friday february 27
The Graveyard Book is high on my list of favorites. Neil Gaiman, the gifted author of so many stories, again puts us in the middle of the horrible, while making it ordinary. In Coraline (2002), the heroine ended up in a scary mirror world that tested her strength and smarts. Similarly, in The Graveyard Book, our hero, Bod, uses his intelligence and natural little-boy curiosity to make sense of his odd world which, to him, is very normal.
It is fabulously adventurous. Bod's trip to the land of the Ghouls is sparingly scarily described, and it turns out to be a way in which he finds one of his most ardent protectors. Poor little Bod is a normal boy in very un-normal circumstances, being raised by ghost parents, championed by a vampire, and tutored by a werewolf.
But, I have to stress that never is the book something that would spawn nightmares. The imagery is fabulous, the characterizations dead-on (pardon the pun), and the story line is satisfying without being either gratuitous or predictable. There are scary things, but there is a lot of kindness, too.
Neil Gaiman was awarded The Newbery Medal for this wonderful book, the American Library Association's award for the exemplary children's book of 2008. He has a long list of awards, but I am so glad he has been officially recognized for this quality writing for young people.
When I hear the words "high school," certain memories spring to mind: catching the city bus each morning, memorizing those French verb conjugations, and putting off "required reading"--the tedious Shakespeare plays, Melville stories, and the Dickens novels--as long as possible.
I wasn't averted to reading; after all, my bedside was cluttered with books by Amy Tan and John Grisham, among others. But the idea that I was required to read certain books because they were "important" always bothered the teen-aged me.
Luckily, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County provides ample opportunities to discover (or rediscover) classic literature, old and new. Today, for example, not only can I read the library's copy of Hamlet and watch it performed by Patrick Stewart, but also I can download an audio-recording of the play from NetLibrary or a video study guide from MyLibraryDV and gain an even better understanding of this classic that became one of my favorites, long after I had to read it for eleventh-grade English.
The short story index, one of the many internet databases to which the library subscribes, allows users to read entire short stories from their home computer or on one of the library's public terminals. I found some of wonderful stories there, including Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find." And after rereading that classic, be sure to check out this recent biography of O'Connor, simply titled, Flannery.
Continue Reading…
wednesday february 25
2008 was a very good year for books. Unfortunately, it wasn't any longer than the average year, so I am behind, behind, behind in reading all of the 2008 titles I have had on my must list for months.
Rose Tremain's The Road Home (which was actually published in England in 2007, but let's not make me feel any tardier) was one I wrote down as soon as I saw the first notices, since her gorgeously literary and quirkily original novels always appeal to me.
I'm glad I finally got to it. It was a deeply satisfying read. And it's less odd than some of her other work, so it would be a good place to start if you haven't read any of her books.
Lev is an immigrant from eastern Europe to London. He has left his mother, young daughter, and best friend back home where work is scarce (the sawmill has closed) and he is lonely (his wife has died) to try his fortune in England.
Continue Reading…
wednesday february 18
Numbers rule. Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot are the court jesters.
Their little book, The Numbers Game: The Commonsense Guide to Understanding Numbers in the News, in Politics, and in Life, is very amusing, an enjoyable evening’s read. But it has a serious purpose: to demystify the numbers that fill the daily news, dictate public policy, and determine our lifestyles.
How can the ordinary non-mathematicians among us make sense of the statistics, studies, and stupefying data thrown around by media and government? Blastland and Dilnot would say that even a child can tell whether the emperor is wearing clothes. They offer half a dozen simple ways to put public numbers to the test.
Eating that latest health food halves your chance of developing brain cancer. (Halves it from 1 in 4 or from 1 in 4 million?) The average person will save $1000 with the latest tax law change. (But what will most people save? After all, almost all of us have more than the “average” number of feet.) The crime rate is going down after a big push by local law enforcement. (Would it have gone down anyway?)
Considering the staggering numbers we’re all being asked to understand these days, this entertaining and informative book couldn’t be more timely.
friday february 13
"This is a book of poems that if I knew you better and if you were in a hard passage I might send you one or two of along with a note, the way people used to do, believing in the bracing effect of bold writing.... I hope it does you some good."
So writes Garrison Keillor in his wonderfully rambling introduction to Good Poems for Hard Times. Following his first book of selected poetry - simply titled Good Poems - this collection offers thoughtfulness, courage, and a bit of humor to help navigate the occasionally bumpy roads of life.
Mr. Keillor also advances the therapeutic effect of poetry via The Writer's Almanac, comprised of literary tidbits and a daily poem, to be read online or heard locally on the air Monday through Friday at 9:55 pm on WVXU 91.7 fm.
During challenging times such as these a few artfully arranged words can make all the difference.
wednesday february 11
It was a difficult transition for me, going from one girl to one girl and two boys. Hard enough having twins to begin with, but two boys? What did I know about raising boys? This is what I have learned so far: boys are messy. Food is not for eating but throwing on the floor, and sippy cups are used as weapons of mass destruction.
They also like to roughhouse. We have one of those play kitchens that comes equipped with various items of plastic food and kitchenware. The other day I caught one of my boys whacking his brother over the head with the frying pan. His brother usually retaliates by knocking him over deliberately when he's standing or walking (the younger one can't walk yet).
My boys also do not like to be changed--I'm talking clothes and diapers here. Whenever I put them on the changing table I have to prepare myself for a wrestling match. To make matters worse, one of them has recently decided that he likes taking his pants off. As in, I go to get him up from his nap and he's standing in his crib without any pants on. This is the same one who likes to take his diaper off (I am not sure what this means about his future career choices, but it can't be good).
What else have I learned? Boys are sweet: they like to give kisses and be held. And they really, really love their mommies.
Want some professional advice on raising boys? Then check out some of the following books.
Continue Reading…
Despite the food in the title of this post, I'm not talking cooking here!
I went to a workshop where library staff talked about their favorite books of 2008. One of the librarians described a nice, old-fashioned book as a sandwich: "It's like a really good sandwich. You finish it and you say to yourself, ‘Boy, that was a good sandwich.’" I thought it was a great way to describe the book: unpretentious, wholesome and satisfying.
A food metaphor I often use is "popcorn books." I mean those light, compulsive reads you finish in an evening. Maybe they're not great literature, but there’s something to them, and you've just got to have them. A little bit nutritious, tasty, and easy to devour.
Read on for one of my favorite popcorn authors and the title of the sandwich book.
Continue Reading…
