A Confabulation on Books

Ah, a list. This meme has been going about the movie blogs, and I was tagged by my brother. I’ve modified it from movies to books, of course. Here are some of my favorite books by title. The titles are linked to my reviews, if available.

A - Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery

B - The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

C - Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck

D - The Devil’s Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen

E - East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

F - From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg

G - The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

H - The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

I - In the Skin of a Lion, by Michael Ondaatje

J - Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

K -

L - Looking for Alaska, by John Green

M - The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

N - Night, by Elie Wiesel

O - On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan

P - Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen

Q - The Quiet American, by Graham Greene

R - Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier

S - The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

T - To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

U - The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett

V -

W - The Witches, by Roald Dahl

X -

Y -

Z -

I need help to fill in K, V, X, Y, and Z. What are your favorites?

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour of Grit for the Oyster, by Suzanne Woods Fisher, Debora M. Coty, Faith Tibbetts McDonald, and Joanna Bloss!

Grit for the Oyster: 250 Pearls of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers is a book designed to give Christian writers encouragement throughout the writing process. The book is divided into four sections: (1) Getting Started. Should I? Can I?; (2) The Joyful Grind; (3) I Give Up! Too Many Rejections; and (4) Getting “It” Right: The Proper Perspective. Each “pearl of wisdom” consists of a thought, a prayer, a reflection, and some quotations. My favorite pearl is called “Rock Collecting” and recommends keeping “stones” or physical representations of accomplishments to help you get through hard times.

There are lots of good quotes and resources here. In fact, it would lend itself well to use as a kind of daily devotional - though it would work better if each of the 250 pearls were numbered.  The book design is a little amateurish and there are some typos, but this is well-intentioned book that I would recommend for nondenominational Christian writers.

Grit for the Oyster, by Suzanne Woods Fisher, et al.

Check here to visit other stops on the blog tour.

Buy Grit for the Oyster: 250 Pearls of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers at Amazon.com.

Want to put all your reading to good use for others? Check out The Year of Readers, a site dedicated to raising money for book charities in 2009. From the site:

It’s an easy concept (which is probably why I thought of it). You pick a literary charity that you want to support in 2009. You sign up to be part of The Year of Readers, get people to sponsor you and just start reading whatever you like. If you’re going to read next year why not join and help a bookish charity at the same time?

I’m in. I’m going to be harassing my friends and family to sponsor me at $1 per book I read in 2009. In fact, I’ll be sponsoring myself at that rate.  My chosen charity is Reading is Fundamental (RIF). What bookish charity is your favorite?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here is an abstract of my literary doings in October.

Books Read

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman - 10/8/2008
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood - 10/13/2008
An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green - 10/20/2008
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - 10/21/2008
Midnight Sun, by Stephenie Meyer - 10/23/2008
Rue de la Pompe, by James Earle McCracken - 10/28/2008
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield - 10/29/2008
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman - 10/29/2008

October Total = 8
Year-to-Date Total =71

One five-star book this month: The Handmaid’s Tale. Lots of excellent four-star reads this month too: An Abundance of Katherines, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Midnight Sun, The Thirteenth Tale, and Coraline. My pick of the month has to be An Abundance of Katherines. I know it got four stars, not five, but this is the book I’ll be rereading the most. Love the John Green.

Book Club

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens - Meeting: 10/23/2008

No one finished this month’s selection, so we continued the discussion to our next meeting.

Challenges

Ah, the cyclical challenge update. I completed the R.I.P. Challenge this month - barely. I finished up The Thirteenth Tale and Coraline on the 29th in order to complete my four books. I joined the Really Old Classics Challenge and am looking forward to my selections. At the same time, I quit the Wind-Up Book Chronicles Challenge. It ends on November 15, 2008, and I haven’t read a single one of my four selections. Sigh. Finally, I couldn’t resist adding another perpetual challenge - the Printz Project.

R.I.P. III - 4/4 COMPLETE!
The Wind-Up Book Chronicles Challenge - 0/4 [ends 11/15/2008]
The Classics Challenge 2008 - 1/6 [ends 12/31/2008]
Lit Flicks Challenge - 5/5 books; 2/5 movies [ends 2/28/2008]
Book Awards II Challenge - 4/10 [ends 6/1/2009]
Really Old Classics Challenge - 0/2 [ends 7/31/2008]
The Pulitzer Project - 7/91 [perpetual]
The Printz Project - 1/8 (+2 Honor books) [perpetual]
The Newberry Project - 12/87 (+7 Honor books) [perpetual]

Miscellany

• The Lit Flicks Challenge is concluding its second month. You can still sign-up and win prizes every month!
• I reviewed two movies for the Lit Flicks Challenge: Rebecca and City of Ember.
• I won The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield from Lisa @ Books Lists Life in celebration of her first Sunday Salon post. Thanks, Lisa!
• I won Sailing Alone Around the Room, by Billy Collins from unfinishedperson @ Just a (Reading) Fool in celebration of his 200th post. Thanks and congratulations, unfinishedperson!
• I created a new Blue Leaf: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. All of the Blue Leafs available for download can be found here.
• I participated (for 15 whole minutes) in the 24-hour Read-a-Thon, hosted by Dewey.
• I hosted one blog tour stop this month: Rue de la Pompe, by James Earle McCracken.
• I submitted an entry in this month’s Bookworm Carnival.
• And, as always, I participated in Booking Through Thursday and Weekly Geeks.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog this month!

R.I.P. III
September 1, 2008 - October 31, 2008

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman - 10/29/2008
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman - 10/8/2008
Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier - 9/10/2008
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield - 10/29/2008

This was my first year participating in the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge. I selected Peril the First, and committed to read four books. I completed my original list, except that I swapped Dracula for The Thirteenth Tale. My favorite, by far, was Rebecca.

I really enjoyed this challenge, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s edition. Is it weird that I already have the beginnings of a reading pool ready?

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman is my third visit to Gaiman’s world. I think it might have been my favorite trip. Should you need more of an invitation to read this book than the author’s name on the cover check out this blurb:

“This book tells a fascinating and disturbing story that frightened me nearly to death. Unless you want to find yourself hiding under your bed, with your thumb in your mouth, trembling with fear and making terrible noises, I suggest that you step very slowly away from this book and go find another source of amusement, such as investigating an unsolved crime or making a small animal out of yarn.” Lemony Snicket

Coraline -not Caroline - Jones and her parents have just moved into a new flat. The flat is really a large old house that has been divided. In the Joneses’ section, thirteen of the doors open; one does not. With a large black key, that door sometimes opens to bricks, sometimes to a long dark hallway. Coraline, bored with her life and rather ignored by her parents, ventures down that hallway and finds her other mother and other father waiting for her in a terrible other world. Escaping, she returns to the real flat to discover that her parents are missing. She knows that, even though she’s scared, she must go back through the door to save them.

As I mentioned above, this is my third Neil Gaiman book. I read Stardust in July, and The Graveyard Book at the beginning of the month. I can see now why many people compared The Graveyard Book to Coraline. But I have to say that I liked Coraline better. Coraline has a very tight plot. Though it is, in someways, a simpler story, I think the character development was better. I know Coraline better than I know Bod. I liked that Coraline had to face her fears and grow up a little. And it had all of the trappings of a good scary story: there were eccentric characters, disappearing parents, an “other mother” and terrifying scenes with a sentient hand. And by terrifying, I mean TERRIFYING. This is a tight little story that reminded me of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. I’ll definitely be revisiting this book with my future children - once they’re old enough.

I read this book for the R.I.P. Challenge and the Lit Flicks Challenge.

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

Other Reviews:
Blue Archipelago (graphic novel)
Book-a-Rama
Stephanie’s Written Word
Book Nut (& graphic novel)
Books I Done Read
Bold. Blue. Adventure.
Becky’s Book Reviews (& graphic novel)
Booknotes by Lisa
An Adventure in Reading
A Fondness for Reading

Buy Coraline at Amazon.com.

The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield takes place in the world of books and writing. I love that world and will read most such books. I’m certainly glad I read this one.

Margaret Lea is a book lover and amateur biographer. She lives above her father’s book shop in a little flat. She’s all but estranged from her mother because of a family secret Margaret discovered as a little girl - she’s a twin, and her twin sister is dead. At the opening of the book, Margaret receives a letter from Vida Winter, the most famous and secretive writer alive. Miss Winter invites Margaret to her estate to write her biography. Miss Winter promises to tell the truth, though she never has before.

I liked it a lot. The were twists and turns and writers and books. I loved the psychology of twins - and the corresponding togetherness or separateness - as it was explored here. The tale is compellingly told. I read parts of this book late at night and was a little chagrined to find myself frightened. I loved the references to Jane Eyre and other gothic tales. One of the most striking scenes, for me, was when Miss Winter posed the following hypothetical question to Margaret:

“Picture a conveyor belt, a huge conveyor belt, and at the end of it a massive furnace. And on the conveyor belt are books. Every copy in the world of every book you’ve ever loved. All lined up. Jane Eyre, Villette, The Woman in White.”

“Middlemarch,” I supplied.

“Thank you. Middlemarch. And imagine a lever with two labels, On and Off. At the moment the lever is off. And next to it is a human being, with his hand on the lever. About to turn it on. And you can stop it. You have a gun to your hand. All you have to do is pull the trigger. What do you do?”

What would you do?

And now to a couple complaints. I felt annoyed sometimes at the intertwined stories. Miss Winter’s story would be involved and intense, and we’d drop back to Margaret’s story. I felt frustrated with the change about half of the time. Also, when Miss Winter is telling her tale, there are parts of the story told that only an omniscient narrator would know. That kind of thing drives me crazy.

Still, this is a worthy read and one that my book club has been considering for a while. I think I’ll recommend that we read it. And I recommend that you do too.

Thanks to Lisa @ Books Lists Life for giving me this book! This book counts for the R.I.P. Challenge. Also, as an aside, this was my 70th book of the year and my 200th post!

The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield

Other Reviews:
Books Lists Life
Things Mean a Lot
Bold. Blue. Adventure
5-Squared
Melody’s Reading Corner
A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore
Maw Books Blog
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
So Many Books, So Little Time
Trish’s Reading Nook
Book-a-Rama
Becky’s Book Reviews
Stuff as Dreams Are Made On
An Adventure in Reading
A Striped Armchair
Blogging ’bout Books
Musings of a Bookish Kitten
Reading Adventures
Stainless Steel Droppings

Buy The Thirteenth Tale at Amazon.com.

This week’s meme:

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

It depends. (Doesn’t it always?)

Spine Breaking: I will break the spine on a mass market paperback. That’s it. I never break the spine on anything else.

Dog Earing: I dog-ear poetry books.

Writing: I wrote in books I read for college. I write in books now only if I’m “studying” it.

Condition: I do keep my books in good condition, even after I’ve read them. (I’m not particular about “pristine” unless it’s a special book - signed or a rare edition or particularly meaningful to me.) Usually you can’t tell whether I’ve read a book or not by its condition.

Others:  I don’t mind what other people do to their own books.  However, in closing, may I mention a particular pet-peeve here? I cannot abide lending a book to someone and having them return it in worse condition than when I gave it to them. It makes me furious.

Books are an investment for me. I buy them so I can enjoy them for years to come.

Weekly Geeks is a weekly book blog community event where participating blogs complete a book- or blog-related activity posted and hosted by Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf. This week’s activity:

Step 1: Choose 3 Weekly Geeks, from any of the Mr Linkies in any previous Weekly Geeks, and explore their archives. Try to choose at least one Weekly Geek you don’t know well.

Step 2: Looking through some of their oldest posts, find at least one that you really like from each of the three blogs.

Step 3: Write a post featuring these 3 bloggers, linking to the posts that you enjoyed, with a short blurb.

Step 4: Visit the WG #22 posts of two other Weekly Geeks and link to their posts at the bottom of yours.

Step 5: Come back and sign Mr Linky with the url to your specific WG #22 post, not just your general blog url.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

I choose three bloggers that are completely new to me:

Everyday Reads - Lightheaded and I have similar readings tastes - mostly literary fiction with classics, YA, and graphic novels sprinkled in for flavor. I enjoyed reading through the archives and particularly found the review of Rebecca interesting because of the following insight:

Truth be told I like Rebecca, the deceased Mrs. de Winter. I may not like the choices she made in her brief life but in a way I can understand her cunning, not to mention the fact that she lived her life the way she wanted to, on her own terms and not dictated upon by others.

I wasn’t a fan of Rebecca, the character, when I read the book, but Lightheaded made me stop and think.

Literary Escapism - When I clicked over to Literary Escapism, I was immediately struck by the nice design. Though Jackie and I don’t have similar book tastes, we do have similar book OCD. In this post, she announced that she is doing her own personal book audit and updating her self-made database! A kindred spirit!

American Bibliophile - This site had me at “Authors Are the New Boy Bands.”

FROM WEEKLY GEEKS #22

Check out this week’s Weekly Geeks posts from two of my favorite bloggers:

Care @ Care’s Online Book Club

Suey @ It’s All About Books

Also, both Literary Escapism and American Bibliophile have completed this week’s Weekly Geeks challenge. Have you?

Welcome to today’s stop on James Earle McCracken’s blog tour! Rue de la Pompe is the first installment of a four-part series.

Michael Whyte is an American living in Paris. On his thirtieth birthday, he finds a receipt in his pocket for dry cleaning that he doesn’t remember dropping off. Upon collection, he finds a tuxedo perfectly fitted to his specifications, with a mysterious coin in place of a top button. At home he finds a printed invitation to a party upstairs. He goes to the party and thus begins a fantastic journey where time warps and irate concierges chase him across town and the same woman shows up in different professions throughout the story. Michael is faced with the task of discerning which of the crazy cast of characters is telling him the truth and how to accomplish the tasks they set before him in order to get his life back to normal.

I liked this unique book. It was smart and witty - once I got used to the style of the writing. For one thing, Michael has several inner voices (Mr. Whyte, Mikey, Smart Ass, Jackass, and Dumb Ass) that all speak inside his head throughout the book. Also, the humor is pretty biting. For another thing, I’ve never read a book like this before. It starts out as kind of general modern literary fiction and then quickly becomes sort of fantasy/science fictionish - but not too fantastical. I think that is why I had a hard time suspending disbelief at certain points. I’m not sure there is a specific genre this book fits into, except that suggested by the subtitle “satiric urban fantasy.” I’ll just have to go with that. Once I got the hang of the thing, I raced through the book to see what would happen and was semi-disappointed with the cliff hanger ending. While I appreciate setting up a sequel and a series, I think a book should have at least a semblance of a proper ending.

This is one of the most interesting books I’ve had the opportunity to review. I laughed out loud at several points. Though I had a few minor complaints, I think this series and this author have promise. If I had a 3.5 rating, this book would have it.

Rue de la Pompe, by James Earle McCracken

Other Reviews:
Popin’s Lair

Buy Rue de la Pompe: A Satiric Urban Fantasy at Amazon.com.