Category Archives: Reading

A Reading Week in Review

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With my book group’s next meeting looming on Sunday, I finally picked up Switching to Goddess by Jeri Studebaker.  I found myself alternating between being irritated by her somewhat flippant, often silly-sounding tone and being impressed by the way she was really saying that the Emperor (that is contemporary religions) really don’t have any clothes.  I really got tired of the references to “snooty snobby bully boys” to refer to the gods of contemporary religions.  But her tone allowed her to attack prevailing ideas without sounding too shrill and much of what she had to say about the negative influences of religions rang true to me.  She was making a well-reasoned and researched argument which I think suffered in its message because of her tone.  And, while I agree that we need to move away from the more war-like focus on religions and I really agree with much of what she has to say about living in small, sustainable communities, but I’m not sure her notions of getting these religions to “switch” to the Goddess is realistic in light of research into adopting innovations.  I think she would probably argue that this isn’t an innovation since we are actually re-adopting something that we carry with us from our ancestors.

Would I recommend the book?  Sure…her introduction to the history of Goddess worship and her overview of various peaceful communities was as lively as any I’ve read.  Much of the other well-known books about the Goddess are older, written during more angry feminist era.  Studebaker is firmly placed in the 21st century and her comments about global warming and climate change touch the contemporary world in a way that other books I’ve read have not.  For Studebaker, there is a feminist element but her larger concerns are with the world.  She also directly addresses the recent flurry of books calling for the end of religion in general (ie, Sam Harris and Richards Dawkins), suggesting that it would be easier to get people to switch religions rather than abandon it altogether.

And now for something completely different…my sister recommended Jonathan Stroud’s The Amulet of Samarkand, the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy.  I listened to it and absolutely loved it!  Simon Jones, the narrator, was properly snarky as Bartimaeus the djinni and alternately scared, proud, and confident as Nathaniel.  It’s officially a kids’ book but I think younger readers would miss the ironic voice and sly political commentary of the setting in a world where all the major leaders are powerful magicians.  I’m eager to get started on Book 2, The Golem’s Eye.

Now, it’s back to The Hemingses of Monticello.  I’m enjoying the book but had to take a break so I could be prepared for book group…

No Place Is Safe

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I learned two things yesterday:
1. My husband doesn’t read this blog.
2. Even the linen closet isn’t safe.

I learned these at the same time when, sparring a bit over books, he told me he had discovered the books in the linen closet. I replied that I had wondered if he read my blog. He looked a little confused. No, he said, I needed toilet paper.

So, I had to explain that I had overflowed all the available spaces and had moved on to the linen closet in the hopes that he would not look there and that I was sorry I was hogging the toilet paper.

But the up side is that we are in the midst of planning a new home and I’m going to get a library complete with a wall of books to which I can attach a rolling ladder like this one. It’s like the one in Becoming Jane that I just saw in Pennsylvania. If I didn’t already have books to read, I’d add rereading Austen to the list.

I finished Dee Brown’s The Fetterman Massacre in a day or so. Amazing detail of the months leading up to the event itself and lots of heavy foreshadowing about who would die. It is really a snapshot of life on the edge of civilization and I just can’t believe that women and children went along! I’m not sure I would be willing in endure that hardship for sort of murky reasons. They had a much greater faith in themselves and their country than we do now. It was a dangerous faith that led to the destruction of the Native Americans whose own faith in their culture also contributed to the downfall. Two conflicting world views clashed in those lonely places. In a way, it reminded me of Hadrian’s Wall, by William Deitrich, which described a similar moment in a far distant continent.

And now, it is back to The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon. Jefferson is in Paris and sending for his youngest daughter who will arrive with Sally Hemings. When I taught middle school, we read a book about a supposed child of the two named Harriet. It was called Wolf By the Ears by Ann Rinaldi. It filled in, at least fictionally, some of the things that Gordon can’t tell us: what it was like to be owned by a blood relative and how it felt to have to decide between the two races.

What Pledge?

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Some women sneak clothes into the house. I sneak books. Remember that pledge I made just three weeks ago not to buy any more books? Well, that was the day before Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol got automatically delivered to my Kindle. But maybe the Kindle doesn’t count as the book doesn’t take up any space. And space really is the problem.

Unfortunately, not everything I want to read or think I want to read is available on the Kindle. Plus, I harbor a real love for books themselves and the bookstores where they live. I love browsing bookstores, particularly ones with overflowing shelves and hand written reviews. The bricks and mortar experience is just different from buying online, which for me is a much more directive process. I go to Amazon to buy a particular book that I want to read. Thus, the pre-order for The Lost Symbol. And, I appreciate Amazon’s suggestions based on my buying habits.

But, in book stores, I encounter books that aren’t part of an algorithm. Books I didn’t think about looking for because I didn’t know they existed or, if I did, hadn’t thought about reading. Books that Amazon would have never suggested because they don’t make any kind of digital sense. Books in book stores are in their native environment, pushing up against each other, organized in a haphazard analog way that can never be as neat and tidy as an online database and thus opens immense possibilities.

I knew I would probably have to avoid bookstores if I was going to keep my pledge. And, I have plenty of books to read before the end of the year anyway and the beginning of the pile in the bedroom so I figured I was going to be OK. I am reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which I purchased before the pledge. I have a book to read for book group at the end of the month called Switching to Goddess by Jeri Lyn Studebaker that I had also purchased before the pledge. (Did I mention it was a feminist book group?) I also sort of accidentally bought Olive Kitteredge as I showed off my Kindle to someone. (“That’s what you get for showing off,” I can hear my mother say.) And, a friend recommended The Hemingses of Monticello, which I also bought on Kindle. So, plenty of books already in my possession and no book stores on the horizon.

All seemed well. Until last Friday afternoon. I spent this past weekend at my parents’ retirement community. They were having their fall festival and I was going up to help out with several events. Here’s what I didn’t know: as part of the fall festival, they have a huge used book sale. Boxes and boxes of used hard backs and paper backs that were only vaguely organized. A book browser’s dream. I must admit that I only thought about my pledge for about 30 seconds. OK, maybe not even that. All of a sudden, there was a book in my hand: National Geographic’s The Age of Chivalry. I don’t remember the second one or the third. And, while I believe there was an individual price for the books, I opted for the bag of books for five dollars scheme. I even had my own bag…at least for the first go round. It seems that the book sale opens the day before the actual festival, on Friday afternoon. So, I got an early look and pulled in some treasures including another National Geographic on the Renaissance. It made sense to have the set, right? I managed to get about eight books in my bag, I think.

On Saturday, I was determined to avoid the book sale, but it turns out that breakfast was served directly behind the sale and I had to walk past the long tables with their inviting cardboard boxes to get my croissant and coffee (which to my horror was decaf…that’s all they serve in retirement communities, it seems). My shift didn’t start until 9 AM so I found myself with an hour to kill and my undercaffeinated senses made me more vulnerable than usual, I think…well, I think you know the rest. Another 8 or 9 books found their way into a bag. I vowed that I was done buying books. But, then my sister arrived. We hit up the used clothes and then, just to be sociable, I accompanied her to the book sale. And, of course, I didn’t want her to feel bad about buying books so I bought a few more. Anything for my sister.

All in all I bought 30 books in those three trips! Mostly hard backs and ranging from And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts’ early history of AIDS to Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel, which I don’t think I’ve ever read. There are two PD James mysteries from two different series. Two last minute purchases included a paperback collection of Winston Churchill’s history of World War II and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy.

Here’s the problem. I simply don’t have any more shelf space. The 50 books for next year are stacked precariously in the bed room. The other shelves that line several walls in two rooms already have two layers of books. What to do? Aaah…a place my husband never ventures: the linen closet in my bathroom. I live in a tiny house that, miraculously, has two full baths, which means I get a closet all to myself. Some quick rearranging of sheets and towels, and most of the books disappeared without a trace. I put Churchill and Pullman on the shelf on the back of the bed since most of the books that had been there are on project pile. It occurred to me that I was well on my way into 2011 with these new additions. And, as I drove along the turnpike on my way home, I passed several bulletin boards warning about 2012. The pressure is on: which books do I want to read before the world ends? Reading time suddenly takes on a very serious edge, doesn’t it?

The Reading Project

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It’s probably because I’ve been reading Julie & Julia, but I’m struck with the idea of turning something I’m going to do anyway into a project.  What am I going to do anyway?  Read.  What would the project be?  Simply to do what I’ve always tried to do…read 50 books in a year.  In this case, I have the 50 books in four piles in my bedroom.  They are the books I have collected over the past five years as I worked on my dissertation.  Don’t get me wrong: I never stopped reading non-academic materials.  According to LibraryThing, I read 55 books in 2008 and 46 books in 2007.  Some of them were school-related but many were personal interest.  So, 50 books just represent a year of reading for me.

In the past, as I worked on my 50 books, I didn’t have a set reading list but simply moved from one book to the next.  Sometimes, I read books in a series (such as Sharon Kay Penman’s historical fiction set in the 13th century) but I’m definitely a grazer.  These 50 books never came under my nose I guess.  Some are very new…just purchased at the Book Exchange last week with points from my summer trade ins.  Others have been laying around for a while, as long as two or three years, and come from a variety of places.  There are four or five Wendell Berry books, both fiction and nonfiction, that came from a great book store in Lexington, Virginia, along with Drew Gilpin’s This Republic of Suffering.  There are lots of books from another great book store in Roanoke, Virginia.  And a few from Baldwin Books in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

I’ll get the whole stack in LibraryThing and tag them “unread.”  I’m going to use the rest of 2009 to finish up some loose ends and then begin on the pile on January 1, 2010.  I think I’m going to start with David McCullough’s biography of John Adams.  I’ll be on winter break from William and Mary and can curl up be the wood stove and relive the birth of America.

I’m also making a pledge not to buy any more books until I’ve read all 50 of these books.  Hmm…not sure I can do it.  Books for book group could be an exception. Why this worry over books?  My house is stuff with them, and I’m just trying to reduce stuff in general.  I’m definitely a bibliophile and my book shelves provide insight into the story of my life.  But I can’t just keep collecting.  I need to start reading.

And that’s why this needs to be a project.  Because of the fear I have that I will somehow lose track of my love of reading.  Several people have told me that they didn’t read anything for a year after they finished their doctorates.  And I do find myself often putting reading aside to engage in other activities.  I don’t want to NOT read but I find myself stymied by the books on the shelves so it may take several days for me to choose a new book.  And despite paying for Kindle subscriptions to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and several magazines, I rarely read any of them.  I’m hoping a project will help.  I’m also hoping that limiting my choices to just 50 books will make it easier to choose and read books.

What about the newspapers and magazines?  I never got into the habit of reading the newspaper every day.  I have a print subscription to US News and World Report and do glance through that, but I certainly don’t read it from beginning to end.  Then there’s the weekly education newspaper and several research journals.  The words are piling up around me and I’m feeling the pressure.  How do people find time to read a newspaper every day?  Actually, as part of my first job as a press office secretary at an art museum, I read three or four papers every day looking for articles related to art.  I did a lot of skimming.

I’m not sure where newspapers and magazines fit into my day?  Lunch time?  Take a work break and at least do some skimming?  I’m discovering that the hardest part of working from home is adopting some kind of schedule.  People with real jobs have a built in schedule but I’m a free agent.  I have projects to finish but no one cares if I work on them at 2 PM or 2 AM.  Just so I get them done.  The danger, of course, is that you can work all the time so working in things like reading the newspaper is a way to take breaks.

So, I’m pledging my self to reading.  I’ll report the results here.  Now, I’m heading to bed with a book; in this case, it’s How God Changes Your Brain.

Living on the New Earth

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I bought the audio version of Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth some time ago but only listened to it over the past few days when I drove to Pennsylvania for a long weekend.  It was just what I needed to hear!  Tolle even suggests that that is the case: you read the book when you are ready for it.  And Tolle narrated the audio version so as I navigated the car through the horrible traffic around DC, I felt like I was in a one-on-one seminar with him, listening closely, occasionally rewinding, trying to be intensely present to what he was saying.

I have had the glimmers that Tolle talks about.  For instance, I find myself hurrying to finish folding the laundry and I think, “Why am I hurrying?” I slow down and just try to be there as I fold the laundry.  Or, I find myself annoyed over some silly thing with my husband and I find this voice saying, “Why are you annoyed?”  I have a wonderful husband who seems to already understand the notion of just being present in all you do.  He works hard to grow our food and create a peaceful life for us.  These glimmers, I realize, are the moments when I was most conscious.

My main issue in terms of the ego is worry: Am I working hard enough so I will be successful?  What will I do for money now that the grant is over? What SHOULD I be doing right now?  And, as part of that glimmer, I’ve found that if I just stop worrying and do, I get a lot done.

Right now, I am experiencing an odd sort of stress.  After many years of working very hard with very little free time, I have lots of free time.  Sure, I have a to do list but nothing that must be accomplished even in the next two weeks.  So, I am struggling inside with this.  It’s Thursday and my next job is to scrub my kitchen floor.  But other people are at work, earning paychecks.  Well, I did that for a long time and right now, I’m not doing that.  So, that means that if I look at my schedule and upcoming events and I have time and enthusiasm for scrubbing the kitchen floor, I should do it.  I don’t dwell on the past as much as I worry about the future, but for today, I am just going to try to be present in my life.

Living in the Past

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I had an amazingly productive day yesterday.  We finished the taxes!  That’s the biggie: this is the first year we are doing them ourselves after having accountants for many years.  I followed along closely last year and am using TurboTax and feel fairly confident about the whole thing.  We’re getting an extension so at some point, I’ll print the whole packet and review it against last year’s to see what different.  Here’s an interesting thing: we only got the standard deduction even though in the past we’ve itemized.  Just not enough medical stuff or mortgage interest on this old house to get us over the hump.  We could do more charities, although I think we give a lot for our income.

I made chicken legs General Tsao style and a potato herb frittata for dinner.  As a post-tax treat, I made baked tortilla chips in the convection oven.  They were very good and since I used spray, I think they were very low in calories.

I also got a lot of little things off my to do list in preparation for travel.  I decided to drive west tonight for a few hours so tomorrow morning is a bit more leisurely.  I was not looking forward to being on the road at 6 AM and 8 hours in the car.  I’ve got something else to do so I’ll stay over until Wednesday as well.  My bags are packed; I’m ready to go.

The main point of this post is to record a quote from Annie Dillard’s The Living, which I finished last week.  It has been raining here for three or four days and I feel like I’m in the Pacific Northwest without the views of Mount Rainier and Mount Baker hovering always on the horizon.  The novel focuses on the history of the Bellingham, Washington, area and follows the pioneer families through several generations.  It was superb, really, with startling metaphors woven into its sometimes spare historical narrative.

But, I’m giving it up.  Taking it to the Book Exchange with several others including the Carl Hiassen (Double Whammy) I finished this morning.  And there’s one quote I didn’t want to lose as it deals with change:

The women, low on the logs, had started up “long Ago, Sweet Long Ago,” and the men’s deep voices met their earnest sopranos boldly; they all love this song.  They sang in the dark, and looked at the fire.  They had seen younger faces, around other fires; they had sung beneath other skies, in other times, far away.  The tide was starting out, and the wet mud reflected the fire darkly, in only the yellows.

Each man and woman had seen the old ways lost in half a life time, and knew there never was a generation so pushed, spun, and accelerated by change as their own, and so nostalgic for a more innocent past, however fanciful.  It was their childhoods they mourned for, and the vanished times and places and people (pp. 357-358).

I was struck by the notion that these people, living in the late 19th century felt as we do today: spun out of control by the force of change around them.  In their lifetimes, they saw massive expansion of travel, from the wagons they drove across the frontier to get to Washington to the railroads, whose choices of towns for depots could make or break a community.  And, with that travel, came more accelerated communication.  Certainly nothing like what we have today, I know, but for them, taking several weeks off the delivery of a letter or being able to send a telegram must have seemed like quite a feat.

Yet, these people are mourning more than technologies, but the culture that developed around such technologies.  Wagon trains built community; railroads encouraged individualism.  “A more innocent past, however fanciful” captures that notion of looking back on something that never really existed, a memory that sustains you.

Morning Pages

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I’m half way through my first cup of coffee.  I somehow volunteered to help at church this morning, and if I got my act together, I could go for the first service, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.  It’s still raining, although I can see a patch of bright light out there.  It doesn’t matter if it’s nice, though.  My husband finally got around to pulling together his tax numbers so I’ll be spending the afternoon with Turbo Tax.  We’ll file for an extension but at least we’ll know how much to send with it.

After making two pairs of socks, I’m not crocheting slippers from granny squares.  Still using up old worsted weight yarn.  It took me awhile to get the gauge right.  The pattern suggested an F hook to make a 4-1/2 inch square.  I’m up to an I!  They are very cute: a combo of white, green, and brown.  I’ll make the second one today, probably, while I’m watching the second part of Sense and Sensibility.

I also need to get some exercise today.  I’ve been eating OK (although I’m not sure how the sweet potato pie and low fat frozen yogurt fits in), but I need to do the second piece.  I took a bike ride on Friday and it felt good.  We’re lucky to have the Colonial Parkway just down the road so I am rewarded by great views of the river.  I also saw a cedar waxwing hanging out in a tree along our road.  If it clears up today, I’ll try to get another ride in, but it will probably be yoga.  I’ve got a new Gaiam DVD to try out.  I liked the “Energy Balancing” routine: mostly for when you’re feeling lousy and just need to be quiet for a bit.  the other one is a more typical workout.  I ordered two yoga bricks to try out as well.

So, with taxes, crocheting and exercise, I’ve got a full day ahead.  I wouldn’t mind finishing Carl Hiassen’s Double Whammy, either.  We are rushing to the climax: the bad guy has a dog head hanging from his arm and has just kidnapped the hero’s ex-wife.  Meanwhile, the hero is trying to figure out how to beat the murder rap for which he was set up.  It’s funny, but vaguely reminiscent of Nature Girl.  And, I just got a notice from Amazon that he’s got a new one out.  There’s also one more in my basket.  I think I’ll probably devote more time to Barack Obama’s autobiography next.  It’s on the Kindle and I’ve been reading bits and pieces when I’m waiting for meetings or stuck in hotel rooms.  So much to read, so little time.

And, there’s always a flash project to work on.  I think I’ll buy a license for royalty free clip art to use.  I did some rudimentay drawings in Flash itself and they looked pretty bad. I could always run the clip art through Comic Life for a nice effect.  I’ve at least worked out the flow of decisions.

The chickens are giving the back yard a real once over.  It’s wet and the worms are coming out.  We discovered that the silver spangled hamburg was laying eggs in a tucked away spot under the pump house lean to.  Found a good dozen or so.  Not sure how old they are, so we’re going to feed them to the dogs.  They’ll eat anything!

OK, coffee is gone and it’s time for a shower.  Many blessings to all for a wonderful day!

Monday, Monday

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My to-do list is short right now. Mostly errands like the bank and the post office where I’m going to mail the tea cozy to my friend. I’ve got a meeting on campus and two classes to teach. Then, things really open up. Maybe I’ll actually be able to finish Annie Dillard. The Living is good but thick with description and as slow as a rainy day in the Northwest. I remember feeling the same way about Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson.

I’m learning to crochet socks. Made a pair of green tube socks, which were easy, just continuous rows of scallops. Now I’m working on “basic” socks with heels, gussets, and toes. I finished one of a pair and have started the second one. Blue and white worsted weight yarn. I’m trying to use up the yarn I already own before buying more. They will be very cheery to wear, I think.

Sort of the same philosophy I have with books. Part of the reason I’m in a hurry to get through Dillard is so I can read The Tower by Derek Wilson as well as Sharon Kay Penman’s books about Wales and England. And then all those other ones in the basket. Let’s not talk about the books on the Kindle! I’m part of the way through Obama’s autobiography there. EEK! The crocheting has really eaten into reading time. But, I loved watching Sense and Sensibility last night and am already pining for next Sunday. It was a little frustrating to watch, though, since I already know the story. Pick Braddock, pick Braddock, you want to say to her.

A Most Lovely Weekend

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I read (The Living by Annie Dillard), crocheted, played on my computer, and even managed to get outside.  We spent a few hours at our property morris creekyesterday.  The view isn’t quite as green as the one in this post; it is still pretty barren, but signs of spring are everywhere.  The daffodils are doing great; we planted clumps of them along the driveway and they are naturalizing nicely.  I did a water test.  I’ve been testing for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay for ten years now.  Then, we just sat and watched the world: saw at least one eagle and one osprey.  We watched a cormorant circle his way down to the creek.  He landed and immediately started fishing so we rarely saw him again.

I was up early today.  It’s getting lighter earlier and the dogs wake up and start making dog noises around 6:30 or so.  Just caught sight of a big V of geese flying overhead.  I guess there are still some Canada Geese that actually migrate.  So, spring is here.

Now, I’m getting caught up on podcasts.  According to Garrison Keillor at The Writer’s Almanac, it’s Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s birthday.  I went to visit City Lights Bookstore when I was in San Francisco and bought a copy of Maxim Gorky’s great revolutionary novel, Mother.  It just seemed appropriate.  I love starting the day with poetry.

Now, I’m listening to Harry Shearer’s LeShow from KCRW, one of my favorite public broadcasting stations.  Thank goodness for the web so I can access the station.

My live frog for today is listening to some mp3 files so I may have to cut Harry short and get started.  I’m teaching today, too, and then meeting with my advisor to figure out the logistics of doing my research.  There may be grocery shopping as well.

After eating pretty well for several days in a row, I went a little crazy yesterday.  Although there isn’t much bad food in the house so crazy is relative.  I did have more than one serving of wine 😉  But I’m back on the WW wagon today.  I did get a nice walk at the property yesterday as my husband drops us at the beginning of the road into the neighborhood and we walk in.  Just about a mile.

Wildlife siting: there are two flickers sitting in the oak tree.  One looks like a fledgling with fluffy feathers.  It’s sort of amazing that I get anything done.  I also noticed that all the birdies need fed.  They particularly like the peanut butter suet we’ve been making.  That feeder is completely cleaned out!  I have a little left in the fridge and then need ingredients to make more, mostly peanut butter.

Blessing to all!

Morning Muse

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My husband is heading out to do some volunteer work for a local agency that builds and repairs houses. So, we’re up early. It’s not even 8 AM and the dogs have been walked, chickens have been fed, and there’s a fresh pot of coffee brewing. I have a few things on my list of to dos but nothing pressing and a full week at home next week. So, it’s the weekend and the question is what do I WANT to do?

  • Play some music: I’m playing in a recorder trio so I have music to practice. Plus, I have other solo stuff. There’s always the piano as well.
  • Read some: I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and picked up Annie Dillard’s The Living last night. Got through a few pages before it was time to go to sleep so would love to continue with that today. It’s set in northern Washington, and I’m reliving our visit to that still somewhat wild country.
  • Crochet: I’m currently making octagonal granny squares with some leftover red cotton yarn. Inspired by all the great craft sites out there, I took a picture of my two tea cozies (see below). The blue one is for a friend and includes a pad for the bottom. My next crochet project is to try making socks. I got a great book at the Michael’s near my hotel and have some variegated brown cotton yarn. The Sound of Music is on tonight, and I am looking forward to settling in and crocheting.
  • Work on my England map. My parents and I are going to England in October. They love to travel and are already in the midst of planning. After they called last night, I created a new Google map and started marking some of the places I want to visit including Stonehenge, Glastonbury, and Bath. The lake country is pretty far north, but nothing in England is very far away so we may be able to do it. I also want to go to Wales.

crocheted tea cozies

I was a good weight watcher yesterday and even saved up enough points for a glass of wine. I made this pasta from 101 Cookbooks using fresh spinach from the greenhouse. I also added ground chicken and did not bake it. Paired with big salads, this was a healthy, yummy dinner. And there are plenty of leftovers for lunch. I think tonight are baked tilapia fillets and Easter dinner will be pork loin and pineapple stuffing.