Day to Read: Books on My Nightstand

I've fallen down on my Day to Read, promotions. There have just been other things to write about in the past week.

But it's coming - January 10, 2008. This will be a time to shut down our computers and read from actual pages - To lose our blog friends for one. day.

It is also the brainchild of Soccer Mom in Denial.

And for me, it's none too soon. I have a teetering pile of books on my nightstand, all waiting for attention. So in case you're still looking for reading for this Thursday, here are a few suggestions, in no particular order:



Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett. This is the third book in the Bangkok 8 series by Burdett. The novels follow the narration of Sonchai Jitpleecheep as he fights vice by day and helps with his mother's brothel by night in the bundle of contradictions that is life in Bangkok. The major contrast in the books is Sonchai's striving to be a good Buddhist while living a life steeped in corruption and sex. These books are not for the faint of heart, but I've been fascinated with the first two and the world they've opened up to me.



The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. This is a semi-autobiographical comic novel about a young girl traveling to Paris in the early 50s. It's been touted as both the precursor to the entire chic lit movement, and the female version of A Catcher in the Rye.



Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. If you read contemporary fantasy of any type, you should be familiar with Gaiman. And if you're not, I repeat: you should be familiar with Gaiman. This is a collection of a wide variety of Gaiman's stories, several of which are major award winners. Again, Gaiman is not always for the faint of heart, but he will always stretch your imagination in new ways.



The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family by Laura Schenone. This is the quest of James Beard Award winning culinary historian Schenone to find the original ravioli recipe that her great grandmother brought with her from Genova at the turn of the century. Through her search, she finds herself in traditional kitchens in Liguria and looks at the bigger social history of the immigrant experience of women and cooking.




The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is Fitzgerald's attempt to create something "beautiful and new", and it is, arguably, his finest work. We watch the tragedy of Gatsby and Daisy unfold through the eyes of cynical Nick Carraway. This will be the first book for the second semester of the American Lit. course that I teach, so it's required reading for me, as well. But enjoyable required reading, nevertheless.



Italian American Folklore by Frances Malpezzi. This was a book recommended to me by Sognatrice. It has been a huge help in researching the Italian American experience in the U.S. Fascinating stuff!



Dead of the Day by Karen E. Olson. This one is a wild card for me. It was C's Christmas gift to me. He wanted specifics, so I told him to "pick out a mystery he thought I might like". He admitted he didn't actually read anything about the book - he just liked the cover. The blurb was from Laura Lippman, though, and she's D's favorite mystery author of the moment, so hopefully there's potential. I'll write more after I've actually looked at it more carefully.


Maybe one of these will catch your fancy. Maybe none of them will, but they'll inspire you to think of something else. However it turns out, I wish you happy reading!

The Mom Thing

I'm on a weight loss/health site called sparkpeople. I really love it, because it offers amazing tools (calculators, recipe programs, exercise videos, strength training exercises), wonderful support, and it's free. On the side bar there are current topics of conversation through the message boards. This morning, one of those topics was "What is your biggest accomplishment of 2007?"

I wrote without hesitation: finally shopping my YA novel and getting a good start on my mystery series.

And then I paused.

Wasn't it a bigger accomplishment that my ds is back in a regular public school setting and doing well?

But that's his accomplishment, isn't it?

And then I thought, well, yes, it's his accomplishment, but I also gave six years of my life to help him get to that point. So, yes, it's my accomplishment, too.

But, you know, it isn't. And then I felt guilty, selfish, that I put my writing before what was a huge step for the family. That I was looking at ME in terms of my accomplishment rather than at my son's accomplishment or those of my students.

Because isn't that the nature of being a mom? That we subjugate? Especially if we're home full time? Because that's what our lives end up being about - our kids. Yes, our kids, and our spouses, and our parents, and our volunteer or part time positions out of the home, but really, we end up being all about our kids.

Or do we?

I'd love to hear from other moms on this subject. Or non-moms. Where do we, as moms, end, and where do we, as women, begin? And my comments above are in NO WAY a reflection that working moms are any less identified as moms than stay at home moms (just that you may get out of the house more often). ;-)

Okay... so why on earth would I feel guilty for posting about my own accomplishments rather than those of my son? What do you all think?




And now for a little book talk in honor of Day to Read, January 10, 2008:

It's vacation week, so I've been reading vacation-type books. I'm not finished with the second one, but I'm going to recommend both anyway, because they're both a lot of light fun.






The first is The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. This is a first in a series about Isabel "Izzy" Spellman and her wacky family of detectives. This is really a character driven book - the mystery aspects were almost non-existent, but I'd definitely pick up more by Lutz, as she had me on the floor laughing. And sadly, my younger self can relate to Izzy. (To find out why this is sad, you just have to read the book!)




The second book is apparently the third in a series, and it's called Foul Play: A Sophie Metropolis novel by Toni Carrington, a pseudonym for a husband/wife writing team. This one was billed as a mix between Janet Evanovich and My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding, and I think that about sums it up. It's about a P.I. from Astoria, Queens, Sophie Metropolis, and the ins and outs of her neighborhood, family and her search for romance in the not-so-big city. It, too, is very funny. Happy Reading!

Speeding

I do a lot of thinking in the shower. I'm not sure why, but I think it may have to do with the fact that I've always been attracted to, and soothed by, water. I loved swimming as a child and would brave the coldest waves if it meant I'd have my freedom in the ocean. As an adult I still enjoy swimming (although in much warmer temperatures), and I also love baths, showers, hot tubs, even drinking water (it's definitely my drink of choice). My favorite activity in the world, both as a child and now, has always been snorkeling.

So water provides me with fertile ground for thought. Sometimes I'm planning a scene for my novel or an entry for this blog, sometimes I'm creating a lesson plan, and sometimes I may just be having a philosophical discussion with myself.

This was a "philosophical discussion" morning. I'd just been working out, and I'd
been listening to the GooGoo Dolls' "Better Days". I'd gotten it mixed up with another song I have on my iPod, a different song that's terrific, but will probably be the "one-hit wonder". And I was reflecting on how many one-hit wonders there are these days, both in books and music.

We are speeding, hurtling through communications with incredible rapidity. We have so many choices in music, books, movies, TV, food, clothing that I think it's hard for anything to seem really special. I wonder what this says for our musicians and writers - how do they make something stand out? Of the masses and masses of "stuff" we have at our fingertips these days, what will we still want to retain 10 years from now? 20? And why, with the ever-increasing numbers of books and magazines in publication, do we see the same authors in the best seller lists? Are they really the best, or are we so tired of new choices that we grasp for anything familiar? And is this also true for music? How do songs or stories sift to the top?

So now, dear readers, I turn the question back to you - what do you think of all this? What makes something a classic, and why do you think our "top" lists in the arts contain the same names over and over?




And now for some BOOK TALK in advance of Day to Read, January 10, 2008:

Today's topic is author, scientist and producer, Kathy Reichs. I chose Kathy because when I wrote an earlier entry, several of you expressed similar joy in her books. I am just a huge fan. I love Tempe Brennan in her book series, and the very different Temperance Brennan of Bones. I love Andrew Ryan, the love interest of Tempe Brennan from the books, and Seely Booth, Temperance Brennan's partner (and maybe love interest?) from Bones. And I love the fact that Temperance Brennan of Bones writes a mystery series about a forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs.

For those who are not familiar with Kathy Reichs and her work, she is one of the fifty or so forensic anthropologists in North America. She works for UNC as a Professor of Anthropology, for the state of North Carolina's Chief Medical Examiner's office and for the province of Quebec, and at these last two, in her capacity as a forensic anthropologist. Her book character, Tempe, shares those jobs, and I'm particularly partial to Reichs's books that are set in Montreal. She brings Montreal to life with great affection, and it has now become a dream of mine to go there. Tempe is also in her forties, separated from a wandering husband to whom she's still attracted, and has finally allowed herself to fall into a relationship with Det. Andrew Ryan of the Montreal Police. She also has a college-age daughter. Themes of family are front and center throughout the series, as are timely issues. Since this is book talk, and not TV talk, I'll leave you with information about Bones via this link.

Kathy Reichs has fun with her world and her projects and it shows. I'm grateful to her for the many, many hours of delightful recreation that she's given to me and so many others.