Thought for Sunday, July 27, 2014

As I work through all the items on my list of things to accomplish in my lifetime I often have to stop and center myself with this thought.  What I find myself doing is taking the word creativity and art out and replacing them with my words.  My most recent statement looks like this: Becoming is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Achieving is knowing which ones to keep. What would your statement look like?   

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Quotable Quote for Saturday July 26, 2014

Here is another great bookish quote for Saturday, July 26, 2014.  The great Bonni Goldberg had this to say on writing, do you agree or disagree?  Let us know your thoughts here at The Things You Can Read!

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Book to Look For in September...Bad Magic

"From The Tempest and Lord of the Flies to shows like Gilligan's Island and Lost, cultural allusions abound." -Publishers Weekly

Bonus Offer!

Send an email to ann.dye@hbgusa.com with your full name, age, and email address to be entered in a random drawing to win a free signed copy of Bad Magic from the author!   Limit one entry/person.

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Hemingway is Alive and Well!

Down in the Florida Keys Papa Hemingway lives on in this years 34th Annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest.  Read all about the winner:  Click Here  Have you ever attended the Hemingway Festival?  It's on our bucket list.

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The Biggest Heartbreakers in Literature."

"There's nothing quite like the feeling of having your heart metaphorically ripped out of your chest," the Huffington Post stated in their post dealing with, "the biggest heartbreakers in literature."  We loved their choices, but we started to think about what we might add to the list, but we drew a blank, so we thought we'd put it out there in the blogosphere:  What would you add to their list?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.

Our personal favorite:  Gone With the Wind

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The National Literacy Trust: 50 book-shaped benches across London

Image Credit: The National Literacy Trust

Scattered across London The National Literacy Trust sponsored 50 book-shaped benches for the summer, "each dedicated to an iconic London-related author or character."  If you want to know more about this click on over to The Guardian and read all about it.  I'd love to see this in my own hometown.  What are your thoughts?  Who would you like to see represented on bench?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Image Credit: The National Literacy Trust

Related Link

Pull Up a Chair

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Bookish Article: 19 dilemmas every book lover has faced at least once

Question:  Do you start a new book, even when you are in the middle of five others?  This was one of Buzzfeed's "19 dilemmas every book lover has faced at least once."  Pop on over to Buzzfeed and read what the other 18 dilemmas might be.  How many can you say YES to?  Let us know what you think about this one!

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Flannery O'Connor quote

In our quest to collect all quotes bookish in nature here is another great Flannery O'Connor quote, via Biblioklept:

"I know well enough that very few people who are supposedly interested in writing are interested in writing well. They’re interested in publishing something, and if possible in making a 'killing.'"-Flannery O'Connor

Agree? Disagree?  Let us know!

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Review in Miniature: Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart by Carol Wall

Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart by Carol Wall is a memorable, uplifting, and thought provoking memoir about two people who form an unlikely friendship. If you are expecting a book about gardening then scratch this one off your list. The garden in this story is a symbolic metaphor for so much more. As People Magazine said, "...Owita teaches Wall how to find grace amid heartbreak and to accept that beauty exists because it is fleeting—as in her garden, as in life.” If you like memoirs this is a “must add” for your reading list.

I'd like to thank Penguin Group Putnam, who provided me with a reading copy through NetGalley.

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Review in Miniature: Stitches : a handbook on meaning, hope, and repair by Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott is an amazing voice in today’s writing world. She is able to capture what so many of us feel with just the right words. I’ve been a fan of her writing since reading Bird By Bird back in the 90s. I’ll also add that I am partial to her nonfiction writing, although her works of fiction are great too. So it was with great enthusiasm that I opened her latest work of nonfiction Stitches: a handbook on meaning, hope, and repair, which is out on the heels of her previous bestseller Help, Thanks, Wow. 

In Stitches Lamott explores how in these chaotic times in which we live we can recover from personal devastation and loss and find peace, meaning and wholeness in our lives. How does she suggest we do this, well in typical Lamott fashion, “..by collecting the ripped shreds of our emotional and spiritual fabric and sewing them back together, one stitch at a time.” This is classic Lamott! 

If you are familiar with Lamott’s previous works sit back and enjoy her prose. If you are new to Lamott this is a great choice to tryout the Lamott experience. 

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin Riverhead Hardcover for the advanced reader’s copy of Stitches: a handbook on meaning, hope, and repair by Anne Lamott.

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Review in Miniature: Mozart: A Life by Paul Johnson

My thirty plus year love affair with Mozart is in no uncertain terms insatiable. My quest to attend all of his operas and to hear as many of his other musical compositions performed live continues and my next step, as the world’s biggest Mozart fan, is to share my love of everything Mozart with my children, so when I realized that a new biography on Mozart was being published by Penguin Group: Viking I had to get my hands on a copy...pronto. I was not disappointed. Mozart: A Life by Paul Johnson is a great compliment to any Mozart aficionado's collection of biographies of this great composer.

Coming in at 176 pages this work of nonfiction does not overwhelm the new to Mozart biography reader or disappoint a reader who gobbles up everything Mozart. The book focuses on Mozart and his music. Specifically the biography focused on Mozart’s ability to write music, compose music for operas, and his ability to create emotional music that captured the hearts of the common man and royals alike. His was a life filled with financial debt, loss of children, and health problems. Many may be surprised to learn that he frequently had to beg for money from friends. Let me say that these were not uncommon problems for even upper class folks of Mozart’s day. but it is always surprising to me that he also had a tough time selling his compositions, which means a steady income for the Mozart family was a constant challenge. With all the ups and downs of Mozart’s life his talent never faded. 

Sadly he died too young at just thirty-five, but through his music he still lives in the hearts of all classical musical lovers everywhere. This book will definitely whet your appetite for more about this remarkable child prodigy. 

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin Group Viking for the advance reader’s copy of Mozart: A Life by Paul Johnson.

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Did You Know To Kill a Mockingbird is Now in E-Book and Audio Form?

Harper Lee and Mary Badham: Scout on the set of To Kill a Mockingbird

Click HERE

What can I say, I named my son Harper which should say it all.  Just in case you hadn't heard To Kill a Mockingbird, my all time favorite book, is now available in e-book and audio form.  Go read it or listen to it read by Sissy Spacek and see what all the fuss is about.  Let us know what you think!

Interesting Links:
NPR Story:  Click Here

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Review in Miniature: The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit

“I am in awe of this novel . . . The Wives of Los Alamos will be read and reread and remembered.” —Gail Godwin 

Well, praise like that is hard won and in this case well deserved. This is the story of the women who came together from all over the world to make homes and a life for the men who were working on the bomb that will ultimately be used to annihilate those living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Written in the collective first person plural this novel’s unique use of perspective takes the reader on a different kind of ride. Think modern Greek chorus and you’ve got the picture. Some may find this off putting, I did not. It was an innovative refreshing way to structure the story. The real question behind the “We” is could you have stomached the story once the bomb was dropped without it? I felt at that point the “We” that may have alienated some readers becomes essential to deal with the horror of what those living in Los Alamos had constructed. 

If you are looking for something different in the methodology used to tell the story give The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit a try.

Thank you Net Galley and Bloomsbury for the advance reader’s copy of The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit.

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Review in Miniature: The ABC's of Yoga For Kids by Teresa Anne Power, Kathleen Rietz (Illustrator), Brookes Nohlgren (Editor).

I will start by saying before I had kids I was a yoga nut. I practiced the crazy kind of yoga in a 101 degree room for 90 minutes--did I mention that I did this every single day...sometimes twice a day. I loved it, but I wanted more from life then a great yoga practice, which is where the kids come into the story. I’ve had four children in five years, my biological clock was ticking, and my personal yoga practice is sadly nonexistent.  Wait a minute that's where this book comes into the story...that nonexistent yoga practice was true until this book.  I believe in the benefits of yoga and wanted to instill this healthy practice into my children's lives, so I was very excited to discover The ABCs of Yoga for Kids by Teresa Anne Power, Kathleen Rietz (Illustrator), Brookes Nohlgren (Editor). 

Because of The ABCS of Yoga for Kids my girls and I now have a yoga practice together. It’s not the kind of practice I had five years ago, but it is a perfect fit for us as a family. I should also mention the book is geared for children between the ages of two and a half to five, which almost covers all my children that is except for the new baby.

I want to add that I received an electronic advance reader’s copy (ARC) of this book, but our family loved this book so much we purchased our own hardcover copy and the deck of 56 yoga cards that compliment the book (see pictures). Thanks Teresa for bringing yoga back into my family’s life in a most enjoyable and family-friendly way. 

I encourage anyone looking to practice yoga with young children or to practice as a family to pick up a copy of this book and start a regular practice together.

Thank you Net Galley and Stafford House for the advanced reader’s copy of The ABCs of Yoga for Kids by Teresa Anne Power, Kathleen Rietz (Illustrator), Brookes Nohlgren (Editor).

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Swearing-In on a Kindle?

Image Credit:  New Yorker 

Opening the pages of the most recent New Yorker I was rather shocked to read the following:"When Suzi LeVine took the oath of office on a Kindle, at the end of last month, she must have known that her swearing-in ceremony would attract more attention than what is usually given to the Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. LeVine was not the first American official to take the oath of office using an electronic device."  First SWEARING IN ON A KINDLE?  I love my Kindle and I'm all for the benefits of the digital age, but I've got mixed feelings about this it sounds kind-of science fictiony to me.  Maybe even Orwellian.  How does it grab you?  If you want to read the full article checkout A BRIEF HISTORY OF OATHS AND BOOKS at the New Yorker online and let us know your thoughts!

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Happy Birthday Pablo Neruda

Happy Birthday to one of the greats!  Pablo Neruda won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971.   Although his poems are my favorite his writing was not limited to poems alone.  His legacy of prose and poetry will certainly never allow his memory to fade.  In that spirit, Happy Birthday, Pablo Neruda and here's one of my favorite Neruda poems:

One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII

By Pablo Neruda

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose
from the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you directly without problems or pride:

I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,

except in this form in which I am not nor are you,

so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,

so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

Do you have a Pablo Neruda favorite?  Let us know what it might be.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines 

I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. -Pablo Neruda Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair

"The well-known name of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (born July 12, 1904) is actually a pseudonym, inspired by Czech poet Jan Neruda."-Goodreads

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Review in Miniature: A Marker to Measure Drift Alexander Maksik

Usually I am drawn to a novel based on its cover or its title, but neither was the case with this one. Instead what I noticed was all the advance praise, but not from other big name authors, rather from the guys in the trenches, various and sundry independent booksellers. Comments like, “I’m haunted by the power of A Marker to Measure Drift by Alexander Maksik. Shattering, gorgeous, each sentence is a dagger to the heart,” were the prose used to praise this novel. Wow, with that kind of admiration from folks who are constantly bombarded by the next best book I could not help but be interested in this one, and I was not disappointed.

A Marker to Measure Drift by Alexander Maksik is a novel where the author loses himself completely in the creation of someone else entirely different from himself, which is a masterful accomplishment for any writer. Then on top of that the person he creates is the opposite sex, which I think is another challenge for a writer, and to do this realistically as Maksik has is to be applauded. 

 
When you read as much as I do you need a shorthand for judging a novel and I have found that the first fifty pages usually say it all. Now, with that said, it was easy to become emotionally involved with the protagonist, Jacqueline, by page twenty-five you couldn't help but feel empathy for her suffering. Yet the pain this character has experienced and will continue to experience makes your heart ache, but yet in still, it will also keep you reading.

If my comments haven’t persuaded you to read this one let me add that this was a New York Times Notable Book and the tagline used to grab the readers attention was, “A hypnotic, spellbinding novel set in Greece and Africa, where a young Liberian woman reckons with a haunted past.” I highly recommend you travel to these exotic places and learn about Jacqueline’s past.

Thank you Net Galley and Knopf for an advance review copy of A Marker to Measure Drift by Alexander Maksik.

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Review in Miniature: My Accidental Jihad by Krista Bremer

Love is a powerful thing, but love does not conquer all. Too many Americans hold fast to the belief that love is the great equalizer. Having been raised by parents from two different cultures I can say with great certainty that the love and affection that the two people who raised me had did not offset that fact that they did not see the world in the same way and therein lay the conflict of their marriage. With that said, my parents were married for over fifty years until the death of my father in 2011, but their relationship was a roller coaster ride which often hinged on cultural differences. I share all this because The memoir My Accidental Jihad by Krista Bremer repeatedly made me reflect on my life as a child of a bicultural couple. 

Although my parents cultures were not the same as the ones in this memoir the problems were very similar. Bremer writes an honest personal narrative where she bares her soul about her relationship with her husband. The author’s candidness and the refusal to avoid the uncomfortable parts of the relationship make for a compelling read.

Thank you NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Algonquin Books for the review copy of My Accidental Jihad by Krista Bremer.  As always I continue to count on Algonquin to publish quality works of nonfiction and My Accidental Jihad is just another example of the discerning choices this publishing house makes.

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