Happy Mother’s Day!
May 7, 2011
Happy Mother’s Day!
A special greeting to my Mummy who has always encouraged me in my reading and writing. She introduced me to the joys of a good read, a cosy bookshop and a well-stocked magazine store from an early age and we have always maintained our bond over literary love. She is an avid and adventurous reader with a particular fondness for non-fiction, occasionally emerging from the New Age aisles even. She challenges my learning and still she is always game to make room for reading my latest “you simply have to read this” novel … In the words of Anne of Green Gables she’s a kindred spirit and I’m oh so lucky she’s mine.
And to all you Moms who share a love of reading with your children, whether you’re snuggling up in “the big bed” together reading Harry Potter (and struggling to keep your eyes open) or you’re delighting in sharing your favourite “grown-up” books for the first time with your teen or you’re exchanging best sellers and book club reads with your child who’s flown the nest … have a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Channeling Half Pint
May 1, 2011
Does this book’s cover spark a pang of nostalgia? Did you also spend your early reading years immersed in the adventurous world of Half-Pint? My Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” books were the 1971 edition illustrated by Garth Williams and were gifted to me as a boxed set. (Thank you Santa!) I’m typing this with dusty mitts as I was just flipping through the pages of my still treasured collection. Had Santa elected to purchase just a single copy of one of the books it would have set him back $1.50 (or $1.75 in Canada). What has brought Laura out of the cupboard you may wonder … Well there’s a newly released book that takes a fondness for the Ingalls clan to a whole new level …
Wendy McClure, a children’s books editor, also adored the Little House series when a child and returned to them as an adult. The re-reading of the books inspired McClure to launch an exploration of the world of Laura. Her memoir The Wilder Life is described by Indie Bound:
“For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the world of a favorite book, here is a pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession.
Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder-a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she’s never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She retraces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family- looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House, and explores the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura’s hometowns. Whether she’s churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of “the Laura experience.” Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder’s life and work have shaped our ideas about girlhood and the American West.
The Wilder Life is a loving, irreverent, spirited tribute to a series of books that have inspired generations of American women. It is also an incredibly funny first-person account of obsessive reading, and a story about what happens when we reconnect with our childhood touchstones-and find that our old love has only deepened.”
Wendy McClure has written several memoirs and manages humour adeptly. Though my initial thought was uh-oh – a Laura groupie on the loose (You will learn about those in the book too!) I have been impressed by the number of positive reviews. Perhaps I’ll add this to my summer reading list. You?
Great Food Series by Penguin and Coralie Bickford-Smith
April 26, 2011
We chatted last week about scrumptious book covers by Penguin (In Stitches) and today there are more to share with you. This Great Food series looks beautiful and contains culinary delights within from all eras. The good news this time is that they’re available as of April 2011. I haven’t seen them in person yet but I imagine they will appear prolifically in time for Mother’s day.
Pen Vogler of Penguin Books shares her personal tale of how the Great Food series came to be: “The twenty books in our forthcoming series GREAT FOOD are the love-children of an affair with old cookery books that began in the British Library last year. … It was a shout-it-from-the-rooftops kind of love (which doesn’t go down well in the British Library) so, instead of disturbing my fellow readers, when I came back to Penguin after my sabbatical, I suggested to the Penguin Press MD that we publish them in the Great Ideas format, for everybody else to love too. … Some of the books are tasters from the best-known of our cooks and food writers. … Some of these books aim to reintroduce the forgotten cooks of the past. … And some of the books in GREAT FOOD are, simply, wonderful food writing.”
Read about each title on Pen’s website and follow her daring pursuit of the recipes as well – she’s working her way through the entire series.
The collection features the beautiful art work of Coralie Bickford-Smith who also did the cover work for a Great Gatsby series (lovely Art Deco theme) and the cloth covered Classics series. Take a look at these on Coralie’s web site.
Enjoy a few close-ups here of some of the Great Food covers and titles:
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks – a new release!
April 20, 2011
Geraldine Brooks ranks among my most favourite writers so I’m particularly excited to learn that her latest story, Caleb’s Crossing, is about to be released on May 3rd, 2011. On with the track shoes and get ready to sprint out and snag a copy. As with the other Brooks books (say that three times fast) a great deal of research and creativity appears to have gone into the story.
Inspired by a moment or character in history or a quirky piece of trivia, Geraldine Brooks then puts to good use her acclaimed journalism skills and exceptional imagination to create stunning tales. The Year of Wonders, probably my most favourite of her books though I’ve enjoyed them all, imagines life in a quarantined village during the Great Plague. Sounds dire but it’s an absolutely fascinating study of human nature as well as a time in history. Do read it if you can – a great book club discussion book too. (Thanks to my pal Al for the original recommendation!) I wrote about another of her books, March, in an earlier posting you can refresh your memory with here. People of the Book , about the journey of a rare and mysterious manuscript through generations, also comes highly recommended.
Here is the trailer for Caleb’s Crossing which I am sure will convince you it is a must-read.
In Stitches
April 18, 2011
It may be a bit unfair to introduce something so wonderful yet isn’t available until October (2011) but these Penguin Threads editions by artist Jillian Tamaki are so spring-like and pretty that a sunny day like today seemed a good time to share. Mention of Penguin books may well bring to your mind those Creamsicle orange covers of the classics, dog-eared and tea stained from your high school or university Literature classes but things have changed; Penguin is now responsible for some of the most creative and beautiful books available on the shelf. This particular series within the Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions features not only three long adored stories but also the impressive artistic talent of Jillian Tamaki. Each cover in the series is embossed to highlight the texture of the artist’s original needlework. Be sure to visit Jillian’s website here where you can learn more about her and see her at work on the stitching with her colourful threads.
Each book is paperbound with French Flaps – those nice crisp paperback editions which include tucked in flaps with information about the story, the author and often reviews just like we enjoy with a hardcover edition. Individually, or as a special grouping, they will bring a little pizazz to your bookshelf or your gift giving. Move over boring old-fashioned textbook Penguins, there are some new threads in town.
The Best Laid Plans – plan to read it!
April 10, 2011
I recently read this tremendous book and must recommend it to you … and then you must recommend it to all your friends. Honest to goodness, I laughed out loud and teared up too and then on a high from the crescendo of the story closed the book and felt wistful – sorry I couldn’t join the characters for a chat in the local coffee shop. They were all such, well … characters! I have been on a great run of good books lately: Room, The Postmistress, Left Neglected and while each of those was moving in its own way and certainly enjoyable, this little book-that-could was the one that has inspired me most to share it with others.
The story behind the existence of the book is entertainment enough. Terry Fallis wanted to have the book he had written read by readers, and what writer wouldn’t? But he found it challenging to garner a publisher and finally resorted to creating a series of podcasts of his book just like the podcasts he enjoyed listening to himself. Sure enough, a following of listeners/readers began to tune in. And cheer! Then Terry decided to self-publish a few copies. Enough copies were printed that the book could be considered for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour (2008) and lo and behold it won the award. A great deal more copies were in demand as a result. As positive an experience as that was, The Best Laid Plans was selected as a candidate for CBC Radio’s Canada Reads 2011 … and was that competition’s victor too. This success doesn’t surprise me one iota. It is rare to find a novel that strikes the funny bone and the heart with equal force. This was funny, heartwarming, intelligent and oh so Canadian.
The tale begins by following Daniel Addison as he attempts to extricate himself from a political career in Ottawa. Before he can move on he must recruit an electoral candidate for a write-off, never won riding on behalf of his federal political Party. He locates an extremely reluctant candidate – one gruff, unfailingly honourable Scot, Angus McLintock – who puts his name forward only so long as he’s guaranteed to never actually win the post. This duo reminds me of some of the oldtime caper movie partnerships – Redford and Newman or maybe more Abbott and Costello. The take on politics is satirical yet refreshing – a timely read during our current federal and provincial election campaigns. Dear Angus is recently widowed and poignantly reports his personal review of his antics and adventures to his late wife at the end of each chapter. More lovely characters join the cast and are just as enjoyable and fun. I don’t want to give any of the hilarity away but be prepared for a good guffaw.
And now for the reee-allly good news … there’s a sequel! No need to feel gloomy at the last page after all. The second installment for the cast is called The High Road and is already nominated for its very own Leacock medal. I’m off to locate a copy, pronto. Chime in with your thoughts if you’ve read the book (or books) as well.
Pages for Prisoners – Avi Steinberg, Prison Librarian
March 30, 2011
I happened to tune in to a radio interview a while ago that captured my attention in mere moments. The interviewee, Avi Steinberg, was speaking of his experience as a prison librarian and his subsequent memoir, Running the Books – The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian. In the few minutes I heard him speak I knew this book was one I’d be adding to the Must Read list.
Following his graduation from Harvard, and seeking to better his position as an obituary writer, Steinberg applied for a role of Prison Librarian and Creative Writing Instructor at a Boston area penitentiary. As a rookie on the job he was coached by a longer serving prison employee: “Don’t smile. This isn’t the Gap.” Over his two and a half years in the job, he found his own way among the colourful characters and the workings of their relationships within the inmate community. Funny happens along side poignant.
The San Francisco Chronicle offers this description: “Hilarious enough to make you want to read its lines to anyone who happens to be around, and profound enough to have you care deeply about many of the men and women whose crimes have brought them to Boston’s Suffolk County House of Correction. . . . There’s plenty of humor here, for sure, but Steinberg, in tender, understated prose, also brings out the inmates’ irrepressible humanity.”
To hear an interview with Avi Steinberg and read an excerpt from Running the Books click here.
Jane Eyre
March 22, 2011
Saw a sneak preview of Jane Eyre, the movie, this past weekend and while I will always treasure the book as one of my all time favourite classics, I must say I did enjoy the film. The theatre was packed on a sunny Spring morning and listening in to the conversations outside after it seems the reviews were unanimously positive. All the actors were impressive and of course Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax was perfection. The bold and witty repartee for which Jane is admired by her readers is duly captured in some great scenes. You will be caught up by the cinematography – I overheard a gentleman in the lobby post-movie exclaiming “I feel like I’ve been blown about the heath myself!” I am pretty sure he thought that was a good thing. The countryside really is beautiful and plays a significant role.
Opening here in Canada on Friday, March 25th. Hope you enjoy it too!
Movie tie-in Book Covers
March 16, 2011
It seems all the good books are destined to become movies someday. I still prefer to read the book first and often don’t see the movie version for fear it will ruin a good thing. Isn’t half the fun of reading “seeing” the character in your own mind through the writer’s vivid description? My casting and that of the movie people’s doesn’t always jive. When it comes to book covers I’m just as stubborn – I rarely go for the movie-tie-in cover and would rather hunt high and low to find the original version. I’ve enjoyed conversations recently with some who share my anti-movie cover bent and others who embrace the “Now a Major Motion Picture!” version. Which do you prefer?
(Note: The One Day movie poster(above) has just been released and is much complimented. I imagine due to its popularity the movie-tie-in cover will be similar when it is revealed. We’ll have to wait and see!)
Blackout Poet – Austin Kleon
March 9, 2011
I’ve been collecting ideas here and there for an overdue acknowledgement of poetry in our reading . . . plenty of poetry we can chat about one day soon. I discovered this more unorthodox approach to the poem today and just had to share. I love it when someone plays outside the lines!
Austin Kleon was a writing student suffering from writer’s block when he was inspired to take a black marker and stroke out words in an old newspaper. The words he chose to leave visible became his poetry. The hundreds of poems he created while commuting to work on the bus have been collected in the volume, Newspaper Blackout.
I have a few favourites (many available to read or even buy as posters on Austin’s website) but this one is particularly sweet. Especially when you read its source below.
How it works: I will give you whatever you want for all the cartwheels you're doing for me.
Kleon’s personal comment about his poem: “How It Works” is part of my ongoing series of Newspaper Blackout Poems: poetry made by taking an article from The New York Times and blacking it out with a Sharpie marker, leaving only a few choice words behind. It’s rare that I find poetry in the business section, but this one came from an article about hedge fund investing. Like many of my poems, it’s about my wife.
Do visit the website and feel inspired. You never know – a rainy weekend ahead might involve a Sharpie and the recycled weekend papers!
Here is a PBS interview with Austin Kleon if you’d like to see him in action.
