child
Babywise
The Baby Whisperer
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachmann
The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Down Came the Rain by Brooke Shields (and her editor)
It Sucked and Then I Cried by blogger Heather Armstrong
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems
Eaarth by Bill McKibben
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldmann
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Deep Economy by Bill McKibben
Eating Pomegranates by Sarah Gabriel
Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by the notorious Ina May

Healthy Child, Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan
Heading Home with your Newborn by Jana and Shu
Halfbroke Horses by Jeanette Walls
The Power of Purpose by Richard Leider
The Gathering by Anne Enright
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer
The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson
2666 by Robert Bolano
Tinkers by Paul Harding
Nurtureshock by Po Bronson
Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake
The Alice Walker book
The Art of Eating In by Cathy Erway
Marriage and Other Acts of Cruelty by Kate Braestrup
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan
The Outlander by Gil Adamson
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenberger
The Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore
Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd

the one that glitters and sparkles.

oh how I loved this book.  like literary candy for me.  take one part travel, one part coming of age memoir & another part foodie prose. there is no better combination for me.  i relished in the recipes and french phrases sprinkled throughout.  i remembered the yummy taste of Berthillon ice cream and Laduree macaroons from a visit to the City of Lights years ago.

the stinker Matt is going back to Paris the first week in April.  and I am slowly realizing that our daughter will experience world travel yet another year.  c'est la vie.

lest you think this book was junk chick lit, a thoughtful examination of French vs. American attitudes lies within.  is it better to strive for pleasure or success? less or more?  the author remembers yearly "ladies days" when her mother would take her for lunch at an exquisite French restaurant and out to a Broadway matinee. 

with babe in my arms, I dream of fancy excursions to come and a life more simple and refined. and yes, many, MANY macaroons.  I am an American at heart.

the one that spoke to my soul.

A new friend suggested that I read Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott.  I had it on my shelf already.  Went through a Lamott phase 5 years ago and there it sat gathering dust.  I'm so glad she suggested it.

A couple lines that gave me pause and/or made me laugh:

"I just can't get over how much babies cry.  I really had no idea what I was getting into.  To tell you the truth, I thought it would be more like getting a cat." 
(ditto.  this is harder than raising Chloe and Chloe's legacy goes without saying).

"His hands are like little stars."

"Life has got to be bigger than death, and love has got to be bigger than fear or this is all a total bust and we are all just going tourist class."

And my personal favorite:
"while we are on earth, our limitations are such that we can only see the underside of the tapestry that God is weaving.  God sees the topside, the whole evolving portrait and its amazing beauty, and uses us as the pieces of thread to weave the picture."

There.  Two things I never, ever thought I would post about: motherhood and God.  But, reading this book I'm inspired by both.  Life doesn't make much sense right now to me but it does in the whole big scheme of things.  Schmalzy but true.

the one that came in the mail.

As part of my budget plan, I signed up for paperback swap. You swap books with other members and only have to pay shipping costs for the ones you send out. You get a free book credit for all of those books you ship. It's been kinda fun and also helps me clean my shelf of less than desirable books.

http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php

Ann Patchett is an author I collect. I didn't rave about Bel Canto like others but I really liked Truth and Beauty. She gave a commencement speech at Sarah Lawrence and the book What Now? stems from it.

I didn't like this book as much as Anna Quindlen's A Short Guide to a Happy Life.  Love.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/A-Short-Guide-to-a-Happy-Life/Anna-Quindlen/e/9780375504617/?itm=10&USRI=anna+quindlen

Patchett  discusses being a waitress and how it was the best ever preparation for being a novelist.  And I thought about how working in a psych ward was distressing and hard but gave me such compassion for the diversity of people and the emotional struggles others go through - struggles they didn't necessarily ask for.  Working at Fairview was the most challenging job I've had yet in this lifetime and yet it changed me forever.

What Now? was only 97 pages but it made me think.

My favorite line? "It's up to you to choose a life that will keep expanding."

the ones that disagree.

I'm calling a halt to certain parenting books for the time being.
They all confuse me and encourage me not to trust the emerging instincts that parents are supposed to have.
I don't like how they cast judgment and try to fit families into a box. Matt, Maren and I just don't fit.

Babywise

Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child

Dunston

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

I'm too confused & sleep deprived to even comment on the strategies these books describe. I think it's clear my little one has a bit of the flux which may or may not go away with sugar and dairy deprivation or the passing of days. It's clear that my desperate attempts to research and discover the root of it all is making things worse. Our best days are when I embrace the cries, even the "phantom cries" I hear in my sleep.

I know I'll sleep again someday. It will never be quite as blissful as it once was.
I will never again sleep like a baby . . . whatever that means.

the one I'm totally on top of.

so proud of myself.  this book is not due until 2011 and yet I FINISHED!
not going to say much here . . . would rather save comments for book club.
BUT I liked it, I kinda liked it.
this was a book that developed.  i wanted to get to know the characters.
the humor was quirky and nice. 
felt a little like Love Actually the way the plot weaved in and out.

so book clubbers, resolve in 2011 to read this one.  if I can do it, so can you!

the one about despair.

This was not a book to read Thanksgiving week.  The December pic for my Stillwater book club was A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.  Worst. Book. Ever.

I'm going to give away the whole book right here so no one EVER has to read it.  The main character has a god awful mother who mistreats him.  He develops a sexual addiction and traipses all over Europe finding a countess to marry.  The countess then cheats on the sex addict and has a baby boy with the gardener.  The sex addict beats the Boy.  The countess dies.  The Boy then spends his eternity attempting to kill said sex addict.

It really just disintegrates from there.

The writing is terrible.  Third person that sounds like "he did this and then she did that."

on page 281, "it was just a story about despair."

Um. Maybe you could have started out with that disclaimer and saved us all the trouble.

the one I want Kate to read.

I just finished Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum.  Love. Love. Love.

This book reminds me what it was like to be a middle school counselor and how absolutely raw and genuine those kids were.  I miss those exhausting, exhilarating days now and then.

My favorite line:
"this was a feeling that Ms. Hempel couldn't shake: a conviction that she spent her days among people at the age when they were most purely themselves.  How could she not be depleted when she came home, having been exposed for hours, without protection, to all of those thrumming, radiant selves?"

This is a lovely book.  And the voice of a middle school teacher is spot on.  Like being in the trenches again.  A must read.

the one that confused me.

I just finished the novel White Teeth by Zadie Smith.  I'm not sure I have the words or the energy to discuss the confusion I'm feeling about this book.  Discussions on immigration, militant Islam and a crazy Freudian family. 

Too many characters, too many pages. 

I've read other Zadie Smith and I like her wry wit.  I just didn't get this book. 

But I did finish it.  I can say that much. 

the ones I never thought I'd read

I know how this looks but bear with me . . . because life is good.

I just finished:
Down Came the Rain by Brooke Shields (and her editor)
It Sucked and Then I Cried by blogger Heather Armstrong
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

Brooke's book just made me angry at Tom Cruise and incredibly empathetic for her struggle (minus the baby nurse, luxury CLEAN condos and oodles of support).

Naked Mole Rat made Matt and I laugh out loud. We read it to Maren. She didn't get it. BUT hopefully someday she will rather read than scream. 

It Sucked and Then I Cried was SO crass and hilarious. Had I read this book two months ago, I would have disparaged it. Now I have a sailor's mouth worse than anyone I know, have lost all modesty about my body and have reached even lower expectations about the cleanliness of my house. Impossible! 

I'm not depressed but I can see how incredibly easy it would be to enter that state. If Little M hadn't taken to the swing this week, I might have completely lost my marbles.  I totally get it now, mothers and fathers of the world. And I will never, ever again look smugly at the screaming toddler in line at Target.


I no longer have to write a book about having an infant because it's already been covered here.  My favorite chapter of It Sucked was "Her Screamness Who Screams a Lot Every Day With the Screaming" followed by "I Never Thought I Would Become This Woman".

Ditto.  Nuf said.

the one that brings me back.

I was reading EAARth by Bill McKibben aloud to Maren when I realized that was a little too depressing and morbid for my baby's first book. I know she can't actually understand the words. Thank God. Bill McKibben paints a pretty dismal picture for the future of our young ones, global warming and all.

Anyways, I switched it up.  Honestly, it was a little too dismal for me.  And so, I'm going backwards and re-reading the Little House series. It has the perfect length chapters to get me started with this read aloud gig. Brings back so many memories: the sugar snow, when cousin Charley is naughty and gets stung by the bees, Laura's doll Charlotte. Is it just me or are parts of the book just a little racist?

Little House is also on the Hallmark Channel A LOT. I'm realizing just how often as I nurse little M here at home. I guess I prefer the books. On to the Prairie . . .

the timely one.

My Stillwater Book Club chose the book Gift from The Sea.  Unbeknownst to me.  I was busy at the time having a baby in the hospital when they selected the book.  Ironically though, the name Maren (MAH RIN) translates to "gift from the sea."  What a lovely coincidence.
 
Matt and I chose the name Maren for several reasons. 
One: It's Norwegian. 
Two: We thought it wasn't so tricky and would be a good match for Prestegaard.  Hah!  Apparently in MN the name Maren is not so common.  My Dad has given up on the pronunciation and is calling her Matilda instead.
Three: Personally, the name reminds me of my favorite place in the entire world.  Marin County CA (different pronunciation but same happy reminder).

Back to the point though. 

Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote a reflective piece called Gift from the Sea way back in 1955. The book still has a lot of meaning for women today.  It talks about ideas such as solitude, simplicity, marriage, growth, etc.  I'm not feeling particularly insightful today so I'll offer a quote from the book instead:

"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too inpatient.  To dig for treasures shows not only impatience or greed but lack of faith.  Patience, patience, patience is what the sea teaches.  Patience and faith.  One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.

I have been waiting for little Maren most of my life.  I get frustrated every day as we learn each other's temperaments and find a way to trust.  I need to remember that the greatest gift my little Maren will teach me is patience and peace in not knowing.

the one that should just be.

News from the book publishing world.  JK Rowling may not be finished with Harry yet.

"I could definitely write an eighth, ninth, 10th [book]," author J.K. Rowling tells Oprah Winfrey in an interview airing Friday.

For now, Rowling is content with leaving the characters for now.

"I'm not going to say I won't. I don't think I will ... I feel I am done, but you never know," the British author added, saying that she is "in a new phase."

Honestly, some things should just be left alone.  Brett Favre, Sex and the City and Harry Potter . . . may we relish in memories of your greatness.

But go away already.

the one I read while in a coma.

I just finished The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass.  I'm not sure how.  I read the novel in fits and starts while nursing little Miss Maren.  I read the book in the midst of a 104 degree fever and at all times of day and night.  At one point, it was covered in bits of Raisin Bran and spit-up.  Gross.

Julia Glass is one of my favorite authors.  I love the language she uses in her books.  Words like fortuitously and hyperfastidiously.  She won the National Book Award for Three Junes and I have been smitten with her work since that time.  She writes like Anna Quindlen and Maeve Binchy.  Knows character development and how to spin a tale. 

I really can't in good conscience review this work.  I loved the stodgy old character of Percy Darling, the "Stars Hollow" town of Matlock and the idealistic preschool called Elves and Fairies.   But my head is just not working right now.  This novel is deserving a space on my shelf and another good read someday. 

the one movie I can't wait to see.

I just finished Mockingjay and have to say that I. Loved. It.  Katniss is so real to me.  I get aggravated by her whining (at times) but I adore her stubborn streak.  I can't wait to see her on the big screen!

I listened to an interview with Suzanne Collins on the NYT book podcast.  Turns out she is a screenwriter.  I think that helps explain why her books are so all consuming and action packed.  She has helped write the screenplay for the movie that will begin production in January 2011.  Here's hoping that it will do the books justice and not glorify the violence the book is meant to critique.

There is a lot of heart to this trilogy and Suzanne takes risks making analogies between modern day society and her country of Panem.  I'm an unabashed fan of what Ms. Collins has done with her work.

the one I read on my last day.

Revelation: Today is my last day married w/out children.  It's not that we're having the baby immediately.  Simply, it's Friday of workshop week and I had the day entirely to myself.  From now on, I will be working, with Matt or watching Little M.

So, I relished today.  A decaf latte and peach & cherry crumble at Swede Hollow.  Caught up on my google reader and read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

What a lovely book.  It was deep, funny, compelling and sweet at times.   I was crushed by page 10 when Oscar the dog died and then Alexie completely had me by page 59 with the phrase "emotionally erect."  This man has a way with words that completely draws you in.  My favorite scene is when Arnold Spirit Jr wins the basketball game and realizes what he really lost.  the NYT says that Alexie has mastered YA fiction and I completely agree.

This is the kind of book I would want my teacher to read aloud because it sounds so conversational and engaging.  There are so many themes to discuss: generational poverty and alcoholism on the rez, coming of age and the role of family and fathers.  I fell in love with so many characters despite their flaws and faults: Gordy and Rowdy and Penelope.  I wish I could attend the next book club to discuss them all. 

Really, really good pick Kerri!  The perfect way to spend my last day. 

the one by ayelet.

Ayelet Waldman was on Oprah a few years back.  I saw the episode.  This was before Oprah starting Skyping and her shows got weird.  I have never seen Oprah viewers get quite so upset as when Ayelet sat Oprah's couch.  Ayelet tried to defend her strong belief that she loved her husband (well known author Michael Chabon) more than her four children.  Quite the Oprah controversy.

Ayelet's response to the backlash is her book Bad Mother.  According to Waldman, this book "is about the perils and joys of trying to be a decent mother in a world intent on making you feel like a bad one."  It reminded me a little bit of Anne Lamott's books and was a refreshing read considering all the hippie, attachment parenting books I've been reading lately. 


I have some worries about being a good parent.  That dinner will be Red Savoy's pizza and Subway more often than not.  That the occasional Bachelor episode and KDWB song will invade our home and our little girl's self esteem.  That I won't sew the beautiful Halloween costumes that my mother did or read the prescribed eight books a day that will help my daughter develop a love for learning.  Gasp.


I'm just going to do the best I can to love my husband and my little girl simultaneously.  My husband will have to make up for my mistakes and I'll make up for his.  And, hopefully, when we're all old and gray we'll laugh together about each and every one of them.


Next on deck . . . Mockingjay, Alexie and childbirth. 

the one our book club should have picked.

There's this little book called Little Bee.  It's really incredible.  I'm not supposed to talk about it.  The cover actually admonishes readers from revealing too much of the plot.

People who have read the book comment that it sticks with them.  Some call the book depressing.  They're right.  It is depressing.  But the book is written with an intelligent audience in mind and made me reflect on how often and easily I turn away from what's uncomfortable in our world.  There are violent scenes in this book but fortunately they are not gratuitous.  The telling of this violence serves an educational purpose (unlike in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).  Others may disagree.

This book has been all over the Target shelves and paraded around the internet.  One of my favorite books of the summer.  But according to Chris Cleave (or his publisher) I'm not allowed to talk about it.

A Simple Poem

 


















The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.

I don't think ahead to loss and let it color the fullness.

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I am content in the here, the now.

Be. here. now. Rest in the grace of the world and be free.

Wendell Berry

the one that follows the first.

I just finished the sequel to The Hunger Games.  Love.  Love.  Love.

Suzanne Collins is going to be dirty, filthy rich when they make these books into movies.  The second book was as compelling as the first.  It absolutely drew me in.

Waiting for August 24th now to find out what happens to Katniss and the country of Panem.

my favorite one in a long while.

This is a trilogy I can actually get behind (vs. Twilight & The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo).  A book that totally consumed me and seemed completely novel and unique.  This book should even capture the attention of my 17 yo nephew who hates to read (gasp!) and much prefers audio books.

Normally I am on top of book phenomenons and internet crazes but I feel a bit behind on the Hunger Games series.  My friend Kate reviewed it recently on her blog so I'll refer to her spot on comments:

Kate's Review

I am now racing through the second book and eager for book three (Mockingjay) to release on August 24th.  I would love, love to see Suzanne Collins at Wild Rumpus on Friday, October 1st but may be otherwise occupied at home. Drat!

Info on Suzanne Collins Event

I love when good books find the shelf at just the right time.  Cure your book slump, encourage blanket reading in the dog days of August. 

This book was a winner! 

the one that makes me scared for the kids.

I just finished Deep Economy by Bill McKibben.  This book brought about many realizations.  It also reaffirmed that what I really want is to own a cheese farm in Vermont and live amidst what seems to be a utopia of creative and independent thinking folk. 

Deep Economy brings together the ideas of the environmentalists and foodies and nutritionists and politicians that have scared the beejeezus out of us lately talking about our dismal future.  McKibben plants seed of hopefulness and I was rather intrigued to hear about ideas that are working round the globe in getting people to think smaller and think local.  I loved the year of eating seasonally and locally section and it made me want to re-read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle book.

I'm wishing that my husband would read this book but know that I owe him a read off his bookshelf first.

I wish I could say more.  It was a profound book but perhaps a little too profound for a pregnant lady just trying to beat the heat in August.   Go to http://www.350.org/ if you want to hear more about 10/10/10 - a day set aside to fight against global warming and save our precious Earth.  

Eager for the book club discussion.

the smart one about cancer.

This book got me. 
Eating Pomegranates : A Memoir of Mothers, Daughters, and the BRCA gene.

Lest you think I only read books about food and babies, I devoured something with a bit more depth and purpose.  The author of this book, Sarah Gabriel, was on Kerri Miller's Midmorning show a few weeks back.  She is brutally honest, literary and informative about her experience with breast cancer.  Her mother died of breast cancer at the early age of 44.  Given the significant family history, Sarah decided to embrace genetic counseling and have several proactive surgeries to mitigate her risk.  And yet . . .

What I enjoyed most about this book is how candidly she discusses the family disease.  She discusses the origins of the disease and the first ever mastectomy in 1802.  You learn about the statistics and current developments in treatment through Sarah's eyes.  Although the cancer word is not as dreaded as it once was, people still shy away from it.  They yearn for you to speak positively about the experience and fill them with hope.  It's not what one discusses at the grocery store or at the neighborhood barbecue.

This is a tough book to talk about. It made me think about my legacy, my future and my decisions.  

I can't find the words but luckily Sarah Gabriel does quite well.

another one by a foodie.

I quickly read Ruth Reichl's Not Becoming My Mother the other day.  I mean QUICK.  This memoir is 110 short pages long. 

This is Ruth Reichl.

I'm intrigued by Ms. Reichl.  She was restaurant critic for the New York Times and editor in chief for the now defunct Gourmet magazine.  BUT this book is a memoir of her mother and how she experienced limiting choices for her career and life happiness in the 1940s and 1950s. 

think January Jones in Mad Men - if that is a reference for you.  A heartfelt understanding on how the role of women in our society has transformed.

Ruth doesn't think she is all that beautiful.  Her mother grew up feeling ugly too.

My favorite quote:
"You'll see.  Once you find out who you are, you will find your beauty.  You have to grow into your face.  But I promise you this: you will."

There is something about growing old and truly understanding your mother that just appeals.

the one . . . make that three . . . books about babies.

I just finished three books about newborns.  None made me cry OR feel anxious, irritated and overwhelmed.  Would highly recommend.

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by the notorious Ina May

Healthy Child, Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan
Heading Home with your Newborn by Jana and Shu

I decided that I would take baby steps (hah!) on being green AND start just with the food chapter in Healthy Child.  Meaning: organic milk & meat, staying away from the dirty dozen, obtaining fruit at farms or markets, stripping plastic from my kitchen and cutting out preservatives, corn syrup and trans fat.  Some of these efforts I have already made but am now re-energized and committed to the task.

My favorite quote was from Ina May and I plan to use it as my mantra for the next six weeks.

 Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: YOUR BODY IS NOT A LEMON. 

You are not a machine. 
The Creator is not a careless mechanic. 
Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well as aardvarks, lions, rhinoceri, elephants, moose and water buffalo. 
Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body.

True enough.

one really big announcement.

Kerri Miller just announced the Fall 2010 Talking Volumes season.  I just love the Fitz and SO enjoyed attending these author talks a few years ago.  Tickets have gone up in price and become a lot harder to get your hands on.  If life were not so unpredictable this fall and if literary companions were in abundance, I would be attending each and every one of these events.

Jonathan Franzen - September 21st
Nicole Krauss - October 28th
Nora Ephron - November 17th
Anita Shreve - December 8th

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/ongoing/talking_volumes/

Now doesn't that look fun?

the one with very short chapters.

I just finished the follow-up to The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  This novel is a great book for those with lots on their plate and not much time to breathe.  The chapters are two pages - tops. 

Half Broke Horses is the true life "novel" (read: not memoir but fiction) about Jeannette's grandmother; a women who pulled out her dentures and let 'em have it.  Lily Casey Smith was a one room schoolhouse teacher and sold bootlegged liquor.  I've heard this book called "Little House" for adults.  Maybe, maybe not.

Please don't have overly high expectations of this book.  It was a good summer read and worth checking out but nowhere near as riveting and rocking as The Glass Castle.

I do LOVE the feeling of finishing a book and putting it on my shelf.  Such satisfaction.

the one I read today.

Another library pick from the self help shelf:
The Power of Purpose by Richard Leider

Not much to say about this one.  With a baby on the way and my occupation on pause, finding purpose will be a theme for me this year.  Finding something so powerful in life that I might be willing to give up almost anything to discover it.  This book didn't transform my ideas but more set the stage.

Some favorite quotes:
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy". 
George Bernard Shaw

And I do love the quote from Marianne Williamson (too long to copy here but WONDERFUL).
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure . . . . your playing small doesn't serve the world."

I so want to be thoroughly worn out.  No longer physically or emotionally but spiritually.

the irish one.

Matt picked up this little guy for me at Hodges Figgis bookstore in Dublin.  Anne Enright is an acclaimed author that lives in Ireland and won the 2007 Booker Prize for The Gathering.  It seemed a perfect little novel to remember my time in Dublin.

This is a novel about family secrets.  And most novels I read about family secrets end up feeling like an episode of the Oprah show (see: incest & molestation).  This is a heavy book but Enright does magically weave the story together and I did not feel burdened by the characters or the revelations.  Critics liken this book to Joan Didion or James Joyce's The Dubliners.  The Library Journal calls this book "an acquired taste" and "suitable for larger collections."  Translation: not for all.

I enjoyed the part at the end where grandmother Ada has a white coffee and slice of cake at Bewleys on Grafton.  Been there, done that.

I relished in this book as I relished in Ireland.  A country that has many secrets and stories to share.

the one about Eating Animals.

Difficult book to read on Fourth of July weekend with barbecuing in full swing.  I hemmed and hawed about reading this book.  I've read Pollan, Schlosser, watched Food Inc.  Wasn't sure what more I could glean that would make me entirely swear off animals and animal products.  When it comes to meat, I'm someone who could take it or leave it.  And usually, I just leave it.

Reviewers of the book appreciate that Jonathan Safron Foer does not try to sway the reader to become a vegan.  In contrast, I felt a little shamed and guilted.  Spots of the book were repetitive and, at times, Foer really knows how to lay it on thick.  But his research appeared to be very current and extensive and ultimately had me convinced.  I learned a little more about the demons of eating poultry and seafood.  Alas, I'd always thought that red meat was the real criminal. 

This book gave me food for thought, a desire to continue shopping locally and will probably lead to much confusion in the meals that follow this month.  A disturbing book by an author that does not hold back one iota.  People will either love this book or decide it's just not for them.

the one with buzz.

The tag line for this novel is "imagine Ingmar Bergman crossed with Silence of the Lambs."  How did I miss reading that little quip?  Completely dead on description that might have kept me away.

I finished Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in less than four days on a transatlantic flight to Dublin.  There is financial intrigue and family saga and stuff that I really don't want to write about.  My good friend the school librarian disliked this book for its treatment of women.  And yet, everyone and their brother is reading Stief Larsson's book this summer and loving it. 

This was the perfect book to read when experiencing jet lag.  It kept me engaged and I raced through the pages.  I'm half tempted to read the next two in the series.  But, I have to say, that I was icked out and sometimes bored.  Without being too critical, this is just not my type of book.  But who am I to say?

that one.

oh 2666.  I have so many feelings about your pages.

Guilt - I am madly jealous of Kate for finishing this nasty book.  She is a more dedicated reader than I.

Confusion - I honestly feel like author Roberto Bolano was self-medicating as he wrote this novel.  Or else, we are talking some serious dementia.  Not sure.

Very slight admiration - for the most beautiful cover ever.  Not the pages inside.

A bit of disgust - the random hook-ups, cemetery stalking and beat downs were just weird.

I considered leaving this book on a random bench somewhere but, you know, I did finish a good 300 of the 900 pages.  Better than most in our book club.  After much reflection, I'm counting this as a book read.  I will refrain from throwing it against the wall and maybe use it for a good doorstop someday.

Moving on . . .

Pardon my absence as I read another 900 page saga on Ireland in preparation for Ireland (Trinity by Leon Uris).  Cross your fingers.

the one that made me feel dumb.

It's that time of year again folks.  Time to read the Pulitzer Prize winner and add another literary masterpiece to the collection.  There have been lovelies (March and Olive Kitteridge) and real downers (The Road).  Tinkers by Paul Harding was a darling surprise and critics love, love, love.

I just felt dumb reading it.  The novel is told from the perspective of George, as he lays dying, during the last 8 days of his life, hallucinating, and reflecting on his life.  This book is more painting than plot.  If you are one for scenery of the north woods and wordiness about clocks then this is the book for you.  The beginning was poetic and even humorous.  Matt and I read it aloud and fell for the sweet nature of George.  Then, when George started to fall away from life and into memory, I felt a little lost. 

I'd love to know what others think of this book.  A potential gem.  I think I just fell prey to the same loss of consciousness that poor George experiences in this book.  Definitely not a beach read.

the one we read in the car.

I'm slowly coming out from under my library stack.  Thus, the rather obscene number of postings on non-fiction children's topics will soon end.  I was pleasantly surprised by the pages of my latest book.  Matt and I read it together aloud on the drive up to the cabin and learned a thing or two.

Notably . . .
Praise can undermine the motivation of young ones, unless it is specific and intermittent.
Sleep is not for wusses when it comes to kids.  Every hour that they lose costs 10 pts on an IQ test.
Fighting is OK but taking it to the bedroom is not.  Kids need to hear that it has been resolved.
Lying is a developmental milestone.  96% of kids do lie AND on average once every hour.  OMG.

Nurtureshock was a great book.  The last 40 odd pages source the research that backs up the findings.

Loved.  It.

the one that demonizes obgyns.

Who knew that I could be so affected by Ricki Lake?  Having just watched The Business of Being Born, a documentary that exposes birthing practices in the United States, I was drawn to her book.  I'm left utterly confused now when, in fact, I thought I had it all planned out.  The book talks about the ridiculously high c-section rate of 31% in America compared to other countries and shares stories of powerless mothers whose instincts have been replaced by drugs and other unnecessary interventions. 

And then, the book discusses another way . . . the way to be a birth goddess.  The way not to be cut open and shot up with needles.

Unfortunately, I think this book had an unintended effect on me.   I was so affected by the statistics and comparisons of other health care systems that I'm not sure what's best anymore.  I was feeling more powerful and confident before Ricki Lake's influence. 

I think I better go back to summer chick lit and Pulitzer Prize books before I lose my perspective.

the one about Alice Walker's daughter.

So this book is written by Rebecca Walker who happens to dislike her famous author mother a great deal.  The book is almost sad because of the level of dysfunction in the author's family.  I mean, no wonder she had so much ambivalence about being a mother when the hatred runs thick for her own.

This book was funny in parts and terribly easy to digest.  I loved the story about the waiting room and the "It won't come out" woman.  My favorite part of the book was this quote: "I am not saying a girl can't have it all, because I am all for making life expand to meet your limitless vision, but I am saying that, first, said girl has to know what "all" really is. 

The quote made me think of the movie Up in the Air and how Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick have completely different world views despite their age difference only spanning 15 years.  I distinctly remember a conversation with a good friend of mine about "having it all: work and family."  That friend ended up quitting her job a few years after our conversation.  I can only imagine her definition changed as most all definitions do.  And maybe, all = more than work + family.  Maybe the work/family balance oversimplifies the whole conversation about what really makes up a full life.

I need to stop reading baby books.  I'm sure this is normal but I feel a little off track.

the one that was supposed to inspire cooking.

I haven't been this enmeshed with the library since I was a teenager.  Currently, I have 10 books checked out from Washington County.  I am there almost daily.  I couple my visits with a mini ice cream cone from Cups and Scoops (located in the same building).  I needed to restrain from ice cream on Saturday b/c I was afraid the cashier might think I actually have a problem.

I do have a problem.  I keep reading blogger books.  This one, The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove, sounded inspiring.  And the beginning really was.  I think I could save a bundle of money by cooking at home.  I do have a desire to bake bread and raise chickens.  But, she really lost me about a hundred pages in.  There wasn't any meat in the book (figuratively, that is.)

A much better book is Molly Wizenburg's A Homemade Life.

And yet, I'll probably still keep listening to Cathy Erway's podcast b/c I'm awed by anyone that can write a book at the age of 24.  And I really need to learn how to cook.  Nightly.  More power to her.

the one about caritas.

Reading this novel marks a significant departure for me in three ways:

1) I am embracing the Washington County Library and a new book budget of $15/month.  Really.

2) It makes me want to explore more deeply the beliefs of the Unitarian church.

Did you know, for example, that it was the Unitarian Julia Ward Howe whom established Mother's Day?  It was originally a call for peace and disarmament so that mothers could have a day without worry for their sons in battle. 

2) I am departing from the book 2666.  I shall return, perhaps.

The book Marriage and Other Acts of Charity is written by Kate Braestrup.  I think I offended Matt by the title of this book.  But, really this is a book about caritas (the Latin word for charity).  A word that describes a kind of love that is unconditional, selfless and self-giving.  The author lost this kind of love in her first marriage but found it again through reflection and acts of charity.

And then tragically, Kate lost her husband in a traffic accident.  She is now a Unitarian Universalist minister and game warden for the Maine warden service.   The novel reads like the funniest, most intelligent sermon on love and God that you've ever heard.  It's a book that I could pick up again and again for its insight, charm and perspective. 

But, unfortunately, I'll have to buy it first - within my $15 budget for the month of May.

My favorite quote:
If your heart breaks, let it break open.  Love more.

the one with the yellow cover.

Well, I finally read an Emily Giffin novel.  It was a bit exhausting.

I felt by the end of Baby Proof that I really didn't know the character.  Didn't know what she looked like, what she ate for dinner, how she styled her hair.  Honestly, I just really hated this book.  Nuff said.

Guess I'll have to stick with Curtis Sittenfeld & Jennifer Weiner if I really want to delve into the chick lit world.

And stay away from the pastel books.

They really don't look good on my book shelf.

the one by Anna.

What a blissful week it has been reading a book I love.  A vacation from nasty, grueling books that are tedious chores to get through.  A book with characters I can relate to, free from shock tactics of sex and gratuitous violence.  A book with heart.

What I love about Anna is that she gets grief.  She lost her mom in her twenties to ovarian cancer.  My favorite passage in this novel takes place when Mary Beth questions another's grief.  She says "whatever she did was fine.  That's what I've learned.  It's fine.  Whatever you manage to do."  Life should be about more than just managing but some days we can only do our very best.

I was charmed by the ending of this novel.  I have a dream about moving to Vermont someday and living in a barn and having antiques and cooking chicken tetrazzini for my family and learning to be a master gardener.  But the life I envision now will ultimately be disappointingly different and much, much grander than I could ever imagine.

I know I shouldn't reveal the last sentence of the book but darn it, I love it.
"This is my life.  I am trying."

Can't wait to meet Anna tonight.

the one that is really sick.

The Cement Garden is the first novel that Ian McEwan ever published and it really makes me question the author's lucidity and values.  This book is chillingly morbid and dark as it explores themes of sexuality and death.  Four children are left orphaned by the death of their two parents.  What ensues after they are left to their own devices in their home is nothing short of awful. 

I don't know what to do with this book now.  It feels wrong on my book shelf.  I can't believe I was gifted this book by a member of the Stillwater Book Club. 

Perhaps being totally creeped out by a book is a sign that the author has extraordinary skill in expression and imagination.  But something this bad cannot be good.  I think I might be done with McEwan now.

the one I didn't pick

I am in a book slump that only Anna Quindlen can save.   Thanks be that she is coming to MN and launching a new book April 13th.  And yes, I will be first in line.

The Outlander by Gil Adamson was picked by Diane in my Stillwater Book Club.  A woman who normally has exquisite taste in books.  We all pick duds sometimes.

The only good thing to say about the novel is that it has a pretty cover.  Matt almost picked it up recently at BNoble because of his pretty cover theory.  Let's just say that I will continue to pick the books around here.  I mean, really.  It's true what they say about never judging a book by its cover, you know?

This was a book about a women who killed her husband and runs off into the Wild West in a state of despair and madness.  I skipped paragraphs at a time and annoyed my husband endlessly with exclamations of "I hate this book." I didn't throw it across the room but I certainly thought about it.
 
Bring on Anna!

the weird one about twins.

 Who writes a book like this?  Terribly, terribly strange and disturbing.  Or maybe just further evidence that I am not a fan of sci fi and never will be.

Her Fearful Symmetry is the follow-up novel to Audrey Niffenegger's Time Travelers Wife.  The topic of the novel was intriguing: a quirky aunt dies and leaves her fortune to her nieces; becomes a ghost and observes them. There is a cast of equally quirky characters and an interesting setting near a cemetery in England.  That said, the relationship between the twins is at once dark and incestuous.  And what ultimately happens in the book is downright dumb.

The reviews of Her Fearful Symmetry have been horrific.  Kirkus Reviews calls the plot of this book "breathtakingly far-fetched."  The book is terribly readable but ridiculously macabre. 

This book was a gift - if you want to call it that.  I should have known the novel was a stinker from the first page.  The names of the two main characters are Edwina and Elspeth.  Shame on me that I didn't put the novel down after page 50.

the one about butchers.

I am BEYOND thrilled about my new book club.  Kate is hosting at her house next week for an eclectic group of girls (non-related except for a love of books).  I'm eager to meet some of Sarah's blogging friends and someone who lived kitty korner from me freshman year in Brandt!

But about the book.  I'm pretty sure I read Master Butchers Singing Club years ago.  It was on my shelf.  But as I read the book again ??? it was so unfamiliar.  I'm hoping this book will cement in my memory now with a lively discussion.  It is a saga of grand proportion and written by a woman who knows words.

Without revealing too much, thoughts I had about the book:
1) What must it have been like to be a German American during/after WWII?  I'm German after all.
2) Has Louise Erdrich experienced death/cancer?  B/C she writes so authentically about the experience.
3)  How in the world did Erich get to a POW camp in N.  Minnesota?  Really?
4)  How was Delphine's relationship with Fidelis any different than with Ciprine?
5)  Did TOO much drama sacrifice character dev?  The female undertaker and Step and a Half?

I'm excited to read Last Report at Little No Horse now set in the same fictional town of Argus.  And I anticipate the next assigned novel for our new book club without a name.

the lukewarm one.

I have been dying to read The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  And now that I've read it, I'm not even sure what to say.  The book was confusing and it didn't have to be.  Just trying to understand the plot took away from reveling in the beauty of the characters.  If it weren't for old man Leo, I would have put the book on the shelf days ago. 

This seems to be a popular book attracting those that enjoyed Time Travelers's Wife and flocked to the  movie Julie and Julia.  The novel has a very devoted following.  Just hoping that someone who loved the novel can help me understand.  My brain is a muddied mess after reading the last page.

ho-hum.

another one about a blogger.

So, I just finished The Happiness Project - a novel that has been lauded all over blogland.  But I wasn't impressed.  I'm getting tired of thirty somethings with cliche ideas that can't write.  Harsh, I know.  Would I, could I be ambitious enough to publish my own little thing.  Then, I could judge.

The author Gretchen Rubin counters John Stuart Mill and his quote:
"ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so."

Rubin firmly believes in the intentional pursuit of happiness.  She directs us to create a resolution checklist full of activities to bring joy to our days (i.e. straightening the piles, always accepting invitations and reading memoirs of catastrophe to build gratitude).  The checklist made me exhausted. I'm left feeling that for most of us the solution to finding happiness is to lighten up.

I'd like to recommend Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner (a former NPR reporter) for those that want to delve into the genuinely compelling topic of happiness.  God knows, Americans don't corner the market on what it means to be happy AND Eric Weiner explores the globe to explain why.