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.
Friday, February 15, 2019
You’re driving down the street. Your car notices a used bookstore on the right. The steering wheel abruptly turns into the parking lot while expertly maneuvering the car into a space right in front of the store.
You think, “Why not?”
You go in.
Inside are hundreds and thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of used books. You find five that you’ve loved ever since you first read them, and even though you already own them, you buy them again.
You go home, take their picture, and explain the situation to the rest of your books who completely understand and accept this newest state of affairs without reservation.
And while the old books don’t exactly voluntarily make space on the shelves for the new books, neither do they balk at being scooted a little more to the left.
And the day is done.
Till next time.
...
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
It’s so great when I get in the mood to dust the bookshelves because I always seem to find a favorite book that I haven't read in awhile.
And today?
I found Lots of Spots by Lois Ehlert. This book with its wonderful art and witty poems is such a spirit lifter. PLUS, I met her one day at MOMA. She was DElightful. I'll never forget it. A brief but lovely encounter.
All her books are the kinds of books the best writers want to write.
A good day for dusting. A good day for books.
Till next time.
...
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
One of the nicest vignettes in cinematic memory.
A garden picnic with champagne, olives, prosciutto, brie, and bread.
Joe’s Palace
Michael Gambon, Danny Lee Wynter, and Rebecca Hall.
Yes, please.
Till next time.
...
Monday, February 11, 2019
Even though the book is beloved, lauded, and much acclaimed, it’s got a cast of thousands, and it’s difficult to keep up with everything that’s happening. Plus, the main idea is that when girls and women are denied an education, everything suffers. Page after page. Decade after decade.
Therefore. I’ve made a decision.
Instead of trying to force myself to continue reading Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet, I’m going to read instead Delia Owens’s Where the Crawdads Sing. But. There's a problem. I’m on hold. I am reader number 495 out of 52 available library ebooks.
Looks like I’ve chosen well. But it’s gonna be awhile. Hmmm. I wonder if awhile is one word or two.
Never. The. Less. What shall I do in the meantime?
One picture’s worth a thousand words.
Till next time.
How in the world does this happen?
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
A New Yorker by nature.
A reader by choice.
A Democrat by birth.
Ta da.
Till next time.
...
...
...
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Finished A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. This was published in 1989. I’m late. I know. Owen Meany and Johnny Wheelwright grow up together, watch the world evolve, perform in Christmas pageants, avoid the Vietnam War, emigrate to Canada, live, die, and think about it all. Every page of this book has a phrase or an event or a circumstance that is new and unique and without precedent in the world of books. John Irving and Michael Silverblatt talk many times throughout the years on KCRW. There’s nothing better.
Also finished Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak. It was a hard read. Artistic, poetic, post-modernist, difficult to follow. Five boys, many adults. All mostly just shy of reliable and competent. What the book does do over and over and over is demonstrate the follies of human choices.
Today was a three-hour live interview on BookTV with Dave Zirin who is an author and sports-writing aficionado. For three hours he talked sports, data, history, Title IX, NFL, NCAA, Nike, patriotism, money, profits, and how professional sports can be fixed for the benefit of the players, fans, and franchises. Prior to 1952, everyone listened to sports on the radio…mainly boxing and baseball, which was considered the American sport. By 1959, 90% of all households had a TV. Football emerged and was best served on TV and not the radio. Hence. The NFL conquered the nation’s attention while boxing and baseball have taken a back seat. Dave didn’t miss one beat. In a three-hour interview of questions, comments, readings, thoughts, and thinking, he gave a flawless, energetic, happy interview.
Peter Slen, the quintessential interviewer…a hero.
Till next time.
...
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Sadly, it’s so much more relaxing to write about books when the Dow rises 434 points.
The Testament of Mary
by Colm Toibin
A fictionalized account of Mary’s version of life after death in this instance read with perfect believability by Meryl Streep. But the star of course is Colm and his perfect conjectures about the reality of it all.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
This book absolutely captures Plath’s assertion about the grinding indifferent millstone of circumstance. Add poverty and the preferential treatment of boys over girls with regard to education, and life becomes exponentially harder than it has to be. Francie gets a good education in Brooklyn but ONLY because her father fabricates the paperwork so that she can get into a better school than the low-level one in her neighborhood. And that was Johnny’s main gift to his only daughter. And this single act of quiet civil disobedience made the difference.
Brooklyn
by Colm Toibin
Irish immigration to America brought people accustomed to disappointment. Yes, disappointment, but also with beliefs that things could get better. Eilis Lacey arrives by boat, finds quite a bit of luck, and adapts almost too easily to 1950s America. But it all rings true. And it rings true because of Colm. He doesn't miss a thing.
Wait Till You See Me Dance
by Deb Olin Unferth
This short story collection is up next.
NPR. NYT. Publishers Weekly. Good Reads.
They say it’s a go.
Which means it is.
But first, I’m finishing Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak who writes about Matthew, Henry, Rory, Tommy, and of course Clay. But it's the connection to Homer and his Illiad and Odyssey that make this so exciting. Reading Bridge feels a little like reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez who takes you through a river of events that you can barely see but somehow completely understand. But back to Markus. Markus's The Book Thief is my all time favorite book. It's the perfect book with Liesel Meminger as the star along with Hans and Rosa.
This is a lot. Even so. It's the perfect amount.
Then.
On to the pedestrian.
What to have for dinner.
Maybe just a simple root beer float.
Yes. I think so.
Till next time.
...
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.
...
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.
...
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.
...
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 a boiled egg or a cheese sandwich or maybe just a fragment of underdone potato, and then it’s gone, that sunny moment, 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.
...
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.
...
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
