My Reading Frenzy

Non-Fiction Gets Better and Better

I think the quality of non-fiction is getting better and better.  Or maybe, just maybe I am doing a better job of choosing non-fiction I will find engaging.  I have had two great non-fiction reads recently and have three more lined up I am excited to read.

1. Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller  In this one Miller describes what a childhood living with hoarders is like.  She spared us most of the truly disturbing images, but there is no doubt her home was dirty and unsanitary and totally unfit for a child.  The more poignant and striking part of her story takes place after she has left, but must return regularly to help her parents move out of home after home.  These are homes filled with the detritus of her father's collecting and her mother's shopping.  Over and over again they leave most of their belongings behind and start again in a fresh, clean place only to be buried in stuff again within months.  Miller struggles with the long lasting mental anguish her childhood has caused along with the stress of having to see people she loves constantly beaten by their illness.  It was a fascinating story, and though I might have wanted more of the icky stuff, I am glad she did not write her story that way.

 

2.  On the Outside Looking Indian by Rupinder Gill  I am quite sure there are people on the Metro who saw me reading this book and believe I am a crazy person.  I just could not stop myself from laughing and most of the time I did not try.  I picked this book up originally because I had a few Indian friends growing up and thought an inside look would be educational.  In some ways it was.  My friends were always a bit more forthcoming about why they could not attend a party or other social occasion.  Gill and her sisters usually make up stories about family events rather than revealing the strictness of their parents.  The premise of the book is that Gill has a list of missed childhood experiences she intends to have in her 30th year.  She will learn to swim, take lessons of some sort, get a dog, learn to drive, and yes, the most magical of all childhood experiences, go to Disney World.  Not all of her plans work out, but reading about her attempts and the way she assesses her childhood years later is hilarious and touching.

 

Next non-fiction reads:

Margaret Fuller: A New American Life by Megan Marshall, the same author who wrote The Peabody Sisters, which I loved. 

Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data by Charles Wheelan  I am always suspicious of statistics because I know the raw numbers can be interpreted in many ways, so I am hoping this will clear up some of my concerns. 

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.  I read about Huguette Clark in the newspaper just after she died in 2011, I just read another article about her and her bequest to the Corcoran Gallery of Art which I visited recently.  This lady is fascinating.  

Two Thumbs Down for Banned Books, or Why I Love Rainbow Rowell

Last week I had the good fortune to see Rainbow Rowell at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC.  In addition to being fabulous she was funny, and honest, and delight.  If I had not already loved her books I would have been smitten just by listening to her talk about them.  Interestingly she was scheduled for the Teen area, but I think I could count up the number of actual teens present on one hand.  I reviewed Eleanor and Park a while back and think I could definitely read it again soon!  I was very happy when her next book, Fangirl came out so quickly.  

Rowell began her talk with a bit of background about Eleanor and Park that she had not necessarily intended for a teen audience.  She does have an adult romance called Attachments, which I now own and will read.  I may have to wait a bit in order to equalize the time between releases, as her next novel, another for adults is not being released until the spring.  She also discussed how the book was a bit autobiographical and gave her a great outlet for some things she had not quite grappled with as a teen. 

She went on to read from Fangirl.  At one point she touched on reasons why she hates/loves romance movies: because they leave out all the good falling in love stuff.  Eureka! I said in my head, yes, that is exactly what I loved about Eleanor and Park, the slow build.  There was little doubt they would have a romance, but how would it all fall into place? When?  Fangirl is full of the same tantalizing, mosey toward love.  It reminded me of Stephanie Perkins's novels Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door.  I even tried to read the book a bit slowly to savor all the little details of the romance. 

The book opens with Cather walking into her freshman dorm room for the first time.  She is scared, jumpy, and completely unprepared for the social aspects of college, see she has anticipated rooming safely with her twin sister, who declined the privilege in favor of meeting new people and asserting her one-ness.  Cather is also an intense fan-fiction writer of stories that take place in the universe of Simon Snow, wildly popular boy wizard.  (One of the most charming parts of the book is Rowell's inclusion of snippets from both the original books as well as Caht's fanfic.)  Cath longs to be a writer, but feels she is only competent in a world invented by someone else.  This causes a bit of a problem with her creative writing professor, but Cath persists in what she loves.  Cath's story is rounded out with family issues as well as boy phobia/longing.  Levi and Nick figure into her romantic life that is inhibited by her own fears. 

Now, for the banned books part of my title.  It seems that Rainbow Rowell was recently invited to speak at a public library in Minnesota, then uninvited because of issues with the language in Eleanor and Park.  Here is a link to a good overview of the whole situation.  When someone at the reading asked about the situation, Rowell was visibly upset.  Not in a "I don't want to talk about it" way, but in a "these people may not have read the book and the definitely did not understand it."  I guess it is good that book banning gets lots of attention so we do not forget it still happens in this "free" country, but it is so sad when kids are deprived of excellent books that will help them to feel connected to a community of other readers and the characters.  More sad when it is people who claim to care about them, but not enough to read about difficult topics in order to open up communication about things like bullying and abuse that we need to talk about if we want them to go away. 

So, bottom line READ THESE BOOKS and tell all your friends about how wonderful they are. 

Holly Black is AWESOME and so is the National Book Festival

So, it has been a woefully long time since I posted a review, or anything at all for that matter, but the good news is I have been reading and have something to talk about.  I reviewed Doll Bones by Holly Black in my previous post.  Since then I have also read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and bought her graphic novel series The Good Neighbors: Kin, Kith, and Kind.  I am pretty excited to read them.  I picked up a couple of other graphic novels when I went to Politics and Prose to see Rainbow Rowell last Wednesday - more about that in another post. 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a vampire book...I know, I know haven't we all had enough vampire books, but this one is different I promise.  First of all, the heroine is not a ridiculous, swoony girl who can't bear to be without her vampire (I think we all know to whom I am alluding here.)  Tana is remarkably strong-willed in the face of some pretty harrowing stuff.  There is no way around it, this book is not afraid to talk about what vampires do, which is suck the blood out of people and sometimes kill them. 

Tana wakes up after a party to find that only she, a friend who has been bitten, and a vampire have survived a huge and horrific vampire attack.  It is only through guts and some probably unwise behavior that Tana gets the survivors away.  Not knowing their fate, she heads for the nearest coldtown where Aidan (the bitten friend), and Gavriel (the vampire) probably need to be and where she herself may need to be if she has been infected by a slight encounter.  I really do not want to give much away, but this is certainly a vampire novel to redeem YA vampire novels and to realign with the greats of vampire fiction: Dracula and Interview with the Vampire.  I for one would not mind more of Tana and Gavriel.  (My insider info. tells me Holly Black is not done with this world.)  WHAT INSIDER INFO. YOU SAY???

Well, in my previous post I revealed that I would be introducing Holly Black at the National Book Festival. 

This is Holly Black speaking to the crowd after my introduction.  She was funny, and gracious to all those who asked questions and came up to her afterwards for pictures and to ask questions.  She even signed my book before going on.  Now you might be saying that I could have just snuck up by the side of the stage and snapped this shot.....but

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is indisputable...this is me WITH Holly Black after her talk.  After this I wandered around the Book Festival in a bit of a daze until I got my act together to go see Patrick Ness give his talk.  His was actually in an interview format with a Washington Post reporter, but he did take questions afterwards.

 

 

 

He is super adorable, and has a husband....I did not know this.  My crush is however unabated.  His newest book More Than This is one at the top of my TBR pile.  I loved A Monster Calls and have been looking forward to reading others for a while now.   I was walking by the fiction tent when I happened across Brad Meltzer and stopped, became entranced by his stories about the Archives, Washington DC, and being invited to the White  House.  As you can see I was quite far away, but had a perfect line right to him.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that I had to head to the Library of Congress for my presentation that went quite well despite the windyness.  My final author of the day was Paulo Bacigalupi author of Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities.  In the Q & A he specifically address the idea of sequels which he does not like to do.  But he also said, he does not think he is done with the world he created in those two novels.  The book he spoke about was Zombie Baseball Beatdown, which I bought on the off chance I got to introduce him, but I doubt I will read it now because does not sound like my thing.  I think I'll send it to my favorite nephew who may really enjoy it.                  

I truly appreciated the opportunity to hear all these wonderful authors.  But all that pales in comparison with the experience I had today. I began by being present for the "Book that Changed Me" awards for which I had been a judge in the final round.  The three kids who were the top winners almost brought me to tears with their sweet and wonderful readings.  The essays were not really sad, but to know that these kids were so deeply affected by books is why librarians, teachers, and parents work so hard to get kids to read.  Part of the ceremony was also the "Letters about Literature" national winner who happens to live in DC.  She wrote to Laura Ingalls Wilder and connected her works to the life of her father who had grown up in Eritrea and then back to her own life during which she has not had to struggle to find food, water, or education.  That one made me cry because is was a sweet homage to her father and Little House on the Prairie. 

 

 

I then worked our booth through the afternoon talking to many librarians and teachers from around the nation who are eager to use or already use primary sources with their students.  Near the end of the day, Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress stopped by, and this happened.   What a day and what a weekend!

Books in DC

On one hand, my grand schemes to read a lot while living in DC have worked out, on the other, they haven't.  Maybe I should explain.  I have discovered that there is a lot of really awesome stuff to do in DC that does not involve books, though there is a bunch of book related stuff as well.  In my just over a week here, I have spent a great deal of time doing stuff and exploring the city and not necessarily reading books all the time.  But that is not to say that I have not done any reading or bookish type adventuring.

1.  I have been carrying a book with me everywhere so that on the Metro or if I just happen to see a lovely bench during my travels I am prepared for some reading.  This has also helped to justify my purchase over the years of various purses that really are bigger that what I usually prefer to carry.  Now a requirement is that a book fit in along with all my other exploring gear.

2.  On Wednesday I fulfilled a dream by going to the DC famous independent bookstore Politics and Prose.  The author was Joe Yonan a food writer for The Washington Post, the book is Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook.  I have made one recipe so far and have grand plans for a few more in the not too distant future. 

3.  I have read four books since I have been here, which is pretty good given how much time I have spent jaunting about when reading is not appropriate, like say while viewing the exhibits at the Corchoran Gallery of Art. 

     A.  Among the Janeites by Deborah Yaffe.  I always thought I was a fan of Jane Austen, but this book convinced me that at best I am just a liker...sort of.  It did make me want to re-read all her work and seek out a few of the more highly regarded film versions of her works.  I have always liked Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and did find the version with Dan Stevens because I liked him in Downton Abbey.  There is also a Mansfield Park with Billie Piper of Dr. Who fame I have queued up.  This morning I also watched the first installment of a BBC version of Emma from 2009.  To continue, the book was a really interesting look into the world of people who truly love Austen's work and know it far better than I.

    B.  Superstar Babes by Narinder Dhami.  This one is a cute book in a series about three young teen sisters in London who get themselves into various scrapes.  This is the author who wrote Bend it Like Beckham, which I have not read (I saw the movie though.).  The other books, Bindi Babes, Bollywood Babes, and Bhangra Babes are equally charming stories appropriate for a middle school audience.  

    C.  Next was Doll Bones by Holly Black.  This was creepy, but not as creepy as I was expecting.  I acquired this book right after it was released, because after White Cat, Red Glove, and Black Heart, I have been wanting to read more of her work.  AND I just found out at the end of last week, that I am going to get to introduce Black when she comes to the National Book Festival in a few weeks.  (Yes, this is super-exciting and I am nervous and thrilled and a bit afraid I might act a fool in front of her.) She is coming to talk about The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, which I have pre-ordered to read in time for the intro.  I really felt that if I were going to introduce  her properly I better have read a few more titles.

   D.  Today I read Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters, who passed away August 8th.  She is the author of the Amelia Peabody series of mysteries as well, but I liked this one better than I did those.  I like mysteries a lot, but really enjoy ones I can finish quickly so I am not tempted to flip to the last page to end the suspense. The heroine, Vicky Bliss is an art historian, which means creepy castles, and lost artwork.  Just my type of mystery. 

4.  Today I visited Capitol Hill Books, a used bookstore near the Eastern Market.  The last time I was there it was impossible to look for anything because of all the people.  The shelves and their close proximity to each other makes browsing an adventure already so it was much more pleasant with only a few other patrons.  I picked up a few Terry Pratchett Disc World novels.  I have been planning for a while to jump into these and was chivvied along this path recently by Charlotte of Charlotte's Library who recently devoured these and whose opinions I regard highly.  

5.  Next up in non-fiction is a biography of Margaret Fuller by Megan Marshall who also wrote  The Peabody Sisters, a book that totally blew up everything I thought I knew about Transcendentalism.  I recently listened to Marmee and Louisa by Eve LaPlante about Louisa May Alcott and her mother in which Fuller was discussed so it seemed time when I ran across this biography to find out more about her.