Book Review: Writing to Change the World

Today I wanted to share with you a powerful book by Mary Pipher, Writing to Change the World. If you are at all interested in writing for any kind of social change, you have to get your hands on this book. Pipher discusses all types of writing from novels to news articles to letters to the editor. She covers both writing technique and how to find what it is that you are passionate about.

And Pipher knows what she is talking about. She wrote a powerful book, Reviving Ophelia, that changed the current thinking on what life is like for modern adolescent girls. Through this book, Pipher undoubtedly directly and indirectly saved the lives of many troubled girls. In Writing to Change the World, she discusses her previous book and how it came to have such a powerful impact.

If you are interested in having an impact through your writing, whether through a blog, a newspaper, a book, or a letter to your local school board, I urge you to pick up this book. It changed the way I think about my writing, and has encouraged me to (slowly) make some necessary changes.

image from betterworldbooks.com

Friday Book Suggestions: Relationships

This week's book recommendations all deal with relationships-specifically marriage. I found them all to be thought-provoking and insightful, though it very different ways.

Fiction:

Now, of course, I could have picked any number of novels that deal with marriages and relationships, but I chose these because the relationships were complex, and at the center of the plot and characters. I wanted something more that just a good romance.

Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelly Rowley

The charming tale of Quinn, who must find out who she really is, and what she really wants after the dream proposal from the perfect guy.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield

Although purely fictional, this story may sound familiar if you are at all familiar with Bush family. A young woman falls in love with and marries a man who eventually becomes the President of the United States.

The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller

A young couple move into a town-home adjacent to a retired Senator and his wife. But soon they discover that the older couple's relationship is quite unconventional. Very enthralling.

Nonfiction:

I steered clear of self-help and personal development books here, but rather looked at books that take a more exploratory and analytical approach to the subject.

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

After meeting her love at the end of Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert is perfectly content committing to him forever without the formality of a wedding or marriage vows. In fact, they prefer it that way. But after an immigration incident, the marriage-wary couple is forced to marry or spend their lives apart. Gilbert works through her feelings about the institution by studying the history of marriage across cultures.

The Committment by Dan Savage

As his 10th anniversary with his boyfriend approaches, Savage must field questions advice from family, friends, and their young adopted son about their decision not to wed. Law and politics aside, Savage and his boyfriend examine their relationship, the roles they play in it and the purpose of marriage in the first place.

Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage by Stephanie Coontz

Okay, I have to admit that I haven't finished this one yet. It's a dense, but fascinating look at the history of marriage and how it has come to mean what it does today. Gilbert sites much of Coontz's research in her book, so if you read Committed, you'll get a taste of what Coontz has to offer. However, after reading the first half, I know that there is much more here for those who want to go deeper into the subject.

What marriage and relationship books do you recommend? Has anyone else read these? What do you think?

Friday Book Suggestions: Education

It's Friday again, so I'll be recommending three fiction and three nonfiction books that all touch on a theme. This week, the books all deal with issues of education.

Fiction:

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Most of you are probably familiar with Little Women (and if you aren't you should be!), but not as many people have read Little Men. It continues the story of the March family and the lives of several children who live and learn at Plumfield, the school run by Jo and her husband Professor Behr. (Also wonderful is the third book about the March family, Jo's Boys.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

An American classic set in a boys' boarding school during World War II. It's an emotional and powerful coming of age story.

The Secret School by Avi

This one is short, and meant for young adults, but the themes are timeless and complex. It's the story of a young girl who must teach her classmates secretly if she wants to achieve her dream of becoming a teacher.

Nonfiction:

Why School: Reclaiming Education for All of Us by Mike Rose

This is a small book with huge ideas. Rose questions and reflects on the reasons for educating our children and ourselves. He offers critiques and powerful solutions to the education problems in our country today. It is as poetic as it is political.

The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell

Made into a movie starring Hillary Swank, this book chronicles the lives of a young teacher and her troubled students as they use writing transform their lives despite desparate circumstances.

School as a Journey by Torin Finser

This book follows Finser, a long-time Waldorf teacher, through eight years with the same classroom of students.

Book Review: A Hope in the Unseen

Image from betterworldbooks.com

If you want a compelling page turner, full of trials and triumphs, this is your book. What's more--it's a true story.

More specifically, Ron Suskind's A Hope in the Unseen is the true story of Cedric Jennings'

and low-performing school in inner city Washington D.C. in the 1990s. Suskind started out writing an article about Jennings and some of his classmates in a Wall Street Journal article when he was in high school, and eventually developed it into a book. The story spans a four year period: his last two years of high school and his first two years of college.

Despite the fact that this book is nonfiction, it reads like a novel. At the end of the book, Suskind gives some insight into the process he used to interview and observe Jennings and the other people in the book.

A Hope in the Unseen was deeply moving for me. It humanizes issues of race, class, and education in a way that I have never experienced before. Jennings was remarkably gifted, but his lack of experiences and exposure to higher academic material put him far behind his peers once he got to Brown. And Cedric had advantages that many others in his situation do not have. His mother was deeply committed to his education. The book doesn't offer solutions to the education problems that many face in this country, but it does illustrate those problems in a very personal way.

I encourage you all to read this powerful book. I've read it twice and I'm still processing. And after you do, check out this story that gives an update on Cedric. He seems to be doing very well.

Friday Book Suggestions: Writing

Today, I'm continuing the series I false-started back in November. I'll be sharing three fiction and three nonfiction books that have a common theme.

This weeks theme is writing.

Fiction:

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

A novel about a group of women who overcome huge obstacles and encourage one another to write and find gifts they never knew they had. Spectacular!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Of course, most of you are familiar with this book, but it's interesting to reread the book with an eye especially focused on Jo as a budding and growing writer.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This epistolary novel follows a young British writer after World War II, who discovers a community of readers (and a few writers) on the isolated channel island of Guernsey.

Nonfiction:

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

A beautiful meditation and reflection of the hows and whys of being a writer. Truly inspiring.

Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher

Pipher offers ideas and inspiration for changing the world through all different forms of writing including letters, blogs, novels, essays and more.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

Since I included Little Women in the fiction section above, I felt this biography is a perfect counterpart on the nonfiction side. It demonstrates beautifully how Alcott grew as a writer and the relationship she had with her books and her readers.

Book Review: The Unlikely Lavender Queen

I've been mildly obsessed with lavender for a few years. I'm not sure how it started, but my shampoo, conditioner, laundry and dishwasher soap are all lavender scented. I have a sachet of dried lavender by my best. And I'm bummed that I can't find my favorite lavender body spray at Whole Foods anymore. It's so calming and sweet. I also like the idea of all my scents coordinating.

So when I saw The Unlikely Lavender Queen: A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming by Jeannie Ralston, I snatched it up. The cover image only pretty much sold me on the book, but I dutifully flipped it over to check. And, yes indeed, this was a book that I would like to read.

The Unlike Lavender Queen is Ralston's memoir of how she moved with her new husband for her beloved New York City to Austin, TX. Once she finally adjusted to that, her husband had another idea. He wanted to move to a small town deep in the Texas Hill Country on a large piece of land. Ralston, the city girl, resisted, but eventually, they got there. Then on a vacation to Provence, her husband (a National Geographic photographer) decided he wanted to grow lavender on their land.

The book follows the growth of their lavender business, and tells the story of Ralston's transformation from a glamorous New York City writer to something she never thought she'd be.

I was thrilled with all the references to Central Texas, Austin, and other places I've been to, but I think the book has broad appeal. Ralston is a talented writer who honestly describes both the joyful and excruciating parts of her life as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, writer, reluctant farmer, and business woman.

And then there's all the lavender. Oh, the lavender...

Audio Book Review: My Life in France by Julia Child

I loved loved loved this book. It was sweet and charming and delicious! I already knew a lot of the basic storyline because it is woven into the movie, Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. When I first sat down to read Julie Powell's memoir of the same name, I was expecting to learn more about Julia Child than I did. The movie was more of a balance between Powell and Child, and I found both stories to be delightful. I kept meaning to go back and read My Life in France, as it is the basis for Julia's portion of the movie. For some reason (probably the ridiculously precarious stacks of books already taking over my apartment), I never got around to it.

However, I saw the audiobook version at the library and snatched it up! And it was delightful! The story of her life was absolutely fascinating. I was utterly inspired by the way Julia transformed her life and blossomed into the person that we all know of. She didn't begin cooking until she was in her mid to late 30s. And it wasn't all smooth sailing. But she persevered.

I also adored the relationship between Julia and her husband Paul. Their marriage was so sweet and kind. He was so much a part of her story, and so much a part of her success. I was so inspired by their relationship, their encouragement and support for one another, and their steadfastness. I must admit that since becoming so disillusioned with Julie Powell and her marriage, I think I was doubly grateful to see Julia's marriage and husband so cherished.

I did listen to an audio version, and the only trouble I had with it was the fact that I already knew what Julia Child's voice sounds like. And the reader, to her credit, did not try to imitate that. It threw me off at first, but in no time, I was swept away by the story and the writing and Julia's "voice" shone through.

Has anyone read it? What did you think? What about reading it along with Julia and Julie (either the book or the movie)? How do these three works and two lives inform one another?

Review: Sixpence House

I'm still playing catch up to write about all of the books I've read over the past few months. So, here's another one for you.

I finished this book a month or so ago. It's a memoir by Paul Collins called Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books. I picked it up years ago because it a) it's about books and b) it primarily takes place in Wales. My mother's mother grew up in Wales and my grandparents met and married, but I didn't know much about it when I bought the book. My grandmother died when my mom was young, and we didn't have much contact with her family there. I started the book right away, but never got past a few chapters. Since then, I actually visited my grandmother's hometown of Tenby, Wales and stayed with my mom's first cousin and met a few members of her family. It was fantastic! But I did not get to visit the setting of this book. But I so want to go back and see it.

Hay-on-Wye. Sixpence House takes place in Hay-on-Wye, Wales and it sounds like a magical place. According to the author, there are 40 bookstores in Hay, but only 1,500 residents. Most of the bookstores are used and rare books. His family decide to move there and the book tells the tale of their journey and adventures along to way. Collins introduces his readers to a variety of interesting characters (residents) from Hay along the way. We also meet quite a few houses that the family thinks of buying. And finally, Collins introduces us to many near-forgotten authors and books.

To be honest, at times the book was a little slow, but overall, I did enjoy it. It makes for an interesting partial history of the book industry, and painted a lovely picture of a beautiful Welsh town. My favorite aspect of the whole book was the chapter titles. I didn't notice them until the fourth or fifth chapter, but they are very clever. You'll have to check out the book to see what I mean.

This volume is just one in my rather large collection of books about books. Do you have any favorites in that category?

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women

Last summer (wow, I cannot believe that was a year ago!), I reread Little Women, Little Men and read Jo's Boys for the first time. They were all more delightful than I remembered (or anticipated). Although they are books for young readers, they also contain themes and deeper messages that resonate well with more mature readers. If you haven't read them in a while, I highly recommend them.

My lovely sister is a huge Louisa May Alcott fan as well, and share with me this biography, which she had just finished. She was overflowing with interesting information about the Alcotts, and their neighbos, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and other interesting American intellectuals and literary giants of the era.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen is fascinating. It's truly a page turner. It follows the insane adventures of the Alcott family, led by their unstable, idealistic father Bronson, and sustained by their hard-working, steady mother, Abby. It's amazing to see how their lives were so intertwined with the lives of Emerson, Thoreau and other important Transcendentalists.

Reisen also illuminated what parts Alcott and her family were models for the beloved March family. After the success of the book, the sisters even took to calling themselves their corresponding March names on occasion! Reisen also outlined all of Alcott's other works. I hadn't realized she had written so much. I had read Eight Cousins and A Rose in Bloom (both magnificent-go read them!), but I wasn't familiar with much else. Thanks to this fantastic biography, I now have a whole new list to add to my "to-reads"!

If you loved Little Women as a child, an adult, or even just loved the movie, read this biography! Even if you're unfamiliar with the story, it's a thrilling tale of an eccentric family, who landed themselves in just the right place during a fascinating and important period in our nations history.

Image from amazon.com

Amish Grace

I'm back after a long silence. Maintaining momentum has been a challenge for me on this blog, but I have so many great books to write about, I hope they will keep me going for a while! I'm trying to read at least 50 books in 2010 and with a little more than a week left until the half-way point, I'm up to 22 books. I think I'm on the right track!

On to today's book. I finished Amish Grace a few months ago, and it was fantastic. I remember hearing about the Amish school shooting several years ago. Although school shootings are always tragic and terribly unnerving, this one was particularly disturbing. I thought, of all places, a placid one-room school house in Amish Country would be immune to such horror. But the communities response to the tragedy was even more remarkable. I remember hearing about how members of the community reached out to the shooter's wife and even attended his funeral. I was amazed. I remember wanting to know more about their beliefs and their views on forgiveness, but never really took the time. That is, until I came across this book years later.

I was immediately attracted to its tranquil, idyllic cover, and excited to dive right into its contents. The authors provided a lot of background into the customs and history of the Amish people, which was really helpful to understanding their reaction to the shooting. They explained that forgiveness, while not easy, was an expected reaction to any kind of wrongdoing and was rooted in what they believe Jesus taught in the Bible. The authors also addressed many of the criticisms and questions they Amish were faced with in response to their acts of forgiveness.

I highly recommend this informative and beautifully crafted book. It provides a glimpse into another culture during its most challenging time.

Three Cups of Tea

Here comes another installment of my favorite books (as listed on facebook):

I read Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortensen, a year and a half ago for my Kappa alumnae book group. Reviews were mixed among the members of the group, but I enjoyed it.

It is the story of how Mortensen turned a failed mountain climb into a life-changing project, building schools for (primarily) girls in Pakistan. After failing to reach the summit of K2, Mortensen is lost and quite ill. He stumbles upon a small village where he is kindly taken in by the locals. During his few days there, he notices that the children do not have a school building, but learned out in the open. He promises to come back and build them a school.

He returns to the U.S. to raise the funds, thinking it will be a one-time project. However, this one promise turns into a non-profit organization that produced many schools for children who desperately wanted to learn.

Mortensen puts himself in harm's way on more than one occasion, almost to the point where it becomes exasperating for the reader. The man is intensely focused on his mission, often to the extreme neglect on the other aspects of his life. His work is inspiring, but he's often a frustrating person to follow on a journey, even through the pages of a book.

Overall, I loved the book, even though the reading process was challenging at times.

He also wrote a children's book about the story, Listen to the Wind.

There is also a new book by Mortensen out called Stones into Schools. I haven't read it yet, but I love the subtitle: "Promoting peace through books, not bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan." One of the points Mortensen made several times in the first book was that the dearth of schools in Pakistan was causing parents to send their children to the radical Islamic madrassas. The schools Mortensen helped build were secular, which was controversial at times, but they were usually taught by local teachers, and did not push any Western agenda.

If you haven't read Mortensen's work yet, I highly recommend it. It's not light or easy, but so inspiring. It also helped me to change my perspective regarding much of what is going on in Pakistan and Afghanistan right now.

Has anyone else read Three Cups of Tea or Stones into Schools? I'm curious. What did you think?

Here's a brief discussion with Mortensen about his book. Check out youtube for countless additional interviews.

Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners

Last week I finished reading this biography of Emily Post by Laura Claridge. It was fabulous! I had read about it several months ago, and thought it looked interesting. I read some favorable reviews, and put it on my public Amazon wishlist. Then I pretty much forgot about it. Until, that is, my sweet sister gave it to me for Christmas! (Thanks again, Lauren!)

It's long. It took me a while to get through (and I started a few books in the meantime), but it was great. Claridge is a talented writer, and the biography almost reads as a novel. Also, the chapters are short, which keeps things moving along nicely.

Before I read this book, all I knew about Emily Post was that she wrote a big book about etiquette. But there is so much more to her life!

Did you know, for example, that her father was a famous architect and that she was, by all accounts, very talented in that field as well? Or, did you know that she wrote several successful (and a few less successful) novels long before she published her etiquette manual? There are more delightful tidbits about her life as well, but I don't want to spoil them all for you! You need to go read it!

More than anything, I closed this book with an appreciation for all that Emily Post accomplished later in her life. At the ripe old age of 26, I am already starting to feel like I have missed the boat to achieve some of my goals. And I also lament the fact that I don't know exactly what I want to do yet. Emily Post didn't write about etiquette until she was well into middle age. She redefined herself multiple times, and that was so inspiring to me.

Has anyone else read this book yet? Does anyone else have a copy of Etiquette? Any Emily Post fans out there?

image from amazon.com

The Read-Aloud Handbook

I was prompted to write this post because of Jen Robinson's recent review and reflection on this classic text.

I read The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease about a year ago, and absolutely loved it! Obviously, I don't have children yet, but I still found it to be fascinating. I learned a lot of things that I packed away to apply to my own children someday, but also applied it to my interactions with my nieces and nephews and with the kids I baby-sat for.

Basically, the premise is that one of the best indicator's of a child's reading-level and comprehension is how much they are read to. Trelease emphasizes the importance of reading to children even after that are able to read to themselves. He blends detailed research studies with experiences and advice from reading to his own children. For a comprehensive review, I direct you to Jen Robinson's link above.

I also encourage you to visit his website www.trelease-on-reading.com. It includes book lists, book reviews, excerpts from the book, and a plethora of other useful information and resources. I just reread his biography page and was inspired to learn that he began his research and work on literacy out of personal interest. He wasn't originally trained in education or reading, but rather as an artist and journalist. This is encouraging to me as a consider how I want to incorporate my love of reading, books, and education into a future career. I love stories of highly successful people who found their niche later in life!

Image from amazon.com

Tales of a Female Nomad

To continue my series of posts on my favorite books as listed on Facebook, today I want to share with you Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman.

I read this book back in college, but it has stuck with me. In many ways, it is similar to Eat, Pray, Love, which has been on my mind lately. Perhaps that is why I thought of this book today. (Also, Gelman is coming out with a second memoir this summer--EVERYONE seems to be doing that these days!)

After a divorce (sound familiar?), Gelman decides to embark on a cross-cultural and cross-continental journey (again, familiar?). However, the similarities do seem to fade a bit after the premise.

Gelman goes on a journey around the globe and shares the stories of her adventures. This book is unique because this is not just a trip for the author. This is her new way of life. A visit to her website shares that she is still traveling-and she's at least 60 years old.

Has anyone read Tales of a Female Nomad? Have you ever thought of making traveling your permanent way of life?

Image from amazon.com.

Committed

I loved Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray Love and was excited to read that she was coming out with another memoir.

I had a giftcard to Border's from Christmas and found Committed, and bought it excitedly. I read it pretty quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This second memoir basically picks up where Eat, Pray, Love leaves off. Elizabeth is with her Brazilian man and plans to spend the rest of her life with him-without being married to him. They have a lovely system worked out until he overstays his welcome in the U.S. and they are forced to marry in order to be together. In the months that follow, Elizabeth wrestles with her fears and misgivings surrounding a marriage being thrust upon her. She reflects on what was missing in her first marriage, and turns to everyone from marital scholars and academics, personal friends and family, Laotian tour-guides, and Hmong grandmothers in her quest to discover what makes a lasting and satisfying marriage. It's as much a story of marriage in general as it the story of Elizabeth's relationship. The book is also a revealing look at the journey that women have taken through the history of marriage and relationships. Regardless of your relationship status or plans, this book is worth reading for it's examination of a central institution in our society.

Although I am neither engaged nor married, I found the book riveting and deeply relevant to my life. As a child of divorce--and someone who hopes to get married sometime in the not too distant future--I am very concerned with what makes marriages happy and long-lasting. I'm pretty afraid of divorce, actually, and related to Elizabeth's concerns as she faced her impending nuptials. In a strange way, some of her findings were deeply comforting to me and gave me a great deal of hope--as they seemed to give the author as well.

Here are a couple of additional, more in depth reviews. One from Aidan of Ivy League Insecurities, and another from Elizabeth at Life in Pencil.

Finally, although it was quite different from her previous book, Eat, Pray, Love, I loved this one every bit as much. I had high expectations going in, and this one happened to live up to them. It got me thinking about second memoirs, though. Look for an upcoming post on second memoirs. I think it's a topic worth exploring.

Have you read Committed? Do you plan to? Is your decision swayed either way because of your impressions or experiences with Eat, Pray Love?

A Treasury of Great American Scandals

Here's another book I finished before the holidays.

I found A Treasury of Great American Scandals by Michael Farquhar at Half-Price Books over the summer, but didn't pick it up again until December. At the time, I was in the mood to read about American History, but wanted something fun and exciting to read as well. This book was the perfect choice.

The book is divided into chapters based on the subject matter of the scandal (family affairs, congressional feuds, etc). There's even an entire chapter devoted to duels! Farquhar gives the details some of the well-known scandals in our nation's history, but also recounts more obscure stories about beloved Presidents and forgotten politicians.

The scandals ranged from the Revolutionary period all the way to the 1970's. Carter is the latest story I can remember (apparently, his brother was quite a character), but there may have been a few mentions of administrations after him. It was sort of refreshing to read about the scandalous lives of politicians hundreds of years ago. Things haven't changed all that much.

In the back, he also provides a detailed timeline of American history, and a roster of American presidents with all of their basic information, and a few nuggets of useless, but interested trivia about each man that held the office.

If you are at all interested in American history, I think you'd enjoy Great American Scandals. And if you find history boring, but wish you knew more about it, this might be your solution!

Farquhar also wrote a version about royals, so I might have to find that one as well. You know how scandalous they can be!

Latino in America

Latino in America
Originally uploaded by commonreaders

Now that I am writing on this blog again, I have quite a back log of books I have read over the fall and winter that I haven't written about yet. I'll take this next week to catch up on those books.

A few months ago, I read Latino in America, by Soledad O'Brien and Rose Marie Acre. I had heard about the CNN special a few times, but never got to catch it. I watched the Black in America series last year and enjoyed it, so I was sad to have missed the Latino series. However, I was delighted to stumble across the book version and started reading it right away.

It starts with Soledad O'Brien's fascinating personal family history. Both of her parents were immigrants: her father an Australian of Irish ancestry, and her mother a Cuban of African descent. The stories of her family's rich and mixed cultural heritage had me hooked from the beginning.

Of course, the book's not about Soledad O'Brien. After the first chapter, she goes on to share the stories of many other Latinos living in this country. Some are citizens, others are immigrants (both legal and illegal). They are from Mexico, Central America, South America, and several different island nations. The book explores the how Cuban immigrants are treated differently (often better) than immigrants from other Latin countries. She interviewed Latinos from Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and other countries. Some of the stories were inspiring, while others were deeply heart-breaking.

Growing up in south Texas, I felt like I already knew something about Latino Americans, but of course, realized my experience was limited. This book showed me just how limited my knowledge was and still is. It exposed biases and assumptions I never noticed in myself.

O'Brien's book is entertaining, informative, inspiring, gut-wrenching, eye-opening, and revealing. I'm certainly no expert on the subject as a result of reading her book, but I do feel as if a have a slightly better grasp on the issues thanks to her reporting. I'm glad I read it.

Ex Libris

As a fellow book-lover, I really loved this delightful little book. In it, Anne Fadiman collects a series of essays she wrote about her books and her love of reading over the course of a four-year period. It is only about 150 pages and reads pretty quickly. I read the whole thing while my nephew took a nap!

It first caught my eye because of the subtitle: "Confessions of a Common Reader", but wooed me completely as I flipped through the pages. I adored the first essay, and it remained my favorite. "Marrying Libraries" was all about the saga of finally deciding to merge her massive collection of books with her husband's (after they had already lived together for several years). She spoke of arguments over organizational systems (alphabetically or chronologically?) and the tragedy of letting go of duplicate copies.

Other essays were about words ("The Joy of Sesquipedalians"-which is such a big fancy word (that means, well, basically big fancy word, apparently) that my spellchecker won't recognize it!), inscriptions ("Words on a Flyleaf"), and book care ("Never Do That To A Book").

The author was so clearly attached to her books (as I am) that it made me wonder. Is there a difference between someone who loves books and someone who just loves reading? I tend to think they go together, because they do for me, but maybe they don't. I'm assuming that a lover of books (someone who gets attached to the physical paper and glue) also loves reading, but isn't it possible that someone who loves to read isn't really all that fond of the books themselves? Does that make any sense?

Regardless of what kind of book/reading lover you are-I would recommend Fadiman's books. It's short, but delightful (a National Bestseller, as well!).

And I'm curious-have any of you ever had to marry your library to another?

The Plug-In Drug

I just finished reading The Plug-In Drug, by Marie Winn, and it was phenomenal. Its ultimate conclusion is that TV is not good for young children or ultimately, for families. This is perhaps not ground-breaking, but I blown away by her reasoning and examples. She effectively dispels the notion that the content of the TV children watch is what's most important. She concedes that watching violent programming is not good for children, but also asserts that simply switching the channel to wholesome children's shows is not significantly better.

I was fascinated by the anecdotes and studies she cites comparing children and families in the 'pre-TV' era to those after the advent of mainstream television. The differences are marked and powerful. In many ways, the book reads as a sociological study of American families in the last 60 years through the lens of television. It made me re-examine my own viewing habits (see previous post) and make plans for when I have my own children one day. Even if you don't have children, I would highly recommend this book. It may change your habits. Winn is not necessarily advocating for a complete end of TV viewing (although she doesn't suggest that that is a bad thing, either), but rather for mindful viewing, with parents in complete control over the families TV (and computer and video games) habits. At the end, she gives examples of families who have controlled, limited, and sometimes eliminated their own TV viewing (some permanently, some for a limited period of time). She also lists a number of methods for curtailing TV access for parents to choose from. They range from minor to revolutionary, so I am confident that we could all find something we would be willing to comply with.

The book was originally published in 1977, but I read the 25th Anniversary edition, published in 2002. It includes important "improvements" or advancements to the TV viewing and electronic media experience since the 1970s. She does not, however, address new developments such as DVRs, Tivo, On Demand, etc. She mentions VCRs in cars and vans, but not DVD players, which are becoming more and more common.

I am still considering how this book will affect my own habits regarding TV and the internet, but I hope there will be changes. Please think about reading this book! It is powerful. Has anyone else read it? What did you think? Any more thoughts on TV viewing?

Julie and Julia

So I only purchased this book on Wednesday, but I'm already finished with it. I finished Renaissance Souls on Wednesday night and started Julie and Julia by Julie Powell (I've reluctantly linked to the version with the movie cover, because the copy I have is the one that is evidently not published anymore and therefore $40 at least!) on Thursday. And actually, although I'm just writing about it now, I finished in Sunday night. Needless to say, it was AWESOME!

I don't know why I didn't pick this book up years ago. I've seen it in book stores for a long time, but I've never been that interested. Sadly, it took the movie previews to get me excited. I'm still looking forward to seeing the movie, but wanted to read the book first. I am so glad that I did! The book is funny, heart-felt, and full of both delicious and disgusting sounding recipes.

I was somewhat surprised that there wasn't more about Julia Child. I suppose I was expecting more biographical information (there is definitely some, but not quite as much as I expected). Since Meryl Streep is playing Julia Child in the movie, I wonder if she won't have a more prominent role in that version. I thought it was coming out in a few weeks, but just figured out that it doesn't open until August 7th. Boo! Oh well. I guess it's good that I read the book then!!