Books

Oh, what a year!

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

This month for the AW Blog Chain, we’re taking stock of our accomplishments over the year. This has me shivering in my very boots.

I started out the year with bold ideas and plans. I thought that I would complete another novel first draft this year. Maybe two–an alt reality sci-fi story and my currently-stashed-away RAF tale (research is daunting, and alas, so is course work). I also thought that I would write more short stories this year. I think the count is three. I’m disappointed, but I can amend this next year.

I did get some things done.

I created this blog. Originally a course requirement from the Spring 2009 semester, I had fun and continue blogging. I don’t post as frequently or with the same consistent quality as I would like, but things to work on.

I wrote. Every day, at least a page. Over the summer, I required two handwritten pages. Now that school is winding down, I’ll be back up to my preferred level. I hope to carry this into the next year. Mostly I write fiction, but sometimes my mind moves to the real world or philosophical discussions.

I indulged my geekier side. Following the suggestion of one of my professors, I picked up Dune. That set the pace for (some of) my summer reading, which also included the first Riverworld book and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? For television viewing, I started Star Trek, and watched the entirety of The Prisoner (which I’ve determined needs multiple viewings and I’m only too happy to comply with).

And my, how the year flew by. 2010 looks like a promising one, filled with action and adventure (cue Danger Man theme).

Here are my fellow blog chainers!

Lost Wanderer – http://www.lostwanderer5.blogspot.com
Claire Crossdale – http://theromanticqueryletter.blogspot.com/
coryleslie – http://corrinejackson.wordpress.com/
bsolah – http://benjaminsolah.com/blog
DavidZahir – http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/
RavenCorinnCarluk – http://ravencorinncarluk.blogspot.com
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com/
shethinkstoomuch – http://shethinkstoomuch.wordpress.com (that’s me!)
Lady Cat – http://www.randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.com
truelyana – http://expressiveworld.com
misaditas – http://misaditas-novels.blogspot.com/
collectonian – http://collectonian.livejournal.com
laharrison – http://lesleyharrison.wordpress.com/
beawhiz – http://beawrites.wordpress.com
razibahmed – http://www.blogging37.com
FreshHell – http://freshhell.wordpress.com
AlissaC – http://alissacarleton.blogspot.com
Aimee – http://writing.aimeelaine.com

Love, Literature, and Potato Peel Pie

What's On the Bookshelf?

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/

 

I’m a train book creeper.

General Geekiness

While riding the subway, seeing what other people are reading is half the fun. I’m the sort of person who can’t read on subways, preferring to people watch, talk with friends, annoy the car with dramatic readings of the backs of Agatha Christie novels, etc.

But I love to see what others are reading. You get a wide variety on trains. The college kids finishing their homework. People reading foreign language newspapers. The current New York Times bestseller (I was surprised to see only one reader of The Lost Symbol on the train last Saturday) or other popular works. It made me happy to see someone reading Proust.

But the most popular train book I’ve seen? Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s everywhere. I haven’t read it (and don’t plan to) but I like the cover, and that’s probably why I notice it. Conceptual typography is brilliant.

Your Library is Your Portrait

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

I found this quote on Sputnitsa’s blog; its by Holbrook Johnson.

Coincidentally, a friend of mine posted a meme about fifteen books that have really stuck with you. I decided to participate, so here are my books.

1. Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian:  I read this book and was hooked on the time period; I think I’ve read it five or six times.
2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien: I had one of my senior portraits taken with the giant, red bound edition of this book.
3. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: One of my favorites; it makes me happy every time I read it.
4. The War of the Worlds by HG Wells: Finally read it this summer, but I’ve been enthralled with the story for years.
5. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux: Read it before I saw the movie. I adore this book; it is so brilliantly written. I need to get my copy back.
6. Watery Grave by Bruce Alexander: Mystery+Royal Navy=right up my alley.
7. Moon by Tony Fletcher: The best biography I’ve read, hands down. I laughed, I cried, I’ve read the book twice.
8. Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose: Just read it this summer, but…ah! It really sticks with you; it has the perfect ending.
9. The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Hawthorne+Italy. Two of my favorite nouns together! Not his best work, but my favorite.
10. Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors: Best love story I have ever read.
11. 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith: The characters are all so wonderfully realized; it feels like I know them personally.
12. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: Not my favorite RLS story (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde ranks higher) but I’ve always wanted to make a really good movie based on this; I often joke that this is where my first Oscar will come from.
13. Macbeth by William Shakespeare: My favorite Shakespeare play; Julius Caesar oddly comes close.
14. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: I’ve become even more observant, if that’s hard to believe.
15. The Irregulars by Jennet Conant: I’ve become obsessed with Roald Dahl’s early work, and it piqued my interest in Leslie Howard and David Ogilvy.

Strangely, a third of the list are books that I read this summer.

I love booksales!

What's On the Bookshelf?

I think I’ve already said how much I love booksales. I went to another today and picked up Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for fifty cents. You can’t turn that down.

I also got a twenty-eight story omnibus of Roald Dahl’s adult stories…woohoo!

The great thing about booksales (at least in my community) is that they also benefit the library. Old books for cheap, we load up on ’em, and then give them back to be sold once again. I rarely buy new books (stingy poor college student), so fifty cent paperbacks and one dollar hard covers is the way to go.