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!