A Balm in Gilead

Although I'm a tearful movie watcher, I rarely cry at a book.

Gilead is an exception.

I read Gilead quite a few years ago at the strong recommendation of a (bookish like me!) friend.  I was instantly captured by the idea that John Ames, this aging man, would write down all the important things he would want to share with his young son, being quite aware that he likely would not live long enough to see Robby into adulthood.  I was SO moved by the character of Jack (son of his best friend and colleague Robert Boughton), and the tragedy of a life of poor choices and a love that doesn't suit its time.

Fast forward to Home and Lila.

Yummy, Kitsch-y Pop Culture

What's better than Glinda the Good Witch?
The thank you note to Glinda from Dorothy Gale.

Better than 007?
Top Secret Notes regarding the fates of 001 through 006.

Better than the B-52s?
The letter from their real estate agent regarding the efforts to sell the Love Shack.  "I'll be honest, this property is what's known as a 'tough sell' in our business." (p. 166)  PRICELESS.

Yes, the title is Dear Luke, We need to talk.  Dad Darth

Oooh, yummy, silly, pop culture at its ooey, gooey best.  

Ooh.... trick 'em into it!

I know a certain someone who isn't a big book reader.  Wonder if he'd read if I tried THIS approach... a little reverse psychology....hmmmm....

I'm All About That Bass

How cute is Meghan Trainor's "All About that Bass"?  VERY cute.  SUPER cute.  (I think I can even legitimately say "wicked cute" because she's from Massachusetts.) 

And hey, we bootylicious girls appreciate the, um, appreciation ;-)

If you like books, and students being super creative, what's even cuter?  Mount Desert Island High School's "All About Those Books".... feast your eyes....


 Right on, kids! I can't wait to see your next video!

Aimee's Adventures Away from The Maine Page Turner, and What She Found There

Yup.  This post is late.  But better late than never, right?

As George Harrison once sang, "It's been a long, long, long, time..."

Yes, friends, I've taken a bit of a sabbatical from The Maine Page Turner.

I have a few excuses It happened for a few reasons.

1. At the time of my last posts, I was in the thick of reading for the Maine Readers' Choice Award.  So, I was reading a LOT, but I felt that if I wrote either positively OR negatively about what I was reading, I would either be boosting OR downplaying the books that were in the final running.  Within the scope of my role with the Committee, I didn't think that was ethical or appropriate.  My job was to read many books, and then recommend (more or less silently) a handful of them to be considered by the Readers of Maine.  My conflict about endorsing or otherwise commenting on the books made me silent and unsure of how to proceed.

2. I decided to learn German.  In March I made plans to visit a dear-friend-of-25-years, and his family, in Germany.  He speaks perfect English, and his wife's English is FAR AND AWAY better than my German, but I still devoted myself to spending a significant amount of time, each day of 2014 to exercises in German via Duolingo (which I cannot recommend highly enough). Is my German great? Not yet. But it was a terrific goal for me.  Now I'm continuing my learning via Portland Adult Education.

3. I had a physical injury.  This wouldn't seem like something that would in any way stop me from blogging, but I did fall into a bit of a mental funk after a freak accident that caused a significant tear of my left Achilles' tendon.  I was on crutches for a month and a half and in physical therapy for three months.

4. I simply needed a break.  I had been writing, almost without fail, one post per week for 18 months.  That may not seem like a lot, except that I was also nearly always reading a whole book upon which I built each post.  Now, I love to read, but that's a pretty big commitment, and I needed to cut myself some slack.  So I did.

Last month I went on an 11-day trip that was, in every way imaginable, completely rejuvenating for me.

Truly, there were storybook moments.

I didn't just see Germany; I experienced the culture, graciously hosted by my kind, generous, and adventurous friend. I experienced a different lifestyle that was a delight to me: staying in their lovely flat, eating "foodie" family meals cooked with love and care, riding public transpo EVERYWHERE.  I saw and did things I had previously only seen in books.  I felt at times like I had walked into a fairy tale, or at least into my own dream of what Europe would be like. At least twice I burst into tears simply at the beauty and wonder of it all.

Just a SHORTLIST: We saw the Altstadt of Nuremburg. The Brandenburg Gate, the Bust of Nefertiti and Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.  Lubeck, the breathtakingly charming medieval seat of the Hanseatic Empire (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  We went to the Frankfurt Book Fair  walked across the Eiserner Steg, and enjoyed the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Sachsenhausen.  We took the scenic Deutsche Bahn along the Rhine River Valley to Cologne Cathedral. In Amsterdam, we saw the canals and the Rijksmuseum, and ate one of the best damn dinners I've ever had. We went to the Gutenberg Museum. We even went to the Opera. I barely slept, but I slept enough.  As Thoreau might say, I "sucked the marrow out of life."

I had the opportunity to step away from my "normal" life and analyze my day-to-day routines and choices.  For the first time in more than 13 years, the only person I was REALLY responsible for was myself.  I allowed myself to be vacant from my family, and give myself an honest-to-goodness VACATION.

My friend is a lively conversationalist and one of the most intelligent people I've ever known.  To say our talks were inspiring is to underrate them.  To lay out so many of my intellectual struggles or disappointments, and to receive, in return, constructive criticism, possible solutions, and encouragement has been a tremendous gift.

And baby, I'm BACK.

I return to my family and my life here renewed and refreshed. I have made an excellent recovery from my leg injury. At my friend's kind urging, I have a list of worthy goals, and I am taking active steps along the paths of those goals.  The time to act is NOW.  

I hit the "F5" button for my life.

Something about me is fundamentally different.  In a very good way.

While in Berlin, we had lunch near a university where my friend had done some academic work years ago.  In the pavement were squares etched with all the keys of the computer keyboard.  

Suddenly I felt compelled to find the F5 button - the refresh button. 

Because this experience was a Life "F5".

Announcing the Top Ten! Drumroll, please....

The Maine Readers' Choice Award Shortlist has been announced!

Obsessed with knitting

I've been reading, yes I have.  Believe me, that never stops.

But I've also been knitting.  A lot.  And thinking and reading about knitting.

I'm a lifelong knitter.  Like, nearly every day since I was 7.  And with this bitter cold weather we've had, all I want to do it wrap myself up in a whole heap of wool.

So I've been poring over knitting books and websites lately too.

"Mom.... you're such a nag.....but, um, thanks....."

Lately I've been nagging my son a LOT about finishing the details of some of his assignments.  Especially the "make up" worksheets to earn back some point on some less-than-awesome grades on quizzes and tests.

Wednesday night I was the meanest mom in the world.

Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone

I'm assigned to read Daniel Woodrell's newest book, The Maid's Version, for The Maine Readers' Choice Award Longlist, but I decided to preface that book with an earlier Woodrell, Winter's Bone.

It is a visceral, gripping novel, revealing a slice of life that is often ignored in America... grinding rural poverty.

The Maine Readers' Choice Award Longlist is out!

I've made passing reference to the Maine Readers' Choice Award a couple of times... I'm a member of the 2014 Reading Committee.  Here's the skinny:

"The Maine Readers’ Choice Award, officially established in 2013 by the Maine State Library and the Maine Library Association, recognizes the best in adult  fiction published in the United States the previous year.  The aim of this award is to increase awareness and reading of literary fiction.  The Maine Readers’ Choice Award honors books that exhibit exceptional writing and a compelling story that encourages reading and conversation among individuals and in Maine’s communities."

Been wondering about the books under consideration for the 2014 Maine Readers' Choice Award?

Wonder no more!

Overdue books - who gets my fine?

Most prolific library users I know have overdue fines.  Hey.... it happens.

I've even observed, or gotten caught up in, bizarre games of one-ups-man-ship about fines.

Photo courtesy: Elena Roussakis
Flickr Creative Commons

"I have, like, six dollars in fines right now."

"Six?  That's nothing!  I've got $22 in fines, and four books I just can't find."

Yikes.

I started this calendar year with a resolution not to incur ANY fines.  I held out for a few months, but like most people, my resolutions usually don't last all that long.  

I've probably paid $15-20 in fines over the last calendar year.  I console myself: well, I'm making a small contribution to the library with my fine money.  That's not such a bad thing, right?

Wrong.

8 Reasons to Read 11/22/63

"The past is obdurate.  It doesn't want to be changed."  (p. 232)

ob-dur-ate [OB-duu-rit] adj. Stubborn; unyielding.

Alright, I know, I'm pandering to the 50th Anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, but first, I just HAD to read Stephen King's 11/22/63, and second, why NOT think and talk and write about it this week?

True confessions: I read it more than a year ago.  But it's one of those books I've wanted to let ferment.

There's a heap of reasons I liked 11/22/63, but here are my top 8 reasons:

Help for the Haunted

John Searles Help for the Haunted.  Swing.... and a miss.

Help for the Haunted - swing and a miss.

I really wanted to love this book. I wanted a good scare.  I don’t know why.  I felt affinity for the girls (Rose & Sylvie – incidentally, two of my favorite female names).  They seem really lonely, and their experiences: the seemingly supernatural ones, as well as the "real" (spoiler alert) murder of their parents... just tragic.

THIS is how “into” this book I was:  I was reading in bed, about 50 pages from the end.  My husband comes home from his weekly Guys Night Out.  He starts talking with me, and I actually shushed him: “I’m almost done this book, and it’s really suspenseful!” He likes a gripping yarn too, so he let me be.

Disappointment.  But in hindsight, I feel like I should have seen it coming.

The Hunger Games.... STORM CENTER style!

Sharon Rose Vaznis TOTALLY NAILS IT
as Effie Trinket!

The next Hunger Games movie is set to come out soon.  

But WCSH 6 beats 'em to the punch; they've gotten a good one in with this  
STORM CENTER promo.  

I work with such amazingly creative people.  And such good sports!

Prepare yourself for some serious promo awesomeness.

Jill McCorkle, Life After Life

I tend to gravitate toward books with PLOT, and although there's nothing wrong with a great narrative - in fact there's a lot RIGHT about it - it's healthy for me to enjoy a character-driven novel.

Enter Jill McCorkle's Life After Life. Although I finished it more than a month ago, and I'm just writing about it now, I actually read it very quickly. 

Imagine a set of concentric circles, or a web.  Or maybe a whole bunch of Venn diagrams. With six main characters (and a supporting cast of a couple dozen), their lives are very much intertwined, even though they don't realize it.  

Not just talking the talk, but walking the Useful Walk

I just passed my 2nd Anniversary of writing The Page Turner.  You know how I remember now?  I volunteered at the local library used book sale again!

Here's my VERY FIRST BLOG POST, about that book sale.

And I did shop the sale again... a little... not too much.  Maybe it was because I made the (pretty minimal) effort to walk to the library and back for my volunteer shift last night, rather than drive.  

I watched a Ted Talk this week featuring Jeff Speck.  Among the many interesting points in his talk, Speck, author of The Walkable City (haven't read it yet, but want to!), says, "We've talked a long time about diet and we know that diet impacts weight, and weight impacts health.  But we've only started talking about inactivity.  Inactivity, born of our [car-dependent] landscape.  Inactivity that comes from the fact that we live in a place where there's no longer any such thing as 'the useful walk.'  [This is what] is driving our weight up." (TedTalks, Oct 2013)

Where is the middle ground of "Green"?

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I try to live lightly on the earth, minimizing my carbon footprint, and by extension that of my family.

Yes, I know, I'm kind of a zealot.  

I hassle my parents about not composting ("You're gonna do WHAT with the corncobs? And kitchen scraps? That's awful!!"  Sure, that's the very best way to end a family dinner, no?).  I hassle my son when he puts something that is recyclable into the trash bin instead of the recycling bin.  I'm the weirdo at work who, at an afternoon birthday cake, runs away from the styrofoam coffee cups; I bring my own mug.  I even pause when I think about ski season because despite the fact that I LOVE IT, it means a lot more driving to and from the local mountains, and the ski lifts and snowmaking machines use a lot of power, whereas the rest of the year our family tends to aspire toward non-fossil-fuel-consuming leisure activities.

There's always more that I could do.  There's always a way that I could make less trash.  But I still need to find some middle ground here, because I know I'm a little bit irritating.  So, two recent books are helping me find that balance.

Nathanael Johnson: All Natural: A Skeptic's Quest to Discover if the Natural Approach to Diet Childbirth, Healing, and the Environment Really Keeps Us Healthier and Happier

and

Amy Korst, The Zero-Waste Lifestyle: Live Well by Throwing Away Less

The Dude and the Zen Master

The Dude Abides.

One September day, I read The Dude and the Zen Master in one sitting, about two hours, in the sun, in my back yard.  Seems like The Dude deserved the sunshine-y, high-quality treatment!

True confessions: I don't know much about Zen Buddhism, or even Buddhism in general. And this book isn't going to make you an expert either.  It might whet your appetite to know more, though, as it has for me.  What I do know seems to make excellent sense on how to be a decent human being.  How to live with yourself and others in a healthy way.

Little did I know that Jeff Bridges is a real perfectionist and pretty hard on himself.  I just always imagine him being just as "chill" as The Dude in The Big Lebowski.  Not so.  He worries a lot.  He worries about his performances as an actor, or as a public speaker.  Zen seems to help him escape some of this anxiety, that Zen is just "being" - just "showing up".  Kind of "don't sweat the small stuff."  I know that I can benefit being reminded of this!

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland
(accompanied by my "tools of the trade")

Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland is a magnificent novel, under consideration for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award. I am honored to read it as part of the "very-long" list of the Maine Readers' Choice Award.  I finished it more than a month ago, but I haven't been able to write about it, mainly because I want so much to do it justice.

As much as I insisted that I like a book that has a very compact time frame (in my post about The Dinner), I have to say that Lahiri can achieve the opposite - a book that spans an entire human lifetime. 

The End of the Suburbs

What do you think of when you think of "Suburbs"?

This?

A streetcar suburb
(image courtesy Paul Sableman, Flickr Creative Commons)

Or this?

Ugh.
(courtesy "MyBiggestFan" Flickr Creative Commons)