My Reading Frenzy

What is Magical Realism?

I have just finished reading The Two Lives of Lydia Bird (2020) by Josie Silver, which prompted me to think about magical realism as a genre and revisit other books I have read in the genre. I found this book after reading and enjoying One Day in December (2018), which is not magical realism. I did not know this was magical realism until I started reading. Magical realism is not a genre I seek, but always like.

While I could describe what magical realism is well enough for you to understand, I found a satisfying definition and a discussion of the types of magical realism in this article in O Magazine from 2019. I particularly like this description offered by Ramona Ausubel, an award winning author:

"In other words, magical realism can be defined as stories rooted in reality—with a touch of, well, magic. They are fictional tales probable enough that they could actually happen, with a bit of whimsy.."

 

 

The first I read was Beloved by Toni Morrison as a junior in college. Sethe, the main character, escaped from slavery 18 years before, but has not escaped the horrors of that life. She is haunted by the ghost of her unnamed daughter and also by the memories of her past. The novel's realistic elements are a window to the experiences of someone formerly enslaved, while the magical elements ask the reader to accept that we cannot know or understand all the mental, emotional, and physical repercussions for someone who has suffered and lived on as Sethe has. The book is both painful and beautiful.

Another from college is The Metamorphosis (1915), a novella by Franz Kafka in which Gregor Samsa wakes one morning to find he has turned into an insect. There is no explanation for why or how this has happened. Samsa goes about his business to find there are professional and personal repercussions to his transformation. 

I also seem to remember having read The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, but cannot remember much of the story. (This will need to go on a list of novels to re-read.) The book appeared on all the lists of magical realism I looked at to jog my memory of what I have read. 

Joanne Harris is an author who seems to specialize in magical realism as seen in Chocolat (2000), which is also an excellent movie, The Girl with No Shadow (US title) (2009), Peaches for Monsieur le Curé (2013), and The Strawberry Thief (2019). I have read the first two, while the other two are on my extensive TBR list. The stories take place in a small French village, Lansquenet-sous-Tannes and Paris and feature Vianne Rocher a chocolate maker with a talent for guessing every patron's favorite. 

I have read three novels in which the emotions of cooking are a significant element. In Like Water for Chocolate (1989), by Laura Esquivel, the emotions Tita is feeling as she cooks a dish are then transferred to those who eat the dish. The opposite is the case for Rose in The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (2011), by Aimee Bender, who can taste the feelings of the cook. This is also true of Lumi in A Taste of Sage (2020), a romance by Yaffa S. Santos.

A.S. King is that rare case of author who I seek out because of the magical elements. I have read, in the order I read them:

• Ask the Passengers (2012) - Astrid sends thoughts and questions up to passing airplanes, in which a passenger hears and is prompted to their own introspection. 
• Reality Boy (2013) - This one is not magical realism, but an excellent book.
• Please Ignore Vera Dietz (2010) - This one is also just regular realism, but also highly recommended. 
• Glory O'Brien's History of the Future (2014) - Over night Glory gains the power to see a person's past and future in a glance.
• Dig (2019) - This one is my favorite. The story is told from the point of view of 5 teens and follows a twisty path all connected to the Hemmings family potato farm. This one is difficult to sum up in a few sentences. It is well worth keeping up with the twists and turns. 
• The Year we Fell From Space (2019) - This is a middle grade novel while the others are YA. (I was never prevented from reading any book I chose, and have adopted this philosophy as well, so if you want to know the age range for any book for young people there are resources like Common Sense Media to help guide you.)

And as I mentioned here, I recently acquired a copy of Still Life With Tornado (2016) that I am looking forward to reading soon. 

 

Other titles I have read and remember reading are:

• Belzhar (2014) - Meg Wolitzer - At a therapeutic boarding school, journal writing takes students to the alternate world of Belzhar.
• In Five Years (2020) - Rebecca Serle - One night Dannie skips ahead five years to a life she is not expecting, then wakes back in her time with mysteries she spends the next five years figuring out.
• Long Way Down (2019) - Jason Reynolds - As Will takes the elevator down toward a life changing act he is visited by ghosts of friends and family who help him to see what might come of his decision. This really does not do this novel in verse justice. I highly recommend just reading this one to feel the full power of the story. 
• Paris on Repeat (2020) - Amy Bearce - This is a Groundhog Day story in which Eve relives the same day of her 8th grade trip to Paris until she is able to fix some mistakes and take some risks to make the day "perfect."
• Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) - Zora Neale Hurston - Hurston is one of the authors from the past I would most like to meet. When I was looking at lists of magical realism novels, this one was a surprise, especially since I used to teach it and read it numerous times in the 15 years I was an English teacher. But in thinking about it, I realized the influence of nature on Janie brings in magical elements.  

 

While I don't care for the click-baity nature of this title, "11 questions you're too embarrassed to ask about magical realism," the content is well research and informative about the origins and progression of magical realism as a separate genre.

 

What are your favorite works of magical realism?

Favorite Reads about a Minimalist Life

Despite the number of books I own, I have been working toward a minimalist lifestyle for almost 5 years. It started when I moved from southeastern Virginia to Washington, DC. This was a move from a large suburban home I had filled with "stuff" to first a studio, then one bedroom apartment. Now, since I have moved into a bigger place with two bedrooms and more living space I need to revisit my most inspiring minimalist reads to keep me on track to continuing to remove possessions without adding more. More living space does not mean I need to bring anything in to "fill" it. Instead, I want to enjoy the mental rest an uncluttered space offers. I look forward to doing yoga in the living room without having to move furniture or other clutter. I anticipate the satisfaction of passing possessions along to someone who will find them more useful, beautiful, or needed than I did. 

I first discovered minimalist through the Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus and their book Everything That Remains: A Memoir by the Minimalists (2013). The book is a series of essays they published on line, then collected into a book. I continue to read their blog and saw their documentary Minimalism when it was released on Netflix. Their work is inspiring because they are open about how each came to minimalism: one through personal loss and the other because he saw how much happier his friend was with fewer possessions. I will continue to follow their work. 

The next book I read was about minimizing the stresses of work life and personal life rather than possessions. Greg McKeown's Essentialism (2014) is a philosophy and guide to wading through the things we THINK we must do and getting to what is essential. He presents a simple concept with straightforward advice couched in the science and psychology behind why our work and personal lives can be streamlined for productivity and contentment. I go back to this one regularly.

Once you find the world of minimalism, you discover there are as many approaches as there are proponents. But that is one of the strengths of the pursuit - there is no one RIGHT way to declutter. If you stick around in the minimalist world for a bit you will run across a quote attributed to William Morris that asserts you should "have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." (If you are interested, wikipedia will tell you all about designer and activist William Morris who was a multi-talented person.) Many of the approaches will use this quotation which is as much as they have in common in their advice for how to begin removing excess from your home. 

Some minimalists I like - mainly in the order in which I discovered them.

1. Joshua Becker: the founder of Becoming Minimalist who changed his life after too much time cleaning out the garage instead of spending it with his family. I have read The More of Less (2016) and The Minimalist Home (2018) both of which are predominantly practical, while also exploring the benefits of owning less. His approach is especially good if you are traveling the path with a partner and children. He is also co-founder of two online magazines Simplify Magazine and Simple Money, both of which are regular reminders of why and how to minimize. 

2. Cait Flanders: Cait is younger than others I have read, which makes her voice unique for me. Her first book is, The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store. The sub-title isn't subtle. What you see is what the book is about. Her personal motivations and reflections differ from mine, but I appreciated her take and found much inspiration in her journey. Her second book, Adventures in Opting Out was released on Tuesday (September 15, 2020) and while I pre-ordered it to take advantage of some extras she offered, I have not done more than flip through it yet. 

3. Courtney Carver: Carver is the creator of the minimalist fashion challenge Project 333. The challenge has existed online for years, but the book Project 333: The Minimalist Fashion Challenge That Proves Less Really is So Much More was released in 2020. Her previous book Soulful Simplicity (2017) wasn't for me. I am much more drawn to the fashion specific part of her approach. 

4. Others I have read and enjoyed include:

• Gretchen Rubin - Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness (2019). Rubin's focus in much of her work is on happiness and a variety of ways to increase it in your life. She also includes organization which other minimalists avoid, instead arguing that really it is better to get rid of things than to organize them. But I like all of her work and this added another layer.
• Erin Boyle - her book, Simple Matters: Living with Less and Ending Up with More (2016) is special because it is a companion to her blog which chronicles her life with a partner and 3 small children in a tiny Brooklyn apartment. While practical, the book is also beautiful because Boyle is a photographer. Her blog is ongoing and also features lovely photography as well as insights in to daily small living.
• Cal Newport - he writes on a variety of topics only one of which pertains to minimalism, Digital Minimalism (2019). This work is a guide to simplifying our digital lives in order to be more productive at work and less distracted in our personal lives. 
• Elizabeth Willard Thames - Thames, is best know as Mrs. Frugalwoods from her blog, hence the title of her book, Meet the Frugalwoods (2019). She and her husband gave up hectic lives in big cities to buy a homestead in rural Vermont where they are frugally raising their two daughters. While not strictly minimalists as she says both on her blog and in the book, they did simplify their lives in order to save to make the lifestyle change. 
• Manoush Zomorodi - Her work, Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self  (2018) is a departure from the others, but one I think pairs well with Digital Minimalism. The book is about the ways in which we try to occupy every moment of our time and that of our partners and children, rather than allowing for boredom which in turn allows the mind to wander, often onto unexplored paths. I find that my mind really gets going when I am lying in bed and have let the concerns of the day go. For this reason I keep a pen and notepad on the bedside table to record these ideas so I can drift off knowing they will not be lost. 

 

 

Have you discovered minimalism? Is it a lifestyle you embrace or reject?

 

 

 

When the world isn't funny, satire still is.

I have always enjoyed the subtleties of well-written satire. Three favorites are by Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, and Joseph Heller.

In one of my British literature courses as an undergrad at the fabulous Albright College, (Just ask, I could talk all day about what a good fit a small, liberal arts college was for me, and may be for others.) we read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." My mind was blown. What an example of satire in all its glory. Unfortunately, I did not have the same reaction to Gulliver's Travels (1725) no matter how many times it was assigned in class after class (AP Literature, British lit, Great Novels, etc.). It feels overwrought and too long while "A Modest Proposal" is a master class in brevity and precision. What surprised me on my first reading was its publication date of  1729. This is 291 years ago, but there are parts relating to abuses by the government that could have been written yesterday. 

For instance when Swift writes "I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children," he is acknowledging the way the landlord system in 18th century Ireland "devoured" the livelihood of poor parents leading him to wonder why they might as well devour the children too. To me, this is akin to the way employers wring out employees who are just barely able to survive on the current minimum wage. A good, modern book about this topic is Nickel and Dimed. It is non-fiction, not satire, and both interesting and informative. 

I loved to read "A Modest Proposal" aloud to my students. Those who were paying attention would start to look around with questioning looks on their faces at, "It is true, a child just dropt from its dam, may be supported by her milk, for a solar year, with little other nourishment: at most not above the value of two shillings, which the mother may certainly get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a manner, as, instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on the contrary, contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing of many thousands." Every year in every class, someone would look up, shoot a hand in the air - or maybe just shout out - "Did he just say people were going to 'eat' babies?" YES!  That is exactly what he is saying - satirically. And that would launch us into a full discussion of the power of satire.

For 8 of my 15 years teaching English I taught 11th grade British literature, which can be a hard sell to 17 year olds, who I find delightful in many ways, but not when I am trying to engage them with literature that is far removed from their own experiences. I found success with both "A Modest Proposal" and The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. This is a play I find so compelling that when I saw a performance in Washington, DC in 2014 I was so overwhelmed by its perfection that during intermission, I bought a ticket to see it again.

The play aims its pithy satire at a number of facets of life in Victorian England (If this sounds at all familiar it is because a number of my favorite mystery series also take place in that time and place.) including romantic love, marriage, familial relationships, and materialism. The word play is fast paced and highly entertaining if you can keep up. One of my favorite segments is when Algernon (who is going by the name Ernest) and Cecily meet for the first time:

Algernon.  I hope, Cecily, I shall not offend you if I state quite frankly and openly that you seem to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection.

Cecily.  I think your frankness does you great credit, Ernest.  If you will allow me, I will copy your remarks into my diary.  [Goes over to table and begins writing in diary.]

Algernon.  Do you really keep a diary?  I’d give anything to look at it.  May I?

Cecily.  Oh no.  [Puts her hand over it.]  You see, it is simply a very young girl’s record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication.  When it appears in volume form I hope you will order a copy.  But pray, Ernest, don’t stop.  I delight in taking down from dictation.  I have reached ‘absolute perfection’.  You can go on.  I am quite ready for more.

Even now, I am chuckling and tempted to stop writing this post and instead re-read the play in its entirety. 

A newer example (1961) is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which lampoons the bureaucracy of war and those who have made it their life's work. If The Importance of Being Earnest is farcical, light satire, Catch-22 is its dark cousin as the ridiculousness of the regulations and inept leadership have terrible consequences. I have not read this one in over 10 years, but it is on my shelf to re-read in 2020. There is also a TV series available on Hulu, but I have not seen any of it and cannot speak to how well it stays true to the book. 

Truly contemporary satire can be found in The Onion, an online publication that has new "news" stories every day. One recent headline I enjoyed: "Ian McKellen Waiting In Line At Buckingham Palace Administrative Office To Get Knighthood Renewed Before It Expires" with an accompanying picture and "NCAA Reminds Boosters That Full Bribes Still Due Even If Football Season Canceled." They are fun to follow on social media as well as a break from the news sources I follow to keep up to date. 

Do you have a favorite work of satire?

 

What I Have Waiting

Soooo many of the blogs I read have some sort of a "What is coming" or "Books out soon" or "On our Radar" type of post either weekly or more randomly.  I am just a lowly, independent blogger with no connection to any sort of booksellers or publishers.  This would make it difficult for me to do any sort of post about what is coming up aside from books you can find out about from the same places I do....booksellers ads, other more "in the loop" bloggers, and e-mails I get because I am a librarian who supposedly has loads of money to spend on books for middle-schoolers (Has no one heard about the dire straits schools are in these days?). 

Bottom line...I am just going to bring to your attention a few books I have waiting on my shelves, some are new, some are old, some are really old, whatever the case they are books I own and intend to read...someday, maybe when I am rich and can quit working, or if there is another hurricane and I am stuck in the house for 18 hours.  I have no plans for a regular posting about this, but I could, that's how many books I own that I have not read.

1.  Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick  This was just released yesterday, and I loved The Invention of Hugo Cabret and was looking forward to this one, so I bought it, I am hoping to read it this weekend.  Maybe after I finish the three books I am currently read, maybe not.

2.  American Rose by Karen Abbott This is a biography of Gypsy Rose Lee.  I directed a high school production of Gypsy quite a few years ago and always thought it would be nice to read more about her, most especially because I want the real story, not the musicalized story.  I really enjoy biographies, but I do find it difficult to stay interested unless the subject is fascinating and the writing is stellar.  We will see how this one goes, someday.

3.  Seven Sorcerers by Carol King All I can say about this one is, I like fantasy, I liked the cover (Yes, I judged a book by its cover) so I picked it up.  I still think it looks like it will be good, but I almost always choose sleep over reading in the wee hours on school nights, which severely cuts in to my reading time. 

Three titles seems like enough for today.  Check back, maybe I will read these soon now that I have reminded myself why they are here, and I will have posted a witty and insightful review. 

You let my child check out what?

"Helping a parent find materials, while still holding them responsible for having a role in what their child brings home, keeps our own urge to censor, whether small or great, out of the equation."

This is the best line in this article, but the whole thing is great because it deals with the difference  between what children are able to check out of a library, which is usually everything and what a child should or is allowed to check out, which needs to be determined by parents. 

Wisdom from Stephen King

This essay from Stephen King really captures what is wonderful about reading, but also indirectly addresses some of the issues that have been floating around out there about the appropriateness or inappropriateness of YA literature. 

Stephen King in The Telegraph

*Incidentally I used to love teaching Lord of the Flies, because it was often one of the first books students had ever read and liked. 

 

 

 

 

Do boys still read?

This blog sadly shows that boys are not reading...but I can happily and proudly say the boys who visit my library read....a lot!

To buy or not to buy...

I always like to own the books I read.  I may not intend to read them again, but I might.  I have only recently stopped buying mysteries in some of the series I read because I know I will not read them again.  But, what about this dilemma:  Yesterday I went to the library to pick up a book I had on hold.  Since the book is the first in a series and I am not sure I will like it, I decided to get it from the library instead of buying it.  While I was there I browsed the YA section and picked up four other books.  Three were on my "wishlist."  (I maintain an on-line wishlist just to keep track of books I want to read.  I do not necessarily intend to buy them.)  However, I have read one already and really liked it and am wondering if I should now buy it, which seems ridiculous since I have already read it.  I justify the purchase of many kid's and YA books with the rationale "Someday I will have a child who will have access to all these great books."  But when I have a child who is old enough to read the books I am collecting, he/she may have different reading interests or there will be new books to read and he/she will not want to read mom's old books, or (gasp) he/she may not like to read.  At that point I will have all these books which may not benefit from long life because they are too rooted in a specific time.  Not every book can be Lord of the Rings.  Just because I liked them at the time does not mean I will in 10 years or find them relevant then either.  Sigh....so I love to own books.  I like to arrange them and look at them and take them down and touch them, but should I really be buying so many....probably not. 

So, the book I read that caused this existential crisis is Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell.  It reminded me a bit of Lemonde Mouth because of the focus on joining a band to find one's way out of high school oblivion.  In this book, Janie Gorman lives on a farm, which unfortunately brings her the kind of attention freshman females often try to avoid, like ridicule for smelling like goat poo, or hay in the hair.  Because of this notoriety Janie spends lunch time in the library every day (not bad in itself, but she does not have friends to be with there either).  She sees her best friend in only one class and her middle school group of friends is scattered by the "massivity" of high school.  As Janie relaxes and beings talking to Verbena in the library and a boy named Monster invites her to join Jam Band she starts to find a place for herself in school. 

Outside school Janie helps her father interview Mr. Pritchard, a local folk artists, who turns out to also have been a civil rights activist with his now deceased wife and Mrs. Septima Brown.  The message in Janie's growing awareness of history and the importance of individual activism is not heavy handed or contrived, instead Dowell uses the specifics to show that stage of maturity when teens finally are able to look outside of themselves, a moment celebrated by parents and teachers the world over.  The book is a lot more involved than this synopsis shows, with a blogging mom, 8 year old sibling, morphing relationships with friends, and a novel ending hootenanny, which is part of what makes Janie's life so interesting even though she may not see it herself.

There is nothing particularly new in this novel, but as a break from the heart-wrenching angst, dystopic downfall of society, and the supernatural it is nice to read the story of someone who is so not normal in all the best ways. 

Beautiful books

Sometimes you just want a book to be beautiful. 

Bound to be Beautiful

Flavorwire » Books - Hester Prynne Mix Tape

Since Hester Prynne is the protagonist in my favorite book of all time, I thought this from Flavorwire was brilliant!!!!

Literary Mixtape: Hester Prynne

If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s dubious heroine, Hester Prynne.

Read More »

via flavorwire.com

Letters of Note: Mark Twain to Walt Whitman

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

What great births you have witnessed!

In May of 1889, author Mark Twain wrote the following beautiful letter of congratulations to Walt Whitman, the indisputably influential poet behind, most notably, Leaves of Grass. The cause for celebration was Whitman's upcoming 70th birthday; the imminence of which saw Twain pen not just a birthday wish, but a stunning 4-page love letter to human endeavour, as seen during Whitman's lifetime.

via www.lettersofnote.com

Your Favorite Kids Books..and what they mean

Books

What Your Favorite Kids Book Then Says About You Now

1:31 pm Saturday Apr 9, 2011 by Emily Temple

Everyone had a favorite book as a kid – you know, that tattered old thing you carried from room to room and made you parents read out loud to you over and over again, the one that you quoted until you were, um, a little too old to be doing so. We know our lives were shaped in part by the literature we loved as children, so inspired by this recent list of books every child should read, we got to thinking about what your favorite kids book back then might say about you now that you’re all grown up. Click through for our predictions, and do your best to take it with the grain of salt we intend – don’t worry, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory lovers, we’re not really accusing you of advocating slavery. Be sure to add to the fun and make up your own in the comments!

Read More »

via flavorwire.com

Freedom to Read Issue

These sorts of things always get me all fired up.  If you do not like a book, do not read it, do not allow your children to read it, but do not try to make those decisions for someone else by removing the book from the library....this is censorship!

Decision made on controversial kids' book

Case closed after weeks of review

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - After weeks of a review process, the Hillsborough County Public Library System has ruled that a controversial kids book will stay on public library shelves.

The book is called My Mom's Having a Baby by an author named Dori Butler based in Iowa. The book was published in 2005. As the story line goes, a little girl named Elizabeth is curious about how her mother became pregnant and childbirth. Throughout the book's 30 pages, little Elizabeth learns about these topics in great detail.

Read All About It!

via www.abcactionnews.com

Gone With the Wind - Manuscript Discovered

WOW!  Interesting.  Whatever you may think about the issues that come up every few years or so about the book, Gone with the Wind is a masterpiece of storytelling~

The Original Manuscript of ‘Gone With the Wind’ Rediscovered

2:32 pm Wednesday Mar 30, 2011 by Caroline Stanley

The final typescript of the final four chapters of Margaret Mitchell’s 1937 Pulitzer Prize-winner Gone With the Wind, which was assumed to have been burned by the author’s husband following her death (per her instructions), has turned up in the Pequot Library in Southport, Connecticut — the same place where it has been “hiding” since George Brett Jr., Mitchell’s publisher, donated it to the library’s collection in the 1950s. Related trivia: Two additional chapters from the final typescript are located in a vault in Atlanta which is only to be opened “if a question ever arises about the authorship of Gone With the Wind.” [via NYT]

via flavorwire.com

 

Maurice Sendak and the Hobbit?

Found this interesting tidbit this morning on Flavorwire about Maurice Sendak doing illustrations for The Hobbit.  It would have been fantastic. 

Ron Weasley - Romantic Hero?

Ron Weasley, I love you.

and i also love Tor.com for creating this article.

Ron Weasley, Romantic Hero

via lisaisbusynerding.blogspot.com

 
 

Modern Bookshelf Design

These are not all practical, but they sure are cool!  I especially like the table with the bookshelf legs!

Dirty Little Reading Secret

I LOVE JODI PICOULT!

Her newest book is out today and I may have to stop at the bookstore on the way home to buy it.  It is likely my car will uncontrollably steer right to the parking lot of my nearest emporium of the printed word and I will dash in to buy Sing You Home.

It all began with Second Glance a book I read in my book club in 2003ish.  I have read everything she has published since then and have gone back to read older books as well. 

Here's why I like her books:

1.  They are topical...this means my kids (if I ever have any - besides cats that is- how stereotypical for a librarian, but that's the way it is) will not be reading them in high school English class, but that is OK!

2.  The characters are real and well developed...maybe not all the minor characters but certainly the main ones.

3.  Somehow, someway she just manages to suck me in right from the beginning.  Some books take a while to pique my interest but hers just have me at "Hello."

** I have even read the four installment series she wrote of Wonder Woman comic books.  I cannot help myself.**

 

Marginalia

I found this article in my American Libraries Direct this week.  It is about the importance of marginalia, which got me thinking about my own reading habits.  Unless I am reading for a class I am taking, or for a class I am teaching, I rarely write in a book I am reading.  I do read a lot of books from the library, but I do not even write in books I own.  Does this make me a bad reader?  Am I not thinking deeply enough about what I read?  I think I interact quite a lot with what I read, I just do not like to stop and write, I want to just keep reading. 

One of the reasons I started this blog was to write about what I am reading, this seems to take the place of marginalia, but maybe I will test myself and consciously make an effort to write in the next book I read.  I will blog about the results.