Filed under: AwesomeSauce, Bookworm, Favorite Things, Phoenix Booksale, Proof that I'm a Nerd
You guys, I am so excited!! February is almost here and I have been counting down the days for an entire YEAR!
No, it’s not because of Groundhog Day when that Puxatony rodent will decide what the crap is going on with the pathetic excuse for a winter that has been reigning over the Rocky Mountain West…
No, not because of Valentine’s Day…
It’s not because of President’s Day and the accompanying paid Monday holiday…
Or because of Fat Tuesday…
It’s not because some Academy of movie watchers will present awards for all the great films I missed in 2011. (That’s right, of the Best Picture Academy Award nominees I have seen exactly zero. Cinema Culture Fail.)
No, not because of my birthday…(However, I will be turning the big 2-9 in three weeks and until this moment I hadn’t actually thought about it.) (And now I probably will have to think about it…) (Crap.) (How about, I don’t. Does that work for everyone? GREAT!) (Hello, denial, nice to see you.) (Also, nice to see you again, overused parantheticals.)
Nope, it’s not any of those “legitimate” holidays, it is far more exciting than a paid day off or an excuse to gorge yourself on chocolate and sprinkles (see: Valentine’s Day, Fat Tuesday, Birthday, Denial). No, the reason I ma STOKED is because the second weekend of February is The Booksale! The wonderful, legendary Phoenix Booksale.
Are you lost? Confused? New around here? Let me catch you up. (Or you can read posts from the last few years here.) Every year the second weekend in February the VNSA society in Phoenix hosts a huge Used Book Sale; 600,000 books are donated throughout the year, collected from all around the city, organized and carefully arranged in a warehouse. They are stacked up on tables in towering piles and crammed underneath them in crates and boxes quietly waiting for someone to adopt them and take them home. Paperbacks are $1.50 (the price went up a few years ago) and hardbacks are $2-3 dollars a piece and those big, shiny coffee table art books priced around $5-$10. On Saturday morning 100,000 people show up at the Phoenix Fairgrounds, wait for hours in switch-back lines that go for miles and jostle and throw elbows for this or that particular book. There have even been incidents of two or more bibliophiles coming to fisticuffs over one book or another. Despite the fisticuff violence, it is all for a good cause. All the proceeds go towards literacy programs in the greater Phoenix area.
Did you get that? You are helping kids learn how to read! You take home boxes and bags and entire SUITCASES full of books all the while helping finance programs to help kids and English as a Second Language students learn how to read! It’s a win-win-win! Now, your only problem is deciding if you are going to fly or drive (fly Southwest if possible, Phoenix is a hub and they let you check 2 bags–i.e. 100 pounds of books–for free!), and figuring out a place to house all those lovely hardbacks once you get them back home. You have such first world problems!
Now, last year my friend HRH and I had a particularly epic adventure. We slept outside in the parking lot in a sketchy part of Phoenix. We were probably 50th in a line of thousands to get inside the booksale whem the doors opened at 8am. We both scored some amazing finds. I, by myself, came home with 94 new books. Ninety-four! Now, this year HRH cannot come to Phoenix with me, but I have convinced J-Mo to be my parking-lot camping buddy and I guarantee I will again come home victorious from the booksale.
In preparation for all the bookish festivities I am printing out a full spreadsheet of all the books that I own. (Yes, I have such a spreadsheet and it is updated every time I new book makes it’s way across my doorstep. Don’t judge. It’s brilliant.) I’ve been collecting titles from around the blogosphere of the books you all loved and raved about in 2011 (Room, In Zanesville, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Great House, etc), I’m taking that list and will try to track down those titles. I’ve talked to my older brother, a Phoenix resident, and have secured both a place to stay (and shower! and nap!) AND the camping gear required to comfortably sleep in a parking lot. (Thank you, Brother #1!) I even ordered an eye-mask so I’ll be able to sleep better under the bright lights of the fairgrounds.
You guys, I cannot wait!
In 2010 I read 60 books, this year I knew I wouldn’t have nearly that many, but I hoped to get in 25. I only read 18 but I still consider that a success, sure, I could spend the next two days cramming my face full of short, fluffy novels to hit my goal of 25, but I have found, of late, that I don’t particularly care for short, fluffy novels. I read more and more non-fiction and am loving the change of pace. I am getting a lot pickier about what I read, I don’t want to bother if it is somehow going to be subpar.
These are listed starting with the ones I liked the best and petering out to the ones I didn’t necessarily love, listed alphabetically by rating because heaven knows I would never be able to get this posted today if I tried to rank them from most favorite to least.
5-STAR READS:
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M., Sam Wasson. This book is about the making of the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which has been my go-to feel-good movie for over a decade. I love Audrey Hepburn, I love the whole premise of Tiffany’s, and I absolutely loved reading about the behind-the-scenes moments and even the production issues of trying to get Truman Capote’s book turned into a film. This isn’t necessarily ground-breaking stuff, but I would definitely read it again.
Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. By far the best book I read in 2011, Half the Sky is about the plight of women around the world, more specifically in the underdeveloped world where women are still very much seen as commodities and treated as such. (The title comes from an old Chinese proverb that says “Women hold up half the sky.”) I was shocked at the stories, the statistics, and the lack of real options to help women. This book changed how I think, it changed what I want to do with my life. It is not a happy book, not by any means, but it is important. Read it.
I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui. Another book about the oppression against women, this one set in the Yemen. This is the true story of young Nujood who was forced to marry a much older man when she was 9 years old, the man raped her, beat her and basically treated her like most men in his country treat their wives. Nujood fought back, she walked into the Supreme Court of Yemen and asked for a divorce. At age 10. Without a father/brother/uncle/husband to speak for her. This story was picked up by the media and a young female Yemeni lawyer decided to fight with Nujood, this is their story.
Superfreakanomics, Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner. Yes, I am an economics nerd. If you read Freakanomics you know how this book goes, Levitt and Dubner pick apart statistics to relate two seemingly unrelated things. They are related by either factual stats, or by both adhering to the same economic processes. Entertaining, and a justification that economics majors can have a sense of humor.
4-STAR READS:
Supernaturally, Kiersten White. The second in the Paranormalcy series and written by my childhood friend. Oh, and it also made the New York Times Bestseller list the week it came out, no biggie. (Translation: It’s a BIG FREAKING BIGGIE!) I don’t usually read YA books, but I have very much enjoyed following Evie’s story and can’t wait for the third installation, set to be published this summer.
The Chosen, Chaim Potok. I don’t know much about the Jewish religion or the Jewish culture (there aren’t a lot of Jews here in Salt Lake City, although we do have one very lovely synagogue.) I loved the way Potok writes, I loved the details about pre- and post-war life for the Jews in America (WWII), and I loved the writing style and voice of the two young men, Daniel and Rueven. I liked this book so much I ordered another by Potok, I can’t wait to start it as well.
The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin. I know this has made the rounds in blogdom and book clubs everywhere, I feel like I was a bit late to the Happiness Project train, and I really think I need to read it again, this time with a notebook and a pen, scribbling notes in the margins and making my own plans to reboot.
The Help, Kathryn Stockett. This is the first audio book I have ever listened to, and it took me over 6 months to finish it. I enjoyed the book, and I loved the character voices on the audio recording, but I don’t know how much I love the idea of listening to a book instead of reading it. Jury is still out on that, I’ll keep you updated. I haven’t seen the movie yet, nor do I feel I need to, but I did love the message that words and books can change things for the better (or worse, I get that too). I loved that all it takes are a few people standing up for something important to change the way a town thinks.
The Male Brain, Louann Brizendine. I read The Female Brain last fall and scribbled in the margins, highlighted entire paragraphs, and felt that Brizendine had sat me down and told me all the reasons that I am the way that I am, and that I was okay this way. I cried a lot. I had a lot of “A ha!” moments. I wished I had been able to read it again the next day. I didn’t have the same emotional reaction to The Male Brain, but I was fascinated by the insights and chemical processes that happen as a young boy matures into a man and then becomes a father.
Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer. This is the most disturbing book I have ever read, and probably not for the reasons that you may think. Yes, it is about the founding of my home state and the beginnings of the Mormon church. No, it is not particularly flattering account on either of those events. That’s not why it was disturbing. I really need to write an entire post on this because I am not exaggerating when I say that I could not sleep for the two days it took me to finish this book, and for weeks afterward I would wake up with nightmares.
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, Susan Jane Gilman. Gilman and a college friend spent 6 weeks backpacking across China when it very first opened it’s borders to western tourists. This was pre-Tienanmen Square and China was very much soaked in drowning under communist rule. Her insights and thoughts and experiences on the country I love were fascinating, and disheartening, and engaging. And even though China was no block party back in 1986, and Gilman’s writing reflects that, I still cannot wait to visit and explore.
3-STAR READS:
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole. I have heard a hundred times from friends, bloggers, review boards, and a half-dozen other sources that A Confederacy of Dunces is the most hilarious, amazing book ever written. Respectfully, I total disagree. I did appreciate Toole’s use of language, I love a book where I need to look up words in the dictionary ever few pages, but I hated his main character. Ignatius J. Reilly mostly just pissed me off. It took me months to finish this book, and I kept waiting for it to get better. Nope, it didn’t. I give it 3 stars (instead of 1 or 2) based on the vocabulary alone.
Das Kapital, Karl Marx. I plowed through 1,000 pages of Das Kapital, text and annotations for my Marxist Economics class. Did I enjoy it? No. Did I understand it? I aced my tests, so yes, I did. Do I agree with Marx? Um, no. In theory he has some interesting ideas and I think that many businesses owners would do themselves a favor by reading it, but do I think all his ideas (or even most of them) work in practical application? No. They don’t. The basic tenet of Marxism is that any business owner who makes a profit is exploiting his employees. Even if those employees are making a good, livable wage. Even if they are being paid $100,000 dollars a year. Or $200,000. The idea is that if there is any profit whatsoever the capitalist bastard CEO should burn at the stake. Ok, I may have embelllished the last part of that sentence, but the sentiment is still correct. I know capitalism has it’s problems, but I don’t see how the technological, medical, scientific and anthropological advances of today’s society could ever have been achieved if an entrepreneur didn’t figure out how to make those advances to turn a profit. Boo, Marx.
DIY U, Anya Kamenetz. Kamanentz theory is that traditional higher education is on it’s way out and the only way to education the workforce is to completely reboot the way we learn, the way institutions grant degrees, and the entire education process. She makes some excellent points, and in some respects I agree with her. But I also think there is more to college than churning out degrees, or even devouring knowledge. There is a work ethic, an expansion of the mind, and an exposure to new ideas that are not generated by a social media platform that also focuses on celebrity gossip. Perhaps I’m a snob. Or perhaps my position of working in higher education is showing through a bit and coloring my opinions. Again, Kamanentz has some good points, but about halfway through I decided that I just couldn’t agree with her call for a complete and total overhaul of the post-secondary education system.
Madame Bovary, Gustav Flaubert. Meh. Not awesome. Not even great, really. Again, points (or in this case, an extra star) for vocabulary and sentence structure that I both enjoyed and appreciated, but the story is pretty tedious and the character of Madame Bovary herself is quite wretched. Sure, there are a lot of people like her, slumming/sleeping around for social position and power, but I just am not interested in that sort of thing and her emotional turmoil over her loveless marriage doesn’t really move me. At all.
History of Love, Nicole Krauss. Recommended by a friend this was a quick read and one that I enjoyed. I liked–although sometime was a bit lost by–the weaving story that crossed generations and continents and through various individuals. Honestly, I remember liking the book, but I don’t remember much more about it than that.
2-STAR READS:
Woman, Child for Sale, Gilbert King. I wanted to love this book, I wanted it to move me and change me the way several of the other books I’ve read on the topic of the degradation of women have…and this book failed. It started out strong enough, but quickly devolved into a mess of terrible stories (they are supposed to be terrible, there is nothing light or happy or fluffy about women being sold or kidnapped into sexual slavery) but the author was not a capable enough writer to do them any justice whatsoever. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but after reading Half the Sky this book seems like a footnote in a boring newsletter. Not awesome, please skip.
For the rest of my reading, ranked by star and sorted by year, click here.
Filed under: AwesomeSauce, Bookworm, Phoenix Booksale, Proof that I'm a Nerd, There and Back Again
Click here for The Booksale: Part 1
After spending the night sleeping in the parking lot, and the morning jostling with other booksale attendees, HRH and I finally made it to the check-out line. I had given myself a budget of $200 with $5 dollars leeway. I had a cart full of 94 books and, to be honest, I was a bit nervous about it. The last time I’d done an estimate of the price of my cart-o-books I was at about $150, and I had picked up several armfuls of books since that count. I crossed my fingers and squeezed my eyes shut as the volunteer manning the check-out line calculated the damage.
Him: “How does one hundred eighty-eight dollars sound?”
I opened one eye. I did a double-take of his face to see if he was serious or not.
Me: “ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY EIGHT!? Are you serious!? That sounds like a steal! As in, I literally made out like a bandit!” I then started a little happy dance, which, if you know me very well, is a rarity. I don’t dance in public, and I define “public” as anywhere outside of my bathtub. But 94 books for $188? That is dance-worthy. HRH and I hauled our purchases out to the parking lot and saw the line that had grown exponentially.
This is reason enough to sleep in the parking lot. That line snakes back and forth eight times, and each fold is about a quarter-mile long. No, thank you.
We loaded up the Tahoe and headed back to my brother’s house, giggling about our purchases and comparing notes. This year’s sale was one for the record books. As I pulled into my brother’s driveway I wondered how on earth we were going to get everything into our suitcases to bring home. I mean, we had planned well, we each had a carry on stuffed into a larger suitcase and I had another duffel bag crammed in there as well. What had started out as two checked bags between the two of us ballooned into four checked bags and a ridiculously heavy carry on, each weighing in at just under 50 pounds.
All our bags arrived safely back in Salt Lake City–although they were all opened and searched en route. I’m sure the checking agents aren’t accustomed to seeing an unreadable luggage scan due to a triple armload of hardbacks. I swear! It’s just books! Lots and lots and LOTS of books! I piled them up on my table, still unsure of where they will all live. (Although, a surprise birthday bookcase from a friend is greatly reducing the stress of that particular problem. Love you J!!)
The Loot, or How I’ll Be Spending My Time Until 2018
A Bridge for Passing, Pearl S. Buck
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Mark Twain
A Night in the Cemetery, Anton Chekhov
A Treasury of Hans Christen Andersen
Aesop’s Fables
All The King’s Men¸Warren Robert Penn
Andersen’s Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Andersen
Andersen’s Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Andersen
Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne
Bednobs and Broomstick, Mary Norton
Benazir Bhutto: Daughter of Destiny, Benazir Bhutto
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
Captain Horatio Hornblower, C.S. Forester
Classic French Fairy Tales, Grabianski
Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cousin Bette, Honore de Balzac
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak
Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes
Dragon Seed, Pearl S. Buck
Dry., Augusten Burroughs
Fighting Angel, Pearl S. Buck
Five Little Peppers, Margaret Sidney
Folk and Fairy Tales for Boys and Girls
Hans Brinker, Mary Mapes Dodge
Henry Esmond, William Thackery
Howards End, E.M. Forster
In Her Shoes, Jennifer Weiner
Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
King, Queen, Nave, Vladimir Nabokov
Lectures on Russian Literatures, Vladimir Nabokov
Lonely Planet: Africa on a Shoestring
Lonely Planet: Beijing
Lonely Planet: Great Britain
Lonely Planet: India
Lonely Planet: Ireland
Lonely Planet: London
Mandala, Pearl S. Buck
Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
Memoirs, Elie Wiesel
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
Modern Magic: Five Stories by Louisa May Alcott
Moliere, Tartuff
Nabokov, Novels 1955-1962, Vladimir Nabokov
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson
Of Human Bondage, W. Somerset Maugham
Once Upon a Time: A treasure of modern fairy tales, del Rey & Kessler
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Mark Twain
Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
Say You’re One of Them, Uwen Akpan
Selected Writing of Washington Irving, Washington Irving
Show Boat, Edna Ferber
Sula, Toni Morrison
Tender Is The Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Adventures of Robin Hood, Paul Creswick
The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder
The Bridge Over The River Kwai, Pierre Boulle
The Castle, Franz Kafka
The Collected Works of Anton Chekov
The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham (vol 1)
The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham (vol 2)
The First American: Ben Franklin, H.W. Brands
The House of the Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo
The Indispensable Faulkner, Malcolm Cowley
The Last Tycoon, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery
The Lodger Shakespeare, Charles Nicholl
The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson
The Once and Future King, T.H. White
The Possessed, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Romanovs, Ian Grey
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway
The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov
The Witches of Eastwick, John Updike
The Woman in White¸ Wilkie Collins
Timequake, Kurt Vonnegut
Truman Capote, George Plimpton
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
Walden and Other Writings, Henry David Thoreau
We Were the Milvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates
What Men Live By, Leo Tolstoy
Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson
Wouldn’t Take Nothing for my Journey Now, Maya Angelou
I will be reading indefinitely to catch even attempt to start all of these books. Some I have read before, I suppose, and some I may only read portions of but purchased anyway because they were pretty (do you see that chunk of leather-bound books in the photo? Yeah, $2.00 each. I couldn’t say no.) But I’d love to hear if you loved or hated anything on this list, tell me where to start with these babies!
**If you’re the kind to count, this is not all 94 books, this is about eighty-something books. I brought home a few as gifts and those are not included here because I don’t want to ruin the surprise.
Filed under: AwesomeSauce, Bookworm, Favorite Things, Phoenix Booksale, Proof that I'm a Nerd, There and Back Again
Last weekend a couple of things happened:
- I turned 28 without pomp or circumstance, just like a big girl. (In fact, there was so little pomp or circumstance it was almost like no birthday at all. Next year? I’m throwing a Big Ole Bash.)
- I play-fought my niece and nephew with the light saber app on my phone, and proceeded to build some of the most awesome Star Wars-related buildings out of legos. (I’ve never seen Star Wars, but I make a mean jail for the bad guys!)
- I lounged around in the sunshine and delightfully warm Arizona spring weather.
- I ate a freshly picked orange, it was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.
- I slept on the asphalt of a parking lot in a pretty sketchy part of Phoenix, all in the name of love. (Book love, that is.)
Say whaaaat?
It’s true, friends. You know how in the first 300 pages of the last Harry Potter book it seems that the only thing that is going on is one camping adventure after another? I mean, I know there are MORE things that happen, but it’s all about the camping. Last weekend I had my own mini-experience at modern, urban camping (without magic wands and a fancy house/tent). I slept in a parking lot of a really sketchy part of Phoenix with approximately 50-1,000 frenemies. (Frenemies because we were all nice and chit-chatty before the sale started, but as soon as the doors opened it was every man, woman, or child for themselves. I was not above throwing elbows to get the ONLY copy of the “Lonely Planet Italy” book. Don’t judge me like that, it was $1.00! One Dollar!)
Last year at the Booksale of Awesome my friend HRH and I decided that instead of waking up at o-dark-hundred to secure a place in line, we would simply camp out in the parking lot. This was by far the best idea ever in regards to the booksale. We arrived at the Phoenix fairgrounds at midnight on Friday night, armed with a blow-up mattress, sleeping bags and two bags of snacks.
There were about 50-ish people ahead of us in line (this is MUCH better than last year, where there were probably 1,500 people ahead of us), we chit-chatted with our neighbors, two book dealers looking for treasures, and started making things cozy.
You’ll notice all these photos are really REALLY well lit. The giant stadium-strength lights were on, keeping everything a lot less sketchy than the neighborhood would lead you to think. Admittedly, it made it a bit trickier to fall asleep. (Note for next year: bring eye mask.)
1:00 am, wide awake, no make up and hot pink mittens to keep my fingers warm. It wasn’t terribly cold, in the low 40′s or something. But I was really REALLY glad my older brother hooked. us. up. with his cold-weather camping gear. And his SUV to haul it all back to his house. And his guest room. And his cooking skills. And his hilarious off-spring (see Star Wars reference above). And old movies to watch with his lovely wife. He moonlights as my awesome older brother, but in Real Life he’s clearly a Rockstar. (Mucho gracias, #1!)
Doors opening in T-minus-7 hours. I woke up about 5:45 Saturday morning–the lights were still insanely bright, but the line was starting to fill in with people (the line was up to about 1,000 at this point) who had no intention of sleeping. There was laughing and talking and jostling and I had no hope of getting back to the Land of Nod. HRH and I packed up our gear and pulled out the camp chairs and some breakfast (lunchable anyone?) to wait for another few hours before the doors opened.
Don’t judge. It was cold outside and the hot chocolate was too watery to make a difference. At about 7:15 am we packed everything back to the car, got our respective lists in order, and tried to smooth down some really incredible bedhead. (Operation: success!)
At this point it was perhaps 10 minutes before the doors opened, I was starting to get a little antsy and anxious, like Christmas morning. I had my list, both of books to look for and of books I already own. I knew what sections I was going to visit first. I had big plans to dash for a shopping cart, which is the most essential part of the sale as it enables you to toss in anything that looks remotely interesting and sort it all out later. Coincidentally, this is how I ended up with 3 copies of “The Three Musketeers” before the sale was over. I ended up bringing home the prettiest one, because I’m apparently really shallow like that.
8:00 am and it is GO TIME! The door opened, HRH and I made our way inside and dashed to our respective sections. She scooped up books in the Children’s section, while I raided the Travel section. We totally got a shopping cart. For the next two hours we skitted about, throwing in things that looked interesting, sorting out what we had, going back to make sure we’d gotten everything we wanted. It was heaven. To give you a little idea about how enormous this sale is, think of a giant warehouse that covers an entire acre of ground. Now pack it full of 600,000 books and about 5,000 people.
This pic was taken from one end of the warehouse. Ginormous, right? And packed with all sorts of fantastic treasures.
Imagine this multiplied by about 100 and you have an idea of how many books we’re talking about. What’s that line from Beauty and the Beast? “Books! Gads of books! Mountains of books! Forests of books! Cascades of books! Swamps of books! More books than you’ll ever be able to read in a lifetime! Books on every subject ever studied, by every author who ever set pen to paper…” (As I was googling this exact quote, my own blog post about the Library of Congress popped up as the third option…I am nothing if not consistent.)
Last year I brought home 63 books, and this year I made an even more amazing haul!
That, my bibliophilic friends, is 94 books. Ninety four! I’m still working on the comprehensive list of what I brought home, which should be published tomorrow. (It takes TIME to catalog all those titles, Mr. Braddy!) But I’ll have you know that I spent less than I’d budgeted for and with just a LITTLE bit of suitcase jostling HRH and I flew all our books home without paying any baggage check fees. (Thank you, Southwest, and your free baggage policies!)
(Ninety four!?! Daaah!! Sometimes, I amaze myself.)
Filed under: Bookworm
Last year I made a very ambitious goal to read 60 books; S-I-X-T-Y. Now, when I made this decision my life was completely different than it is now. I thought that I’d finish 60 books by July and this year-end post would begin with my being all smug and obnoxious. Ha ha ha! I’m having a celebratory cupcake because I read 738 books this year!! Um, That’s a lot of books. Oh, I know there are bookish darlings around the Interwebs who can consume hundreds of books per year. Uh, I’m not that kind of person. I wish I was that kind of reader, but I’m not. If you are that kind of person I am totally jealous of you. And I think you’re pretty.
A few months after I set my lofty bookish objective (secretly thinking I’d read closer to 75 books, easy peasy) my entire life turned upside down and inside out. In the last six months I have gone back to school full time, returned to an 8-5 office job, and found my spare reading hours diminish to next to nothing. Coincidentally, with all these changes most of my other resolutions became irrelevant or next-to-impossible. However, I was determined to complete this one 2010 resolution. Sixty books.
I did it. Granted, it was by the skin of my chiny-chin-chin and only possible by a week-long stint on a cruise boat, but I did it. And my celebratory cupcake was delicious.
Last year I had a lot of internal turmoil trying to decide how to organize my list of books. This year I opted to put my favorites first and go from there.
Warning: There are approximately 60 mini book reviews filling up the rest of this post. I’m happy to report that starting with my favorite’s was a wise choice, those reviews are the most coherent. After writing 45 tidbits of books I’ve read anywhere from a week ago to 12 months ago I’m afraid I kind of copped out and took the easy, less descriptive route for the last ones. Don’t be mad.
5-STAR READS
All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque. Both heartbreaking and beautiful, this is the account of how war changes men, how their experiences lodge in their hearts and minds and forever change them. I sobbed. And then I called my Grandpa and thanked him for serving in WWII.
Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank. I forgot how hopeful Anne was in her attic prison, how young and wise, all at the same time. The pages of her diary are so real, so terrifying and “business as usual”, all at the same time.
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card. This was my first foray into science fiction in a long time, I was expecting Martians, aliens and lots of Nickelodeon-esque green goo, and was both surprised and fascinated by a psychological study in war, economics, politics, the capabilities of children and the strength of men.
First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung. Loung was captured by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and spent her formative years in work-camp conditions, desperate to survive. You must read this book, it will break your heart and open your eyes to the real brutality most of us know so little about.
(Note from the Editor: Not sure why I read so many war books, but they are excellent. You need to know about this stuff and it’s a lot easier to read it here than in a stuffy old history book.)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling. I bought this the day it came out and never got to it, it has been sitting on my shelf, unread, ever since. Don’t judge me. As soon as I started I couldn’t help but finish, I stayed up until 6:00am completely engrossed in the story. Love.
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith. I picked this up on recommendation from one of my lovely bloggy friends (and I don’t remember which one, at this point, but thank you!) and fell in-love with the quirky, coming-of-age story, the characters, the family drama, I loved it all.
In A Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson. Last year I read a Bill Bryson book and absolutely hated it (Shakespeare: The World as a Stage), I was really weary to try another. But, many of you assured me that Bryson was, in fact, hilarious and wonderful and I should give it a second shot. You were right. I LOVED Bryson’s tales of Australia, his writing style, everything. Aussie-land has moved up on my List Of Places To Visit.
Letter to My Daughter, Maya Angelou. I feel like this is all the wonderful, motherly advice I always needed and could never really track down; beautifully written and absolutely wonderful.
Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis. This had been recommended so many different times, I read it slowly, underlining passages and thinking about ideas. I loved it, but I’m afraid not as much as I hoped to. Classic case of great expectations that are impossible to be met. Still five stars, however.
Nudge, Richard Thaler, Cass Sunstein. Brilliant, insightful, and all that jazz. If “Freakanomics” explains how the world works, “Nudge” explains how people work and how they make decisions big and small. Fascinating.
Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell. This isn’t a “how to be successful” book, but it gives dozens of small and awesome details of circumstances and lucky breaks that helped nudge some brilliant, awesome people to stardom and wild success.
Paranormalcy, Kiersten White. This is YA Fiction at it’s most amazing, creepy (not handsome) vampires, faeries, trolls, shape shifters, and any other paranormal creature you can think of. This is YA at it’s best, and not that I’m biased or anything, but I’ll just let you know that I called this book out as awesome before it hit the New York Time’s best seller list, which happened approximately 6 days after it was released. Yeah, Kiersten White is THAT Kiersten White. I have cool friends.)
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak. Death narrates this story of WWII, the Jews who are displaced and the Germans who hide them. Zusak paints his story, literally, giving emotions and feelings colors, relating experiences and heartbreak to different shades. I am actually getting all teary again just thinking about Zusak’s characters, story, and skill as an author.
The Female Brain, Louann Brizendine. This book taught me more about why I am the way that I am than any other book I’ve ever read. I devoured it, I underlined it, I re-read passages a half-dozen times. Brizendine discusses traumatic events and how they can affect a female at a variety of ages…it explains so much about me. About how I think and what I’m afraid of and how I react to certain persons or situations. Love.
The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner. Weiner travels around the world to the happiest places, from Bhutan to Iceland, and delves into how and why these cultures are the most content. Not only will you want to move to Bhutan or Iceland, but you will want to rearrange your life to maximize your happiness.
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls. I love the story of a girl escaping a life she doesn’t want, one where she is unhappy and following her dreams. This story brought me to tears, made me cheer, and made me want to do something amazing. Read it. I know you’ll love it.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. By this point you must have heard of this book, it’s the story of the villagers who lived on a small island in the middle of the English Channel during World War II.
The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom. I had heard about this book from several people before I actually picked it up. I wish I’d done so earlier, this was one of the most moving books I’ve ever read. Corrie Ten Boom lived during WWII and organized a massive underground movement to hide Jews and rescue them from the Nazi’s. Her writing is so honest and her stories are incredible.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams. One of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time with all these one-liners and witticisms that made me laugh out loud, surprising wait staff and fellow travelers.
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair. I always thought The Jungle was about the horrible conditions of the meat packing district in Chicago, and yes, it covers the unsanitary conditions and all the crap that went into the meat there, but more than that it is about the immigrant experience. It it beautiful and sweeping and epic about a family’s struggles in a new place with new customs and no access to social programs. Sinclair writes about the poor and downtrodden in Chicago the way Steinbeck wrote about the immigrant farmers in Oklahoma and California.
The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway. I can’t believe I’d never read this short story, it’s beautiful and wonderful, a fable really about perseverance for perseverance’s sake. (I’m so glad I read this before I went to La Paz, Mexico.)
What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell. Do I need to continue to praise Mr. Gladwell? He doesn’t ever return my fan mail or anything. Eh, I’ll still talk him up. What the Dog Saw is a collection of essays, they are brilliant.
4-STAR READS
A Maze of Grace, Trish Ryan. I love Trish, her first book struck a chord with me in ways I didn’t think I could feel anymore. This one was just as fantastic, about her struggles with marriage and God and infertility; it is beautiful and approachable.
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini. This study of women and their right (or lack of) in Afghanistan and Pakistan is simultaneously a story of struggle and discrimination as well as love and triumph. It is difficult to read at times, but important in understanding this area of the world.
Devil in the White City, Erik Larson. A historical thriller that is full of facts and tidbits about the World Fair in Chicago as well as a serial killer. It is nerdy and scary and all-together a fantastic story.
Lost on Planet China, J. Maarten Troost. Troost is one of my favorite travel writers, and his hilarious jaunt through the Middle Kingdom is no exception.
Naked Economics, Charles Wheelan. An easy introduction to economics that you can understand without needing to reference graphs and lines and equations. (Yes, I read Econ books for fun, don’t judge.) If you’ll let me justify my nerdy habits for a moment: econ is the study of how the world works, and it is something you should know about. Read it.
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck. I love Steinbeck, and this novella is no exception. The characters are developed, the story is simple but powerful.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Top Stoppard. This play is a spin off two small-time characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and is absolutely hilarious. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play off each other and you will be laughing at their plots and foibles. (Not written in iambic pentameter, you don’t need to be fluent in Shakespearean prose to understand every line.)
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman. I had never read or even heard of Klosterman when I saw this book and read a few pages. He’s hilarious and deals with economic principles and theories in ways that anyone can understand and find a way to get their inner geek on. I’ve since ordered 3 more books by Klosterman.
Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card. This is the follow-up book to Ender’s Game and it is a little more fantastical, but still a fascinating study in humanity.
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, John Steinbeck. Steinbeck has written down the stories of King Arthur and all the knights of the Round Table that you’ve either never heard of or forgotten because their stories were not made into a movie.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson. Excellent mystery-thriller, but the writing is kind of “meh.” You can’t put it down, it’s something you’ll stay up all night reading just to discover the ending.
The Girl Who Played with Fire, Steig Larsson. Same characters as Dragon Tattoo, but a new scenario. Thrilling and gripping.
The Great Brain, John D. Fitzgerald. I read The Great Brain books as a kid, it’s the story of a brilliant con-artist who lived in a small town in Southern Utah. The catch? The con-artist in question is twelve years old. Charming and hilarious, check it out.
The Great Brain #2 (More Adventures of the Great Brain), John D. Fitzgerald. Again, love.
The Great Brain #3 (Me and My Little Brain), John D. Fitzgerald. And some more Great Brain love.
The Great Brain #4 (The Great Brain at the Academy), John D. Fitzgerald. Quite possibly my favorite in the Great Brain series.
The House on Mango Street, Sanda Cisneros. Last year at the Booksale this book was thrown at my head with the command to read it. It is a beautiful novella, a coming of age story about a young Latina in Chicago. Imagine me virtually throwing this thin volume at your heard. Now read it.
The Twenty-One Balloons, William Pene du Bois. A fantastical, possibly-fictional story about the infamous island of Krakatoa before it was blown to pieces by a massive volcanic explosion. I absolutely adore this book, a quick read.
3-STAR READS
A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf. I loved the premise of this book, but I felt it could have used a bit of editing. I love the idea, but got bogged down a bit in the language.
A Room with a View, E.M. Forster. I read this for a book club and while I really enjoyed most of it, I just couldn’t get into some of the language and old Victorian dating customs.
Bel Canto, Ann Patchet. Janet sent this to me and I devoured it in about 2 days–it was a gripping story about terrorism, hostages, and kidnapping and the psychology that goes along with all of that.
Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut’s satirical views on society are not immediately apparent in his writings, but if you pay attention you will find his verbal whip-lashing of war, politics, and a half-dozen other traditional views.
Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (#2 in Series), Louise Rennison. Oh. My. Gaash. If you haven’t read any of the Georgia Nicolson series you absolutely must get your hands on one. Thy are a quick read, but absolutely hilarious.
Dogs of Babel, Carolyn Parkhurst. Everyone deals with grief in different ways, when his wife dies, Paul must learn to process her death.
Excellent Women, Barbara Pym. I appreciate the style of this book, it’s just not my cup of tea. Neither is Pride and Prejudice.
Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl. If you haven’t seen the movie, I suggest you read the book first (as always). This is brilliant and awesome and will make your inner child chuckle.
Sold, Patricia McCormick. A look at prostitution in India, heart breaking but with a ray of hope.
The African Queen, C.S. Forster. I still need to rent the Katherine Hepburn/Humphrey Bogart version of this story, but I loved the premise. She’s a missionary in Africa, he’s a mostly drunk riverboat captain, they have a fantastic adventure and end up saving, well, you know, things.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz. I liked the story and the cultural references and information, but I had a hard time getting past all the language.
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky. I loved this…for about 400 pages; and then I really wanted an good editor. Dostoevsky wrote this in installments, without any editing or re-writing, and published it in a Russian newspaper. I need a little more editing than that.
The Last Empress, Anchee Min. The story of the last Chinese empress before the dynasty’s fell to communism. Fascinating, historical fiction with a lot of Asian culture thrown in for good measure.
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, Richard P. Feynman. Geeky, nerdtastic, and philosophical.
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen. I was disappointed when I heard this was being made into a movie, I enjoyed the book and I’m afraid the film won’t get it right (and by “right” I mean, how it was in my head). A wonderful mix of fiction and history about circuses and elephants and trainings, love and jealousy, people and animals.
2-STAR READS
Dancing Girls of Lahore, Louise Brown. Too much conjecture, not enough story. I wish Louise Brown had a better, more personal way or writing, her research on brothels in Pakistan. The stories are gripping, but it was hard to follow them.
Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer. I know this is supposed to be amazing and blah blah blah, I just couldn’t get into it. I’m sorry, I wanted to, but couldn’t.
For One More Day, Mitch Albom. I like Albom’s other books, Tuesday’s with Morrie is one of my favorites. But this is all about life-long regrets, and I don’t love the idea of living for the past. Shrug.
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins. I loved Hunger Games and enjoyed Catching Fire, but I hated the final installment. I didn’t like Katniss, I didn’t like the “conspiracy”, and I despised the ending in many different ways.
The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler. I should just accept that I am not an Austen fan, which means I probably won’t like other books written in the same style, and I won’t like books about Austen’s books. Lesson learned.
I’m afraid I have released a monster. A monster who will stalk down her prey, plan an attack, use dirty techniques and then swoop in for the kill. I’m talking, of course, about eBay. Or, more precisely, myself as I scour for items on eBay and repeatedly refresh my web page to see if I have won.
Yesterday, I used eBay for the first time. You might need to read that sentence again, I’ll retype it for your convenience. Yesterday, I used eBay for the first time. What started as having some day-time nightmares about zombies turned into my peeling back the layers of the internet to find childhood treasures. I can’t really explain my entire thought process, it would be too disjointed and exhausting; besides, you’d probably think I was certifiably crazy for jumping from zombie’s to the circus, to the Tang Dynasty to high heels to architectural ruins to children’s books. Ok, so I guess I kind of just explained it. Zombies, blah blah blah, books I loved as a kid.
Don’t question my logic, that would be rude. Moving along.
While I was growing up we always had a lot of books at our house. Between the armloads we’d cart home from the library and the paperbacks my mom ordered from those monthly book orders we’d bring home from school there was always something to read. The biggest book on our shelves was The Complete Adventures of the Borrowers, which includes four different books detailing the adventures of the Borrowers, tiny people who borrowed things from real people to make their homes more comfortable. This book was over 600 pages (and out of print) and I remember one summer when I was nine or ten spending my afternoons devouring the stories of these little people.
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with zombies. I can’t explain it, just let it go.
Yesterday I found a couple of first editions of the 2nd and 4th Borrowers books on eBay, both had bids that ended last night, so I put down a modest dollar amount. I never thought I’d win. But apparently there are not many people who are looking for 60-year old first editions of those particular children’s books this week. Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing!
Ok, I’m sorry. There was no need for that kind of exclamatory celebration. I apologize.
Here’s the problem, after winning two bids in one day I have the bug. I have added a dozen different books (not all first editions by any means) to my watch list and have bids out on three more. I don’t know what has happened to me. I used to buy any books online at Barnes and Noble or at the booksale in Phoenix.* Why am I scouring eBay with it’s less-than-stellar search functionality? I have no idea. Perhaps I no longer get the thrill of buying a new book with the overly convenient one-click-buy option? Search-click-done! It just isn’t the same as calculating bids and outwitting other buyers all while crouched over your laptop frantically hitting “refresh.” Or perhaps it’s just been far too long since I dug through a warehouse of books racing to score a classic hardback WITH DUST JACKET before that other bibliophile’s grubby paws get on it; I fight dirty, I will throw elbows if necessary.
Suddenly, except for the zombies, my attraction to eBay is making more sense. The bidding monster has been released and she will not be quieted. My bids are in, my fingers are poised, my PayPal account has been restocked and if someone outbids me, so help me, I will send a pack of rabid zombies to infect him. Or her. Rabid zombies are indifferent to gender, bribes, or even wide, puppy-dog eyes. They’ll eat your brains anyway.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I only have a few minutes to chew my nails off before this next bids closed.
Good hell, listen to me! The beast has been unleashed!
*Tickets have already been purchased to go to the Phoenix Booksale! Southwest had a sale, and their Two Free Checked Bags is essential for this trip; that is 100 pounds of books shipped for FREE**. Lists will be made, plans will be finalized, and I will be spending a weekend in February elbow-deep in cheap hardbacks. Squee!
**Plus the cost of ticket, obviously.
Editors Note: In the time it took to write and edit this post I won two more bids. Is there a weekly meeting I can attend? I don’t know if I can afford to keep up this addiction until February.
There are a few facts about me that if you’ve been here more than once or twice you probably already know. I love shoes. I love books. I have some amazing friends. So it is with great joy that I announce that one of my long-time, amazing friends, Kiersten White, is now officially a published author. As in, she wrote a book. And someone (cough, HarperTeen, cough) liked it. So they put a ring on it, er, I mean, they published it. And NOW Paranormalcy is available in bookstores all over the place, or on Amazon!
Yep, that’s right. That is me, Evie (the main character) and Kiersten hobnobbing at Barnes and Noble last night. And yes, it’s August here. And yes, I was wearing a jacket, scarf, tights and boots BECAUSE IT WAS COLD! I’m not complaining–I love the fall and am glad summer is coming to a close.
Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours.But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.So much for normal.
The Strand Bookstore
You know how much I love books, right? So it should come to no surprise that while I was in NYC I wanted to go to this enormous used bookstore, The Strand.
Doesn’t that just look fantastic? The Strand boasts 18 miles of used books. I feel giddy again just thinking about it. Eighteen Miles! Swoon!
These leather-bound titles were my favorite. They had an entire section of them and I wish I could have brought them all home.
I could have stayed here for a solid month and still not have made my way around to all the interesting nooks and corners. I did not, however, bring a single book home with me. Even at their “used” prices I felt they were exorbitantly expensive. Their used prices were about 75% of the cover price, which is a nice discount. But when I’m used to paying $2 dollars for a hardback book at the Booksale, 25% off seems like highway robbery. I made a list of titles that looked interesting, and I will keep an eye out for them in Phoenix.
*I’d like to thank Erin and RA for indirectly introducing me to The Strand. RA organized a fantastic online bookclub last year where Erin led a discussion for “The Secret of Lost Things“, which takes place in The Strand. I’ve wanted to visit it ever since.
The New York Library
Do you remember that moderately bad movie “The Day After Tomorrow”? Remember how they hole up in the New York Library until Dennis Quaid comes to rescue them? Yep, pretty much I’ve wanted to go see that library since I saw that movie. So while in NYC I dragged my long-suffering friend Josh and a handful of highschool kids* onto the subway and down to the library. I’m kind of an architecture geek and was hoping to “oooh” and “aaaah” over the building for a while. This building is amazing!
[Gorgeous, right? Right. Sadly, every single architectural detail you see right now–from the molding to the columns to the lions and even the stone steps–was completely ensconced in sheet rock, plastic, and “Construction Underway” signs. I was crushed. The inside was still beautiful with most areas open to visitors–but the beautiful outside was hiding. Which I guess means I’ll have to make another stop next time I’m in NYC.
One of the many lobby-areas in the Library. I love all the wood paneling, arches and the castle-worthy sconces/candelabra.
I half-expected The Beast or some other fantastical creature–a gargoyle maybe?–to come bounding around one of these corners. Alas, no such magical creature, disguised prince, or AWOL gargoyle presented itself. Sigh, such a gorgeous building.
[I spent an hour or so in this reading room with a fascinating volume on the ancient Greeks. Man, I wish I had more time to read something like that all the time–I need to be done with required school readings, stat. (This is wishful thinking, my semester started yesterday.)
The Museum of Natural History
I dragged a small group of highschool kids out of bed early one morning (early being, you know, 9:00 am) to go visit the Museum of Natural History. This is by far the largest museum I’ve ever been to–with levels and floors and extra exhibits in new wings and old wings–it went on forever! I can’t begin to recount everything we saw–but some of my favorites were the geology and space exhibits depicting different composites that make up the earth and how, exactly, the earth fits into our solar system. I loved the Japanese exhibits that detailed how to make woodblock prints. Ditto on the ancient Chinese exhibit. The museum had Egyptian mummies and Tibetan temples and an entire room of ancient pottery. I was floored by the sheer volume of artifacts from various African tribes, and how similar and different they were from each other. There were stuffed animals and cases of small reptiles and rooms of skeletons of Jurassic-era animals.
The dinosaur bones exhibits were perhaps my favorite, they were just so enormous! I mean, I know T-Rex is huge and all–but it’s different when you are standing next to him and staring at his teeth and claws. Yowzers!
Wooly mammoth, anyone? Dumbo? Buhler?
Yeah, suddenly The Night at the Museum franchise is no stretch to me–this place has EVERYTHING! Recommended.
*A note about the high school kids: I was a chaperon for a high school tour-of-sorts. Kind of random, totally awesome. They were a great bunch of kids and we had some good times. I’d go on vacation with them again in a minute.
Alternative Title: All about the time I almost moved into the basement of a National Monument.
Before I went to Washington, D.C. I joked with a few friends about finding a persuadable security guard at the Library of Congress who would let me move into the basement. Reader, I found him. Solomon an enormous, muscley, hulk of a man with a killer toothpaste-commercial smile and a deep, contagious laugh. And he promised that if I smiled at him on occasion he would let me sleep amongst the stacks of books. Admittedly, I think at some point my virtue would be on the line, but it is a small price to pay to live here:
From the outside, I think the Library of Congress is one of the most beautiful buildings on the Mall. On the inside it is absolutely breathtaking. Sure there are marble columns and gorgeous paintings and sculptures and inlaid mosaics. But it’s the books that I am in-love with. I think I spent about 6 or 7 hours wandering around, ogling the rooms and rooms of books. They have a Gutenberg Bible, as well as The Giant Bible of Mainz, just hanging out in the lobby. Respectively, that is the first book printed in the Western world and the last of the great, handwritten Bible’s of Europe. There they are, side-by-side, looking imposing and gorgeous and breathtaking. Of course, in 90% of the Library of Congress there is no photography allowed, and due to the reverent nature of the items on display (see: bibles, Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, etc) I decided not to be my usual naughty self and take pictures anyway. Besides, I wanted to stay on good terms with Solomon to ensure my place in the basement.
Any reader who has been here for longer than 10 minutes is well aware that I have a bit of a book-addiction problem (as well as a shoe-addiction problem. And a Nutella-addiction problem). So it should not be any kind of surprise to know that my visit to the Library of Congress was, by far, the highlight of my trip. The original Library of Congress was donated by Thomas Jefferson, from his personal collection of books, some 6,000 strong. (Note: I would LOVE to have 6,000 books in my personal library. I’m sitting at about 700 right now–I have a spreadsheet, don’t judge–and my apartment is absolutely bursting.) During the War of 1812 when the British sacked and burned Washington those dastardly redcoats burned the building housing the Library of Congress. They burned it! Half of Jefferson’s carefully curated collection went up in flames. At this point in the video-presentation about the beginnings of the Library of Congress I actually gasped and may (or may not) have cursed the bloody English. I know I know; it was a war and they were under orders from a (tyrant) king and we’re on good terms now thanks in large part to the Beatles and Kate Moss. But in my world, book burning is tantamount to genocide and ethnic cleansing. The Library of Alexandria was destroyed by Roman invaders and frankly, despite their pasta and Vespa’s and chic fashion, I’ve never forgiven them. /book rant.
[It has only been in the last fifteen years that the library has made a concerted, dedicated effort to reclaim copies of those books that were lost. So far they have acquired through purchase and donation, about 4,800 volumes and in one, marbled wing there is a room dedicated to Jefferson’s originally donated library. There is this enormously tall, circular bookcase made out of plexiglass that winds into itself. You can walk through it like a little maze and gorge yourself on Jefferson’s collection. He had his own organizing system, which is complicated and logical and, frankly, kind of brilliant. He divided books into three dozen different types and topics, and then arranged them by size. By size. This brilliant mind arranged his books by size. I suddenly feel much better about the fact that my books are arranged by color (again, don’t judge). I spent almost an hour slowly perusing these shelves, making notes of philosophers I should become more acquainted with, like Cicero, for example, and smiling to myself when I came across his section of Shakespearean plays. I really think that Jefferson and I would have been great friends.
[A few hours later, and after a little harmless flirting with Solomon (and also going through the proper channels) I got myself down into the “reading room” of the Library of Congress. The bookshelves are miles long and several stories high. There are balconies and walkways and arches and domes and more books than you can even imagine. I wandered around for a long time, running my finger along the edge of the shelves and just smelling the old-book smell. I wish I had something to research because I mostly walked around aimlessly, wandering from one section to another.
Many hours later, I emerged from the Library of Congress on a biblio-contact high and desperate for something to eat. I bid goodbye to Solomon, who still insisted he’d found a nice warm corner for me to live, and promised to return.
Filed under: Bookworm
There has been a very obvious dearth of posting lately, and I don’t want to get into the reasons why (mostly because, frankly, it’s depressing and I’m trying to stay away from depressing). Instead, I have decided that I should a) smother any depressing bits in bacon and/or goat cheese, and b) make a concerted effort to talk about things that I love. I can write about something I love without too much trouble. It’s when I start to write about the things that are Real and In My Face Right Now that my mind starts to wander, my reasoning and grammar skills get dicey and I eventually throw up my hands and open the package of Sour Patch Kids.
So,without further adieu, or further references to junk food (hey! goat cheese is a SPECIALTY product! It’s gourmet! It’s not “junk”)(except that it sits on my thighs the same way chocolate truffles do)…regardless, and without any more parentheses (I promise!), here is the first in what will be an ongoing series of Things That I Love.
I love reading. (This is not a surprise, or rather, it shouldn’t be if you know me at all.)
I have noticed that, as of late, most of my books have been nonfiction, memoirs or novels so peppered with historical fact that they read more like a history book than a novel. The last few weeks have made this trend of mine even more apparent. I am still plowing through the pile of books I bought in February at the Booksale, and I have another pile I bought with several Barnes & Noble giftcards. That being said, I really am in no need for additional bookery; but the last week I have ordered another large small-ish pile of books simply to cheer myself up. What? I have permanent free shipping and a good discount. Why not? It’s better for my thighs than gobbling a loaf of cheese or a vat of chocolate. I even have to bend down to pick up the box when it arrives on my doorstep, and that act is considered a “squat” by Jillian Micheals, and therefore counts as “exercise”. Right? (I am not pausing at this juncture long enough to hear any dissenting opinions. It’s a squat and I have done this repeatedly in the last 7 days to retrieve boxes of books that are quite heavy. This should count as something significant.)
More specifically than that, I love learning something new. I have always been somewhat of an “academic” type–which is just a trumped up, snobbish way of calling myself a “nerd”–and love learning. I am the type of person who decided to learn Mandarin Chinese JUST BECAUSE. I read economics and history books for fun. I memorize new vocabulary words and look-up bits of trivial information just for the sheer pleasure of knowing them. I am HOPING not to be a perpetual student (current graduation date: May 2011. Finally!), but I hope to be a perpetual seeker of knowledge. I hope to never assume there is nothing more for me to learn or to think that I have learned all that I could possibly ever need. When I’m 90 (if I live to be 90)(and am still lucid at 90)(and still have the eyesight to read)(or the hearing for an audio-book)(and if they still have books and/or audio books) I want to be studying up on Shakespeare, or evolution, or the cultural practices of the Nepalese people, or the Jewish-American experience in the early 20th century. Do you think that when I’m 90 I will still be able to bend down to pick up a newly-delivered box of books? I’m crossing my fingers for that.
