Pointed Meanderings

My New Listen

2010-12-17T09:36:00.002-06:00

· The Rembrandt Affair

· UNABRIDGED

· by Daniel Silva

· Narrated by Phil Gigante

· Publisher Brilliance Audio

· Length 11 hours 27 minutes

Publisher's Summary

Determined to sever his ties with the Office, Gabriel Allon has retreated to the windswept cliffs of Cornwall with his beautiful Venetian-born wife, Chiara. But once again his seclusion is interrupted by a visitor from his tangled past: the endearingly eccentric London art dealer Julian Isherwood. As usual, Isherwood has a problem. And it is one only Gabriel can solve.

In the ancient English city of Glastonbury, an art restorer has been brutally murdered and a long-lost portrait by Rembrandt mysteriously stolen. Despite his reluctance, Gabriel is persuaded to use his unique skills to search for the painting and those responsible for the crime. But as he painstakingly follows a trail of clues leading from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires and, finally, to a villa on the graceful shores of Lake Geneva, Gabriel discovers there are deadly secrets connected to the painting. And evil men behind them.

Before he is done, Gabriel will once again be drawn into a world he thought he had left behind forever, and will come face-to-face with a remarkable cast of characters: a glamorous London journalist who is determined to undo the worst mistake of her career, an elusive master art thief who is burdened by a conscience, and a powerful Swiss billionaire who is known for his good deeds but may just be behind one of the greatest threats facing the world.

Filled with remarkable twists and turns of plot, and told with seductive prose, The Rembrandt Affair is more than just summer entertainment of the highest order. It is a timely reminder that there are men in the world who will do anything for money.

My New Read

2010-12-13T12:36:00.002-06:00

Watch out, world. Here comes Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.

She's a product of the "burg," a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Now Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad's, doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case.

Out of work and out of money, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, Stephanie blackmails her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, fearless bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook.

Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli is also the irresistible macho pig who took Stephanie's virginity at age sixteen and then wrote the details on the bathroom wall of Mario's Sub Shop. There's still powerful chemistry between these two, so the chase should be interesting.

It could also be extremely dangerous, especially when Stephanie encounters a heavyweight title contender who likes to play rough. Benito Ramirez is known for his brutality to women. At the very least, his obsession with Stephanie complicates her manhunt and brings terror and uncertainty into her life. At the worst, it could lead to murder.

Witty, fresh, and full of surprises, One for the Money was among the most eagerly awaited crime novels of the season.

My Latest Listen

2010-12-10T13:26:00.002-06:00

Rowling proves that she has plenty of tricks left up her sleeve in this third Harry Potter adventure, set once again at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Right before the start of term, a supremely dangerous criminal breaks out of a supposedly impregnable wizards' prison; it will come as no surprise to Potter fans that the villain, a henchman of Harry's old enemy Lord Voldemort, appears to have targeted Harry. In many ways this installment seems to serve a transitional role in the seven-volume series: while many of the adventures are breathlessly relayed, they appear to be laying groundwork for even more exciting adventures to come. The beauty here lies in the genius of Rowling's plotting. Seemingly minor details established in books one and two unfold to take on unforeseen significance, and the finale, while not airtight in its internal logic, is utterly thrilling. Rowling's wit never flags, whether constructing the workings of the wizard world (Just how would a magician be made to stay behind bars?) or tossing off quick jokes (a grandmother wears a hat decorated with a stuffed vulture; the divination classroom looks like a tawdry tea shop). The Potter spell is holding strong.

Attitudes toward working women in the 1950s

2010-12-02T09:32:00.000-06:00

Before Woman's Lib...

2010-11-30T04:08:00.000-06:00

What I'm Re-Reading

2010-11-29T12:36:00.002-06:00

Here, in one volume: Marjane Satrapi's best-selling, internationally acclaimed memoir-in-comic-strips.

Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming--both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.

Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with raw humor and hard-earned wisdom--Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded, singularly talented graphic artists at work today.

25 Most Powerful Women of the Last Century

2010-11-26T17:49:00.002-06:00

25 Most Powerful Women of the Last Century according to Time Magazine.

Battle of the Readers

2010-11-18T09:38:00.002-06:00

When I started listening to the Harry Potter series on audiobooks, I began with Stephen Fry as reader. And I LOVED him. But some people kept telling me that Jim Dale was much better. I couldn't really imagine how he could be, and I was so satisfied with Fry that I saw no reason to switch. Well, there were some technical problems half-way through Chamber of Secrets, so a friend who works at the library reserved their audiobook for me so I could finish the novel, and guess who's the reader? Right. Jim Dale. So now I can speak officialy on the matter.

Stephen Fry is the best. Hands down.

My New Listen

2010-11-17T12:47:00.003-06:00

Adam & Eve: A Novel
UNABRIDGED
by Sena Jeter Naslund
Narrated by Karen White
PUBLISHER Harper Audio
LENGTH 13 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

What happened to Eden?

Hours before his untimely - and highly suspicious - death, world-renowned astrophysicist Thom Bergmann shares his discovery of extraterrestrial life with his wife, Lucy. Feeling that the warring world is not ready to learn of - or accept - proof of life elsewhere in the universe, Thom entrusts Lucy with his computer flash drive, which holds the keys to his secret work.

Devastated by Thom's death, Lucy keeps the secret, but Thom's friend, anthropologist Pierre Saad, contacts Lucy with an unusual and dangerous request about another sensitive matter. Pierre needs Lucy to help him smuggle a newly discovered artifact out of Egypt: an ancient codex concerning the human authorship of the Book of Genesis. Offering a reinterpretation of the creation story, the document is sure to threaten the foundation of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religion... and there are those who will stop at nothing to suppress it.

Midway through the daring journey, Lucy's small plane goes down on a slip of verdant land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. Burned in the crash landing, she is rescued by Adam, a delusional American soldier whose search for both spiritual and carnal knowledge has led to madness. Blessed with youth, beauty, and an unsettling innocence, Adam gently tends to Lucy's wounds, and in this quiet, solitary paradise, a bond between the unlikely pair grows. Ultimately, Lucy and Adam forsake their half-mythical Eden and make their way back toward civilization, where members of an ultraconservative religious cult are determined to deprive the world of the knowledge Lucy carries.

Set against the searing debate between evolutionists and creationists, Adam & Eve expands the definition of a "sacred book", and suggests that true madness lies in wars and violence fueled by all religious literalism and intolerance.

HP Jealousy

2010-11-16T14:59:00.002-06:00

I've really enjoyed seeing my students' (and others') reactions to the news that I'm finally reading the Harry Potter series. They are SO excited and happy about it.

But what's really interesting is that they're jealous. Several different people have said to me, "Oooh, I wish I could read them again for the first time." And I know how they feel. There are lots of books I wish I could read again for the first time.

Moving Right Ahead . . .

2010-11-12T13:19:00.002-06:00

I'm already a third of the way into book 2. Yeah. I'm hooked.

My Latest Listen

2010-11-09T12:06:00.004-06:00

OK. I know I'm behind the times. I'm just now getting around to Harry Potter. And I've really been enjoying the first novel. That is, I was until this morning. With only about one hour left of the audiobook, my ipod shut off. At first, I thought my battery was down. But, no. I turned it back on, navigated to roughly the same spot, and began to listen again. A few minutes of replay, and then . . . nothing. Again. What??

As soon as I got in from my workout, I got on my computer and checked itunes. It didn't work there, either. The rest of the book was missing.

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.

What I'm Reading Now

2010-11-08T16:29:00.002-06:00

All children should believe they are special. But the students of Hailsham, an elite school in the English countryside, are so special that visitors shun them, and only by rumor and the occasional fleeting remark by a teacher do they discover their unconventional origins and strange destiny. Kazuo Ishiguro's sixth novel, Never Let Me Go, is a masterpiece of indirection. Like the students of Hailsham, readers are "told but not told" what is going on and should be allowed to discover the secrets of Hailsham and the truth about these children on their own.
Offsetting the bizarreness of these revelations is the placid, measured voice of the narrator, Kathy H., a 31-year-old Hailsham alumna who, at the close of the 1990s, is consciously ending one phase of her life and beginning another. She is in a reflective mood, and recounts not only her childhood memories, but her quest in adulthood to find out more about Hailsham and the idealistic women who ran it. Although often poignant, Kathy's matter-of-fact narration blunts the sharper emotional effects you might expect in a novel that deals with illness, self-sacrifice, and the severe restriction of personal freedoms. As in Ishiguro's best-known work, The Remains of the Day, only after closing the book do you absorb the magnitude of what his characters endure. --Regina Marler

Another Ad

2010-11-06T09:39:00.000-05:00

Flattery Will Get You Everywhere

2010-11-04T14:49:00.005-05:00

I just got an email from a friend and former professor of mine. She sent me a link to Deb Barnum's (Regional Coordinator of the Vermont chapter of JASNA and current bibliographer for Persuasions Online) BLOG recapping the 2010 JASNA AGM. "She talks about you!" my friend said.

Well, of course I had to check it out, and here's what Ms. Barnum had to say:

. . . Then off to the first of many break-out sessions – and what a task to choose! – each session offering such variety and depth – the choice so difficult – I decided to do at least one on the gothic literary features of NA, one on fashion and all that muslin, and of course, something on Henry Tilney. So my first was to hear . . .

Then off to see Stephanie Eddleman on “Henry Tilney: Austen’s Feminized Hero?” – One of the things that can get my dander up in a discussion about NA is talk that Henry is too feminine to be a true hero, or too condescending to be an equal lover to Catherine, or too distant as a character to engage the reader – so I was hoping that Prof. Eddleman would give me much needed ammunition! – and she did indeed: Henry as the one hero who stands apart – he is her only witty hero; he is feminized but not feminine, and unlike Austen’s other feminized male characters [Frank Churchill, Robert Ferrars], Austen is not critical of Henry. I most appreciated Eddleman’s answer to Marvin Mudrick’s contention that Henry is a detached, disengaged character – she feels that Henry develops intimacy through his intelligence and wit, always encouraging Catherine toward her own independent thinking. I hope this talk will be in Persuasions – it gives much needed support for Henry as True & Worthy Austen Hero.

With all these great thoughts in my head, off we ran to . . .

Wow. That was exciting!

Rainy Days

2010-11-03T14:58:00.002-05:00

Rainy days make me just want to stay home and read, preferably something NOT for a class. And drink coffee.

Wrong Answer

2010-11-02T16:10:00.004-05:00

Snooping on Planes

2010-11-01T09:43:00.008-05:00

I always like to know what other people are reading, and airports/airplanes are good places to observe readers. Of course, I have to be careful. People start to wonder about you when you stare at them or get in weird positions for a view of their lap.

I saw fewer people reading this trip than I usually do (trend? chance?), but here's what I saw people reading:

Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed

John Grisham's Ford County

Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded

a Mitch Albom novel, couldn't read the title

a Robert B. Parker novel, couldn't read the title

one guy was reading a chemistry textbook

one girl was studying a sign-language text (and practicing)

one woman was reading a paperback that, I kid you not, looked six inches thick. I tried and tried to see what it was, but no luck

AND

a woman was reading a bodice ripper (couldn't read the title, but you know what kinds of pictures are on the cover; no mistaking them) and here's the kicker: SHE WAS HIGHLIGHTING TEXT. I am not making this up. Think of the possibilities . . .

I Know You're Dying to Know . . .

2010-10-29T04:57:00.000-05:00

Here's the blurb for my presentation today:

Henry Tilney: Austen’s Feminized Hero?

In Northanger Abbey, Austen praises the novel form as she satirizes elements of the gothic novel, particularly the female gothic: the castle; the atmosphere of mystery and suspense; the inexplicable events; the powerful, tyrannical male; the woman in distress. Jane Spencer and other critics have noted an additional element: the weak hero. These critics claim that, in the eighteenth-century female gothic novel, the heroine triumphs over male authoritarianism by marriage to a “feminized hero,” achieving a union “where womanly virtue and patriarchal authority are no longer in conflict” (Rise of the Woman Novelist, 207).

This paper will explore the character of Henry Tilney as Austen’s clever acknowledgement and rebuttal of this feminization of the hero. Austen does “feminize” Henry. He is well aware of accepted female behaviors—“their delightful habit of journalizing,” for instance—and is eloquently able to describe the contents of the perfect feminine journal entry (NA 27). He “understands muslins . . . particularly well” and has often been entrusted with the choice of his sister’s gowns (28). He’s an avid reader of novels, although Catherine assumes that novels are for women and “gentlemen read better books” (106). Yet Austen, in her other novels, discourages even hints of effeminacy in her male characters and champions virtuous masculinity. So, how should readers view Austen’s “feminization” of Henry? Her other heroines triumph, not by acquiring weak, feminized husbands, but by securing one who is both manly and virtuous. Is this true for Catherine also?

Fascinating, right? :-)

I'm Here

2010-10-28T04:53:00.000-05:00

The JASNA conference is this weekend in Portland, OR. Beautiful part of the country! And I present tomorrow.

Takin' the Long Way Around

2010-10-27T18:26:00.003-05:00

I thought it was bad enough that I was supposed to fly to Portland, OR, today by way of Atlanta, GA I understand that LR is not a major hub, but flying east to go west still seems illogical. But after several delays and finally boarding only to find out that my flight had been cancelled, here's what I get to do tomorrow: Fly out at 6:55 am (you know what time that means I've got to get up, don't you?) And my new itinerary? Little Rock to Memphis, Memphis to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Portland. I guess I should just be glad I'm getting there.

You Go, Girl!

2010-10-27T07:04:00.001-05:00

Dian Sawyer: How many women on the Supreme Court is enough?

Ruth Bader Ginsberg: Nine.

What I'm Re-reading Now

2010-10-25T13:08:00.002-05:00

In 1873, two women living on the Isles of Shoals, a lonely, windswept group of islands off the coast of New Hampshire, were brutally murdered. A third woman survived, cowering in a sea cave until dawn. More than a century later, Jean, a magazine photographer working on a photoessay about the murders, returns to the Isles with her husband, Thomas, and their five-year-old daughter, Billie, aboard a boat skippered by her brother-in-law, Rich, who has brought along his girlfriend, Adaline. As Jean becomes immersed in the details of the 19th-century murders, Thomas and Adaline find themselves drawn together-with potentially ruinous consequences. Shreve perfectly captures the ubiquitous dampness of life on a sailboat, deftly evoking the way in which the weather comes to dictate all actions for those at sea. With the skill of a master shipbuilder, Shreve carefully fits her two stories together, tacking back and forth between the increasingly twisted murder mystery and the escalating tensions unleashed by the threat of a dangerous shipboard romance. Written with assurance and grace, plangent with foreboding and a taut sense of inexorability, The Weight of Water is a powerfully compelling tale of passion, a provocative and disturbing meditation on the nature of love.

Another Ad

2010-10-24T04:06:00.001-05:00

My Current Re-read

2010-10-23T09:01:00.002-05:00

In a startling departure from her previous novels ( Lady Oracle , Surfacing ), respected Canadian poet and novelist Atwood presents here a fable of the near future. In the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, far-right Schlafly/Falwell-type ideals have been carried to extremes in the monotheocratic government. The resulting society is a feminist's nightmare: women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the "morally fit" Wives. The tale is told by Offred (read: "of Fred"), a Handmaid who recalls the past and tells how the chilling society came to be.

What I'm Reading Now

2010-10-20T09:29:00.002-05:00

The contention between the "new" atheists and the devout is causing a resurgence in agnostic studies. Krasny (Off Mike) is a public radio host and a self-declared agnostic, maintaining a position that "stands open to verification of either side of the God question." Deftly balancing biography and literary scholarship, the book is both a personal examination of agnosticism and a balanced voice in the complex debate over faith's role in society. Krasny grew up a strong believer in his Jewish faith, until adolescent questioning led him to declare he just wasn't sure. Despite a lost connection with God, the young Krasny continued to seek a divine presence, even admitting to feelings of envy toward those possessing "the consolation of faith." In this book, agnosticism is a tool to philosophically engage with various manifestations of faith including organized religion, spiritual-but-not-religious sentiments, and even paranormal theories. Readers expecting a late chapter conversion will be disappointed; Krasny remains agnostic to the end, even while declaring his respect for the benefits religion can bring to believers.

You can access Krasny's NPR interview here.

The Right Equipment

2010-10-18T16:39:00.003-05:00

A woman and her husband were vacationing at a lake. The husband liked to fish, and the boat was full of his equipment, but one day while he was napping, the woman decided to go out on the boat herself. She found a nice place on the lake and began to read her book.

A warden pulled up and told her she was in a restricted zone (no fishing) and he would have to arrest her. The woman explained that she was not fishing; she was reading. The warden responded that she had all the proper equipment for fishing and he would have to take her in to the station.

"If you do, I'll charge you with sexual assault" she snapped.

Dumb-struck, the warden protested that he hadn't even touched her.

"Yes, but you have all the proper equipment," she replied.

The moral of the story? Don't argue with a woman who reads; it's likely she can also think.

What I Just Finished

2010-10-18T07:41:00.002-05:00

If you've ever wondered why you just can't stop eating certain foods, even when you have admirable self discipline in other areas, this book is for you.

From Publishers Weekly:

Conditioned hypereating is a biological challenge, not a character flaw, says Kessler, former FDA commissioner under presidents Bush and Clinton). Here Kessler (A Question of Intent) describes how, since the 1980s, the food industry, in collusion with the advertising industry, and lifestyle changes have short-circuited the body's self-regulating mechanisms, leaving many at the mercy of reward-driven eating. Through the evidence of research, personal stories (including candid accounts of his own struggles) and examinations of specific foods produced by giant food corporations and restaurant chains, Kessler explains how the desire to eat—as distinct from eating itself—is stimulated in the brain by an almost infinite variety of diabolical combinations of salt, fat and sugar. Although not everyone succumbs, more people of all ages are being set up for a lifetime of food obsession due to the ever-present availability of foods laden with salt, fat and sugar. A gentle though urgent plea for reform, Kessler's book provides a simple food rehab program to fight back against the industry's relentless quest for profits while an entire country of people gain weight and get sick. According to Kessler, persistence is all that is needed to make the perceptual shifts and find new sources of rewards to regain control.

Another Ad

2010-10-17T04:07:00.000-05:00

. . . or get cancer.

My New Listen

2010-10-16T08:52:00.001-05:00

Prodigal Summer
UNABRIDGED
by Barbara Kingsolver
Narrated by Barbara Kingsolver
Publisher: Harper Audio
Length 15 hours 50 minutes

There is no one in contemporary literature quite like Barbara Kingsolver. Her dialogue sparkles with sassy wit and earthy poetry; her descriptions are rooted in daily life but are also on familiar terms with the eternal. With Prodigal Summer, she returns from the Congo to a "wrinkle on the map that lies between farms and wildness." And there, in an isolated pocket of southern Appalachia, she recounts not one but three intricate stories.

Exuberant, lush, riotous--the summer of the novel is "the season of extravagant procreation" in which bullfrogs carelessly lay their jellied masses of eggs in the grass, "apparently confident that their tadpoles would be able to swim through the lawn like little sperms," and in which a woman may learn to "tell time with her skin." It is also the summer in which a family of coyotes moves into the mountains above Zebulon Valley:

The ghost of a creature long extinct was coming in on silent footprints, returning to the place it had once held in the complex anatomy of this forest like a beating heart returned to its body. This is what she believed she would see, if she watched, at this magical juncture: a restoration.

The "she" is Deanna Wolfe, a wildlife biologist observing the coyotes from her isolated aerie--isolated, that is, until the arrival of a young hunter who makes her even more aware of the truth that humans are only an infinitesimal portion in the ecological balance. This truth forms the axis around which the other two narratives revolve: the story of a city girl, entomologist, and new widow and her efforts to find a place for herself; and the story of Garnett Walker and Nannie Rawley, who seem bent on thrashing out the countless intimate lessons of biology as only an irascible traditional farmer and a devotee of organic agriculture can. As Nannie lectures Garnett, "Everything alive is connected to every other by fine, invisible threads. Things you don't see can help you plenty, and things you try to control will often rear back and bite you, and that's the moral of the story."

Structurally, that gossamer web is the story: images, phrases, and events link the narratives, and these echoes are rarely obvious, always serendipitous. Kingsolver is one of those authors for whom the terrifying elegance of nature is both aesthetic wonder and source of a fierce and abiding moral vision. She may have inherited Thoreau's mantle, but she piles up riches of her own making, blending her extravagant narrative gift with benevolent concise humor. She treads the line between the sentimental and the glorious like nobody else in American literature. --Kelly Flynn

Girl Power

2010-10-13T13:51:00.002-05:00

Josey and the Pussycats opening theme (1970)

Call for Papers

2010-10-13T08:19:00.000-05:00

Christian Scholars' Conference 2011

The Path of Discovery: Science, Theology, and the Academy
June 16-18, 2011
Pepperdine University, Malibu, California

Crime Fiction, Science, and The Battle Between Good and Evil

A universal theme in Judeo-Christian literature is the battle between good and evil. This theme plays out in many genres—from Milton’s epic poetry to Tolkien’s fantasy novels, to Wilkie Collins’ Moonstone, a novel described by T. S. Eliot as “the first and greatest of English detective novels.” As Knutson notes, “The first practitioners within crime writing prepared the genre for a conservative worldview [in which] there was a binary opposition between right and wrong, good and evil,” and for the popular subgenre of forensic crime drama, the dichotomy still holds true. However, science has replaced God as the “good” and religion is often linked to evil (bigotry, intolerance, insanity) in the epic battle between good and evil. Submissions are welcome on any aspect of the role of science and/or religion in the battle between good and evil in crime fiction. This session invites submissions from both working scholars and PhD students.

Abstracts of 100 to 150 words and a brief bio should be sent in a Word attachment via e-mail by 21 December, 2010 to: Stephanie M. Eddleman, szeddleman@harding.edu.

Notice of acceptance of your paper will be provided by January 18, 2011.

For more information about the conference, go to http://www.pepperdine.edu/christian-scholars-conference/

Give Me a Break

2010-10-11T04:43:00.000-05:00

More Twilight craziness.

Sunday Funnies

2010-10-10T04:48:00.000-05:00

What I'm Re-reading Now

2010-10-09T08:19:00.002-05:00

Nearly forgotten after her death in 1970, Haushofer began to attract attention again when this novel was republished in the 1980s. Although it is described by the publisher as "a startling redefinition of ecofeminist utopian fiction," this first-person narrative has been characterized by most commentators as dystopian. It tells of a woman vacationing in a remote mountain hunting lodge who survives an unexplained catastrophe in which (almost) all the rest of the human world perishes. Imprisoned on the mountainside by an invisible wall, the unnamed narrator recounts her struggle to survive and her attempt to discover the essence of her own personality, femininity, and humanity. The minimalist plot is enhanced by rich description and wise insight, and the translation succeeds in capturing the author's fluid, lyrical style

My New Listen

2010-10-06T12:43:00.002-05:00

Lady Chatterley's Lover
ABRIDGED
by D.H. Lawrence

Narrated by Emilia Fox

PUBLISHER CSA Word

LENGTH 5 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary
Lady Chatterley's Lover was the subject of one of the most infamous trials of the 20th century when Penguin was prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. However, with expert witnesses for the defence, including E.M. Forster, Penguin was acquitted and permitted to publish in 1960. The book became a best seller largely on account of explicit scenes of a sexual nature and use of four letter words. However, re-reading again over 40 years later, one realises that although the sex scenes are still graphic even today, the book is about much more than sex. It covers love, class, disability, family relationships, infertility, politics, and that 'bitch-goddess' success.

What I'm Reading Now

2010-10-05T11:30:00.002-05:00

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

Warning

2010-10-01T15:12:00.002-05:00

If you do not enjoy laughing uncontrollably, do not read David Sedaris. Enough said.

My New Listen

2010-09-29T09:03:00.002-05:00

From Publishers Weekly

Sedaris is Garrison Keillor's evil twin: like the Minnesota humorist, Sedaris focuses on the icy patches that mar life's sidewalk, though the ice in his work is much more slippery and the falls much more spectacularly funny than in Keillor's. Many of the 27 short essays collected here (which appeared originally in the New Yorker, Esquire and elsewhere) deal with his father, Lou, to whom the book is dedicated. Lou is a micromanager who tries to get his uninterested children to form a jazz combo and, when that fails, insists on boosting David's career as a performance artist by heckling him from the audience. Sedaris suggests that his father's punishment for being overly involved in his kids' artistic lives is David's brother Paul, otherwise known as "The Rooster," a half-literate miscreant whose language is outrageously profane. Sedaris also writes here about the time he spent in France and the difficulty of learning another language. After several extended stays in a little Norman village and in Paris, Sedaris had progressed, he observes, "from speaking like an evil baby to speaking like a hillbilly. 'Is thems the thoughts of cows?' I'd ask the butcher, pointing to the calves' brains displayed in the front window." But in English, Sedaris is nothing if not nimble: in one essay he goes from his cat's cremation to his mother's in a way that somehow manages to remain reverent to both of the departed. "Reliable sources" have told Sedaris that he has "tended to exhaust people," and true to form, he will exhaust readers of this new book, too, with helpless laughter.

Don't Tempt Me

2010-09-28T04:37:00.002-05:00

Thanks, Patti, for sharing!

Next Installment

2010-09-27T08:21:00.002-05:00

What I'm Reading Now:

Every year in Panem, the dystopic nation that exists where the U.S. used to be, the Capitol holds a televised tournament in which two teen "tributes" from each of the surrounding districts fight a gruesome battle to the death. In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, the tributes from impoverished District Twelve, thwarted the Gamemakers, forcing them to let both teens survive. In this rabidly anticipated sequel, Katniss, again the narrator, returns home to find herself more the center of attention than ever. The sinister President Snow surprises her with a visit, and Katniss’s fear when Snow meets with her alone is both palpable and justified. Catching Fire is divided into three parts: Katniss and Peeta’s mandatory Victory Tour through the districts, preparations for the 75th Annual Hunger Games, and a truncated version of the Games themselves. Slower paced than its predecessor, this sequel explores the nation of Panem: its power structure, rumors of a secret district, and a spreading rebellion, ignited by Katniss and Peeta’s subversive victory. Katniss also deepens as a character. Though initially bewildered by the attention paid to her, she comes almost to embrace her status as the rebels’ symbolic leader. Though more of the story takes place outside the arena than within, this sequel has enough action to please Hunger Games fans and leaves enough questions tantalizingly unanswered for readers to be desperate for the next installment.

What I'm Reading Now

2010-09-24T13:44:00.002-05:00

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining distric's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collin's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like Survivor and American Gladiator. Book one of a trilogy.

Dead Woman Walking

2010-09-22T09:22:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, the state of Virginia will execute the first woman prisoner in 98 years. You can read the story HERE.

Digital Dilemma

2010-09-20T15:17:00.004-05:00

It's obvious that I haven't posted in a while. Why, you wonder? Well, several reasons, actually. The semester has begun, I have four preps including one new class, and I'm a little stressed. But those are not the main reasons. Actually, I'm having a digital dilemma.

Facebook. Twitter. Blogs. Text Messages. The Internet . . . . All of them were vying for my attention, and I noticed that I wasn't always really in control of how much time I spent online. I'd get on to check Facebook, and before I knew it half an hour was gone. One blog would lead to another, one website to another, and before I knew it another half hour was gone. It was as if I were giving away little bits of my life without consciously making the decision that those activities were worth the sacrifice of time. Also, something's gotta be wrong when you start evaluating every life experience in terms of whether it'll make a great tweet or a cryptic status update.

Additionally, I began to feel a low-level of stress (the kind with physical symptoms) that I believe was a result of being constantly "in touch." There were always badges telling me I had messages or that someone had posted on my wall or that someone else wanted to follow me on Twitter. Even when I didn't want to check my iphone I felt compelled to. Compelled. Isn't that a characteristic of addiction?

So, I've backed off. I leave my iphone in my purse. On the weekends I turn off alerts and avoid my laptop. At first, it was hard, and it embarasses me to say that. But now, it's much easier. I forget about being connected for hours at a time. I feel better both physically and mentally, and I get a lot more done.

I haven't decided yet how dis-connected I want to be, ultimately. I have a community of online friends that I enjoy, but I also have a life that I want to live authentically and with purpose. I'm in the process of figuring it all out. Comments and suggestions would be most welcome.

My New Listen

2010-09-15T07:32:00.002-05:00

Faithful Place: A Novel

UNABRIDGED

by Tana French

Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds

Publisher: Recorded Books

Running Time: 16 hours and 17 minutes

The past haunts in Tana French novels. That which was buried is brought to light and wreaks hell--on no one moreso than Frank Mackey, beloved undercover guru and burly hero first mentioned in French's second book about the Undercover Squad, The Likeness. Faithful Place is Frank's old neighborhood, the town he fled twenty-two years ago, abandoning an abusive alcoholic father, harpy mother, and two brothers and sisters who never made it out. They say going home is never easy, but for Frank, investigating the cold case of the just-discovered body of his teenage girlfriend, it is a tangled, dangerous journey, fraught with mean motivations, black secrets, and tenuous alliances. Because he is too close to the case, and because the Place (including his family) harbors a deep-rooted distrust of cops, Frank must undergo his investigation furtively, using all the skills picked up from years of undercover work to trace the killer and the events of the night that changed his life. Faithful Place is Tana French's best book yet (readers familiar with In the Woods and The Likeness will recognize this as an incredible feat), a compelling and cutting mystery with the hardscrabble, savage Mackey clan at its heart. --Daphne Durham

What I'm Reading Now

2010-09-08T12:55:00.001-05:00

Cover Her Face is the debut 1962 crime novel of P. D. James. It details the investigations by her poetry-writing detective Adam Dalgliesh into the death of a young, ambitious maid, surrounded by a family which has reasons to want her gone - or dead. The title is taken from a passage from John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi: "Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle; she died young."

Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park (born 3 August 1920), commonly known as P. D. James, is an English crime writer and Conservative life peer in the House of Lords, most famous for a series of detective novels starring her most iconic creation, policeman and poet Adam Dalgliesh.

Borrowed Ideas

2010-09-07T09:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a post I ran across on the Becoming Minimalist blog. It's a read that's worth your time.

Contentment. People look for it in all sorts of places. Some look for contentment in a high-paying job, yet show their discontent the first time they are passed over for a raise. Some look for it in a large home, yet show their discontent by requiring countless improvements. Many have sought contentment in a department store believing that one more item will finally match their desire, yet they are always disappointed… despite the promises made on television.

Could it be that we have been taught to look for contentment in all the wrong places?

What if contentment is actually found in the exact opposite place that we have looking? What if contentment is not found in accumulating more, but is actually found in giving more?

We can easily understand how contentment leads to generosity – the less we need, the more we can give away. But could it be that the inverse is also true? That generosity also leads to contentment? That the two collide together in a way that encourages each other to exist all the more?

Consider for just a moment how generosity leads to contentment:

Generous people have a healthy understanding of how much they already own. People who give to those in need quickly realize how much they have to give.
Generous people value what they own. People who give away possessions hold their remaining possessions in higher esteem. People who give their time make better use of their time remaining. And people who donate money are far less wasteful with the money left over.
Generous people live happier, more fulfilled lives. Studies have shown that generous people are generally happier, healthier, and more satisfied with life. And once they find this satisfaction through generosity, they are less inclined to search for it elsewhere.
Generous people find meaning outside of their possessions. It is the American way to wrap up self-worth in net-worth… as if a person’s true value could ever be tallied on a balance sheet. Generous people find their value in helping others and quickly realize that their bank statement says nothing about their true value.
Generous people have more fulfilling relationships. People always enjoy the company of a generous giver to the company of a selfish hoarder. People are naturally attracted towards others who have an open heart to share with others. And a good friend is the best gift you could ever give yourself.
Generous people have less desire for more. They have found fulfillment, meaning, value, and relationships outside of the acquisition of possessions. They have learned to find joy in what they already possess and give away the rest. In other words, they have found true contentment. This contentment naturally leads to even more generosity which leads to even greater contentment which leads to…

Are you searching for contentment in life? If so, try giving something away today. And open up the door for contentment and generosity to collide.

Self Portrait

2010-09-06T13:39:00.000-05:00

And I'm not joking.

Miscommunication

2010-09-05T03:30:00.001-05:00

Out of Breath

2010-09-04T03:23:00.000-05:00

Lately, I feel like I'm running on a treadmill and someone keeps ratcheting up the speed. I've not been on top of my posting, but maybe I'll get it together soon. Hang with me.

No-Win Situation

2010-09-03T12:48:00.000-05:00

Just For Fun

2010-09-02T04:25:00.000-05:00

Movie Time

2010-09-01T04:41:00.000-05:00

We watched this last night. It's an eye-opener.

DIRT! The Movie--directed and produced by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow--takes you inside the wonders of the soil. It tells the story of Earth's most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility--from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation.

The opening scenes of the film dive into the wonderment of the soil. Made from the same elements as the stars, plants and animals, and us, "dirt is very much alive." Though, in modern industrial pursuits and clamor for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to and respect for soil has been disrupted. "Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt."

DIRT! the Movie--narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis--brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.

DIRT! the Movie is simply a movie about dirt. The real change lies in our notion of what dirt is. The movie teaches us: "When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt and humans has been intimately linked." But more than the film and the lessons that it teaches, DIRT the Movie is a call to action.

"The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again."

What we've destroyed, we can heal.

JA Day

2010-08-31T04:53:00.001-05:00

It's an exciting day for me--I'm teaching Sense and Sensibility. I've spent all my time preparing for class and none coming up with something to blog about.

Sorry.

I'll try to do better tomorrow. :-)

Poetry at the Zoo

2010-08-30T06:27:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, my husband and I decided to go to the zoo. It seemed like the perfect day for it, eighty something degrees after months of temperatures in the hundreds. And, not only did I get to laugh at the anteater, shudder at the python, and admires the giraffes--I also got to enjoy some poetry.

Poetry at the Zoo is a program paring wildlife exhibits with "poems that celebrate the natural world and the connection between species." I noticed poetry by the British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (one of my favorites), the American Walt Whitman, and many African poets. The lines of poetry posted all over the zoo were an added dimension of enjoyment for me.

Poetry lovers, you should go to the zoo.

Smart Women VIII

2010-08-29T04:36:00.000-05:00

Move It!

2010-08-28T04:53:00.000-05:00

They say confession is good for the soul, so here I go. I'm not a very patient person. I'm better than I used to be, but I'm not sure that's saying a lot. Also, I feel like I never have enough time to do all I need to do plus all I want to do. So, I'm usually concerned with doing what I need to do in a timely manner (read: I rush around madly) so I can get on with what I would rather be doing.

Well . . .

Yesterday afternoon, as soon as my last class was over, I headed to Walmart. Now, I didn't really want to go there, but I didn't want to give up any of my precious Saturday or Sunday buying groceries either, so I went.

I started out at a nice pace, quickly grabbing what I needed and tossing it into the buggy, but my efficiency didn't last very long. Somehow, no matter where I turned, there were two little old ladies on motorized carts in my way. They would park side by side in the aisle and talk. Or drive side by side. Or I'd go down an aisle that was partially blocked by a stocker and they'd be lined up and parked on the other side, blocking the whole thing. Several times I changed my game plan to get out from behind them, but it made no difference. Everywhere I turned, there they were. I made it to the produce section, and they'd beat me there, somehow, and pulled up to things in such a way that I couldn't even get around them. I felt rude just standing there, waiting, waiting, waiting . . . but I didn't know what else to do. At least I didn't sigh loudly and tap my foot.

I bet my blood pressure was through the roof.

I don't think I'm gonna be a very good little old lady.

Movie Time

2010-08-27T03:18:00.001-05:00

I'm not quite sure why I haven't seen this film until now. It caught me in the first scene, when the bookseller pulls his cart through town hawking his wares, "Storybooks for women! Sacred books for men!"

Barbra Streisand portrays Yentl Mendel, a girl living in an Ashkenazi shtetl in Poland in the early 20th century. Yentl's Father, Rebbe Mendel (Nehemiah Persoff), secretly instructs her in the Talmud despite the proscription of such study by women according to the custom of her community.

After the death of her father, Yentl decides to dress like a man, take her late brother's name, Anshel, and enter a Jewish religious school, oryeshiva. Upon entering the yeshiva, Yentl makes friends with a fellow student, Avigdor (Mandy Pantinkin), and meets his fiancée Hadass (Amy Irving). The story is complicated as Hadass's family cancels her wedding to Avigdor over fears that his family is tainted with insanity, and decides that she should marry Anshel instead. Meanwhile, Hadass develops romantic feelings for Yentl (as Anshel), while Yentl herself is falling in love with Avigdor. After much turmoil, Avigdor and Hadass are reunited, while Yentl leaves Europe to go to America, where she hopes to lead a freer life.

My New Listen

2010-08-26T03:48:00.000-05:00

The Likeness
--unabridged

Author: Tana French
Narrated by Heather O'Neill
Publisher: Recorded Books
Length: 22 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary
Tana French's debut, In the Woods, hit the New York Times best-seller list and drew rave reviews from the Times (London) and Booklist. Picking up six months later, this riveting sequel finds Detective Cassie Maddox still scarred by her last case. When her boyfriend calls her to a chilling murder scene, Cassie is forced to face her inner demons. A young woman has been found stabbed to death outside Dublin, and the victim looks just like Cassie.

Solitude

2010-08-25T03:54:00.000-05:00

This is an excerpt from a post on solitude from the Becoming Minimalist blog:

Solitude provides opportunity to rediscover our lives. By ”electing to intentionally withdraw from human relationships for a period of time,” we are able to remove the shaping influence of others and recenter our hearts on our deepest values. We are able to evaluate the assumptions, claims, and messages of our culture. Often times, we realize that these shaping forces have been incorrect all along. And we have lost our lives because of them.

Consider that when we embrace solitude…

We intentionally remove the influence of others for period of time.
We intentionally remove the expectations of others.
We are able to hear our own heart speak.
We find rest and refreshment.
We discover that others can live without us.
We find that the world does not rest on our shoulders.
We can adequately reflect on our past and chart our future.
We break the cycle of busyness in our lives.
We become better equipped to show patience with others.
We feed our souls.

While anyone can practice solitude at any given time by just finding a quiet place to sit for an extended period of time, I have found these tips to be particularly helpful in developing a discipline of concentrated solitude:

Give yourself enough time. If you are just starting, try 30 minutes. Typically, the first 15 minutes are filled with a busy mind still running fast. But after about 15 minutes, your mind will slow down enough to offer you deep reflection. And the longer you give it, the deeper it will go.
Schedule time. If you are just hoping for an extra 30-45 minutes to show up in your day for solitude, it’ll never come. Time for solitude must be desired, scheduled, and created.
Find a calm location. Your surroundings will make a big difference. Avoid “fast-paced” locations such as offices, kitchens, or any place that reminds you of work. Also keep in mind that you’ll find solitude more fulfilling if your space is uncluttered.
Take as little as possible with you.
Just allow your mind to wander. There are no set rules concerning what you should be thinking about. Just let your mind wander. As I mentioned, it will skip around at the very beginning. But eventually, your mind will settle in on something that your heart has been trying to tell you all along.
Don’t quit just because you don’t like what you find. The journey into our heart is not always a pretty one. Sometimes when we start pulling back the layers of our heart and realize our deepest motivations, we don’t like what we see. This can be difficult for some and cause even more to stop altogether. But, don’t. A richer, fuller life is just around the corner.
Don’t worry if you fall asleep. While solitude is different than napping, if you consistently find yourself falling asleep during these quiet periods, your mind may be trying to tell you something. And you should probably listen.
Pray. If you are spiritual, certainly use this time to connect with God. If you are not spiritual, solitude just may put you more in touch with God if you are open to it. Because God often speaks with a small voice that is drowned out by the world’s noise, we can’t hear it until we intentionally listen for it.

Give solitude a chance. You’ve got nothing to lose. And your life to gain back.

Cease and Desist

2010-08-24T03:31:00.000-05:00

You can read about the ways some schools are handling the problem HERE.

The Majestic Plastic Bag

2010-08-23T04:06:00.000-05:00

Smart Women VII

2010-08-22T03:57:00.000-05:00

Just for Fun

2010-08-21T04:03:00.000-05:00

Women's Suffrage

2010-08-20T04:10:00.000-05:00

Whoops. I missed it, but better late than never. August 18 was the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the Women's Suffrage Amendment. The Kansas City Star has a neat PHOTO GALLERY that you can view.

Our Century’s Greatest Injustice

2010-08-19T04:54:00.000-05:00

Our century’s greatest injustice: Sheryl WuDunn on TED.com

Eat, Pray, Spend

2010-08-18T04:54:00.001-05:00

I don't quite think THIS is what Elizabeth Gilbert had in mind when she wrote Eat, Pray, Love.

My contribution to the spending spree? The price of a paperback and a movie ticket.

My Last Summer Matinee

2010-08-17T04:47:00.001-05:00

I've read the book, so I thought I should see the movie . . .

Now that I've seen the movie, I want to re-read the book. This re-reading thing's getting out of hand.

Eat Pray Love

- 2hr 13min‎‎ - Rated PG-13‎‎ - Drama‎ -
Director: Ryan Murphy - Cast: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup

Liz Gilbert had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having -- a husband, a house, a successful career -- yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.

This Time . . .

2010-08-16T04:42:00.000-05:00

Last week, I posted about re-reading Jane Eyre for the Women's Lit class I'm teaching this Fall. Re-reading for class can sometimes be boring. I already know the plot; I'm just re-reading to get all the details back in my head for class discussion. And, I can't help thinking of what else I could be reading if I didn't have to re-read. But, a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do.

Additionally, it had been a long time since reading Jane Eyre, and, like I posted, I'd had two very different reactions to the novel in my previous two readings, so I was curious about how I'd feel this time. Well, I'm not finished yet (Jane's just left Mr. Rochester), but I'm absolutely enthralled by the novel. I can't wait to discuss it with my students. The first two readings, even though I had very different reactions, were both very plot-driven readings. I reacted only to what happened. This reading, I've really been paying attention to style and craft, and especially to characterization, and it's almost as if I'm reading it for the first time. Of course, knowing that I'm also going to teach Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea has me paying attention to detail in a way I might not otherwise.

Re-reading Jane Eyre makes me want to re-read The Thirteenth Tale, too.

This could start a dangerous trend.

Smart Women VI

2010-08-15T04:30:00.000-05:00

My New Listen

2010-08-14T03:15:00.002-05:00

Things Fall Apart

UNABRIDGED

by Chinua Achebe

Narrated by Peter Francis James

PUBLISHER: Recorded Books

LENGTH: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

With over eight million copies in print world wide, Achebe's work is a definitive novel in African literature. Filled with powerful language and finely drawn characters, Things Fall Apart also shimmers with the sounds and sights of village life.

Okonkwo is born into poverty, with a wastrel for a father. Driven by ambition, he works tirelessly to gain the prosperity of many fields and wives, and prestige in his village. But he is harsh as well as diligent. As he sees the traditions of his people eroded by white missionaries and government officials, he lashes out in anger.

Things Fall Apart traces the growing friction between village leaders and Europeans determined to save the heathen souls of Africa. But its hero, a noble man who is driven by destructive forces, speaks a universal tongue.

The Girls at the Office

2010-08-13T03:59:00.000-05:00

Awesomely Sexist Pepsi Commercial From 1957

2010-08-12T04:46:00.000-05:00

Yoga Continued

2010-08-11T04:22:00.000-05:00

The second tip my friend gave me is that consistency is key. You'll get better results from ten minutes of yoga every day than from a two-hour session once a week.

That's a very freeing piece of information because, although I enjoy practicing yoga and don't mind doing an hour-long workout, somedays I just don't have a whole hour to spare.

So, since talking to her I've practiced at least six days a week--some days twenty minutes, some days forty-five, some days an hour. It just depends on how I feel and how much time I have. But even the short workouts relax me and make me feel better--mentally and physically. Plus, no matter how long my daily yoga workout is, I have the mental benefit of the daily discipline.

Yoga Resumed

2010-08-10T04:27:00.001-05:00

During the year that I lived in Oxford, I began taking yoga classes. I'd read/study/write all day, and then take a yoga class two or three times a week, before my evening classes at Ole Miss began. I loved it. First of all, it got out all the stiffness and kinks I'd acquired from a day of study, which was nice. But it also really got rid of stress. For an hour, I didn't think about anything that I needed to do, had to do, should do, ought to do . . you know the drill. And I was getting stronger (which surprised me, because I already ran/power walked and lifted weights, but yoga was really making a difference in my body--both the way it felt and the way it looked), and I was much more limber.

Well, the classes ended and I moved back home and spent a year studying for comps and writing my dissertation. In other words, I spent a year sitting on my butt. I kept up my morning exercise routine but not the late afternoon yoga. And I missed it.

Last semester, I tried taking some classes here in town, but the times were inconvenient and the classes just didn't measure up to those I'd taken before. I always left disappointed. So, I finally contacted a friend at Ole Miss who teaches yoga and asked for suggestions.

Her first suggestion was to create a personal space for practice. It didn't have to be huge or fancy, just private, spacious, comfortable, and readily available. This seems like such a simple suggestion, but I can't say enough how helpful it was. I often thought about doing yoga at home, but I rarely did because I didn't really have a convenient spot and didn't feel like bothering to clear away one.

We have an extra bedroom that had become a sort of leaving-grounds for things the kids brought into the house on their temporary stays but didn't bother to take with them to their new homes. So, I devoted an hour or so one morning to cleaning out that bedroom. I threw away things, hauled away things, and stored things until the room was bare of everything but basic furniture. This left a wide bare spot in the middle of the carpeted room for my sticky mat. I placed a small table against the wall to hold a candle, and underneath it I placed my yoga videos and straps. I also arranged a convenient spot to place my laptop to play soft music or a video.

I've been amazed at what a difference this makes. I've practiced almost every day since I've set up my yoga space. Now, all I have to do is walk upstairs and I'm ready to practice.

More about yoga tomorrow.

Partial Disconnect

2010-08-09T04:06:00.002-05:00

Lately, I've been suffering from burnout. I defended my dissertation last summer just in time to start preparing for the Fall semester and two new classes. I had two new classes in the Spring, too. I taught Honors Symposium this summer, and I've got four preps this Fall, including one new class, one class that I've taught before but on T/Th and this time it's MWF, and another class that I've taught before, but for some unknown reason I decided to change books. Well, as soon as Honors Symposium was over, I tried to write the paper that I'm supposed to present at the JASNA conference in October, and that's when it hit.

Burn out.

I couldn't write a word. Oh, I re-read the novel, and took some notes. But when I sat down in front of my computer, nothing happened. For two days. Nothing, that is, but headaches and stress. I was just so tired.

So I told myself that I wouldn't write just yet. I'd rest. But I was too wired up to rest. I'd had constant mental stimulation for years. I rarely (maybe never?) just turned everything off. I'd been doing so much for so long, I didn't know how to do nothing.

So, the first thing I did, besides giving myself permission not to write, was to do a partial disconnect from the internet--mainly Facebook and Twitter. I checked it once in the morning and once in the afternoon, if then. That's it. I put my iphone out of sight--somewhere I could answer a call but not have its presence be a constant temptation to check something. The first day was weird. The second, not so much. Now--not at all. And I feel calmer. A lot calmer. And the headaches are gone.

The other thing I did was re-establish a yoga practice. More on that tomorrow.

Smart Women V

2010-08-08T04:50:00.000-05:00

This Time?

2010-08-07T04:45:00.000-05:00

In preparation for my Women's Lit class this Fall, I'm re-reading Jane Eyre. I read it for the first time in Jr. High and LOVED it. I re-read it as an undergrad and got SO ANGRY. I'm wondering what my reaction will be this time.

Summer Time

2010-08-06T04:02:00.000-05:00

It's too hot. Too hot. Tooooo hot.

That's all I've got to say about it.

My New Listen

2010-08-05T03:59:00.000-05:00

People of the Book

UNABRIDGED

by Geraldine Brooks

Narrated by Edwina Wren

Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks

13 hours 58 minutes

Publisher's Summary

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, the journey of a rare illuminated prayer book through centuries of war, destruction, theft, loss, and love.

Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author. Called "a tour de force"by the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in 15th-century Spain.

When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding - an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair - only begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.

She Caught On Quick

2010-08-04T04:22:00.000-05:00

What I'm Reading Now

2010-08-03T05:15:00.000-05:00

'"The honest truth is that it's sad to be over sixty," concludes Nora Ephron in her sparkling new book about aging. With 15 essays in 160 pages, this collection is short, a thoughtful concession to pre- and post-menopausal women (who else is there?), like herself, who "can't read a word on the pill bottle," follow a thought to a conclusion, or remember the thought after not being able to read the pill bottle. Ephron drives the truth home like a nail in your soon-to-be-bought coffin: "Plus, you can't wear a bikini." But just as despair sets in, she admits to using "quite a lot of bath oil... I'm as smooth as silk." Yes, she is. This is aging lite—but that might be the answer. Besides, there's always Philip Roth for aging heavy.Ephron, in fact, offers a brief anecdote about Roth, in a chapter on cooking, concerning her friend Jane, who had a one-night stand, long ago, with the then "up-and-coming" writer. He gave Jane a copy of his latest book. "Take one on your way out," he said. Conveniently, there was a box of them by the front door. Ephron refuses to analyze—one of her most refreshing qualities—and quickly moves on to Jane's céleri remoulade.Aging, according to Ephron, is one big descent—and who would argue? (Well, okay—but they'd lose the argument if they all got naked.) There it is, the steady spiraling down of everything: body and mind, breasts and balls, dragging one's self-respect behind them. Ephron's witty riffs on these distractions are a delightful antidote to the prevailing belief that everything can be held up with surgical scaffolding and the drugs of denial. Nothing, in the end, prevents the descent. While signs of mortality proliferate, Ephron offers a rebuttal of consequence: an intelligent, alert, entertaining perspective that does not take itself too seriously. (If you can't laugh, after all, you are already, technically speaking, dead.) She does, however, concede that hair maintenance—styling, dyeing, highlighting, blow-drying—is a serious matter, not to mention the expense. "Once I picked up a copy of Vogue while having my hair done, and it cost me twenty thousand dollars. But you should see my teeth." Digging deeper, she discovers that your filthy, bulging purse containing numerous things you don't need—and couldn't find if you did—is, "in some absolutely horrible way, you." Ephron doesn't shy away from the truth about sex either, and confesses, though with an appropriate amount of shame, that despite having been a White House intern in 1961, she did not have an affair with JFK. May Ephron, and her purse, endure so she can continue to tell us how it goes. Or, at least, where it went.'

Facebook and Friendship

2010-08-02T04:12:00.002-05:00

What are Facebook and Twitter doing to our friendships? Check out this USA Today article.

Smart Women IV

2010-08-01T04:06:00.001-05:00

15 Biggest Bestsellers EVER after the Bible

2010-07-31T04:02:00.000-05:00

The Huffington Post just published a list of the 15 best selling books ever, after the Bible. You can check out their article HERE.

1. Quotations from Chairman Mao

2. The Qur'an

3. Xinhua Dictionary

4. The Book of Mormon

5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

6. And Then There Were None

7. Lord of the Rings

8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

9. The DaVinci Code

10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

11. The Catcher in the Rye

12. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabahn

15. Ben Hur

What? No Twilight?

What I'm Reading Now

2010-07-30T04:01:00.000-05:00

FROM BOOKLIST

A tinker is a mender, and in Harding’s spellbinding debut, he imagines the old, mendable horse-and-carriage world. The objects of the past were more readily repaired than our electronics, but the living world was a mystery, as it still is, as it always will be. And so in this rhapsodic novel of impending death, Harding considers humankind’s contrary desires to conquer the “imps of disorder” and to be one with life, fully meshed within the great glimmering web. In the present, George lies on his death bed in the Massachusetts house he built himself, surrounded by family and the antique clocks he restores. George loves the precision of fine timepieces, but now he is at the mercy of chaotic forces and seems to be channeling his late father, Howard, a tinker and a mystic whose epileptic seizures strike like lightning. Howard, in turn, remembers his “strange and gentle” minister father. Each man is extraordinarily porous to nature and prone to becoming “unhitched” from everyday human existence and entering a state of ecstasy, even transcendence. Writing with breathtaking lyricism and tenderness, Harding has created a rare and beautiful novel of spiritual inheritance and acute psychological and metaphysical suspense. --Donna Seaman

Men Hurt by Sexism, Too

2010-07-29T04:30:00.000-05:00

You can read the complete text of author Greta Christina's "5 Stupid, Unfair and Sexist Things Expected of Men" HERE (and I hope you will), but below is her list:

1. Fight, fight, fight!

2. Be a good husband/partner/lover -- but don't care too much what women think.

3. Be hot to trot. Always. With anybody.
4. Stiff upper lip.

5. Fear being perceived as gay.

Another Ad

2010-07-28T04:22:00.000-05:00

Alternate version: Suppose you're a woman who grabs life by the . . .

Jane Austen's Fight Club

2010-07-27T02:55:00.000-05:00

What Soldiers Do When They're Not Being Shot At

2010-07-26T04:34:00.000-05:00

Smart Women III

2010-07-25T04:06:00.000-05:00

A Film on Friday

2010-07-24T04:57:00.001-05:00

Summer's slipping past me, and I'm trying to enjoy the last few weeks of freedom. And even though I should have been working on my JASNA paper, I decided to take yesterday off and go to Little Rock, shop a little, have a nice lunch, and see a movie at Market Street. My choice was Winter's Bone, winner of the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize:

Living in the Ozark back country, seventeen year old Ree Dolly acts as the primary caregiver to her mentally ill mother, and her two younger siblings, twelve year old Sonny and six year old Ashlee. Her father, Jessup Dolly, is generally absent from their lives, he who earns a living primarily by running a methamphetamine lab. Without money from Jessup, Ree is barely able to make ends meet, and depends on the kindness of their neighbor, Sonya, to do so. Ree learns that her father is scheduled for a court appearance for his illegal activities, and he has skipped bail, putting their house and property up as bond. No one seems to know where Jessup is. Ree has to try and find Jessup to make sure that he shows up for his court appearance, otherwise they risk losing their home. As Ree goes on her quest, she finds that people seem to know more about his whereabouts than they are letting on, including her uncle Teardrop of whom she is scared. Rumors abound that Jessup is dead, but a dead father without a body does not help her cause. But Ree's persistence in finding out what happened to Jessup makes her come face to face with the code of silence for which some are willing to kill.

Less is More

2010-07-23T04:06:00.000-05:00

I've got a new cookbook, and I'm absolutely loving it. It's called Small-Batch Baking by Debby Maugans Nakos. I like home-made breads, but my husband doesn't; and we both like baked goods, but we don't often like the same things. So a regular recipe of pumpkin muffins or chocolate walnut brownies is just too much for me. Either I feel bad about wasting them, or even worse, eat more than I want/need simply because they are there. Even when we both want chocolate chip cookies, we don't need 24 of them. Two or three apiece will do. Now that I've found this cookbook, my problems are over.

The book has recipes for breads that are baked in a 3x5 loaf pan, muffin recipes that make only 4 muffins, a chocolate chip cookie recipe that makes 6 cookies, and a brownie recipe that makes just 3 brownies. Nakos included recipes for single-serving cakes, small pies and tarts, even some holiday treats. I've tried three or four of the recipes so far, and all of them were simple and delicious.

Another great thing about being able to bake only a few decadent brownies or moist muffins is that I've found that when I appease my cravings with something that's really delicious, I'm satisfied with much less. Also, knowing I can whip up another batch whenever a craving hits defeats that "gotta eat it all now because there won't ever be any more" mentality.

What I'm Reading Now

2010-07-22T05:00:00.001-05:00

I know this one's been around for a while, but better late than never.

From Publishers Weekly

Schlosser's incisive history of the development of American fast food indicts the industry for some shocking crimes against humanity, including systematically destroying the American diet and landscape, and undermining our values and our economy. The first part of the book details the postwar ascendance of fast food from Southern California, assessing the impact on people in the West in general. The second half looks at the product itself: where it is manufactured (in a handful of enormous factories), what goes into it (chemicals, feces) and who is responsible (monopolistic corporate executives). In harrowing detail, the book explains the process of beef slaughter and confirms almost every urban myth about what in fact "lurks between those sesame seed buns." Given the estimate that the typical American eats three hamburgers and four orders of french fries each week, and one in eight will work for McDonald's in the course of their lives, few are exempt from the insidious impact of fast food. Throughout, Schlosser fires these and a dozen other hair-raising statistical bullets into the heart of the matter. While cataloguing assorted evils with the tenacity and sharp eye of the best investigative journalist, he uncovers a cynical, dismissive attitude to food safety in the fast food industry and widespread circumvention of the government's efforts at regulation enacted after Upton Sinclair's similarly scathing novel exposed the meat-packing industry 100 years ago. By systematically dismantling the industry's various aspects, Schlosser establishes a seminal argument for true wrongs at the core of modern America. (Jan.) Forecast: This book will find a healthy, young audience; it's notable that the Rolling Stone article on which this book was based generated more reader mail than any other piece the magazine ran in the 1990s.

Say What?

2010-07-21T04:23:00.000-05:00

Shelf Awareness posted these customer comments twittered by book store employees. Enjoy!

Apparently, quite a few customers just didn't pay attention in school:

"Do you have (pause, consult reading list) Hamlet? It's by (pause, consult list again) Shakespeare?"

Overheard: "Can you tell me who the author of Shakespeare is?"

"Do you have Shakespeare in English?"

"I'm looking for a book but I only know the title, not the author. It's called Dante's Inferno."

"Who wrote Jane Austen?"

Watermarkbooks had a summer-long Jane Austen bookclub. I had someone ask when she would be there.

"Where do yall keep the true fiction?"

"I definitely don't want nonfiction. I like autobiographies and history."

Then there's those memorably weird (sometimes unsettling) queries:

"Do you have books on monkeys, monkeys doing things like people?" (turns out they wanted monkeys having sex)

“This is the only bookstore I've ever been in that didn't have a popcorn machine."

"I'm here for a Bible, not the KJV or anything. I'm looking for the original. You know the one that God wrote."

"My new girlfriend is pretty churchy. Would a Gutenberg Bible be a good gift?"

"Do you have any books with red covers? I'm redecorating my living room in red."

Cust asks about return policy so I ask her why.... "Well if I don't lose weight I should be able to return the book right?"

"I'm looking for white supremacy books. I tried to order them and they were stopped at the border. Can you imagine?!"

"What do you mean? Why can't I leave my 3-5 yo (unattended) in your shop while I go next door?!?"

Customer asks where 'nonfiction' is. I say it's broken up into history/bio etc. She calls us a bad bookstore. Really?

And that saying about how "the customer is always right"? Not so much.

My favorite mistaken title: The Glass Menage a Trois.

Customer asked for THE ONION IN THE CLOSET; wanted INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD.

Woman asked for CRUCIBLE, I gave it to her, she said "not the screenplay. The REAL one."

2nd week as bkseller, lady looking for the KITE WALKER. Was pissed when I suggested that KITE RUNNER might be a quicker read.

Oooo Ooo - Tillers of the Earth. Was completely insulted when I suggested she might be looking for Pillars of the Earth.

"Do you have Atlas Rugged?". "Uh. No, don't you mean Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand?". "No. I need Atlas Rugged."

Sometimes, these experiences lead to rewarding moments of win:

"I'm looking for a book. It had a chicken on the cover & my sister really liked it." Total WIN. With no more info, we found it.

"Do you have those mystery novels by Angela Lansbury?" I said yes and showed him the books by "Jessica Fletcher." He was happy.

And perhaps my favorite:

Someone once told me that the US government classified ANGELS & DEMONS as fiction to help the Vatican with the cover-up.

My New Listen

2010-07-20T04:55:00.000-05:00

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Unabridged

By: Stieg Larsson

Narrated by Simon Vance

Random House Audio

20 hours 20 minutes

Publisher's Summary

The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's internationally best-selling trilogy.

Lisbeth Salander - the heart of Larsson's two previous novels - lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

Still on Course

2010-07-19T04:07:00.000-05:00

During the previous year, I posted a lot about simplifying. I haven't abandoned my quest for simplicity, even if I haven't been writing much about it. I have been moving forward, but only in stages.

I tried several strategies at first, and they really helped. But then work or life would interfere, and although I'd keep trying to do those things (with varying levels of success), I'd sort of hang there for a while. Then, I guess the muse would visit or the spirit would move, and I'd clean out another closet or implement some new practice on the path to simplicity. Two steps forward, one step back.

One of the main things I've been trying to do is to get rid of stuff. It's amazing how many possessions one person can accumulate, and sometimes it's hard to let go of even things I don't really like or hardly ever use. (But it was a gift! But I might use it one day! yada yada yada) But those extra things just weigh me down and stress me out. A lot.

But I've been on a roll again lately, and some advice in an article by Martha Beck titled "The Joy Dividend" has been very helpful to me. She offers this advice as a way to help you decide whether or not to purchase things. But it's also really great for helping decide which things to keep as you purge your possessions. Here's her plan, with my addition in parentheses:

1. Top Dollar Items: "I really NEED it, and I really LOVE it." (Definitely keep it)

2. Bottom Dollar Items: "I really NEED it, but I don't really LOVE it." (Keep it, but no multiples)

3. Remaining Dollar Items: "I don't really NEED it, but I really LOVE it." (Keep it)

4. No Dollar Items: "I don't really NEED it, and I don't really LOVE it." (Toss it)

Beck explains that she uses capital letters for need and love to push the definitions further than we usually take them. If I stay true to her heightened definition of the word, more and more items will end up in category 4, and I buy or keep only things that have true value for me.

I like this system. It certainly makes shopping easier, and I've found it especially helpful in streamlining my closet. It helps me get rid of everything I don't really love wearing--those gifts that don't fit well, those things that I don't really feel comfortable in but hang onto because I remember exactly how much I paid for them, those articles that hang there season after season but I never seem to get around to wearing.

I'm moving ahead. Progress, not perfection.

Smart Women II

2010-07-18T04:11:00.000-05:00

Top Ten

2010-07-17T04:21:00.001-05:00

According to Newsweek, here's Netflix's top ten movie rentals:

Movie Day Book Club

2010-07-16T04:13:00.002-05:00

This past Tuesday was the monthly meeting of the Movie Day Book Club. Last month, we read Home by Marilynne Robinson, and we both really enjoyed it. Robinson's writing is just beautiful, and she explores complicated human issues with both wisdom and respect for the intricate relationship between reality and mystery. But as much as I enjoyed Home, it didn't come near the beauty of her previous book Gilead. Now that book is on my short-list of best novels of all time.

We weren't as pleased with our movie choice this time. It was okay, I guess, but not one I'd really recommend. Here's the synopsis:

ONDINE is a lyrical modern fairy tale that tells the story of Syracuse (Colin Farrell), an Irish fisherman whose life is transformed when he catches a beautiful and mysterious woman (Alicja Bachleda) in his nets. She says her name is Ondine, which means "she came from the sea". His daughter Annie (Alison Barry) comes to believe that the woman is a selkie, a magical seal/woman creature, while Syracuse falls helplessly in love. In the Celtic myth, a selkie is able to become human by taking off her seal coat, and can return to seal form by putting it back on. However, like all fairy tales, enchantment and darkness go hand in hand. Annie hopes that Ondine has come to live on land for 7 years and that she can use her selkie wish to cure Annie's kidney failure. Whenever Ondine is onboard Syracuse's fishing boat, she sings a siren song, and his nets and lobster pots are full of fish and seafood in tremendous numbers hard to believe. However, being Irish, Syracuse (or "Circus" the nickname he is trying to outlive, one he has earned for his previous hard drinking ways) is mistrustful of good luck, with it comes bad. Is Ondine really a selkie, will she stay, can love be trusted? What is Ondine's real secret? And who is the menacing man lurking around town spying on her? Is he her selkie husband come to claim her back to the sea?

Sounds like a beautiful story, right? And it is, in a way. The scenery is breathtaking, and the story, at least in the first half-or-so, is magical. But Farrell's Irish accent is almost impossible to understand, which makes it very difficult to follow the story, and the film has an abrupt change in tone. The end just doesn't seem to go with the beginning.