about reading, writing, books, and all things bookish.
2019
The Morgan Museum and Library at 36th and Madison, NYC. Nearly my favorite place in the world.
Sunday, January 20, 2019
After a cup of tea, a bit of egg, and a quick gaze almost out the window, here’s a thought for the day:
Till next time.
...
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
1/9/19
Ian Rankin in the Book Review commented about mystery books containing the complete package. But I think his list applies to all good books.
A strong sense of place.
Complex main characters.
Moral and societal issues.
Roller coaster plotting.
But even good fiction can’t really hold up to the real-life stories of people like Madeleine Kamman and Gertrude Jeannette who were two of several folks featured in the NYTimes Magazine from December 30, 2018.
These extraordinary women were deservedly chosen, and their stories were very well written. This particular Magazine is one worth saving (even though at some point, you have to stop saving and clipping).
Never. The. Less. This issue is one for the keeper file.
And then it’s on to mundanity (if that’s a word, and it appears that MS Word does not believe it is, but I digress). It’s energizing when it appears that the day gave you a gift by making your shoes fit better once you’ve put on a thinner pair of socks. But when by the end of the day, thick or thin, the shoes still don’t fit properly, you’re left with the disappointing mundanity of shoes and socks.
Luckily.
To make up for this insult and injury,
There’s still Brooklyn with Colm Toibin.
And it all turns good once again.
Till next time.
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Monday, January 7, 2019
At the end of the day, you think nothing much has occurred, but then you look around and find out just the opposite.
A letter in the Book Review explained Nietzsche’s anti anti-Semitic views as referenced in Human, All Too Human, Nietzsche's book which explores enlightened reason and science.
An author (Ian Rankin) cleverly explained The Prime of Miss Jean Brody as being an absolute Tardis of a book. (A Dr. Who reference to being bigger on the inside than the outside.)
Gail Collins reviewed Patricia Miller’s book, Bringing Down the Colonel, which led me to wonder about a whole lot of stuff.
Nat King Cole is singing in the background.
And I’m finishing John Grisham’s The Innocent Man on Netflix later on.
It would be hard to find a Monday where more has occurred.
And finally, it would be really, really handy if Hey Siri could accurately spell Nietzsche so that I wouldn't have to physically Google it. Cause Nece ain't he.
Till next time.
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Sunday, January 6, 2019
David Corn was live on BookTV today for three hours and did a wonderful job explaining his process for fact-checking and for his writing process for both his non-fiction and fiction books. It was a really great interview. Peter Slen, as always, was a superb interviewer. He seems to get better and better with each interview.
And I’ve done it again.
I’m in the middle of two books. I hate when that happens.
Reading on my kindle, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.
Listening on my iPhone, The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin and read by Meryl Streep.
Fortunately, they’re from two different centuries so I should have no trouble keeping the characters straight. It’s gonna be a delightful week.
One downer note: On BookTV, John Carlin (a brilliant young man) talked about his new book on cyber warfare by Russia and China and other nefarious creatures. VERY scary stuff. Best not to look.
Useful idleness. Is that what reading is?
No. But I DO like that phrase.
Till next time.
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Friday, January 4, 2019
Ineffably and invariably, the best moments of the day usually involve a slice of sunlight making its way through the window onto the table where it lights up a bowl of blackberries or an egg and cheese sandwich or maybe just a fragment of underdone potato, and then it’s gone until the next time the earth rolls around.
Sunlight.
Which brings me to dust.
And dusting.
I’m always surprised when I walk by a bookcase and notice a month’s worth of dust when it’s only been a week since I’ve dusted. And dusting brings me to Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust, which I read with my dad oh so many years ago and will reread soon.
But first, I’ll be needing to finish me latest book which is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I was so excited to find this book after it was recommended by a literary-type as one of the all-time greats. But now I see that there’s also a teacher’s guide for high school students. What does it mean to really like a book read by high school students?
It means it’s an extra good book.
A last fleeting thought beyond sunlight, dust, blackberries, potatoes, high schoolers, and nostaligia. Vivian Leigh as Blanche DuBois said in A Streetcar Named Desire that life was for art, music, literature, and tenderness.
Oddly enough she mentioned neither a border wall nor a government shutdown.
Till next time.
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Wednesday, January 2, 2019
A cozy fire and finishing a book. A good way to start the year.
The book? A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. And yes, its copyright is 1943, which makes me way behind and which is not a good place to be at the start of a new year. But there it is.
And Francie is wonderful. She’s smart, independent, hard working, poor, continually hungry, cautious, in the shadows, but still manages to survive.
From a sociological perspective, it’s great to think that talent and hard work allow people to rise above their initial meager beginnings. But in fact, if Naomi Klein is correct (and she is), the economy for most people is not in their favor. For those who begin life in meager beginnings, saving a few pennies a week is not going to do it. Still…the book is grand, hopeful, and replete with cultural references and explanations for how and why society is where it is today.
It’s nice to be able to root for a hero even if she’s only in a book. I’m now thinking of reading Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, which I’ve already read but which seems like the right time to read again.
There’s just something about Brooklyn.
Till next time.
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Tuesday, January 1, 2019 A Brand New Year with a few favorite things:
Actor Tom Hardy
Actress Tyne Daly
Writer Arundhati Roy
Playwright Alan Bennett
Broadway Play The Producers
Vitamin C
Bowl Mason Cash
Book Building Stories
Audio Book The Uncommon Reader
Song Let’s Go Fly A Kite
Bridge Brooklyn
Vacation Photo AMNH
Punctuation Oxford Comma
Fragrance Obsession
Titles My Struggle Can You Ever Forgive Me? The Meaning of Everything
