June 8, 2016 JennyLeave a comment

I have not written here for two months – the longest gap since I’ve started this blog – but I have been reading. Here are a few of the adult fiction standouts over the past couple months.

“We have to make choices. I used to think we had time to do anything we wanted, but we can only do some of the things in any one lifetime.” -My Real Children

My Real Children by Jo Walton

I just finished this tonight, and I loved it; it spans a century, and the part that takes place from WWI to WWII reminded me strongly of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life. We begin in 2015, when Patricia is in a nursing home, “very confused.” On top of her ordinary memory problems due to aging, she remembers two separate lives. The reader wants to know which is real, of course, but both are equally real in the world of the book; only in the final pages does Patricia work it out (at least, I think she does; it’s a bit open-ended). This has been on my to-read list for a while and my book club is discussing it this month; I’m eager to hear what others thought of it

Liz had tried not to experience the doubly insulting sting of being excluded by a person she didn’t care for. –Eligible

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

I suggested this for book club also. The main appeal for discussion is to compare it to Pride & Prejudice, which some of us remembered better than others. I have adored Curtis Sittenfeld’s previous novels (Prep, American Wife, Sisterland), and had high expectations, tempered only somewhat by mixed reviews. In the end, I thought she did an excellent job adapting Austen’s story and characters, bringing them into present-day Cincinnati, New York, and California. Mr. Bennet’s quips are sharp, and Liz is observant (with one significant blind spot). Highly enjoyable, though it ends on Mary Bennet, which is a bit odd.

He considered how memories hold our lives in place but weigh nothing and cannot be seen or touched. -Father’s Day

Father’s Day by Simon Van Booy

Sad and lovely as all his novels and stories are (The Illusion of Separateness, Everything Beautiful Began After, Love Begins in Winter, The Secret Lives of People in Love). Set on Long Island and in Paris, Father’s Day is the story of Harvey and her father, Jason. Harvey’s first parents were killed in a car crash when she was in first grade, and thanks to a persistent, good-hearted social worker named Wanda, Harvey is adopted by her father’s brother. Now, Jason is visiting Harvey in Paris, where she lives and works; he has come for Father’s Day, and Harvey has prepared a gift for each day of his trip. Each gift connects to a memory from their past. The final item, some official documents, are a surprise to Jason and to the reader, though Harvey herself won’t understand the significance unless Jason explains it to her; like My Real Children, there’s something of an open ending. Van Booy’s writing is beautiful and tender without being at all showy.

Why should one expect to feel the same every day, in a world that was rearranging itself by the hour? -Everyone Brave is Forgiven

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Like Sittenfeld and Van Booy, Chris Cleave is another of my favorite authors (2016 is a good year for me in this respect, and I hear there will be a new Ann Patchett this fall!). With Everyone Brave is Forgiven, Cleave departs from contemporary fiction and delves into historical fiction, specifically the early years of World War II. Mary and Tom are in London during the Blitz, and Alistair is suffering during the siege of Malta. Unlike in Gold – my favorite of his previous novels – I did not quite feel as though the characters were wholly real. Mary’s sensibility was imperceptible from a progressive modern one, and Tom and Alistair were too perfectly British, with their dry wit, pithy quips, and good manners even in the face of bombs and starvation. Still, this is high-quality WWII fiction; it reminded me a little of Corelli’s Mandolin, perhaps just because of the Malta setting. I enjoyed it, but I hope he returns to the present in his next novel.

Quiet by Susan Cain

April 8, 2016 JennyLeave a comment

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (2012) has been on my to-read list – and on my bookshelf – for some time now. My book club chose it for our April meeting, and once I picked it up, I read it quickly; it’s written in a clear, accessible style and makes a great deal of sense. Cain draws on a large body of research and writes about her own experience as well as that of others, and this mix of data and anecdotes makes for a perfect blend.

There are plenty of differences between introverts and extroverts, but one of the main ones has to do with stimulation. How much do you need to stay in your “sweet spot” where you’re neither bored nor overwhelmed? Introverts and extroverts feel comfortable – and do their best learning and work – with different levels of stimulation (noise levels, new environments, crowds of people, etc.).

Cover image of Quiet by Susan Cain Cain gives a bit of history about how, especially in America, we’ve shifted from a “Culture of Character” (in which “the ideal self was serious, disciplined, and honorable”) to a “Culture of Personality” (a focus on how one is perceived by others). The “Extrovert Ideal” is now pervasive in the workplace as well as in schools, despite the fact that 1/3 to 1/2 the population is introverted and that there are actually disadvantages* to setting up schools and offices to suit only extroverts.

Can introverts fake being extroverts in order to fit in (and get ahead)? Sure, to some extent; but, Cain writes, “We might call this the “rubber band theory” of personality….We can stretch our personalities…only up to a point.” While an open floor plan office might provide just the right level of stimulation for extroverts, it’s likely to exhaust and stress an introvert unless s/he has the opportunity to recharge by working in quiet and solitude some of the time. (Open-plan offices have also been found to “reduce productivity and impair memory” – probably not what employers are after.) Likewise, working in large groups or teams in a classroom might be great for some kids, but others will do their best work independently. (Indeed, Stephen Wozniak has said, “I don’t believe anything really revolutionary has been invented by committee.”)

*I found the following two pieces of information surprising and interesting:

(1) “…excessive stimulation seems to impede learning….the simple act of being interrupted is one of the biggest barriers to productivity. Even multitasking…turns out to be a myth. Scientists now know that the brain is incapable of paying attention to two things at the same time. What looks like multitasking is really switching back and forth between multiple tasks, which reduces productivity and increases mistakes by up to 50 percent.”

(2) “…group brainstorming doesn’t actually work….Studies have shown that performance gets worse as group size increases. [Online collaboration is an exception.] We fail to realize that participating in an online working group is a form of solitude all its own.”

A more balanced approach in schools and workplaces would benefit everyone, not just the introverts. (Cain’s section on the Wall Street crash is one example.) But if you’re an introvert and your school or workplace is set up to honor the “Extrovert Ideal,” at the very least, Quiet affirms that there’s nothing wrong with you; you just don’t happen to fit “the prevailing model.” Try to carve out “restorative niches” wherever you can, and don’t feel guilty if you’d rather be home with a book than out at a bar.

More to the story

February 20, 2016March 6, 2016 JennyLeave a comment

Linda writes, “Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Ten Songs That I Wish Were Books, and it may be my favorite topic so far. Now these aren’t necessarily my favorite songs….They’re just songs that I think have a good story behind them that could be developed even more.”

As someone who spent a significant percentage of her teenage years squinting at liner notes and mining song lyrics for meaning, I agree that this is a great topic, and it’s a struggle to keep it to ten (you’ll see below that I kind of cheated to include more), but these were some of the first to come to mind. Unlike Linda, I didn’t pair an author with every song (though hats off to her for some awesome, and telling, choices). These songs already have a story-like quality to them, and I’d love to see three minutes expanded to 300 pages.

“Brick” by Ben Folds Five and “Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe: these two songs are linked in my mind, possibly because they were on the radio a lot around the same time, but they also both have to do with abortion.
“Lately” by Helio Sequence: “Lately” is essentially an updated version of “Most of the Time” by Bob Dylan, which is already part of the High Fidelity movie soundtrack, so I suppose this book already exists and what I want is for Nick Hornby to write another book about music.
“Crush” by Jimmy Eat World: I would like Sara Zarr, Jandy Nelson, Robin Benway, and Gayle Forman collaborate on this one, please and thank you.
“The Way” by Fastball: for some reason this song has always put me in mind of two books: Bless the Beasts and Children by Glendon Swarthout and Smack by Melvin Burgess. But I’d read a third.
“Bank Job” by Barenaked Ladies is the only heist song I know of; I’d like for Dave Barry (Big Trouble, etc.) to write it. Practically every other BNL song would also make a good book; I’m thinking “The Old Apartment,” “The Flag,” “Wrap Your Arms Around Me,” and “Fun & Games” to start.
“Play Crack the Sky” by Brand New: this haunting, tragic song has Audrey Niffenegger’s name on it.
Like BNL, nearly every song by The Weakerthans would make a good novel; I’ll go with “Reconstruction Site,” with “Civil Twilight” a close second.
“Nightswimming” by REM: maybe this is more like one scene in a book than a whole book itself. Let’s give it to Lauren Myracle (The Infinite Moment of Us).
“Cath…” by Death Cab for Cutie: According to Wikipedia, this song is based on Wuthering Heights, so.
“February” by Dar Williams or “As Is” by Ani DiFranco: these top-notch singer/songwriters are probably capable of writing their own books.

Pleasure reading should be pleasurable

February 5, 2016February 5, 2016 Jenny9 Comments

Makes sense when you think about it, right? Yet so many of us feel obligated to finish a book once we’ve started it, and feel guilty if we set it aside. We really should read it, because a friend recommended it, or it got a good review, or it’s on a topic we really ought to know more about, or everyone else is reading it, or we put it on our to-read list four years ago (but we can’t remember why), or it’s a classic…fill in the blank however you like.

But unless a book is assigned reading for school or work, then presumably you’re reading for pleasure, and pleasure reading should be pleasurable. Not that you shouldn’t ever explore a new genre or try a book that you find a bit difficult, but if you’re 25 or 50 or 100 pages in and you’re just not that into it, then by all means, put it down and pick up something else instead! You have this librarian’s permission.

This is something I have worked on for years myself. I was inspired partly by Knopf editor Marty Asher, who said something along the lines of “I don’t have time to read anything but great books” (and that was almost a decade ago). Of course, you might well think a book is going to be great and it turns out not to be: you can only judge so much by the cover, title, author, first sentence, first page, flap copy, reviews, etc. Most of us don’t choose books we think we’re going to dislike on purpose.

And yet it can be so hard to put down a book we’ve invested some time in already. It feels like giving up; it feels like failure. And who knows? We’re optimistic; maybe it will get better in another 25, 50, 100 pages. But no: at some point you begin to feel certain that this book is not the one for you, at least not right now. (“Every reader his/her book, every book its reader“).

One side effect of my free time having been somewhat curtailed of late is that I have become much better at putting down a book that doesn’t hook me quickly. This is usually not a reflection on the book’s quality; it’s just not for me, not right now. For example, I have decided to return M.T. Anderson’s Symphony for the City of the Dead to the library – despite the fact that it was personally recommended to me by a reader I trust, and that it was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults – because I just can’t get excited about the siege of Leningrad right now.

What can I get excited about? Young adult fiction, apparently: I’ve read nine YA novels so far this year, including some truly stellar books (all right, let’s name names: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Like No Other, Dumplin’, Roller Girl, Echo, A Step Toward Falling, Bone Gap, Rain Reign). I’ve also read (and re-read) some excellent picture books. And, I got to read Gayle Forman’s upcoming adult novel Leave Me, which is just as good as her YA; I read it in just two days, and I have a three-month-old baby, so that should tell you something. (The thing it should tell you is “read Leave Me“!)

So there you have it, from a librarian: if you don’t like what you’re reading, and you don’t have to read it, put it down and read something you love instead. That’s the beauty of the public library: millions of books just there for the borrowing. Don’t do what I did and spend an entire month trying to slog through a book you aren’t that excited about: you’re not being graded, and ticking a box on a checklist you made yourself isn’t nearly as satisfying as spending time reading a book you love. In fact, I think there’s a song about this. Let it go…

[All that said…my library is hosting a 2016 Reading Challenge with some interesting categories, and one book can count toward more than one category. Click through to read more if you’re interested in participating.]

2015 Year-End Reading Wrap-Up

January 8, 2016 Jenny2 Comments

Number of books read in 2015: 197

Picture books: 84 (actual number is higher but I didn’t add them all to LibraryThing)

Partially-read books: 16

Books read in 2015 minus picture books and partially-read books: 97

YA books read: 45

Average number of books read per month (including YA, excluding picture books and partially-read books): 8.08

Audiobooks: 14

Total page count: 51,949 (This is approximate rather than exact. I used data from LT without filtering out audiobooks, picture books, or partially-read books; however, page count information is missing from LT for any book I read in galley form, or added well in advance of its publication date, so I figure it all evens out, pretty much.)

Female/male authors: Still almost exactly equal for my library overall, though the balance has tipped in favor of the ladies this year.

Five-star ratings: 20, including a few re-reads (Fangirl, From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, I Capture the Castle, Station Eleven, Bossypants)

Here’s last year’s wrap-up, and here’s the one from 2013. And if you like reading other people’s recaps of their reading years, as I do, here’s Jessamyn West’s “Year in Reading” and Linda’s (ThreeGoodRats) “Year of Reading” and “TBR Pile Challenge 2016.”

I haven’t settled on any reading-related resolutions (say that three times fast), though I’m open to ideas. As usual, I’ll be trying to make my way through the books that I own but haven’t read yet; library books tend to jump the queue, since they have due dates.

Have you made a bookish resolution for the year? Do you have any recommendations? Are there books being published this year that you’re eager to read? I’m looking forward to Maggie Stiefvater’s final book in the Raven Cycle, Jon Klassen’s next hat-related picture book, We Found A Hat, and I hear there will be a new Ann Patchett novel this year.

Winter re-reading

January 8, 2016January 7, 2016 Jenny1 Comment

When I was younger, I re-read books constantly. I re-read less now, partly because working in a public library, I’m hyper-aware of all the new books being published, as well as all the old ones that have a good long shelf life (pun intended). But I’m re-reading three* books right now, so I’ve been thinking: Which books do you return to over and over? Is there a particular time (say, when you’re traveling, or after finishing a very long book, or one you didn’t like much) or time of year that you like to re-read?

*The three I’m re-reading/re-listening-to now are Greenglass House by Kate Milford; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale; The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, read by a full cast. I read Greenglass House for the first time last year and I think re-reading it may become an annual winter tradition.

Here are a few of my other favorite books to re-read:

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass is the first)
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman
Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Boggart by Susan Cooper
The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg

I think I’ll re-read The Princess Bride this year also. I’ve been meaning to for a while…although I could re-read it every year for the next thirty years and still not catch up to how many times I’ve seen the movie.

And Little Louis: author-illustrator collaboration

January 7, 2016 JennyLeave a comment

Like most other picture book readers, I’m a big fan of Jon Klassen (I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat, etc.) and Mac Barnett (Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Leo: A Ghost Story, etc.), so naturally when they collaborate I am excited. Their book Extra Yarn is a favorite, but I have been wondering about something.

I have been wondering about Little Louis.

littlelouis

Particularly, I am wondering if Mac Barnett handed (or more likely e-mailed) the manuscript to Jon Klassen and let him take it from there, or if they discussed how the illustrations and text would fit together. If it was the former, I wonder what Barnett had in mind for Little Louis, and how far that was from what Klassen came up with. Did it make him laugh? Or were they in on it together?

I used to work in publishing, but I don’t know much about picture book publishing, other than that some authors and illustrators work together more closely, others less closely. I asked Barnett and Klassen on Twitter but they haven’t replied. The question stands…

Screen Shot 2016-01-07 at 10.56.41 AM

Do you debut? Focus on first books

January 6, 2016 Jenny4 Comments

I only realized how few new debuts* I read when I was offered the chance to contribute to another Reader’s Shelf column in Library Journal, “New Year, Nearly New Books: Favorite 2015 Debuts.” Looking back through nearly a year’s worth of reading, there weren’t very many for me to choose from, but I did really enjoy The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister. If you like magic and illusion, turn-of-the-century America, and (possibly) unreliable narrators, it would be a great book to curl up with this winter.

*”New debuts” isn’t redundant, I don’t think: an author’s first book is a debut whether it was published ten years ago or ten days ago. And if it was ten years ago, then hopefully there have been a few since, and you’ve got some catching up to do!

Do you seek out debuts? I don’t make a point of it, though I certainly don’t have anything against them – if it’s recommended to me or gets glowing reviews or has a great hook, I’m just as interested in a first novel as a tenth, and discovering a new writer is a pleasure. Really, the only downside to reading a new debut is that you’ll be waiting for the next one instead of diving into an author’s backlist.

Do you like to read everything an author has written, or do you read more selectively, even if you really like the author? Do you like to read an author’s work chronologically, reverse-chronologically, or does the order not matter to you?

Books on the radio

January 6, 2016 Jenny1 Comment

I was invited to be on Wisconsin Public Radio at the end of December to talk about audiobooks: why people might try them, how to find a book (or narrator) they like, when they might even be preferable to print books. Being on the radio was fun! It’s archived on WPR’s Central Time website (though I haven’t listened; I don’t want to hear how many times I said “um”). If you want to download or listen online, it’s from 5:30-6pm (unless you need to catch up on your local Wisconsin news and chit-chat, in which case, go ahead and listen to the whole thing).

I’ve written about audiobooks on this blog in the past; if you missed those posts, don’t worry, you can access them here, because the internet is forever: “I’d listen to her read a grocery list: on audiobooks” (3/12/14) and “Audiobook recommendations for a friend” (10/3/14). Or if you don’t want to click through, here’s the bullet point version:

How to get started if you’re new to audiobooks: Try listening to a book you’ve already read; choose a shorter book; listen to the first few minutes of a few different ones to see which narrator’s voice you like best.
Remember, taste is subjective: You might prefer a male or female narrator, a full cast production, American voices or other accents, slow or fast talkers.
How to get audiobooks: You can buy them, of course, but that gets expensive! Your local library probably offers audiobooks on CD and/or Playaways (a small device that contains one whole book), and may offer downloadable audiobooks as well through Overdrive, hoopla, or another platform. If you’re hearing impaired, you can get access to audiobooks for free in every state.
Value-added aspects: Some authors read their own books, which can be especially fun if they are familiar voices already, like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sarah Vowell, Neil Patrick Harris, or Aziz Ansari. Neil Gaiman and Jenny Lawson also read their own books, which I highly recommend.
A social experience: Before school vacations and holidays, lots of people come to the library looking for audiobooks the whole family can enjoy on long car trips. Finding a book everyone will enjoy can be a fun challenge depending on ages and tastes!
Seamless switching between formats: I haven’t done this myself, but one of the callers said she switched back and forth between the Kindle e-book and Audible audiobook; Amazon owns Audible so accounts can be synced for seamless transitions between audio and print.

Do you listen to audiobooks? Do you have a favorite genre to listen to, or a favorite narrator?

Best Books I’ve Read in the Second Half of 2015

December 25, 2015December 25, 2015 Jenny1 Comment

See Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far in 2015 from July 1. I will still talk your ear off about Greenglass House and Graceling. And Trigger Warning and NPH’s Choose Your Own Autobiography are superb audiobooks. Here are ten of the books I’ve enjoyed in the second half of the year:

Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway: Emmy’s best friend (and boy-next-door), Oliver, was kidnapped by his father when he was seven; he returns at age 17, and reconnects with Emmy and her friends. Good realistic/romantic fiction for those who liked The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney and Sweethearts by Sara Zarr.

Slade House by David Mitchell: This haunted house story is a companion to The Bone Clocks, so of course I loved it; there’s no need to read The Bone Clocks to enjoy Slade House, though, so if this is your first foray into Mitchell’s universe, you can start with this more concise novel. The titular Slade House appears every nine years so its inhabitants can harvest a soul to prolong their lives, but the last victim it lures in is on to them. Deliciously creepy. (I got an early copy and wrote the blurb for LibraryReads.)

We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh: Just as good as The Language of Flowers, but with illegal immigration instead of the foster care system and homelessness as the central issue. Not to say that it’s an “issue book”; the Mexican-American characters at the center of the story are real and complex, their dilemmas hard and heartbreaking.

Useful, Usable, Desirable by Aaron Schmidt and Amanda Etches: I’ve already written about this one here. If you work in a library, or design any kind of product or service or platform for library users, read this book!

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande: I’m consistently impressed with Gawande’s writing ability, and the clarity with which he communicates his message. In this case, he addresses the issues presented by an aging population, on both the societal and the individual level. An important book that is also easy to read.

The Dive from Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer: If you’ve been having second thoughts about settling down with the guy you’ve been dating for years and are now engaged to, and he becomes paralyzed in an accident, do you stay with him? Or do you go? This is Carrie Bell’s decision, and The Dive From Clauden’s Pier is a character study of a young woman making a difficult decision about what she should do, and what that might mean about the kind of person she is.

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg: Though I’m no longer in the dating pool, I enjoyed listening to how romance has changed and how it has stayed the same in recent history. The audiobook was great; it’s stand-up comedy backed up with smart social science.

Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter: The author of The Atlantic article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” has written a book about the unequal value American society places on competition (ambition, putting oneself first, breadwinning) and care (providing care for children, aging parents, other family members or friends); the former is traditionally male, the latter traditionally female. In order to address gender inequality, we must also adjust the value we place on competition and care.

George by Alex Gino: George is a fourth grader who was born a boy but knows she’s really a girl. But how does she tell her family and friends? And how will they react when she does? This is most likely – hopefully – just the beginning of transgender lit for children and teens, and it’s a sweet, realistic story that avoids extremes: there’s no horrific bullying, but not everyone is instantly accepting either. George’s friend Kelly is a great character also.

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg: A story of grief and guilt, told by multiple narrators – the survivors of a tragedy and those related to them. For those who liked The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy, How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz, The Children’s Crusade by Ann Packer, Fellow Mortals by Dennis Mahoney, The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen.

That’s it for me for 2015. If I read any outstanding books in the next week, I’ll tell you about them in January. Meanwhile, what were your favorite books of the year?