from Ray

"You must write every single day of your life...you must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads...may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world."

~ Ray Bradbury ~

Banned Books Week

September 25 through October 4 is Banned Books Week! This celebration is 28 years old and is the only one that celebrates the freedom to read. Since 1982, more than 1000 books have been challenged for various reasons (sexual explicitness, violence, profanity, racism, etc.).

Here are the top ten most frequently challenged books in 2009:

from Robertson

"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity, and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon, and by moonlight."

~ Robertson Davies ~

Happy International Literacy Day!

September 8 is International Literacy Day. If you visit the International Reading Association's web site, you'll see that more than 780 million adults worldwide do not know how to read and write. Two-thirds of that number are women. And somewhere between 94 and 115 million children lack access to education.

I learned to read at a young age, and I had three younger brothers (and sometimes the neighborhood dog) to read myriads of books to. In my family, reading has always been an important and valued pastime. Today, I'm grateful to have been raised and educated in a literate family and country. I just can't imagine life without books and the written word.

In honor of International Literacy Day, here are some of my favorite books throughout childhood, books that made me the reader and writer I am today!

A Bear Called Paddington

 

Stone Soup

The Hungry Thing 

 

The Giving Tree

Are You My Mother?

The Berenstein Bears and Too Much Junk Food

Green Eggs and Ham

 

Amelia Bedelia 

Mr. Popper's Penguins

  

Sarah, Plain and Tall

 

Little House on the Prairie

 

A Little Princess 

The Betsy-Tacey Treasury

Island of the Blue Dolphins

And, more recently....

The Harry Potter series--even though I read them as an adult!

What were some of YOUR favorite books growing up?

from Agatha

"The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes."

~ Agatha Christie ~ 

from James

"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive."

~ James Baldwin ~

from Mark

"In a good book room you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them."

~ Mark Twain ~

from Marcus

"A room without books is like a body without a soul."

~ Marcus Tullius Cicero ~ 

from G. K.

"There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read."

~ G. K. Chesterton ~

from Edith

"We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce ~

Notes on Dracula

It is a bit of a quandary to be reading two novels simultaneously... and poor East of Eden is getting the shaft, as I am a bit antsy to finish reading Dracula on the Kindle so that I can pass on the device to a co-worker to test. I'm not sure exactly how long Dracula is, but the Kindle tells me that I have read 17% of it.

I am enjoying the writing and the perspective of the protagonist via his journal. I have to admit, it really is a bit scary! The night before last I was relieved to get a late night phone call from a friend after I had finished reading before going to bed, thus distancing my mind from the story before falling asleep. Last night, however, I dreamt that two of my brothers were vampires, and I had to kill them. I am usually not affected by things--particularly books--like this, and I am not a person who dreams often. I am beginning to think I should avoid reading Dracula directly before going to sleep...

This afternoon I was discussing the book with a co-worker (who has not read it) and we were pondering where Stoker was from, and if the novel had been translated into English from another language. Bram Stoker. Seems like an Eastern European name, right? And of course, it all takes place in Transylvania. Imagine our surprise when we looked it up online and found that Bram Stoker is from Ireland, and his real name is Abraham. Perhaps this is common knowledge to others, but it was news to me.

the kindle

My publishing company is the proud (AKA: skeptical) owner of an Amazon Kindle. We are taking turns in the office handling the Kindle, reading books, downloading books, and studying layout formats as we prepare for our first forage into the realm of e-publishing.

It is my turn with the Kindle. I downloaded (for free) Dracula by Bram Stoker. Dracula is the novel that truly introduced the vampire to the literary world. While not the first novel to to showcase a vampire, it is inarguably the most readily identified classic in the vampire "genre." I wonder if Bram Stoker had any idea how hot this topic would be over a hundred years later.

Thoughts on the Kindle so far:

Pros:                                                                                     
-Many classic novels are free to download.
-When the Kindle is turned off, the screen displays an image (a different one each time), so it looks kind of like a book.                             
-The Kindle remembers where you left off in a book and goes straight to that page when you turn it back on.


Cons:
-It feels awkward to hold--not like a book at all--but this may be something that just takes some getting used to.
-The "pages" are small, so you need to move to the next page frequently.
-It is NOT a book!


I have no problem with the influx of e-readers becoming available, especially if it means more people are reading more books, because they find this format and process convenient and enjoyable. I, for one, will always love my real books. I like to see them on my bookshelf. I like to hold them and smell them and throw them in my oversize purse when I'm heading out the door. So long as e-publishing and e-readers and e-books do not obliterate regular books, bring on the technology.

from Arnold

"Books to the ceiling,

Books to the sky,

My pile of books is a mile high.

How I love them! How I need them!

I'll have a long beard by the time I read them."

~Arnold Lobel~

Currently reading...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

J. K. Rowling

Summary: Lord Voldemort is preparing for battle and so must Harry. With Ron and Hermione at his side, he's trying to hunt down Voldemort's Horcuxes, escape danger at every turn, and find a way to defeat evil once and for all. How does it all end?

(Summary from www. borders.com)

I don't know! But I am anxious to find out!

review :: Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park

Jane Austen

I must admit, this is not my favorite novel of Austen's. It was difficult for me to feel any attachment to the characters, because I found them all--each in their own unique way--rather annoying. Even Fanny Price, the protagonist, was vexing. She was too much of a push-over, too yielding, too timid. Granted, she did stand firm in her decision to turn down a marriage proposal to a man whose morals she found to be wanting. But I found myself more exasperated with her than empathizing with her.

In the last chapter of the book, Austen switches the point of view from omniscient narrator to intrusive author. This chapter summarizes what happens to each character following the circumstances in which they have found themselves. We never read the story of Edmund realizing he could actually love Fanny. We do not hear or see him declare his feelings or request her hand. Austen simply tells us that it has happened. I was a bit put out about this. I wanted to see Edmund and Fanny come together, not hear about it.

I feel terrible to admit it, but I think I liked the movie better.

Still reading...

Mansfield Park!

In my defense...this is Austen's second-longest novel. (Emma is the longest.) And I was out of town for a week in November on a business trip, during which the only time I had free to read was on the plane.

Happily, I can report that I am over halfway through, and I only have 122 pages left to read. I am quite anxious to finish for two reasons: (1) I can't wait for the part where Edmund and Fanny finally realize they are simply perfect for each other. (2) The last installment of the Harry Potter series has been sitting by my desk for weeks now, and I refuse to open it until I have read the last word of Mansfield Park.

books I'm thankful I read this year

1) The Harry Potter series (J. K. Rowling)

2) A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)

3) The Boleyn Inheritance (Phillipa Gregory)

4) The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros)


Happy Thanksgiving all! And happy reading--hope you all find some time between the turkey and the football to squeeze in a book!

Currently reading...

Mansfield Park

Jane Austen

Summary: At the novel's center is Fanny Price, the classic "poor cousin," brought as a child to Mansfield Park by the rich Sir Thomas Bertram and his wife as an act of charity. Over time, Fanny comes to demonstrate forcibly those virtues Austen most admired: modesty, firm principles, and a loving heart. As Fanny watches her cousins Maria and Julia cast aside their scruples in dangerous flirtations (and worse), and as she herself resolutely resists the advantages of marriage to the fascinating but morally unsteady Henry Crawford, her seeming austerity grows in appeal and makes clear to us why she was Austen's own favorite among her heroines.

(Summary from the book jacket)

I love Jane Austen's wit and clever satire of her own time. This is my first time reading Mansfield Park, and I've been wanting to read it ever since I watched the BBC movie last year when they were doing a Jane Austen special.

from Stephen

"Books are a uniquely portable magic."

~Stephen King~

Currently reading...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

J. K. Rowling

Summary: Harry struggles to uncover the identity of the Half-Blood Prince, the past owner of a potions textbook he now possesses that is filled with ingenious, potentially deadly, spells. But Harry's life is suddenly changed forever when someone close to him is heinously murdered right before his eyes.

(Summary from www.borders.com)

I began reading the Harry Potter series a couple of months ago at the request of a friend. It had simply never been a priority of mine to read the series, when there were so many other books on my "To Read" list. While I knew the books would be fun and easy reads, I must admit I have been surprised at how much I have really enjoyed them, and seeing the transformation Rowling has made throughout from a "youth" genre to a more adult literary genre.

Thank you to my brother, Eric, for lending me his pretty, hardcover Harry Potter books so I do not have to buy them.