BookLust

BiblioQueria 17

"I am a cartoonist.
We are thin on the ground, we women cartoonists, it's still thought of as a man's job, and there are even fewer of my sort who aren't English and never went to art school."

This is what I read on page 9 of Barbara Vine's The Minotaur. Oh yes, I am hooked. And it just keeps getting better and better as this haunting, yes riveting story progresses. A fascinating psychological study of twisted family relationships and dark secrets which slowly come to the surface. And there's even a mysterious labyrinth of a library in the tale! If you want to experience a delicious, riveting read, then you must get a hold of this book. Many thanks to RJ for bringing this gem to my attention.

Which brings me to the subject of riveting reading. I picked up this book last Friday, and started reading it in the evening. I wanted to continue reading all through the night, but I'd had a busy day, and I kept drifting off to sleep in spite of the engaging story. Saturday was a write-off because I had too many errands to do, and then a dinner party in the evening. All I could think about was how I couldn't wait to get back to that book. Come Sunday morning, and I'm up early, on the couch with my coffee, and to hell with the rest of the world. I had plenty of work to attend to, but that book was calling to me, and I could not break the spell. So I sat on that couch for quite a few hours, completely entranced. I did not answer the phone. After a while my bladder tried to get my attention, but I would have none of that nonsense. Just like the title of another engaging book says, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading! Hurricanes and tornadoes could have whipped through the house, and I would not have blinked an eye.

And so my question to you is....

What was the last book you read which had you completely and utterly rivited?

Alice in the New Yorker

My mother has a subscription to The New Yorker, and because I love this magazine as much as her, I am the lucky recipient of all her issues once she is done with them. It really doesn't bother me that I read these articles at a later date; The New Yorker, for the most part, is the kind of magazine that one can pick up in the year 1943, and still have the experience of reading something fresh and insightful. Sometimes, of course, I can't wait for Mom to finish her latest issue, so I will throw caution to the wind and purchase my own copy (usually the Cartoon or the Fiction issue). And on certain occasions, I will happen upon an article in the the current issue that Mom is reading, which is just so riveting (I do love that word), that waiting for her to be done with it simply becomes impossible.

While visiting Mom on Friday, I casually started reading the March 27th issue of The New Yorker, and yes, I became riveted. Author and contributor Calvin Trillin's essay, Alice, Off The Page, a heart-breakingly beautiful love letter to his wife Alice, should be required reading for every human being on this planet. I wasn't able to finish the article while visiting in Burlington, so I purchased it when I got back to Toronto. If you can, I urge you to get a copy of the magazine and read the essay. And I dare you not to be moved.

Here's a snippet of Alice, Off The Page:

Once, for the program at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp gala, some volunteer counsellors contributed short passages about their experiences at camp, and Alice wrote about one of the campers, a sunny little girl she called L. At camp, Alice had a tendency to gravitate toward the child who needed the most help, and L. was one of those. "Last summer, the camper I got closest to, L., was a magical child who was severely disabled, " Alice wrote. "She had two genetic diseases, one wich kept her from growing and one which kept her from digesting any food. She had to be fed through a tube at night and she had so much difficulty walking that I drove her around in a golf cart a lot....One day, when we were playing duck-duck-goose, I was sitting behind her and she asked me to hold her mail for her while she took her turn to be chased around the circle. It took her a while to make the curcuit, and I had time to see that on top of the pile was a note from her mom. Then I did something truly awful, which I'm reluctant now to reveal. I decided to read that note. I simply had to know what this child's parents could have done to make her so spectactular, to make her the most optimistic, most enthusiastic, most hopeful human being I had ever encountered. I snuck a quick look at the note, and my eyes fell on this sentence: 'If God had given us all the children in the world to choose from, L., we would only have chose you.' Before L. got back to her place in the circle, I showed the note to Bud, who was sitting next to me. 'Quick. Read this,' I whispered. 'It's the secret of life.'"

"Your Penguins are in the Back"

Imagine walking into one of your favourite bookstores and hearing those words?

That's what Richard Bachmann, proprietor of A Different Drummer told me yesterday, when I popped into his store. And I must say, I was very pleased to hear those words! That's because I had recently ordered more copies of my first illustrated book, Fifty Little Penguins (I'll explain why in another post, at another time). If you want to purchase a hard-to-find book, look no further than A Different Drummer for all your eclectic book needs.

I was in Burlington yesterday to visit my mother, and to allow her to treat me to lunch, in celebration of my upcoming birthday. A visit to Burlington is not complete without time spent exploring in A Different Drummer. Especially when you get delightful surprises like being invited to dig through their pile of advance readers' editions of new books, and pick whatever you want! So I snatched an upcoming biography of Jane Jacobs, as well as a collection of stories written by an author whom I had never heard of. I just liked the title of the book! The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories by Valerie Martin.

Sigh... and yes...I broke down and bought two more new books...I really have got to stop! But Barbara Vine's The Minotaur, and Brenda Rickman Vantrease's The Illuninator! Mom was not immune either, though! She purchased Sarah Waters' The Night Watch, and another book whose title escapes me at the moment. (Let's face it; I was more obsessed with my own acquisitions!)

As we drove off with our book swag, my mother posed the question:
"Why doesn't somebody write a novel with the title The Unfinished Navel?"

Why, indeed?

Isn't it Romantic?

Reading brings couples closer together.

Here's a larger version of this illo.

Kinda reminds me of this old illo.

Here with a loaf of bread beneath a bough,
A flask of wine, a book of verse – and Thou
Beside me singing in the wilderness –
Oh, wilderness were paradise enow.

– The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
translated by Edward Fitzgerald

Why Read?

"In our daily lives, when we're bombarded by the fake and the trivial, reading serves as a way to stop, shut out the noise of the world, and try to grab hold of something real, no matter how small."
– from the Introduction of Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan

Painting by Pieter Janssens Elinga (1623–c. 1682)
Woman Reading, 1668-70
Image scanned from the book Reading Women by Stefan Bollmann

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading, and Reading, and Reading...

The treasures in the mail just keep on coming!

You may recall that a few months back I raved about a newly discovered publication, entitled Slightly Foxed. Well, I finally got off my fanny and ordered their first issue, published in Spring 2004, just to find out what all the foxy fuss was about.

It's simply delightful! Here's a little taste of the Editors' introduction:

Welcome to the first issue of Slightly Foxed, the magazine for adventurous readers – people who want to explore beyond the familiar territory of the national review pages and magazines, and who are interested in books that last rather than those that are simply fashionable. We plan to bring you, each quarter, a selection of books that have passed the test of time, that have excited, fascinated or influenced our contributors, and to which they return for pleasure, comfort or escape; the kind of books that sell steadily and quietly to those who know about them, but are no longer to be found on the review pages or sometimes even on the bookshop shelves.

Concentration on a small number of high-profile books from large publishers tends to edge out other new books from the review pages. So we shall also be introducing you to interesting new books from small presses, and to good books from larger publishers that we feel haven't received the attention they deserve. We aim, in other words, to strike a blow for lasting quality, for the small and individual against the corporate and mass-produced – and we are delighted that you have decided to join us.

The people who contribute their book picks to this publication are all very talented writers in their own right, so one is deliciously entertained as well as introduced to wonderful reads one might never discover under normal circumstances. I have already been introduced to Austen Kark's Attic in Greece, Howard Jacobson's Coming from Behind, Henry Green's Pack My Bag, and the poetry of J.H. Prynne. I am utterly bewitched by the Slightly Foxed spell.

Oh, and just in case you are not in the know, the phrase slightly foxed is an antiquarian bookseller's term for a volume whose pages time has discoloured with brown spots.

I also recently received some Amazon purchases, as an early birthday gift to myself (this in spite of the fact that I bought seventeen books on the weekend; God, somebody stop me!). I figure I can milk the 'early birthday gift to myself' for a wee bit longer.

The books I got in the mail:

Poems of New York selected and edited by Elizabeth Schmidt
This book is heavenly! It's tiny and elegant and even has a gold ribbon to mark one's favourite poem! For the moment my favourite poem is Observation by Dorothy Parker:

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.

Reading Women by Stefan Bollman
I broke down and bought this one! And it's gorgeous!! Luscious paintings and fascinating perspectives of the female reader throughout history. Here's a snippet from the introduction by Karen Joy Fowler:

Should women be permitted to have secret lives? Should they be permitted, even within the confines of their own imaginations, to be unchaste? Can they be allowed to imagine themselves as men? Is reading, in its inextricable essence, a combative act, the woman so engaged being temporarily self-interested and independent rather than other-directed in an appropriately womanly way? The problem has occupied some of the best (and worst) of male and female minds.

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan

A bit from the book blurb:

Part memoir, part coming-of-age story, part reflection on favorite and influential books, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading views the author's life through her love of books. From her girlhood in the working-class neighbourhood of Sunnyside, Queens, to her bemused years in an Ivy Leauge Ph.D. program, from the whirl of falling in love and marrying (a fellow bookworm, of course) to the ordeal of adopting a baby overseas, Corrigan has always had a book at her side.

And the first paragraph in her Introduction:

It's not that I don't like people. It's just that when I'm in the company of others – even my nearest and dearest – there always comes a moment when I'd rather be reading a book.

Yes! I concur!

But I must ask myself... what is it about my fascination (obsession?) with reading books about books and reading? Is it perhaps, the worst kind of Bibliomania, of the navel-gazing variety? Oh phooey, I don't care.

So leave me alone! I'm reading!

Of Books and Friends and Things

You know what happiness is? Getting unexpected treasures in the mail!

Today I recieved one such treasure.

My very talented friend, Brian Fies, sent me a signed copy of his Eisner Award-Winning book, Mom's Cancer. It's difficult to express my joy in holding this precious book in my hands, knowing Brian's wonderful path to success in telling this heart-felt story. He is truly a man who has derserved all of the good that has come his way in life.

And the book! It's so beautiful. Solid, cloth-bound, lovely endpapers, excellent reproduction quality, a perfect fit to hold in one's hands.

And then I read the acknowledgments.... and he mentions me! I blush. I'm honoured. I'm speechless. (Though only temporary, mind you).

If you can, I urge you... buy the book and be amazed.

Recipe For a Perfect Weekend

Wake up early Saturday morning to feed hungry kitties. Make coffee and settle into new comfy couch to read Saturday paper. Notice that Book City is having their Great Canadian Book Sale. Convince husband that we must go (it wasn't too difficult).

Notice on the way to the bus stop that a neighbour has discarded a large hand-made bookshelf on the front of their lawn. Husband and self agree that it is a good omen. Arrive at book sale and begin some serious book shopping. At one point, find self standing next to notorious author Peter C. Newman, who is also scrounging for good book deals. Notice that he is holding a biography of Lord Conrad Black in his hand. Consider asking if he's on speaking terms yet with Lord Tubby since that whole lawsuit brou-ha ha, but decide against it.

Wife takes note of husband's purchases:

The Football Game I'll Never Forget: 100 NFL Stories
selected by Chris McDonell
Exploring Animal Behaviour: Readings from American Scientist
edited by Paul W. Sherman and John Alcock
The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization
by Brian Fagan
Battle Diary: From D-Day and Normandy to the Zuider Zee and VE by Charles Cromwell Martin
The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence & Close Up the Democracy Gap by Ralph Nader
Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit The Super Rich – and Cheat Everybody Else
by David Cay Johnston
Extinct by Anton Gill & Alex West
Fossil Fish Found Alive: Discovering the Ceolacanth
by Sally M. Walker
The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability
by Paul Hawken
England Under the Normans & Angevins
by H.W. C. Davis

Husband takes note of wife's purchases:

Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier
by Alexandra Fuller
Discerner of Hearts and Other Stories by Olive Senior
Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark
Cocksure by Mordecai Richler
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Don't Look at Me Like That by Diana Athill
Red Dog by Louis de Bernières
Ex Libris by Ross King
The World Through a Monocle: The New Yorker at Midcentury
by Mary F. Corey
The Rise of the Graphic Novel by Stephen Weiner
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
Bluebeard's Egg by Margaret Atwood
Slowly, Slowly in the Wind: Stories by Patricia Highsmith
Tilt: A Skewed History of The Tower of Pisa by Nicholas Shrady
Hair Hat by Carrie Snyder
The Sad Truth About Happiness by Anne Giardini

Revel in our great fortune in finding such suitable books for ourselves. Briefly feel guilty. Assuage guilt by devouring a delicious brunch in The Bloor West Village. On way home, notice that discarded bookshelf is still on neighbour's lawn. Venture out again to take bookshelf home. Comment to each other as we carry home large, heavy bookshelf that we are indeed a quirky couple. Settle in for a night of reading, chatter, drinking and napping.

Repeat settling in process on Sunday.

All the Blog News that's Fit to Print

What's this? A positive write-up on blogs in a print publication? Has Hell finally frozen over?

Ok, pardon the sarcasm, but some of you get where I'm coming from. I have been rather perturbed, of late, with the excessive negative view of blogs by some of those print people.

Well, thankfully at least one guy gets it. I highly recommend reading Ivor Tossell's Web column, which can be found every Friday in the Globe and Mail's Review section. He often highlights and discusses blogs that have caught his eye. This week Ivor touched upon the annual Bloggies, a popular award for the best blogs in the blogosphere. Rather than talk about the blogs that won this year, Ivor decided to focus on the blogs which were nominated but did not win. In Ivor's words:

Here are some stand-outs from the finalist pool, each of which wins my Sparkling Elf Fantastic Website Golden Trophy award. Badges are available on request.

Here's a list of the blogs Ivor mentioned:

overheardinnewyork.com
chromewaves.net
stuffonmycat.com
drawn.ca
dooce.com

Naturally I'm thrilled to bits that DRAWN! was mentioned, since I am a contributor on that blog (though a delinquent one of late).

Congrats, Johnny, and hats off to Ivor Tossell!

Good Night and Good Conversation

Last night Guy and I and a friend went to one of those festival cinemas to see Good Night, And Good Luck. What an excellent film. Engaging, thoughtful, well-crafted, great acting, very atmospheric, and beautiful music throughout. A must see movie. Try and watch it in one of those older theatres, if you can. Much more effective, than say, sitting in one of those tiny boxed-in rooms in those horrid monstrosities known as megaplex cinemas.

After the film lots of great conversation ensued. Guy was in his element. So we bought a bottle of wine, snuggled up on the couch, talked some more, and then settled in to watch an even more sexy film... Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky.

No one can accuse us of not being romantic!