A Confabulation on Books

Or is it reader’s block?  In any case, I haven’t had the desire to read for the last four days.  I’ve picked up probably a dozen suitable and interesting books.  And I can’t do it.  I don’t have the focus to follow through.  I think my brain needs to rest a little.

My current strategy is to fall back on the rereadables.  So, Friday, I read 84, Charing Cross Road.  Next up, either Pride and Prejudice or Harriet the Spy.

 Do you get reader’s block?  How do you break it?  Help me!

84, Cross Cross Road, by Helene Hanff, is one of my favorite books of all time. Clocking in at less than 100 pages, it’s a short but delightful read. Seriously. Delightful.

Helene Hanff is a writer in New York. She writes to Marks & Co. in London in 1949, looking for rare and out-of-print books. Frank Doel responds on behalf of Marks & Co., and so begins a twenty-year correspondance and friendship. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll stop the summary there.

Here are a few of my favorite tidbits:

“But they are profoundly shocked to see me drop a book in the wastebasket or give it away. The way they look at it, you buy a book, you read it, you put it on the shelf, you never open it again for the rest of your life but YOU DON’T THROW IT OUT! NOT IF IT HAS A HARD COVER ON IT! Why not? I personally can’t think of anything less sacrosanct than a bad book or even a mediocre book.

“WELL!!! All I have to say to YOU, Frank Doel, is we live in depraved, destructive and degenerate times when a bookshop - a BOOKSHOP - starts tearing up beautiful old books to use as wrapping paper. I said to John Henry when he stepped out of it: “Would you believe a thing like that, Your Eminence?” and he said he wouldn’t. You tore that book up in the middle of a major battle and I don’t even know which war it was.”

This book showcases friendship and generosity and bibliophilia. What more could you want? Go out and read it!!

84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff (75)

This book has been made into a movie starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.  I saw it.  It wasn’t nearly as good as the book.  And, of course, the movie changed the ending.

Buy 84, Charing Cross Road at Amazon.com.

I’m hosting a challenge!! As I mentioned on Wednesday, I’ll be hosting the February 2009 Bookworms Carnival, and the theme is Literature and Film. February is always a big movie month in my life, culminating in the Oscar telecast and my annual Oscar party. Anyway, as part of the celebration, I thought I’d host a challenge.

RULES
1. Challenge runs from September 1, 2008 to February 28, 2009.
2. Read 5 books that have been made into movies.
3. Then watch at least 2 of the movie adaptations of the works you read.
4. Your list may change at any time and may include overlaps with other challenges.
5. Sign up after you’ve posted about this challenge using Mr. Linky here.
6. Check in around the first of each month to find activities and giveaways for participants.
7. Link to your reviews and posts using the second Mr. Linky here.

OFFICIAL CHALLENGE PAGE
I’ve set up a challenge headquarters page. It includes all the official stuff: the button, the rules, links to lists of qualifying books, the sign-up Mr. Linky, and the review/post Mr. Linky. Head on over there and sign on up!

MY LIST
Here are the books I intend to read and the movies* I intend to watch:
1. Atonement, by Ian McEwan
2. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
3. Blindness, by Jose Saramago
4. The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo*
5. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman*

OTHER
Remember to check back around the first of each month for an activity or giveaway for challenge participants! Thanks for playing.

** My brother is offering a companion challenge for movie lovers. Check his website for more information.

BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY

Today’s BTT meme:

First: Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general? Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both?

Second: Do you consider yourself a sports fan? Because, of course, if you’re a rabid fan and read about sports constantly, there’s a logic there; if you hate sports and never read anything sports-related, that, too … but you don’t have to love sports to enjoy a good sports story. (Or a good sports movie, for that matter. Feel free to expand this into a discussion about “Friday Night Lights” or “The Natural” or whatever…)

From Trish: Are you watching the Olympics? What’s your favorite event? What do you think is the silliest event?

The short answer: No. :)

The longer answer: I don’t read books about the Olympics or sports. I think I may have read a few books that take place in the context of some sports, but nothing specifically about sports.

I do not generally consider myself a sports fan. I can get somewhat excited if the football team of my alma mater does well. (Go Cougars!) Also, I don’t mind attending a local baseball game or two. Also, I have watched and generally enjoyed Friday Night Lights, the television series.

I have only caught about ten minutes of the Olympics so far. My favorite event to watch is swimming. (I think it’s a little weird to have team Olympic sports. How can you award a whole team a gold medal??)

Are there any sports books that I absolutely must read? Recommendations? Anyone? Anyone?

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RECENT BOOKS MEME

I was tagged by Nari at The Novel World to fill out the latest book meme floating around the blogosphere. It was originally started by Amy at My Friend Amy.

I am going to list three categories of books. 3 MUST Read Books, 3 Keep Your Eyes on These, and 3 Look For These Soon. Keeping with the theme, I am going to tag at least 3 bloggers. They should put these same lists on their blog but SUBTRACT one book from each list and ADD one of their own. Then they should tag at least 3 more bloggers. It will be fun to see how the lists change as it goes around the blogosphere. Please come back to this post and leave a comment so I can see how the lists are changing as they go around the blogosphere. Since this is Book Buzz…please keep your lists to titles released in 2007-2009.

Stars next to my additions …

3 MUST Read Books:
When We Were Romans by Matthew Kneale
*On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

3 Keep Your Eyes on These:
*Monique and the Mango Rains, by Kris Holloway
Laughing Without an Accent by Firoozeh Dumas
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidso

3 Look For These Soon:
The Dracula Dossier by James Reese
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
*What Happened to Anna K., by Irina Reyn

I Tag (Without Pressure) the Following Bloggers:
Unfinished Person at Just a (Reading) Fool
Chartroose at Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage!
Suey at It’s All About Books

The Bookworms Carnival is a monthly mini-zine composed of contributions from book bloggers on a particular theme. Created and supervised by Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf, entries are due to the volunteer host via email by the second Friday of each month.

August’s Carnival on children’s and YA literature, “You’re Never Too Old,” is up over at The 3 R’s.

September’s Carnival is on “Authors New to Me,” and submissions are due to Darcie by September 12, 2008.

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I am hosting the Bookworms Carnival in February 2009, with submissions due February 13th. The theme is “Literature and Film.” This broad subject is intended to encompass all things literary that relate to film: books adapted into movies, movies adapted into books, books about movies, etc. My brother writes a movie review blog, and we have book/movie-related posts, activities, and giveaways planned for all of Oscar month (February)! Stay tuned!

Though still six months away, I wanted to announce the theme and give everyone ample time to read movie-related books! The following is just a sampling of books with movies coming out before February:

Blindness, by Jose Saramago
Choke, by Chuck Palahniuk
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
Marley & Me, by John Grogan
The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, F. Scott Fitzgerald (short story)

If you have any questions about the Carnival, feel free to email me or leave a comment on this post. I look forward to your entries.

Trish over at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? tagged me for this little meme that requires me to divulge quirky facts about me. I generally try to keep my personal ramblings to a minimum, but I’ll let that guard down for six quick facts. Here they are (in no particular order):

1. I am missing my right ring finger. There was a tragic accident involving night games and sheet metal when I was twelve. I celebrate “my finger anniversary” every July 5th. This last July 5th was the thirteenth anniversary of the event, meaning that I have lived longer without that finger than with it. (I had an illustrious career as the first chair clarinet in band until the unfortunate accident. The only other repercussions come in playing the piano and typing.)

2. I care about things like the fact that “about” is capitalized in the title of this post. Now, normally, a preposition is not capitalized in a title or heading, UNLESS it is longer than four letters. Yeah, I know things like that. I like to read books about grammar and writing and literary criticism. My favorite is probably How To Read Books Like a Professor. (Note in the title of a book, “to” is not generally capitalized, but it is part of an infinitive in this case and is therefore capitalized.)

3. My two favorite books to read over and over again are Harriet the Spy and Pride and Prejudice. There is just something so comforting about rereading beloved books.

4. My drink of choice is Dr. Pepper. I love Dr. Pepper more than any other drink, though Sprite with a lemon will do in a pinch.

5. I love puppies (a term I use for all canines, regardless of age)! I always have. I used to try to bring strays home on a semi-regular basis. I thought about a career in animal medicine, but nothing can make me cry faster than a puppy in peril. For example, when we were bringing my mom’s puppy, Oscar, home, I was holding him in my lap when he suddenly realized that we had taken him away from his mother and he let out a little yelp/whine. I cried. Reading books about puppies is a good compromise.

6. I am an organizational freak. It is to the point of a psychosis. My mom used to get mad at me because she would have a project out, get up to go to the bathroom or something, come back, and it would all be put away in its proper place. My husband, having lost an item, will call me and I will know exactly what I would have done with it if I had come across it. I can’t function in an area that is not organized. There is an interesting element of the psychosis, though, where a certain area (right now it is the closet in the office) gets out of a control for a long period of time. I then go crazy ripping it apart, organizing it, and putting it all together again.

(Bonus Fact: I like parenthetical asides (and the word parenthetical).)

Okay, now, I want to know about all of you. Come on. Tell us all some freaky facts.

Blue Leaf #5 is hot off the virtual presses! This one contains all the usual info on The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. See my original review here. Download Blue Leaf: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao now!

Blue Leafs are one-page notes on a book. A quick reference for before or after you’ve read the book. Blue Leafs include the following information:

Bibliographic info, main characters, setting, point of view, author bio, related websites, plot summary, discussion questions.

Great as a reading group guide, a book club discussion starter, a self-study reference, etc.

(All Blue Leafs available for download are listed on the Blue Leafs page.)

Looking for Alaska, by John Green, was the winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award.

FOR THE FUTURE READER - A REVIEW

“I go to seek a Great Perhaps.”  - Last words of Francois Rabelais

“How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”  - Last words of Simon Bolivar

Miles Halter, a sixteen year old with a passion for last words, has decided to leave his high school and home to find his Great Perhaps at a boarding school in Alabama.  Upon arriving, he falls in with “the Colonel,” his roommate, Takumi, Lara, and Alaska.  The group is an interesting blend of rebellious and studious, and it centers compulsively around Alaska, the epitomy of the desirable, untouchable high school girl of myth and fantasy.  The characters flirt, plan pranks, and cram for finals in a very ordinary teenage fashion.  However, the book is divided into two sections: before and after.  The first heading is “one hundred thirty six days before,” so you know that the book is building up to a Great Something. 

Green deals with teens in a realistic and important way.  The characters are well-developed, and their actions and decisions come across as genuine.  Definitely flawed, the characters are still very human and forgiveable.  The sprinkling of famous last words and religious philosophy enhance the plot with precise dosages, rather than distract.  Miles is a reliable and likeable narrator.  I can see why this won the Printz Award and would recommend it to young adults and adults alike.

Looking for Alaska, by John Green (55)

Other reviews:
Stuff As Dreams Are Made On
Things Mean A Lot
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
Sassymonkey Reads
Books. Lists. Life.

FOR THE PRESENT READER - A QUESTION

Did Miles find the Great Perhaps he was looking for?  Did Alaska?

FOR THE PAST READER - AN ANSWER

I think Miles found his Great Perhaps within himself.  He had the courage to go to the boarding school in the first place; the courage to make new friends and love Alaska; and the courage to face difficulties and commit to relationships.  I don’t think that the Great Perhaps is a destination but a journey.  Perhaps teenagers passing through the trials of teenagehood to find who they are as adults constitutes a search for that Great Perhaps.  Miles, by the end of the book, has matured and found his way to the other side of that particular perhaps, ready for bigger challenges and unknowns.  Alaska, on the other hand, didn’t find her bildungsroman Great Perhaps, but rather chose to seek out a different path, in search of a different unknown - a way out of the labyrinth.

Buy Looking for Alaska at Amazon.com.

Unfortunately, Creepers, by Joanne Dahme is probably a skipper. 

Courtney and her parents just moved to Murmur, Massachusetts, into a three-hundred-year-old house covered in possessed ivy.  Soon after arrival, Courtney meets Mr. Geyer and his daughter, Margaret.  The Geyers inform Courtney that the house was once inhabited by Christian Geyer and his daughter, Prudence.  Tragically, Prudence died young.  In his grief, Christian was bewitched by a witch who convinced him to bind himself to his dead daughter via ivy.  The Geyers must find the graves of Christian and Prudence to free themselves of their family’s curse.  Margaret and her family help the odd pair in their quest.

This book was a bit of a mess.  The writing was really stilted.  The tone was all over the place.  And, now that I mention it, so was the plot.  The plot didn’t seem to have a clear direction and the tension, in a supposed mystery, just wasn’t there.  The chracters were very flat and played along with whatever the plot required.  This was a disappointing debut.

Creepers, by Joanne Dahme (75)

Buy Creepers at Amazon.com.

I joined a mini-challenge! It’s the Olympic Challenge hosted by Annie at Reading, Writing and Ranting. Here are the rules:

1) You are to read as many books possible written by authors from your own country during the period the Olympics are on. The genre and length of the books will be up to you.
2) Each time you finish a book, post your name, country, blog address, book title and author as a comment on the bottom of this post. That will earn yourself and your country a silver medal. If you do all the above plus post a link to your review of the book you earn yourself and your country a gold medal.
3) A running country medal tally will be kept down the right hand side of this blog as well as the individual currently topping the leader board.
4) To win the Amazon Gift Voucher, you must be a gold medal winner (i.e., you must have submitted a review).
5) I don’t mind if you’ve read the books before or were half-way through when the challenge started either.

Go USA!
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Weekly Geeks #13 Answers
See original post here.

Favorite Authors
1. Roald Dahl
2. Jane Austen
3. John Steinbeck

Author Whose Book I [Was] Currently Reading
1. Junot Diaz

Authors I’ve Met
1. Stephenie Meyer
2. Shannon Hale
3. Leif Enger

Authors I’ve Heard Speak
1. Stephenie Meyer

Author and Me
1. Leif Enger

Author Whose Book I Most Recently Finished
1. Stephenie Meyer

Suey from It’s All About Books proved her literary prowess with three correct guesses!