This Week's Bestsellers (Ending 14 November 2009)

1. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn
2. Hudson Valley: A Cultural Guide by Benjamin Sweet
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1 by Jeff Kinney
4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The wonder of books

Why do you read? What do you read? When do you read? How do you choose a book? Does the cover make a big difference? Are you easily swayed by written reviews? Is word of mouth your reason for picking up a book? Do you trust your booksellers? Do you read (buy) everything Oprah recommends? Do you avoid everything Oprah recommends? What about Martha Stewart? How long will you read this post before you get annoyed with all the questions?

Seriously! Have you thought about any of these things? I do.

I read for many reasons: to unwind, to learn, to keep up with work, to keep up with friends, to live a fuller life. Reading is important to me. I read early in the morning before going to work. I read after work, on the buss, after dinner, before going to bed. Morning reading is more for personal and spiritual growth. Evening reading is for "pleasure" or relaxing or just stepping away from the day, bedtime reading has to be very light and soothing.

I heard an interview with author Jonathan Lethem about his new book Chronic City. The interviewer was Sam Tannenhaus (New York Times Book Review editor) who asked him about the effect reviews have on him. But the thing that caught my ear was his reference to the time he puts into a book. Something like, "I've put three years into a book and a short, biting review" is harder to take than a longer review where someone has given some time and thought to the book. I'm paraphrasing poorly. But it brought me back to my blogging attempts.

I am not a reviewer. I just like to talk about books. Sometimes a book really grabs me and I have to gush about it to everyone. Case in point, The Lost City of Z by David Grann. A few of my neighbors vocalized their frustration at my incessant ranting about this book. Hey, it was good, it drew me in, it kept me thinking. Loved it! Then there are books that are an absolute struggle for me. It's just like any relationship, sometimes I warm up to a book quickly, sometimes slowly, sometimes never. But I like to give it a decent shake to see if there's something I might have missed. Sometimes I come back to it after a year or more.

The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell
2009-10 - Hardcover
Ecco
9780061859410
$21.99

Shall I get on to the book of the day? I could do what the author did and write all this in the form of questions. But that would be too derivative. Let's just say when I picked up the book I didn't know what I was getting myself into. And when I put it down I was throughly pleased. The entire book is written in questions. Sentence after sentence, a series of interrogative sentences. I reeled a bit. I thought it might not work. But it did for me. I was amused and challenged. I talked to the book. I talked to myself. It was just the book at just the right time. I can't possibly say more than this. You will like it or hate it instantly. Will you pick it up? Will you find yourself asking some of these questions to friends? I bet you do. The book is more interactive than I could have ever imagined.

Stanley

This Week's Bestsellers ending 7 November 2009

1. Half the Sky boy Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn (Knopf)

2. Troy's Little Italy by Michael Esposito (Arcadia)

3. Hudson Valley: A Cultural Guide by Benjamin Sweet (Quantuck Lane Press)

4. Say You are One of Them by Uwem Akpan (Little Brown)

5. Restoring a House in the City by Ingrid Abramovitch (Artisan)

This Week's Bestsellers (Ending 31 October 2009)

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

2. The Poesten Kill: Waterfalls to Waterworks in the Capital District by John Warren

3. Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

4. My Life in France by Julia Child

5. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming

So little time

You know as well as I that there's not enough time in the world to get things done. This is not a whining message, but an urgent desire for more time to read. I'm reminded of an episode of The Twilight Zone where the character wanted more time to read and was finally able to stop time only to break his glasses. So, with that cautionary reference I say, yet again, I wish I had more time to read.

Here's a list of books that I'm waiting to read! Many of these books are stacked in my dining room, waiting to be moved to the nightstand. A few of these titles are not in my possession but will be added to the stacks.

These are in no particular order:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Drive by Daniel Pink
Smile As They Bow by Nu Nu Yi
Feed by M. T. Anderson
The Gospel of Judas by Simon Mawer
Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland
The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh

This is a partial list, but this is what's in my stack of soon-to-be-read. But I have to warn you, there's bound to be a book that gets to skip the wait and jump to the head of the line.

Here's a list I just read on Books on the Nightstand (check out their 50th episode!) that makes me want to add more to my piles of books:

Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Safon
The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

Just wait! There's more. There's always more.

Coping with a lack of time,
Stanley

The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis

The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis
2009-07 - Hardcover
St. Martin's Press
9780312368432
$25.99

Somebody heard my plea for more historical novels set outside of England--St. Martin's Press just published The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis, a novel about Catherine de Medici. It is fascinating! Kalogridis, whose previous historical novels include I, Mona Lisa and The Borgia Bride, has done a great job telling the story of a noble girl born in Italy whose uncle the Pope marries her off to the second son of the French king, who wants Catherine's claim to the Italian duchy of Florence, and, more importantly, her enormous dowry. When her husband's older brother dies and Henri becomes the heir to the French throne, Catherine's barreness becomes a huge problem. With Henri obsessed with his much older mistress Diane de Poitiers, Catherine must scheme her way into Henri's bed to conceive an heir. Catherine is a complex character, who is driven to evil acts by her passionate love for her husband and her desire to keep him safe. The author's interpretation of Catherine's possible motives and actions does much to rehabilitate her historically maligned image. You don't have to know French history to enjoy this novel; anyone will enjoy the story.

(Just a side note--Catherine de Medici makes an appearance in Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond series!)

PS--Erin, a bookseller in at the Book House, lent me the three volumes of Sandra Gulland's Josephine trilogy. That is next on my historical fiction to-be-read list. I'll keep you posted on how they are!

Susan

this Week's Bestsellers (Ending 247 October 2009)

1. The Poesten Kill by John Warner

2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

3. Goat Song by Brad Kessler

4. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

5. Lick Creek by Brad Kessler

Price wars with books

Here's what Barbara Kingsolver said in today's New York Times:

“Obviously, authors don’t own our physical books, just the words inside, so we have no control over how they’re sold,” Ms. Kingsolver said. “But we can ask our readers to consider how much they value their local bookstores. If this price war is another way of using volume discounts to put independent booksellers out of business, then every thoughtful reader is going to lose in the long run.”

Marggie's Excellent West Coast Adventures (literally!)

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
2009-08 - Hardcover
Random House
9781400066216
$26.00

I made my third trip in 6 days to Town Hall in Seattle to hear a visiting author; this time the author was Tracy Kidder and the book was Strength in What Remains: a Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness. Once again I felt privileged to be able to attend this presentation, a reading from the book, about 25-30 minutes of a prepared speech, a slide show of pictures from Burundi and a Q&A period.

The book, the story and the slides are incredible. Once again, Kidder, whose book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, brought Paul Farmer and his work in Haiti to worldwide attention, has discovered another extraordinary human being whose story deserves to be spread throughout the world.

In 1994, Deogratias was a 24 year old third year medical student in Burundi, when political tensions boiled over and violence spread throughout the country. Somehow, he was able to avoid death any number of times as he escaped, on foot, to neighboring Rwanda, only to arrive as the genocide began in that country. Amazingly he was able to find his way back to Burundi and connect with a friend who provided him with a plane ticket and a visa to get to New York City. He arrived, speaking no English and with no concept of New York. Strangers offered help so he survived, but barely; he lived on the streets managing to earn just about enough to feed himself by delivering groceries. Ultimately, his support system expanded to include a woman who does not give up until she finds him a place to live and a couple to take him under their wing.

Within 10 years, Deo manages to graduate from Columbia University and matriculate at Dartmouth Medical School. He also returns to Burundi and attracts support for a medical clinic there. It is not smooth sailing and Kidder tells the story thoroughly and lovingly. I'm thrilled to see that this book is already on some best seller lists and I recommend it strongly. Kidder has introduced us to another genuine hero of the 21st Century. His story deserves to be widely circulated.

Marggie

This Week's Bestsellers (Ending 17 October 2009)

1. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

2. In The Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

4. Lick Creek by Brad Kessler (this book is out of print but we have plenty of copies and it still sells)

5. The Poesten Kill by John Warren

And at the end of the rainbow....?

Contrary to all those stories and legends we grew up with there is NOT a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Kurtis and I have proof!

Yesterday (Tuesday) at 4:30PM we both noticed a brilliant rainbow on the ceiling of the bookstore. Since we are booklovers (and thereby curious) we began our investigation.

Conditions of the day:

1. It had been grey and dark all day long.
2. In the store the sources of light come from compact fluorescent bulbs.
3. By 4:30 PM the sun never reaches our building at this time of the year.

(We scratched our own heads respectively.)

Possibilities:
A. The Klutz spinner with all kinds of trinkets and sparkles (don't forget that Tiara Kit!) But no, not the source.
B. A car parked nearby that had a crystal hanging from it's rearview mirror. No such car.
C. Some crystal mounted on the glass somewhere. We don't have such gems in our shop.
D. That's when I realized what it must be.

And Michael Kindness is the most clever of our readers (it helps to have young children)!!

A small beam of light was bouncing off a building across the street from us, high enough to catch the last light of the day and reflecting that light onto the cover the Guinness World Records 2010. The covers usually have some kind of 3D cover that makes me dizzy to look at. And now we know that Guinness (don't they have some connection to leprechauns, after all?!) is what you'll find at the end of a rainbow.

I'll take a pint, please! Uh, Mr. Leprechaun! Over here! Where's my prize? And one for my friend Michael over there! Thanks.

Guinness World Records 2010 by Guinness World Records
2009-09 - Hardcover
Guinness Media
9781904994503
$28.95

--Stanley

Special Rainbow Moment

See if you can guess what might have caused this apparition!

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
2009-07 - Hardcover
Random House
9781400063826
$25.00

I finished reading Sacred Hearts this past week and was truly consumed by the book. From the very beginning the novel grabbed me. The story is set in a convent in Italy in the middle of the 16th century. And let me say this book creates such a powerful setting that the confinement of the cloister walls seems palpable at times. Dunant's research shows beautifully in this story that focuses on a young women put in a convent against her will at the age of 15, if you can imagine. The plot is developed with the tensions and political competitions between nuns. There's a lot to learn by reading this book. And for some curious reason I felt totally at home in the story. My "inner nun" rejoices in its telling and maybe some past life will be revealed! ;-)

I think the true power of the story lies in the fates of women of that time. In a time when women had little or no voice, the convent can become a place of greater liberation despite the confinement of the walls of the buildings. The life of a cloistered nun is well told here. Their psychological and spiritual struggles are played out for us to observe and wonder. I appreciate a novel that provides a rich, historical setting that makes me go to other books to do my own research into the time depicted. That's the true pleasure of reading for me, when it sends me down so many other paths to discovery. And this is as good a starting place as any.

--Stanley

Margaret Atwood: Another Marggie Sighting!

And now, Margaret Atwood. What a wonderful, brilliant and hugely entertaining woman!!!

Atwood's new novel, The Year of the Flood, takes us through the years leading up to the "waterless flood" that wipes out most of humanity. (If you read Oryx and Crake you know what I'm talking agout. If you haven't read it yet, get a copy right away and start reading.)

The narrators of the current book are two survivors: Ren, a young trapeze dancer at Scales & Tails, a sex club; and Toby, an herbalist at AnooYou Spa, a day treatment center for rejuvenation. Both women had spent time as members of God's Gardners, a "green" religious cult. Each section of the book begins with a sermon by Adam One, the leader and founder of God's Gardeners. The sermon is followed by a hymn from the "God's Gardeners Oral Hymn Book. Each sermon and hymn honor one of the religion's many saints ranging from Saint Francis to Saints Rachel Carson, Saint Euell Gibbons, Saint Dian Fossey and more. (The hymns have actually been put to music and are available on a CD by Orville Stoeber.)

At Town Hall in Seattle on Wednesday evening, Ms. Atwood talked about the book and then read a passage by Ren, a passage by Toby and one of Adam One's sermons. Then she sang and danced along to a recording of three of the hymns. She read a little more and the presentation concluded with one final sermon and the "Hymn to the Water Shrew" in honor of Predator's Day, one of God's Gardeners special feast days. There were several questions before she graciously signed copies of her books for most of the fans in the audience.

As I read the book and listened to Ms. Atwood, I became more and more impressed with her absolute genius at creating this very frightening, yet totally believable, world of the not too distant future. It's 1984, The Road, and more. Genetic engineering of plants and animals are the norm; corporations and government have merged; fast food restaurants serve Secret Burgers (you don't want to know what kind of protein they contain) and Happicuppa; prisoners serve time in Painball and it goes on and on. Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this book and start reading.

One more thing about Margaret Atwood, who has written more than forty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. She is so passionate about a number of causes that she auctions off naming rights for characters in her books at charity fundraisers and she made everyone in the audience pledge to drink only shade grown organic coffee because the others are leading to the demise of the songbirds. That's even more reason to support her by buying her books.

Marggie

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
2009-09 - Hardcover
Nan A. Talese
9780385528771
$26.95

This Week's Bestsellers (Ending 10 October 2009)

1. Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook by Laura J. Pensiero

2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barber

3. Troy's Little Italy by Michael A. Esposito

4. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossein