Booking It--Useful

What’s the most useful book you’ve ever read? And, why?

Man, I don't know. Too broad a question for me today.

Sorry, folks.

Booking It--Half

So … you’re halfway through a book and you’re hating it. It’s boring. It’s trite. It’s badly written. But … you’ve invested all this time to reading the first half.

What do you do? Read the second half? Just to finish out the story? Find out what happens?

Or, cut your losses and dump the second half?

If the story's bad, the writing's bad, and there's no compelling reason to keep going, I'll put it down. Life's too short.

However, I don't always bail out on a book. If it's exceptionally well-written but the story's just not hooking me yet, I may stay with it. If it has come highly recommended but I'm just not getting it yet, I will probably stay with it. This happened to me recently while reading Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed. It was very well-written, and there was a lot I liked about it, especially the literary allusions and the ties to current events. But I didn't really like the main character, and the story was depressing me. But I kept going. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but the story had a satisfying arc, and the author didn't take the easy way out. After finishing it, I was glad I'd hung in there.

Booking It--Earth Day

Last Thursday was Earth Day … what are you reading? Are your reading habits changing for the sake of the environment?

Well, I can't say that my reading habits have changed because of Earth Day, and I don't know that I've read anything lately that's applicable to Earth Day, so I guess I don't have much to say today. Sorry, guys. But I do use a reusable water bottle instead of buying all of those plastic ones. Doesn't that count for something?

Face-off

Isn't this an interesting picture? As soon as I saw it, I knew I'd have to post it here. In my Honors Human Situations class this semester, one of the things we've been talking about is the question/problem of the Self and how it's expressed through art. I wish I'd found this picture before I introduced that unit.

Booking It--Grammar

In honor of National Grammar Day … it was “March Fourth” after all … do you have any grammar books? Punctuation? Writing guidelines? Style books?

More importantly, have you read them?

How do you feel about grammar in general? Important? Vital? Unnecessary? Fussy?

Well, in my office I have several grammar handbooks, and I have one at home. The Little, Brown Handbook is my favorite, probably because it was my undergrad grammar textbook/handbook. Of course I have Strunk and White's Elements of Style--who doesn't? Other than that, I have Eats, Shoot, and Leaves, but I must confess that I haven't read it. Grammar, to me, is important and necessary--vital, even. However, it doesn't rate as entertainment. I'd rather spend my time reading correctly punctuated, grammatically correct, well-written literature than reading about grammar. But, hey, if that's your thing, don't let my negativity hinder you!

Furthermore, I don't enjoy reading "how-to" books about writing, either. They are so technical, and they seem to rob the craft of its mystique and authors of their personality. However, I do love it when good writers write about how they write (writing that sentence made me smile)--especially when they get away from the technicalities of writing to the realities of being a writer. What really intrigues me is how the ways they choose to live and experience life impacts their writing and their analysis of this connection. I really enjoyed Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings, and Anne Lamott is a favorite. I've got Stephen King's On Writing, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I've read plenty more "writing memoirs," but I can't recall them right now. Mostly, what these books do for me is remind me that each life has moments worthy of preserving through the written word, if one is only observant enough, thoughtful enough, and willing to do the hard work of expressing life and meaning through the written word.

What I'm Reading Now

From the Back Cover

There have been times when you've felt that if there isn't a God, there ought to be. Swept up in the mystery of the night sky, you've felt the closeness of its designer. Nature's extravagant diversity, unfolding in living color, has made you long to know the artist who dreamed it all up. Imagine what that might be like---to actually know God in a way that fills your heart and whispers tremendous value and purpose to something deep within you. But how can you experience a being you're not even sure exists? Religious jargon and games can't satisfy such a longing. It's got to be real ... or nothing at all. A Search for What Is Real helps you sort through the questions, objections, and concerns that arise when you consider God not as some theological abstraction, but as someone you can actually connect with ... and want to connect with, perhaps more than you know. FINDING FAITH The Finding Faith books A Search for What Makes Sense and A Search for What Is Real don't try to tell you what to believe; they are guides in learning how to believe. If you think the spiritual journey requires turning your back on honesty and intellectual integrity, these two companion volumes will speak to both your mind and your soul.

What I Just Finished

From the Back Cover
Does having faith mean abandoning reason? It's easy to get that impression. Still, it seems reasonable that a supremely intelligent God would want you to use your God-given intellect on your spiritual journey as much as in any other aspect of your life. Faith may not stand on rational thinking alone, but a solid faith should walk hand in hand with intellectual integrity. Does it really matter what I believe? What is the relationship between faith and knowledge? Why are there so many religions? Do all paths lead to the same God? This book helps you sort through the questions, objections, and concerns you can't help but raise. A Search for What Makes Sense will help you think your way clearly and honestly to answers that satisfy because they're your answers---conclusions you've arrived at personally without manipulation, coercion, or game-playing. For faith to exist and grow it's got to make sense---good sense, carefully-thought-out sense. And chances are it does. FINDING FAITH The Finding Faith books A Search for What Makes Sense and A Search for What Is Real don't try to tell you what to believe; they are guides in learning how to believe. If you think the spiritual journey requires turning your back on honesty and intellectual integrity, these two companion volumes will speak to both your mind and your soul.

Booking It--Mark the Spot

What items have you ever used as a bookmark? What is the most unusual item you’ve ever used or seen used?

I've got some really wonderful bookmarks--leather souvenir ones from the homes of Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens and one from the Jane Austen center in Bath. A former professor and now friend of mine gave me a leather one from Stonehenge and a woven one from Greece. I love these but hate to use them because I'm afraid I'll misplace them. Another friend gave me an elasticized beaded one that's beautiful, and I do use it. But, since I keep more than one book going at a time, the beaded one is not enough, and what usually happens is that I grab one of those card-like magazine inserts (there seem to be about 50 inside every magazine that I read) and make a temporary bookmark out of it. I've used bills, and index cards, and even photographs, but I don't make a practice out of that.

The funniest bookmark experience I guess I've had happened earlier this year. As part of my devotional reading, I'd been reading a Jewish prayer book, one prayer a day. The prayers are very beautiful. Anyway, as you can imagine, I have an odd assortment of cheap paper bookmarks that I've picked up in different places, and I'd grabbed one without looking at it and stuck it in the book. The next morning, when I reached for the book, titled Prayers for Shabbat and Weekdays, I noticed that the bookmark read "Jesus Loves Me."

Booking It--Weeding

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all?

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

My book collection definitely blossoms out of control. I become inordinately attached to books, and I rarely "weed." Sometimes, it's even hard for me to get rid of textbooks that companies send me to preview that I know I'm never going to use. I got rid of some books when we moved to Searcy over seven years ago, and I still miss some of those books.

It's weird. The books I got rid of were not favorites--never novels. In fact, they were books bought for a specific purpose--like when I homeschooled the kids for two years, or for a hobby I'm no longer interested in--but part of me wishes I still had them, almost like a record of who I was at specific times in my life. I do weed when I end up with two copies of a book (unless each copy has a different introduction or appendices, or both were gifts that are inscribed by the giver). But even then, I don't just "get rid" of the book. I choose a person to give it to whom I think needs or will enjoy the book.

I'm so bad, I even wish I still had all my Little Golden Books. That's pitiful, isn't it?

Booking It--Recent Enjoyable

What’s the most enjoyable, most fun, most just-darn-entertaining book you’ve read recently? (Mind you, this doesn’t necessarily mean funny, since we covered that already. Just … GOOD.)

The best book I've read recently is probably Gilead, but I've already written about that novel. I think the most enjoyable novel I've read in a long time is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

“Traditional without seeming stale, and romantic without being naïve” (San Francisco Chronicle), this epistolary novel, based on Mary Ann Shaffer’s painstaking, lifelong research, is a homage to booklovers and a nostalgic portrayal of an era. As her quirky, loveable characters cite the works of Shakespeare, Austen, and the Brontës, Shaffer subtly weaves those writers’ themes into her own narrative. However, it is the tragic stories of life under Nazi occupation that animate the novel and give it its urgency; furthermore, the novel explores the darker side of human nature without becoming maudlin. The Rocky Mountain News criticized the novel’s lighthearted tone and characterizations, but most critics agreed that, with its humor and optimism, Guernsey “affirms the power of books to nourish people during hard times” (Washington Post).

Booking It--Worst Recent

What's the worst book you've read recently? This should be a lot easier than the worst book ever, because you don't have to think back too far.

I hate to say it, and its certainly not the worst book ever for me, but the worst book I've read recently is The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.

I know, I know, it's a classic, but it just never "hooked" me. I simply didn't care about any of the characters, and I had no curiosity about what was going to happen next. I had to force myself to finish the book.

I don't know, maybe it's that I'm still really tired from the last three intense years and have been looking only for entertainment and escapism from my reading lately.

Maybe I should wait a while and give it another try.

Booking It--Preferences

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–we’ll do more detail at some later date)

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Serious (but not always)

Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Hardcovers

Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Fiction

Poetry? Or Prose? Prose (unfair question, though. I like both.)

Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Autobiographies

History? Or Historical Fiction? Historical Fiction

Series? Or Stand-alones? Series

Classics? Or best-sellers? Classics (but I love the occasional best-seller)

Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Straight-forward, I guess. "Lurid" prose???

Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Give me plots! Please!!

Long books? Or Short? Long

Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Non-illustrated means more to read

Borrowed? Or Owned? Owned

New? Or Used? New

Booking It--Following Up

Follow-up to last week’s question:

Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

Well, for me, it's some of both. You saw my nightstand last week--those are all unread books. And I have stacks of unread books in other places, too. But I do have a few unread books scattered among the already-read ones on my bookshelves, especially in my office. Those are pretty much the "I'm gonna read 'em someday, but I'm not sure when . . ." books. Those on the nightstand are the "I'm definitely reading this as soon as I have time . . ." ones.

The Big Question

I've already told you that I'm a Type A personality, so you're not surprised that I'm wondering about what's next, right? Life's an adventure that I intend to experience fully.

And I'll definitely need a new topic to blog about.

Booking It--Gluttony

Book Gluttony! Are your eyes bigger than your book belly? Do you have a habit of buying up books far quicker than you could possibly read them? Have you had to curb your book buying habits until you can catch up with yourself? Or are you a controlled buyer, only purchasing books when you have run out of things to read?

Well, of course I’m a book glutton. I’ve got so many unread books on my nightstand that I could go on a book-buying fast for quite a while and still survive. (Just so you get the picture, my nightstand is actually one of those ladder bookshelves, so besides a lamp and an alarm clock, it can hold a lot of books.) But just because I could refrain from buying books, doesn’t mean I will. You see, I never really know what I’ll want to read next, when it comes to my pleasure reading. My mood can change rather quickly. And I do eventually get around to reading all the books I buy; they just don’t always get read in the order I purchased them. There’s something really comforting about being able to just walk into my bedroom, go through the stacks, and pick up just the book I am ready to read. There are enough areas of my life in which I have to be self-controlled. I refuse to regulate my pleasure reading.

Booking It--Graphic Novels

- Do you read graphic novels/comics? Why do/don’t you enjoy them?

- How would you describe the difference between “graphic novel” and “comic”? Is there a difference at all?

- Say you have a friend who’s never encountered graphic novels. Recommend some titles you consider "landmark/canonical.”

No, I don’t read graphic novels. And I don’t have some elitist reason for not reading them. It’s just that there are too many traditional novels I haven’t gotten around to reading yet, and they’re my first choice.

If anybody more knowledgeable on this subject would like to weigh in and give suggestions, feel free.

Booking It--Which is Worse?

Which is worse?

Finding a book you love and then hating everything else you try by that author, or reading a completely disappointing book by an author that you love?

I think it’s the latter. Once I find authors I love, I anticipate their next book. I feel like it’s a promise. I can’t wait for it to be released (or for me to find and purchase it, if it’s an author who’s been writing a while but I’ve just discovered them). I have such high expectations. I can’t wait to leave my world behind and enter the one they’ve created, knowing I’ll be completely lost in it for a while. But then, if it’s disappointing, the let-down is so much greater than it is when I just pick up a book I know nothing about and discover it’s not worth reading.

I have had authors I love disappoint me in the middle of a series, only to redeem themselves later, but a little of the trust is gone. With every new release I wonder, will it be worth it?

Of course, all of this is unfair. Who can be at the top of their game all the time? And who’s to say it’s not my taste that’s off rather than the author’s skill?

Booking It--Refund Reading

April is Tax Month. If you were to get a refund of, say, $500, and had to spend it all on book-related items, what would you buy?

Well, if someone forced me . . . I don't know. My first thought was a Kindle, but I'm just not sure I'd use it. I like to hold books in my hand, flip back to re-read, underline passages, and write in the margins. But I might like one for reading periodicals. Maybe.

But then, $500 would buy a lot of books . . .

Or a lot of skinny lattes in the library or the bookstore. Skinny lattes do count as a book-related item, don't they?

Booking It--The Best Worst

A few weeks ago, we asked you to name the best book you’ve never read. This
week’s kind of the opposite. What’s the best “worst” book you’ve ever read?

The book that first comes to mind for me is Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. It has no real literary merit, it plays fast and loose with history and religion, yet I couldn’t put it down. His Angels and Demons was the same way for me. In fact, I liked it better than The Da Vinci Code.

Sometimes, I just don’t want to have to think too hard.

And you?

Booking It--Too Much Info

Have you ever been put off an author’s books after reading a biography of them? Or the reverse - a biography has made you love an author more?

Interesting question! I don’t think I’ve ever disliked anyone’s work simply because I’ve learned more about them, but the opposite is often true for me. I’ve had my appreciation of beloved novels enhanced by a better knowledge of the author. I’ve liked works and then enjoyed them even more after reading about the author. Occasionally, I’ve even really disliked a work, then after getting to know more about the author’s life, done an about-face and come to appreciate the novel tremendously.

It’s not that I’m engaging in or advocating biographical criticism, but I do think that it helps to know where and when an author lived, the struggles she came up against, the political or social or familial events that were shaping her life experience, or maybe even what the author stated she was trying to do with her work.

What do you think?