What’s On the Bookshelf?

T. E. Lawrence (a. k. a. more books I want to read)

What's On the Bookshelf?

Last night, I finished watching Lawrence of Arabia. Long movie, even for one who has been known to marathon the Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice, and Lord of the Rings extended editions. I still liked it a whole lot.

I want to read more about T. E. Lawrence, remembering a biography I saw at my library a few months ago, and having desired to read Seven Pillars of Wisdom for well over a year, since coming across this quote during thesis research:

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.

It just struck me. I find myself trying to dream with my eyes open, reaching my goals and working towards them.

So, amongst the piles of books I want to read, I’m hoping to tackle the biography I saw, and Seven Pillars of Wisdom. I have an insatiable curiosity. I need to know everything I can about people and things that interest me. Mr Lawrence definitely falls into the category of “people who interest me.”

I also think that my library may be sick of me, as I keep intra-library-loaning books, movies and CDs. And they continue to question if the books and movies I’m enjoying are for me…cannot wait to see their faces when I pick up Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

The Summer of Reading Books I Should Have Read in High School

What's On the Bookshelf?

Every summer, I try to have a theme for what I read. Not intentionally. I usually ignore my ‘I’m going to read THIS during the summer’ lists I came up with for the past couple of years. So this summer, I decided to try the great list of books I should have read in high school but didn’t because they were assigned to the lower level courses (why? I don’t know).

There are two books that I primarily want to read:

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Now, I’ve managed to start Catch-22. I’m about a third of the way through and am finding it quite funny. I am glad that I didn’t read it in high school–the humor probably would have gone over my head.

I probably should take on some more Shakespeare, and do want to read The Count of Monte Cristo. I also need to finish Ninety-Three, but that’s unconnected to former high school reads.

Other ones that should be on the list: more Austen (no thanks), Jane Eyre (again, no thanks), A Tale of Two Cities and more stuff I can’t recall.

And I do think I ought to reread To Kill a Mockingbird.

And the year’s book count is…

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Forty-two.

Yes, I know that there are still five days left in 2010, but I doubt that I will finish Les Miserables by then (reading a non-abridged translation…current update is: finished Book One). I’m hoping to finish Les Miserables before I return to school mid-January.

2010 was a good year for me, book reading wise. Way back in middle school, my favorite teacher suggested that I make a list of every book I read. Took a few years, but I finally got around to it. I think it’s a pretty successful exercise, and I’ll be continuing in 2011.

2011, along with having my list of what books I’ve read, will include a list of movies I’ve watched. I considered starting it this October, when I started watching a TON of classic and generally awesome movies. But that list will start January 1st as well.

As for the books I read this year, there were a few stand-outs, particularly in the getting-me-to-be-creative front. First up is Dante’s La Vita Nuova/The New Life. I read The Prince with the thought that Macchiavelli’s work would help with word-building (particularly around the power department), but it was Dante’s reshaping poetry that really stuck.

For sheer captivation, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy really grabbed my attention. I guess that 2010 was the year of the Spy for me, reading three works by John Le Carre, Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale and numerous books on spy television for my epic thesis.

And, to keep me from losing sight on the small things, Alexander McCall Smith’s works. I’ve caught up with his wonderful 44 Scotland Street series and am anxiously awaiting the release of the next one. Plus, I met Mr McCall Smith, which was wonderful.

So, what does 2011 have in store for me? Well, after finishing Victor Hugo’s epic Les Miserables, I have no idea. I want to read some of Len Deighton’s stuff, and will probably read Smiley’s People by John Le Carre (I must know how the Karla saga ends).

La’s Foul Note

What's On the Bookshelf?

When I came home from Italy, I found one of the latest Alexander McCall Smith books, La’s Orchestra Saves the World, waiting for me. Needless to say, I was incredibly excited. I adore AMS’s books, and this one seemed especially up my alley–it centers around a woman, La, who starts an amateur orchestra near an RAF base in Suffolk. Long time readers have probably picked up on my interest in the RAF, and my enjoyment of AMS.

AMS’s works are usually intimate, if lighthearted, looks at every day people in often extraordinary (or extraordinarily funny) circumstances. There’s Precious Ramotswe in his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, a strong-willed woman who’s dealt with some tough stuff in her past, but ultimately moves forward. His 44 Scotland Street series features characters like Bertie, a precocious 6-year-old forced to speak Italian and play the saxophone when all he wants is to play with a train set (and have his room a color other than pink).

La’s Orchestra has a strange disconnect. We, the readers, pity and sympathize with La, but we never gain that intimate bond with her. The orchestra barely features into the story. It’s mostly about her and her relationships with men. The book felt very shallow, almost flimsy, at times it was like peering through a veil of smoke. Nothing ever gelled properly.

One part of AMS’s writing is his imitation of the culture through his writing. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency takes place in Botswana (where AMS lived for a time), and the writing style is different from 44 Scotland Street (which takes place in Edinburgh) and is different from Portuguese Irregular Verbs (which I didn’t particularly enjoy, but it certainly captures the occasionally BS nature of academia). It could be that, as a 21st century American, I don’t understand the disconnect of a city woman living in the countryside during WWII. He captures the vibe so well in his other books, maybe I’m just missing it here.

I suppose I was expecting a different book, one more lighthearted and in line with 44 Scotland Street. I hoped for an interconnecting web of characters who shared the orchestra as common ground–La, the conductor, people from the nearby village, the pilots from the RAF base. Instead, I got the disenchanted La, and only her. There wasn’t enough development of the other characters to form an attachment, and even to her. I pitied La for her unfortunate circumstances, but I never connected with her.

I suppose every once in a while, favorite authors are allowed to hit a bum note.

Summer Reading List: 2010 Edition

What's On the Bookshelf?

The time has come for me to start putting together my summer reading list! Like last year, I’ll probably deviate extensively from it, and hopefully manage to complete at least half of the books on it.

I’ve noticed that my list has a couple of themes, being either Italian focused (or influenced by my stay in Florence) or dystopian. And some are just random.

Confessions–St Augustine

Decameron–Boccaccio

New Testament

Inferno–Dante (finish reading!)

1984–George Orwell (reread)

Brave New World–Alduos Huxley (reread)

Fahrenheit 451–Ray Bradbury (definite reread–I read this once, in the seventh grade)

The Shining– Stephen King

Let the Right One In–John Lindqvist

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest–Ken Kesey

Any other suggestions? I recently read a couple of really poorly composed books and need to purge my mind of the awful taste.

In some cases, like 1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451, these are books that I read for school years ago. Now that I’m older (and perhaps a little wiser), I hope to get something more out of them, and just enjoy them without having to worry about needing to remember details for exams and essays.

Love, Literature, and Potato Peel Pie

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The preceding post in the AW Book Blog Chain is Fictional: Lurker in the Dark and Others and the following can be found at Random Writerly Thoughts.

For a couple of weeks, every time I spoke with my mom she urged me to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. “It’s about WWII,” she told me. “It takes place on Guernsey during the Nazi occupation.”

Being a sucker for all things related to the UK and WWII, I gave in over Thanksgiving break.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society begins with Juliet Ashton, a writer, receiving a letter from a founding member of the titular Society. Juliet decides to write an article about the society (for a philosophy and literature series) and begins to receive more letters from Guernsey. She determines that the best way to write the article is to go to Guernsey itself.

The book is written in a different fashion–various lines of correspondence between Juliet and the other characters, such as her publisher, best friend, and the people of Guernsey. Through the letters, notes and telegrams we get a sense of who these people are. Their thoughts are intimate and thoroughly engaging.

One thing that I enjoyed is the care the authors put into developing individual voices for each of the characters. Some write only one or two letters, yet sound distinctive from the others. This aids with the realism of the book. One can’t help but feel like one is spying on these people, yet also feel like they are friends (or acquaintances at the least).

The story is one that is alternatively light and dark. The tones the characters write to each other in are humorous and self-deprecating. On numerous occasions I started laughing out loud. As the book is about the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands, the story becomes serious at times, but never loses its charm.

It saddens me that letter writing has fallen by the wayside for email, facebook and twitter. Fifty years from now, will anyone write a story in a similar manner about people like us? Emails lack that personal feel. Will an entire book be told over tweets? It strikes me as a bit ridiculous, really (if a fun poetry experiment).

All said, this is a charming book. Recommended for those looking for a feel-good novel (it does have a very happy ending!). Light, enjoyable, and worth the few hours it takes to read. Best enjoyed with a continuous stream of tea and digestive biscuits.

DavidZahir
Lost Wanderer
RavenCorinnCarluk
Vein Glory
Shethinkstoomuch –  That’s me!
Lady Cat – http://randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.com
Rosemerry – http://beyondtourism.wordpress.com/