Musical Chairs with Books

I have been playing literary musical chairs for a couple of weeks. That is to say, reading as quickly as possible all of the books that are required of me or that I want to read because I never know when I am going to find a DHL envelope on my chair containing a book to review from Library Journal. This week the music finally stopped. I put The Fountainhead on hiatus to read Giraffe: A Novel for my adult book discussion for today's session. When I was ready to return to Rand, sure enough, DHL had delivered. The turnaround time on reading and submitting reviews is 12 days. Fortunately, my editor would have a great career as readers' advisory librarian because the books she sends me are books I would otherwise read. This newest book is the second book in a trilogy and it turns out I read the first book when it came out 10 years ago. For a while I was receiving a book to review each month. That pace was a little hectic. It has been fun, though. My reviews are starting to make it to book jacket covers. Of course, my name isn't there, but I know that "...-Library Journal" means me. When I go to Mexico next month, I'm bringing a stack of books just for me (I emailed my editor to tell her...she recommended a book).

Book Discussion Blogging

The question has come up of how we will actually conduct our book discuss in this format. Of course, I have attempted some research. Libraries have dedicated book discussion blogs that branch off of their Web sites or library/branch blogs. Eventually, our library system may move to that if we prove successful. Individual book clubs also make their own blogs. My guess is that in these situations, the blog is arranged so that everyone is invited to register with administrative privileges so that all comments appear on the front. In our case, only my mine do. I envision a discussion that bounces along at its own jagged pace. I plan to make comments about the book and if someone wants to, then I hope she (or he) will just post a comment whenever and not wait to do it as a reply to mine. We will all notice that a comment has been added and will eagerly read it. Quite honestly...this blog doesn't get too much traffic, so any number in the Comment line is notable :) We can then have a dialogue in the Comments section about a particular issue, as needed. That method may not be ideal, but we can experiment with it for awhile. What do you think?

Busy Week

This past week has been very busy. I have really been enjoying Sally's blog and have, myself, been a multi-tasking reader. The Fountainhead is progressing. I am far enough in to be engrossed by the characters plus I feel as though I am learning a great deal about architecture. According to World Literature Criticism, Rand did extensive research for the novel including working for some time in the office of a famous New York architect. I put The Fountainhead down to start Giraffe: A Novel, my June book discussion book. It is a work of fiction based on the true story of the 1975 slaughter, by Czech secret police, of the largest captive population of giraffes in the world. The book begins with the birth of one of the giraffes told from the giraffe's perspective. Very unusual. I have also just started Lee Iacocca's new book, Where Have All The Leader's Gone? His book is a scathing assault on the current administration, one he acknowledges to have initially supported, and what other leaders of our time represent.

On another note...turns out the letter "N" was realllllly, realllllly hard. We only had 41 bands and that included checking MP3 players and including Swedish Christian metal band "Narnia," which was found by guessing a band with that name might exist. I could not have imagined such a precise genre, however. This week..."F."

The More Things Change

Smashler finished All Quiet on the Western Front yesterday, achieving a literary goal she has had for some time. This edition of the book is less than 300 pages and I had wondered how much impact it could possible make on me. In general, I am not a big fan of war novels. War and Peace was an exception in my fiction repertoire. What was shocking about this little book of large font and wide margins, was how modern it seemed. Sure, it's set in 1917-18 and I had to keep reminding myself that the main characters were the "bad guys," but the story could have been about Vietnam or Iraq. About 2/3 through the book the soldiers begin a discussion about why they are at war and they finally conclude, "there must be some people to whom the war is useful" and "every full-grown emperor requires at least one war, otherwise he would not become famous" and "there are other people back behind there who profit by the war, that's certain." This book was published in 1928 and yet, politically, I could be telling you about a book that just came in to the library. The combat is brutal. The conditions are harsh. The soldiers suffer PTSD, called shell-shock then. War was fought very personally. I took this book personally and I understand why it is a classic.

Woodpecker Cam

This morning I checked in on Wavelit and found that a woodpecker cam has been added. I have not seen the woodpecker yet, but it's nice to have fresh nerd porn.

First Lines

I have started reading The Fountainhead. After Rand's Introduction, I was a little worried that this book was going to be a real chore, but the first line caught me..."Howard Roark laughed." What I like about this line, other than its simplicity, is that someday, I might be asked what that line is from, and I will know it. It has probably already been a Jeopardy question. We are officially reading this title now because Smashler finished War and Peace, 5 days faster than I did, she pointed out. When the International Olympic Committee determines that reading is a sport, I'm sure ALA will field a team. Great Britain will probably sweep the Cozy Mystery events, though. So...The Fountainhead is off and running. If you are joining us in this project, please feel free to begin reading and posting at will. I am already enjoying that I am reading it. I hope to enjoy what I am reading; I think I will.

Teachable Moment

This weekend I went up to Celebration, Disney's master-planned community just outside Orlando for two events. On Friday night the Rotary Club hosted a liquidation sale of merchandise from the Disney warehouse at 70% off! We had read online that the checkout line can last 2+ hours. Having driven after work directly to the sale in the Celebration K-8 Gymnasium, we found ourselves in the "greediest place on Earth" with a tote full of goodies that we probably would not have purchased in the parks. One of the items, however, was a box of leather juggling balls from the France pavilion at Epcot. On my list of 43 things is to teach Smashler to juggle so I picked up several boxes (at 70% off, who could resist?). There was a boy behind me, perhaps an 8th grader, who was interested in the balls, but he said he couldn't juggle. I told him I could teach him. The line was loooong; we had at least an hour to kill. I told him to put the box in his pocket and instructed him how to toss the balls. After a couple of minutes, we moved on to the next step. Our juggling lesson progressed at a quicker pace than our place in line. In a short time, Jordan, was able to add the third ball and was juggling. I juggled along with him. Eventually, his family joined him in line and in an hour we made it to the front of the line. When it was my turn to go to the next available register, Jordan said to me, "It was nice to meet you." What a polite boy. I love teachable moments.