On the Beginning of a 25th Year

Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of it actually happened? Did any of it? Why do I keep a notebook at all? It is easy to deceive oneself on all these scores. The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compuslive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compusion tries to justify itself.

-"On Keeping a Notebook"

Joan Didion

This past December, I turned 25 (cue the horrifying music and thunder here). A few months before what turned out to be a pretty non-monumental date, I started freaking out a little. I think it had something to do with the fact that A) I was no longer in school which was scary and different, B) adult life began to set in with a real job and student loan payments, and C) I don't think that my 13 year old self ever really thought I'd turn 25. It seems so... old. So...cosmopolitan. Yet here I sit, a bona fide 25 year old in her roach-y, small apartment, far away from many of the people I love, writing about one of the few constants in my life since I was 13 years old--books.

In the light of turning the big 2-5, I copied a friends idea (thanks Cassie!! oh, and Liz too!) to make a list of 25 things I want to do while I'm 25. Ever since Cassie had the brilliant idea, more than a year ago, I'd been secretly stashing ideas in some back room of my brain of things I wanted to do while I was 25. Though my list does not quite hit the 25 mark (there are 17 goals--still not bad!), I spent a lot of time curating this list of things both big and small that I want to accomplish this year.

The reason I'm telling you this (besides the obvious fascination with talking about myself in print?) has to do with the fact that in addition to trying 5 new restaurants (done!), trying 25 new beers (well on my way!), find the perfect lip color (a girl can dream), get braces (booyah!), and write one letter a week (so much fun--I want to write about doing this at some point--it's so therapeutic!), one of my goals is to update my blog at least once a month. Last year I was so very terrible at it (read: I never updated) and I read so many good things that it seems like a waste. So, I'm getting back on the saddle, friends.

January has proven to be a big month for people looking for recommendations. I think with the new year and all, people want to read more, and rightly so! (As you may have seen in my last post, there have been some pretty fantastic things that have been coming out recently.) I'm always happy to make lists for anyone as long as they are willing to answer a few very simple questions, especially because it gives me a chance to sit down and go through several years worth of lists and to spend time thinking solely of books and the person for whom the list is being made. (On that note, if you're looking for something good to read or want a list or anything, never hesitate to email or comment!) In the spirit of a big month of several big lists, I thought it might be fun to reflect on my month of reading in much the same way that I compose one such list.

Although this month has not seen a great volume of books being read, the quality has been extraordinary. Some are lucky finds, while others have been longingly awaited, but all had something different and wonderful about them:

-The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern--Oh. My. God. I actually started reading this two days before the new year and thought I might have finished in 2011, but it wasn't meant to be. I actually picked this up on a sort of a whim. I'd had it in my library queue (which is usually a joke) and was waiting on it. Lots of early "top book picks" of 2011 had this book on it. But I think what drew me more was that it looked so different--not just the cover, either, but the premise and the writing. Luckily my roommate got it for Christmas, so she let me snatch it while she was reading something else. I was blown away. Clocking in around 500 pages, The Night Circus is actually a little hard to put into words. There is a magical element to the story, but I wouldn't call it magical realism and I wouldn't call it fantasy either. But that's kind of what I loved about it--it is uncategorizable. The premise of the book is that two older men agree to hold a competition in which they choose a pupil to whom they will train for a big duel although they are not told what form it will take. It ends up becoming the Night Circus which only opens at dusk and closes at dawn and contains magical tents, amazing characters, and the beautifully woven story of the competitors who make it real. My favorite part is that the book turned out not to be what I thought it was about the whole time (at least in my interpretation) and I love when things surprise you like that. I really don't want to give too much away, so just go pick it up for yourself!
If you liked Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or The Tiger's Wife, you'll particularly like this one!

-Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan--This is the second novel from the author of Commencement (which I haven't read but is on my nightstand because a friend said that it was better than this one!), and if I'm correct in my review-reading has similar under-tones as Commencement: female friendship/family, growing older, and a little smidge of Catholic guilt strewn on top. The story follows three women of three separate generations in one semi-dysfunctional family. The matriarch is the grandmother who has a dark secret following her, one of her daughters has never felt like she fit in and is still mourning the death of her father, and her daughter is faced with an unexpected pregnancy and subsequent end of a relationship. I liked the structure of the story (I love a non-linear telling) where each woman told alternating chapters and the character development. The end was a little bland, but overall, I enjoyed it.
Read this one if you liked Little Bee, The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow, The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok, or Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos.

-The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach--I had been waiting and waiting and waiting for this book since it came out in September of 2011. I put it on hold the day it came out and finally got it 4 months later, and it was worth the wait. One of the more highly anticipated novels of 2011, the book has a very interesting story behind its publication (there was an article in Vanity Fair that told about the 9 years spent writing and bidding to get his book published... I need to read it yet). The story follows a group of people all tied to the fictional Westish College located in Wisconsin including the president of the college, his recently returned daughter, and three members of the baseball team: a stunningly gifted shortstop, the teammate who plucked him from obscurity, and a brilliant scholarship student who gets involved with a risky affair. I love baseball, so this book held me there, but even if you aren't one for the sport, it's about more than baseball. It's about religion and dedication but not necessarily to a god or supernatural being, but rather about the religion we create for ourselves around an aspect of our lives and what happens when it's taken away from us. It's a novel about finding oneself in the midst of becoming something different than you expected. It's brilliant.
Did you like The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, Freedom by Jonathon Franzen, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann? Pick this one up!

-Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion--Compared with the others in this short list, this book is ancient, but no less fantastic. I read Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (which so affected me that I found myself crying in the airport last year) and was looking forward to her newest book Blue Nights (again... in my library queue) and came across this group of essays in the library catalog. Separated into three sections, Slouching Towards Bethlehem compiles some of Didion's greatest essays from the 1960s including the piece for which the book is named which chronicles the counterculture of the 1960s in Haight-Ashbury with brilliant clarity, "On Keeping a Notebook" which I actually read twice just to hear the words again and to be reaffirmed, and "Goodbye to All That" in which she looks back upon her time spent in New York City as a young, naive girl. I don't love all of Didion's work and won't even pretend to get all of it, but many of the essays still ring true today--about growing up and looking back and family and memory. A great book for a quick but engrossing read.
Pick this up if you like short stories or essay writing.

For right now, that's all I got. I hope to really keep on top of this an to update once a month at least. I'll keep you apprised of the progression of my 25 year goals and of what I'm reading as I fade into old age. :)

Next on the pile: The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta which I just started and I have a feeling is really going to freak me out... but sometimes you need that.

Happy Reading,
Stephanie

Top 10 Books of 2011

Another year, another chance to look back and appreciate the fabulous reading I've been doing. This is an activity I continue to look forward to and a lot of time and effort goes into my now-annual Top 10 of the Year book list. As I've said in posts past, I love looking back at what I've read this past year that surprised me (my love of The Hunger Games), disappointed me (Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks and the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman), challenged me (I just could not get through Little Dorrit as much as I love Dickens), and consistently kept my love for reading at an all-time high (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, Sula by Toni Morrison, The Cider House Rules by John Irving).

My year has been chock-full of changes and new things--a new apartment, a new job, a new Master's degree--and through all that change (and if you know me, you probably know how I feel about change. I mean, you're talking to a girl who eats the same lunch every day, here) my constant reading has kept me grounded while letting me explore new worlds and ideas. It's why I love reading--there my be disappointments, but there is always something new and exciting to dive into that has the promise of greatness.

I know that I have not updated the blog as much as I've wanted to (read: at all), but I'm hoping to change that this year. It is one of my "25 things to do while I'm 25" which also includes writing a letter to someone once a week, finding the perfect lipstick color for me, reading five books from my "to read before I die list," and writing a short story among other things. Although my new year started with a whimper (seeing as I lost my purse/had it stolen at the bar on NYE with my iPod, camera, and pretty much everything but my phone in it), I'm determined to make 2012 as baller as possible. So, as I say so long to a pretty fabulous 2011, I give you my Top 10 List of 2011.

Out of the 54 books that I read this year, I've chosen the 10 that I considered to be the best. These are typically the ones that I have been recommending to people (both upon request and randomly to strangers or anyone who will listen), but it was hard to choose this year because I read so many amazing things. A reminder-these are books that I have read between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. These books were no necessarily published in 2011 (though 3 of them were and 4 were published in 2010) and anything that I have reread this year is not eligible for the Top 10. At the end of the top list, you'll find the list of all the books I have read this year.

So here goes:

Stephanie's Top 10 Books of 2011

10) The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (2009)-- This was my first Kingsolver book, and I picked it up on a recommendation from a friend. The story follows a boy whose parents are separated and lives both in the US and Mexico. During his time in Mexico, he works for then becomes part of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's inner circle and later becomes Leon Trotsky's secretary when he is exiled to Mexico. The story chronicles his entire life and is mostly taken from his own diaries. When he becomes an adult, he becomes an author and tells his secretary to burn one of his diaries, but she doesn't, and from that we get a fuller story of his life. Obviously well researched and a wonderful telling of the story, The Lacuna is a longer book, but anyone interested in history, art, or the 1930s-1950s in general will enjoy it (and if you're anything like me, learn a little about something, too!)

9) The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)-- As always, I am hesitant to follow any kind of fad when it comes to books (one of the many reasons I'm not going to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), but my roommate was pretty excited about the series after finishing it, so I took a chance even though it's not my usual style. Am I glad I did. If you are one of the few people on earth who have not read it, Suzanne Collins weaves a thought-provoking story of Katniss who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where two kids from each"district" is chosen to compete in the Hunger Games which is a televised competition in an arena where the object of the game is to remain the last one alive. With a brilliant plot that has so much relevance in our reality television-obsessed world and pretty good writing and detail, this series will probably take you less than two weeks to read because you won't be able to put it down. Don't let the fact that it is technically a "young adult" book deter you!

8) Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire (2011)-- I'll admit that I may be biased on this one due to my undying love for Wicked in general, but I'll also admit that although I adore Wicked, I was not a huge fan of the second and third books in the series. But when I heard that Maguire was publishing the fourth and final book in the series, I pre-ordered it on Amazon. Out of Oz brings Dorothy Gale into the mix a little more and takes us through the wars that are happening on Ozian soil. G(a)linda is held captive, the Grimmerie makes another important appearance, and Liir's daughter plays a huge role. This is one that I debated putting on the list because I can't really recommend it to people unless they've read the previous books, but it was so good that I had to. Also, I saw Gregory Maguire at the National Book Festival this year and he was amazing. Here's the link to his speech: http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5282 Even if you're just a fan of the musical, you should watch because he talks about it quite a bit!

7) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2007)-- After finishing this book, I had to take a step back and appreciate its beauty. Diaz is an unbelievable story teller and does an amazing job of chronicling the short life of Oscar de Leon and his family. Oscar is an overweight kid who loves fantasy and science fiction and just wants to be loved. His family is followed by a curse that was inflicted upon them long ago in the Dominican Republic and they can't seem to escape. A very raw, real voice permeates the story and the overlapping individual narratives of the de Leon family fit perfectly together. The story shifts between the US and the Dominican Republic and relates a tragic story with hints of magical realism, family fable, and rife with the search for identity.

6) Just Kids by Patti Smith (2010)-- Although this might not come as a surprise seeing as it won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, Just Kids is amazing. When I picked it up, I was prepared for a lot of drug-riddled stories of rock stars, but although there is a little of that, it is not what you might expect. What this is really about is a deep, abiding friendship between Patti Smith and artist Robert Mapplethorpe who died from AIDS complications at the age of 42. Smith details the pair's friendship through the rough times they both had getting started and the love story that they had, though their love was not romantic. Smith's memoir is about the beauty and strength of true friendship even in the face of differences and the existence of soul mates.

5) The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (2010)-- You're probably not surprised that this book is on my Top 10 list. This has to be one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. Wilkerson relays this history of the Great Migration, during which African Americans traveled from the South and settled in Northern cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago between 1915 and 1970. It is obvious how well researched this book is, but what makes it outstanding is the way that Wilkerson relates it. She interviewed three individuals who participated in the Great Migration at one point or another to three different cities, using their experiences to depict the true heroism of those who migrated and the immense challenges they faced. I know it's long and non-fiction, but it is worth picking up. You really learn something about an oft-untold part of American history and you get an inside look at three amazing people. Wilkerson was also at the National Book Festival this year, and though I didn't get to see her in person, I did watch the recording and am providing it here: http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5270

4) State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (2011)-- This was my first Patchett book and I was blown away. The story follows a research scientist Marina Singh who is sent to the Amazon to find the remains of a dead colleague. A new drug is being researched and the head of the research team is studying and living among previously unknown natives, and has become the domineering and unmanageable leader of the project which is studying the women of the group who continue to get pregnant well into their 70s. Singh goes to find her dead colleague and ends up becoming engrossed in the project and almost swallowed by the Amazonian "heart of darkness" as it were. Well written and very plot-driven, you will not be able to put down this one and will audibly gasp at many parts.

3) The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht (2011)-- I hate flying. It makes me nervous and one of my worst fears is literally falling out of the sky and plunging to earth. With that said, I was reading this novel on my way to Ohio at some point this year, and I didn't even realize that we had taken off because I was so engrossed in The Tiger's Wife. This is Obreht's first novel (and I kind of hate her because she's only 26 and she's brilliant) and I cannot wait for her second. The story takes place in the Balkans, where a young doctor is faced with her grandfather's death and she is determined to find out about the mystery behind his death. Interwoven with stories that her grandfather told her about his life, the narrative takes on a magical realism quality. I actually liked the stories that were told about the grandfather's life more than the overall plot, but it all fits together so well that they become almost indistinguishable. You won't be able to put this one down.

2) A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)-- Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this is one I have recommended to pretty much everyone I know (and some random people in bookstores and libraries). This is my favorite kind of narrative--each chapter is told by a different person with different but overlapping stories. It's hard to explain unless you read it, but it does focus a lot of the music industry and mainly around a group of people who were friends and band members in high school. Egan is an amazing writer who even has one of the characters tell her story in Powerpoint slides. With a fresh format and characters that are so relatable, I highly recommend Good Squad. Not only is Egan's book fantastic, but I was lucky enough to see her at the National Book Festival, and she was outstanding. I'm really bummed because it's not online yet to share, but when it is, I'll post it, because it was great. Seriously. Read this book.

1) Room by Emma Donoghue (2010)-- This book was my choice for the "book club" I had with a few friends earlier this year. I don't even know if I can convey the crazy awesomeness that this book is. The story is told by five year old Jack who has been held captive in a room with his mother "Ma" for his entire life. Donoghue does an amazing job of capturing the five-year-old's thoughts and way of looking at things and how he is forced to eventually grow up and assimilate into a strange world. Though this is a seriously disturbing story, there is hope and wonder that shine through as well. I was addicted to this book while I was reading it and zipped through it pretty quickly. Do yourself a favor and pick it up!

And that's it! It was really hard to choose this year, but I'm confident in my choices. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Did you read something spectacular this year? I'm always looking for recommendations, so please comment or email me! :) As always, if you'd like a book list, all you have to do is ask! It's one of my favorite things to do.

Here is a list of all the books I've read this year in order:

(an asterisk indicates an honorable mention and a double asterisk designates the top 10)

*The Cider House Rules by John Irving

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

The Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

**The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

**Room by Emma Donoghue

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

The Dismissal of Miss Ruth Brown by Louise S. Robbins

Anthropology of an American Girl by Hilary Thayer Hamann

**A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

*Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

Satchmo Blows Up the World by Penny Von Eschen

Bob Dylan in America by Sean Wilentz

Running the Books by Avi Steinberg

*Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

*An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

*The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

*On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton

*The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

*The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn

*Bossypants by Tina Fey

**Just Kids by Patti Smith

The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma

*As Always, Julia edited by Joan Reardon

Van Gogh: His Life and Art by David Sweetman

The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

**The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

**State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

The Soloist by Steve Lopez

*Faith by Jennifer Haigh

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

**The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

**The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

**The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

*Drown by Junot Diaz

*Sula by Toni Morrison

*Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos

**Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

*White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

*Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

*Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis

*Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

And that's all I got! I hope that your 2012 started out most wonderfully!

Happy New Year and happy reading!

Stephanie

Stephanie's Top Ten of 2010

"Once, in my father's bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later--no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget--we will return."

I'll be honest here--I did not even really think about the end of 2010 until maybe yesterday when I started writing this post (yes, I handwrite the posts almost to their completion and then type them. Weird.). But in thinking about it, I am pretty astonished at what a sweet year I've had. I mean, not everything has been great (I mean, this was the year of Snowmaggedon and an awful LIS class I took in the Spring and a friend moving away), but let's be serious for a second--how can you call a year where I saw Wicked three (count 'em!) THREE times, went to two wonderful weddings (and was in one of them), saw Mary Poppins, sort of figured out what I want to do with my life (sort of), saw Kelli O'Hara in concert, helped my best friend pick out her wedding dress, spent every Friday (and yes, I mean pretty much EVERY FRIDAY) over the summer at Jazz in the Garden with some of my favorite people, got to cross of 6 books from my "To Read Before I Die" list, got a paper I wrote published on the Smithsonian Libraries Blog and read 73 BOOKS anything less than pretty damn good?

And on that note, I get to the purpose of this post--the real reason this blog was even thought to be a good idea in the first place (although obviously it is not what I envisioned since I haven't posted in a sickeningly long time). The List. My Top Ten List of 2010. Yes, folks. You've waited with bated breath long enough to be so enlightened, and here it is. I think that in last year's post on my Top Ten of 2009, I pretty much gave you the low-down on why I love reading, lists, and everything about the combination of the two, so I'll spare you that this year and just say this: When I went over my 2010 list after everything was said and done, I tallied up 73 books (don't be too impressed, since I re-read all 13 Series of Unfortunate Events books this summer when I needed something lighter and easier and all 7 Harry Potter books over the winter when I was just craving them). 73 is a lot of books, I'll admit, but the coolest thing was that in going over the list, I found that almost every book on the list was one that taught me something, led me to something new, or otherwise brought out some kind of flame in me (with a select few being duds, but you'll have that when you join a book club, I suppose). But really--almost every book I read this year had some lingering significance to me an doften helped make the year flow with a certain energy. 2010 was a year in which I felt myself kind of gathering forces for 2011--a year that will inevitably bring a lot of drastic changes, challenges, and (hopefully) accomplishments--and I think that with books like these in my arsenal, I'll always have something to hearken back to when things get messy (which, they inevitably will, let's get serious).

So, to get on to the list, I'll remind you of my criteria for creating the list and get on with it, I promise. I have choisen what I consider to be the 10 best books that I began and completed between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010. These books were not necessarily published in 2010 (although this year, two were). Also, I reread some things this year (including last years #1 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle), but you will not find these on the list no matter how much I love them (obviously, I would not have reread them if they weren't awesome to begin with). I will list all the books I read in 2010 at the end of the Top Ten list so you can see what the Top Ten had to compete with. So, here goes:

Stephanie's Top Ten of 2010

1) Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann--In actuality, I read this twice this year. I loved it so much the first time that I recommended it to my book club and reread it for the meeting. Let the Great World Spin won the National Book Award in 2009. Written as a kind of series of interconnecting vignettes, McCann creates vivid characters whose stories all revolve around one central event--Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in New York City. The event is real, though the characters (except for Petit) aren't, and McCann's beautiful prose brings to light the realities of life, death, and the fact that somehow, we are all connected. Let the Great World Spin is stunning for its story and prose, and has a severe and evolving impact on a post 9/11 world. For a better description of this book, see my post here from April.

2) Little Bee by Chris Cleave--I wrote a whole blog post about this amazing book back in April, so I won't go into too much detail, but Cleave had me hooked at the beginning and in tears at the end and I couldn't sleep the night after I finished it. The plot focuses on a British woman who took a vacation to Nigeria and a Nigerian girl who witnesses terrible things happening in her country. The two women cross paths and life is changed for both of them forever. The women both narrate the story in alternating chapters, creating a story that is heartbreaking, hopeful, and exquisite.

3) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot--I had been trying to read this book for months before I finally got around to it. And am I ever glad I did. This is a work of non-fiction and honestly has to be one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. Henrietta Lacks was a black woman living in Baltimore in the 1940s who died of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins in 1951, leaving behind a husband and five young children. At this point in medical history, scientists were unsuccessfully attempting to grow cells in order to be able to test vaccines and treatments on them, thus perfecting these treatments and vaccines. They were unsuccessful until a sample was take from Lacks' cervix, unbeknownst to her or her family, and they grew like wildfire. The cells that reproduced from the sample have since been into outer space and have helped scientists develop treatments for cancer and the polio vaccine among other treatments. The "donor" of the cells (called HeLa) were kept anonymous until an article in the 1970s revealed the woman whose cells they were, and Skloot does investigative work into the history behind HeLa's development s well as contacting and garnering relationships with the Lacks family (who, coincidentally cannot afford health care). I am not what you might call a "science" person, and I was afraid this would be over my head, but Skloot's excellent writing, explanations, and storytelling make the story and science clear and interesting. She frames the story in the light of the family and their current-day situation, making it something relatable. This book brings up a lot of issues about race, medical research, and health care and is worth the read.

4) People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks--If you are a librarian or love libraries and books as objects, please do yourself a favor and read this book. I read Brooks' March first (also excellent), but loved this one more. The plot follows the Sarajavo Haggadah (which Wikipedia explains is: "a Jewish religious text that sets out the order of the Passover Seder"--thanks Wikipedia!) from its creation (which turns out to be an unusual one for this type of document). The Haggadah is found by a museum curator and a conservator with an expertise in Jewish texts is called in to examine it. The stories of the hands that the Haggadah passes throw is told so well and so captivatingly that I seriously could not wait to find out what happened next. The timeline of the Haggadah's history is told in reverse order, making for a fun, more involved read.

5) Freedom by Jonathan Franzen--If there was one book you have heard about this year, it was probably this one. In case you've been living under some kind of rock this year, Oprah chose it for her "last" book club, raising the hooplah about the 10 year old Franzen/Oprah debacle over her choise of his The Corrections (which, of course, was the main part of his appearance on her show. They talked about the book for maybe 2 minutes. Disappointment). And yes, there has been a lot of hype, but I really liked the book. Franzen's language and storytelling are captivating and as he tells the story of Patty and Walter Berglund, you just kind of get swept up in the whole thing. This is a very post-9/11 smack in the face story rife with family issues, politics, the environment, and America. You either love or hate Patty (I, frankly, loved hating her) and her manic-depressive "autobiography" and I just couldn't put it down.

6) The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow--I wrote about this in another post, but let me reiterate its greatness--it's beyond great. I have been telling every woman I know to read it, and if you're a man, I think you should still read it (I'd love to hear what you thought!). This one is non-fiction and revolves around a group of girlfriends from Ames, Iowa who have been friends since grade school and to this day (they are now in their fifties, I believe) they get together at least once a year. Zaslow writes of their ups, downs, deaths, joys, tragedies, and all in the light of the beauty and uniqueness of female friendship. Truly wonderful.

7) The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion--I'll be honest with this one and say that I have been hesitant to recommend this book to just anyone. It is one of the more graceful and lovely things I've read, but it is terribly sad and had a really big impact on me. Didion has written many things, both fiction and nonfiction, and this was is a memoir that details the year of her life in which her husband died unexpectedly, and not long afterwards her only child got deathly ill (and to top it all off, she had just gotten married). The whole process of Didion's grief, healing, and process was really inspiring, but still terribly sad, mainly because it was so real. It's very short and pretty easy to read, but did make me tear up while reading it in the airport, so beware. It's so worth it though.

8) The House That George Built by Wilfrid Sheed--I wrote a whole post about this one because I loved it so much. It's not a secret that I should have probably been born so that I grew up in the 20's, and so it should be no surprise how much I love this book. Sheed writes about Gershwin, Porter, and Berlin among many others and details the "Golden Age" of music and the American Songbook. Read the post I wrote on it if you need more convincing.

9) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon--I had to read this for book club and was pretty skeptical since I'm not one for the typical "mystery" genre, but I fell into this book and didn't want to get out. It's reminiscent of a kind of Romanticism storytelling, which I also don't typically love, so it's strange, I suppose that I loved it as much as I did. The story is about a boy who finds a book by a virtually unknown author and a mystery arises out of his possession of the book. It kept me on my toes and I think the fact that it is a translation really added a cool dimension. I wrote about it briefly a few months ago, so go here for a better description.

10) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows--I love love love epistolaries, and it's hard to come across one these days, so when I saw that this book was written completely in letters, I picked it up and devoured it. It's a very easy, light story about the British involvement in the World War II, a female author living in London who wants to write something more substantial and be something more substantial, and a book club in Guernsey who is formed in secret under the nose of the German occupation. It's really fun and I think the authors do a great job of telling the story through letters, which I can imagine is hard to do.

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So there you have it, friends. My Top Ten of 2010. It was hard this year, I'll tell you that much. If you don't believe me, just take a look at all the things I read this year (in order)--I've starred ones that get an honorable mention, although most of these are pretty awesome!:

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The Girls of Room 28 by Hannelore Brenner

*The Road to Woodstock by Michael Lang

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards

*Yours Ever by Thomas Mallon

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Alice Have I Been by Melanie Benjamin

*The Swan Theives by Elizabeth Kostova

*The Last Station by Jay Parini

*The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

*The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha (go to his blog... I look at it every morning before work.. it starts the day off right!)

Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor

Let the Great World Spin (2) by Colum McCann

His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis (evidence of the quickly abandoned and failed attempt to read books about presidents...)

*I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (because what kind of year is it without a Faulkner?!)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows

*The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson (read in preparation for her appearance at the National Book Festival, but was disappointed in her speech)

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (read after seeing Hamlet on stage.. the similarities are awesome)

Push by Sapphire

The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

Three Junes by Julia Glass

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket

The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket

The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket

*This Book is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson

*The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket

The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket

The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket

The End by Lemony Snicket

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The House that George Built by Wilfrid Steed

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

*A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

*One Day by David Nicholls

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (worst Nicholas Sparks book.. ever. And that's saying something)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Hadden

*March by Geraldine Brooks

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

*Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

The Light in the Piazza and Other Italian Stories by Elizabeth Spencer

*Everything is Going to Be Great by Rachel Shukert

*In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community by Peter Lovenheim

Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland by Gerald Clarke

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris (huge disappointment.. sorry David.)

**Ape House by Sara Gruen (this should be in the Top Ten, but I'm too lazy to take out Guernsey and replace it with this. Read this though! So good!)

36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

(Also, for books that I've written posts about in the past, I've linked the titles so you can go back and look at the posts if you're so inclined!)

I'd love to hear what you think of the list, what your own personal Top Ten of 2010 is, and if this was helpful at all! As always, if you're looking for some recommendations, drop me a line and I am always more than happy to help!

I hope that your 2011 has started off well with friends, family, and good books.

As always,

Keep Reading,

Steph

Blogging in Libraries

My usual readers (if there is such a thing) will excuse this change of pace for my usual reading-log-type-style, and indulge me as I post a paper recently written for one of my Library and Information Science courses this semester. To those visiting my blog for the purpose of reading this article, please feel free to comment and look around!

-Stephanie Maxwell
stephanie.maxwell09@gmail.com

Blogging in Libraries

Like many aspects of life, libraries can always count on things to be constantly changing, and often the mark of a successful library is the ways in which they handle, manage, and react to a constantly changing environment. Although this applies to many aspects of the library, the evolution of technology is certainly one of the most crucial and defining challenges that libraries have to work with and respond to. Libraries have gone through many changes when it comes to technology over the years—automation, self-check-out services, website adoption, online catalogs, and adopting habits to the now ubiquitous nature of the internet being some examples. In today’s internet- and technology-driven society, the question of Web 2.0 is one that many libraries of all types are grappling with—how can libraries use Web 2.0 technology to better reach and inform their users, improve the services the library provides, and remain relevant in today’s society? The ways that people interact with and receive their information is changing and the ways that libraries are interacting with their users is changing as well. Alton Chua and Dion Goh introduce their study on Web 2.0 applications in libraries by saying, "To move in tandem with the rapidly expanding universe of digital information resources, libraries all over the world are striving to offer high-quality online experiences on their websites. Meanwhile, a number of libraries, particularly those in the United States, are shifting their perceptions of users from mere information consumers to producers and architects of information" (203).
One such Web 2.0 tool that is being utilized to offer a new kind of library experience is blogging. New blogs pop up every day, but do these blogs have staying power? Are they effective for the purpose, mission, and users of the library? What are the positive and negative consequences of beginning and maintaining a blog? Although blogging may seem like a very straightforward task for a library, there are several issues to be considered and weighed before implementing a blog and libraries must consider these issues before beginning one.
First, it may be helpful to define “blog” in order to fully understand the concept. One of the simplest and most concise definitions of a blog can be found in Lu and Lee’s article, “Demographic Differences and the Antecedents of Blog Stickiness.” They define a blog as: “websites with articles and commentaries displayed chronologically” (Lu and Lee 21). This is a very basic definition of a blog and while it captures the format properties of a blog, Amanda Etches-Johnson, author of the article “The Library Blog: Serving Users and Staying Relevant,” writes, “Much like the rest of the Internet, a weblog is in fact different things to different people, and that is what makes defining it so problematic” (32). The blog as “thing” has a very simple and solid definition, but what a blog is or means aesthetically and contextually to a specific institution or user can vary greatly by blog. For libraries in particular, it is important to first address their definition and idea of a blog before actually implementing one. There are different types of blogs that libraries around the world have instituted, and David Lee King and Stephanie Willen Brown give examples of what libraries can do with blogs: “communicate with your patrons, start conversations about various topics, promote new books, videos, or what’s new at the library, deliver an internal staff newsletter, offer subject guide current awareness, reach customers where they are” (36). Defining the purpose of the blog seems to be the first step in the creation of a successful blog—having purpose can drive the postings and the motivation for maintaining the blog.
Because of the seemingly constant inundation of Web 2.0 applications and features in daily life, it may seem as though every library should already have a blog. Etches-Johnson even says,
"Librarians were surfing even before surfing became a metaphor for trolling the Internet, and blogs provide the perfect format to present that material…. It is not surprising then that creating, maintaining, and reading weblogs feels like a natural extension of what librarians have been doing for most of their professional lives. For most librarians who maintain weblogs on a regular basis, publishing content to their blogs is part of an established personal ritual of keeping current by reading through library literature, listserv subscriptions, newsletters, zines, and other blogs. Sharing that content rises out of the collegiality that is such a defining principle of the library profession" (34). This is certainly true—for centuries, librarians have been “filtering” information for users, letting them know what is good information and alerting them to reliable resources while also promoting their collections. In this light, it seems that the question would be, “Why not have a blog?” In fact, in their study on Web 2.0 trends in libraries, King and Brown claim that libraries have to blog and use other Web 2.0 tools because, “…these tools are relevant to the next generation, and if libraries are not using Web 2.0, they will lose those patrons as they are already using these tools with eBay, Amazon, and even within newspaper websites” (39). If a library does not have a blog, does that make it irrelevant in today’s society? I do not think that this is necessarily true, but rather, believe that all libraries should at least consider blogging, but must weigh the implications of doing so.
There seems to be a general consensus in the library community on the most positive aspect of blogging, and this is best summed up by Etches-Johnson when she writes, “Apart from offering fresh library content on a regular basis, weblogs provide all the necessary tools to turn a library website into a collaborative network that encourages, and indeed thrives on, community participation and interaction, two of the cornerstones of the library as a community institution” (37). A library blog can provide a place in the “cyber-world” where people can seek out and form communities based on their interests as well as provide a place where users can interact in their own library experience, informing it based on their own proclivities. Also, King and Brown recognize the importance of the interaction between the librarian and the user that a blog can better foster when they stress the importance of a blog’s ability to support commenting options (34). Often, the librarian in the library can seem removed from the user— at the library, they are behind a desk and computer and they may be seen in a very professional and often harsh light, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but for some users may make them unapproachable. The introduction of a blog, however, has potential to break that barrier between user and librarian, allowing a librarian to possibly share their own personal experiences and interests with users and allow those users to respond to and converse with librarians. In this vein, another positive consequence of a blog is the exposure of the collection. No matter the type, size, or location of the library, a blog can be used to showcase the collection, alerting the community to new acquisitions, unique materials, and resources provided by the library. The blog can be used as a method of constantly making current and possible users aware of old and new resources, encouraging the community to use the library and what it has to offer.
Although the positive impact of having a blog seem extremely obvious initially, starting and maintaining a blog is not necessarily a simple task, and there are certainly risks that come along with it. In her book Effective Blogging for Libraries, Connie Crosby addresses the positive and negative impacts of library blogs, giving this advice early on: "Just because everyone else is doing it does not mean you should. A blog is just one tool in your larger toolbox of communication tactics. Think about your target audience, which community or communities you want to reach, and whether a blog is the suitable vehicle to reach them. Look at your organizational mandate and strategy, and determine if a blog correctly aligns with them" (3). A blog can really work well for some libraries and not for others, and the nature of the community and users needs to be taken into account when considering a blog. Crosby is confident enough in the power of blogs to write a book about how libraries can best adopt blogs, but also considers the risks of beginning a blog. Crosby sent out surveys to 88 libraries which had blogs and reports, "Risks identified include balancing the amount of time spent on the blog with the value (or reward) received in return; and getting others to support the blog project initially, including management, IT departments, Webmasters, and other staff members in the library of the library’s parent organization" (8-9). The time and energy that is expended in order to maintain a blog is often a full- or part-time job in itself and can be stressful and seem thankless, thus it is imperative for the library to have a strong plan and organizer for the blog, making sure that there are policies as to how often it is updated, what will be posted, who is responsible for posting, and other matters concerning the blog.
No matter if the purpose of a library’s blog is to interact with users, showcase their collection, humanize their staff, or generally expose the library’s offerings, the content of the blog needs to be determined and adhered to in order for it to be effective. In their study on what they call “blog stickiness,” (which Lu and Lee define as, “the time spent in the blog and retention to the blog” (22)) Lu and Lee found that the content quality, more than any other factor is what determines a blog’s “stickiness:” "…content quality is the only determinant of blog retention. The ability to forward articles via email and giving the number of readers who are willing to recommend this blog can facilitate the impact of social influence on first visit duration, but not retention. The user will revisit a blog only if the first visit attracts them to stay for a while and the content quality is good" (32). The quality of the content is a direct determinant of the impact of the blog, and should thus be given serious consideration in planning for a blog. The main risks of beginning and maintaining a blog are time and support, but King and Brown have suggested that these issues can be reconciled by simply changing the way we look at libraries: "David recommended a change of focus; instead of thinking about the time needed to keep up, one should have a willingness to change focus to make learning new technologies a priority. He encouraged audience members to think of it as ‘this is an important part of my job’…"(40).
Earlier, I discussed the notion that the ways people access and want to receive information is changing, and as such, the library needs to change with it to remain relevant and useful for the community it serves, and this idea feeds into a library’s consideration of beginning a blog—if the community would benefit and utilize a blog, then time should be made to accommodate that need.
In order to better understand what it takes to institute and maintain a blog, I discussed the matter with Elizabeth Periale, the designer for the Smithsonian Libraries Blog. The Smithsonian Libraries Blog (http://www.smithsonianlibraries.si.edu) was launched in December 2007 as an experiment in outreach. Periale says, “The Libraries just wanted to try out a blog and see how it would go. It was pretty unstructured at the start. Just a few of the staff were involved and would post something when an event or conference or item of interest came up” (Periale). Although originally relatively unstructured at first, Periale volunteered to manage the blog in February 2009 which is when the blog began having daily postings. Very simply laid out, the blog features generally one post a day provided by the librarians at the different branches of the Smithsonian Library system from whom Periale solicits posts: "I send out a call for articles, with some suggested topics and the entire library staff (~100) is free to volunteer. Sometimes I do a special request to one of our branch libraries if I am looking for something relevant (American History do a post on D-Day, e.g.) I schedule the posts week by week or in advance as necessary. We try not to post more than once a day, but if we do, that's OK, too. I also have the blog feeding into the Libraries' Twitter and Facebook accounts. We're trying to reach out more and more" (Periale). The blog features articles written about resources, books, and unique items found in the Smithsonian Libraries, often showcasing videos and photos to support the articles. By seeking out various staff from different branches, Periale is able to create a community from separate libraries with separate interests which is held together through their common goal of outreach and education for their users and potential users. Periale herself often contributes to the writing of the blog while also synthesizing the articles, editing them, and posting them. When asked if she has come up against any resistance to the blog, she says, "There's no real resistance. I don't pressure anyone to post. Cajole, maybe ... The only 'resistance' is that people are already doing so many things that they don't think they can add blogging to the list. Sometimes they realize they can, sometimes they pass. More and more of our staff seem to post each month" (Periale). Not only does the blog invite the public to participate in the Smithsonian Institution community, but has the potential to create a stronger community within the staff as well.
Although comments do not seem to proliferate on the blog, Periale seems pleased with the level of readership that the blog garners: "Our readership grows monthly. When I took this on we only had a spotty readership. Now we get about 400 hits a day, directly to the blog. We also are read on Twitter and Facebook, so it's hard to know how large our audience is exactly, but our Twitter followers have climbed since February 2009 when we started posting daily from 79 to over 2500, so we're definitely getting more visible. We get some comments and questions, but mostly our posts are retweeted on Twitter or "liked" on Facebook" (Periale). Here, Periale brings up another method of outreach using blogs which is to link it to social media websites and RSS feeds, allowing users to share and “like” articles posted on the blog, giving readers the opportunity to view the blog in the way they prefer and to widen the readership by sharing what they find on the blog. Although it seems that the blog did not have a definite goal or structure in the beginning, it soon came under the direction of Periale who has commandeered the blog to a solid readership and has enabled the library’s collection to be noticed by and accessible to people who may not have had that opportunity without the blog, accomplishing the basic goals of a successful library blog.
Adopting a blog can be an extremely fruitful and positive endeavor for a library—it opens the line of communication between librarians and users, can inform users about activities and new happenings at the library, showcase the library’s collection, and generally institute the library as an active member of the blogosphere and community. Although the benefits of introducing a blog into a library’s current workload can have wonderful benefits, there are also risks to be taken into consideration such as time and staff support. Without a solid plan for the maintenance and content of the blog, these issues of time and staff support can easily cause the blog to fail. A library should only begin a blog if they have the time, staff, and enthusiasm to support it in the long-term. When Elizabeth Periale was asked if she saw any downsides to the Smithsonian Libraries Blog, she says, "I can't see any downsides. The benefits are that we get the Smithsonian Libraries out in the blogosphere every day. Our collections are much more accessible. Through Twitter we have connected with other museums and libraries and people in a very easy, relaxed way - it's much more easy to read our latest blog post by following us on Twitter than it is even to access it through our website - fewer clicks. Personally, for me, it's been fun to discover new things about the Libraries' collections, both by myself for the articles I write, and through the articles written by my colleagues" (Periale). The Smithsonian Libraries Blog is a perfect example of how a library blog can become successful, and this statement encompasses the benefits of a blog—constant reminders to users of the library’s presence, connections with other institutions and prospective users, new discoveries for users and for staff, and a general feeling of educating about and exposing people to the library and its collection.

Bibliography

Chua, Alton Y.K., and Dion H. Goh. “A Study of Web 2.0 Applications in Library Websites.”
Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010): 203-211.
Crosby, Connie. Effective Blogging for Libraries. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2010.
Etches-Johnson, Amanda. “The Library Blog: Serving Users and Staying Relevant.” Last One
Out Turn Off the Lights. Ed. Susan E. Cleyle and Louise M. McGillis. Lanham, MD:
The Scarecrow Press, 2005. 31-44.
King, David Lee, and Stephanie Willen Brown. “Emerging Trends, 2.0, and Libraries.” The
Serials Librarian 56.1 (2009): 32-43.
Lu, Hsi-Peng, and Ming-Ren Lee. “Demographic Differences and the Antecedents of Blog
Stickiness.” Online Information Review 34.1 (2010): 21-38.
Periale, Elizabeth. Personal interview. 2 Nov. 2010.

Won't You Be My Neighbor...

"I met Patti because later, I, myself, came to feel isolated among those

same neighbors. I met Patti because at some point it seemed

both absurd and wasteful to be living unconnected to

the people all around me."

Recently, I read Peter Lovenheim's book In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time and had a chance to reflect on my own neighborhood experiences.

Some of my earliest memories involve the neighborhood where I grew up. From the time I can remember until my freshman year of high school, my family lived in a 3-bedroom house in a suburb of Cleveland. Our street was relatively quiet because my brother and two sisters were some of the only kids on the street and most of our neighbors were older people. We played roller hockey in the street, freeze tag across the lawns that flanked our own, and staged shows in our front yard--our neighborhood was our world. There was never a time when we did not know all of our neighbors--they were always invited to the parties my parents threw (and even if they did not come, they were at least informed of the party and warned about the noise), we were often sent to one house or another for sugar or milk, and we always knew that we could never get away with anything crazy because there were always neighbors watching out for us. We moved from that house when I was a freshman in high school (with four kids, one full bathroom, and three bedrooms, we needed more space) and I was completely devastated, but not necessarily because we would be leaving the house itself (I then shared a bedroom with my two younger sisters and would be getting my own room at the new house), but because we would have to leave our street. Throughout the years of living there, my family had cultivated friendships and relationships with our neighbors that meant a lot to me--one of our next door neighbors was to become my Confirmation sponsor--and that street held a lot of memories for my family. Looking back, it was the perfect set-up for growing up and it really taught my siblings and I how to be good neighbors ourselves, and in moving, I think that I was the saddest to lose the sense of community that we had garnered there.

Although I was really sad to leave my childhood home, there was certainly nothing to worry about when it came to a neighborhood feeling. We moved closer to Lake Erie, about a mile from the old house, where the streets surrounding us make up Utopia Beach Club, a park, pool, and clubhouse that sit at the end of our street to which people pay yearly membership fees. The beach club is comprised of six streets of homes and is a big part of life there. UBC hosts activities all year round from spaghetti dinners, to Sunday morning breakfasts, to celebrations for Memorial Day and Labor Day, to a "welcome back to summer" Family Day complete with games and dancing. Through events such as these and the general welcoming nature of the neighborhood, there is a certain unique community that has blossomed there--everyone knows everyone (which has its pros and its cons) and to my own amazement, people are astounded by the neighborhood. I have often brought home friends to parties and events at UBC and usually they make some kind of statement about how they never knew their neighbors growing up. Because of my own wonderful experiences in my neighborhoods growing up, I never realized that most people do not have the support system of a friendly neighborhood.

A few months ago, I came across Peter Lovenheim's book In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time. The premise of the book stems from Lovenheim's own neighborhood in a suburb of Rochester, New York where, in 2000, a man committed murder-suicide, killing his wife then himself while his two children were int he house. This family lived several houses down from Lovenheim, and in hearing about the tragedy, he realized that he had never said more than two words to anyone of that household, further realizing that he did not know or speak to any of his neighbors. This realization led Lovenheim to attempt to initiate contact with his neighbors one a time, getting to know them, then (for the purposes of research and his book) often spending the night at their houses, getting an intimate glimpse of their true lives. The neighborhood is relatively affluent and is home to physicians, business owners, and other well-paid professionals, but no one knew each other, and Lovenheim found through his interviews that people would rather get in their car and drive to the store for sugar rather than ask their neighbors for some. Lovenheim begins his "getting to know the neighborhood" study with an older man who is a retired physician and widower, following him around on a normal day, talking with him, and spending the night at his home. Over the next couple of years, Lovenheim visits several neighbors, one of whom is terminally ill, and begins to cultivate a community out of these people who live so close to one another.

The journey that Lovenheim takes is really amazing, but also one that evokes a sense of sadness in me. I cannot imagine living in a place where I was not able to run to my neighbor's house for a cup of sugar (or more often as it happened in my own case, to share a new book or have a drink), and it makes me sad that there are people who don't know their neighbors. In my opinion, growing up in a strong supportive neighborhood was the best situation for my family. Currently, my parents live next-door to my own best friend's family, and there is rarely a day that goes by that our parents don't talk. When baseball season starts, you would be hard-pressed to find a Friday night where my dad is not sitting out on our front patio with a beer in his hand, listening to the Tribe game with a circle of neighbors who drop by to stop for a drink, to listen the game, or just some friendly conversation. The people in UBC don't all necessarily get along all the time--just because they all live in the same place does not make them any different from anyone else--but knowing that there are people around who look out for you and are on your side is a wonderful thing and that is what Lovenheim tries to establish in his own neighborhood, and to a certain degree, it works. The woman he meets who was terminally ill becomes friends with the widower and they are able to help each other in different ways--the woman provides a companionship and purpose for the man, and the man is able to drive the woman and do odd jobs for her. And that's really what neighborliness is about--being able to look out for others while knowing that others are looking out for you. Knowing the people around you and caring to know them creates a community of all of us, dragging us from the isolation of our own bubbles and making us responsible for the well-being of that community.

Peter Lovenheim's book is a very easy and interesting read, one that makes me wish even more that I knew my neighbors in my current neighborhood. In a world where people don't sit out on their front porches anymore and no one knows their neighbors, his book shines a light on the small ways that we can make the world a better place, one where we share responsibility in looking out for others and helping people out when we can.

Keep Reading,
Stephanie

PS. I'm so bad at updating this... but don't worry... I will have a post about my year in reading! Those are always my favorite posts! :)

If You Don't Want to Close Your Eyes and Listen to "Rhapsody in Blue" After This, You're Insane

"It's delightful, it's delicious, it's delovely..."

-Cole Porter

"Delovely"

You don't have to know me all that well to know of my love of musical theater. I mean, let's get serious--seeing Wicked twelve times makes me a little bit of a nut, but a happy nut. If you know me even better than that, you know that I love to become engrossed in something until I find another thing to obsess over. Combine these two things, and you pretty much have me in a nutshell. A few weeks ago, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! was on television, and of course, I had to watch it. Watching that led me to revisit my Rodgers and Hammerstein music, movies, and general knowledge, but also left me wishing for more, so I went to my library's online catalog in hopes of discovering a biography or some other non-fiction book about this pair who basically ruled my childhood. By chance, in some serendipitous twist (which is why I love libraries) I happened across a book called The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty by Wilfrid Sheed, which I immediately requested and subsequently sprinted to the library to get when it arrived. This seemed like just the book I was looking for--in weeks prior, I'd been re-reading Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events while I was taking summer classes (they're easy to set down and pick up when you have little time for fun reading) and was looking for a non-fiction fix. (Fiction is my first love, of course, but the librarian and general hoarder of useless, fun knowledge in me calls for a little non-fiction too.)

Well, The House That George Built certainly fit the bill. It is a fun, astonishing, and often distraction-laden (in a good way) read. This book claims to be a "history of the Golden Age of American popular music" and, to my mind, fulfills its goals. Sheed seems to be the perfect guy for the job too--he has met many of the composers and lyricists who he talks about in great detail, adding personal reflections along the way. He starts out the book at the beginning of the beginning of "American" music with Irving Berlin (who never learned how to play the piano properly, but has written some of the most important and memorable songs in American history) and moves to George Gershwin, who established American music and acted as a kind of "Chairman of the Board" (sorry, Frank) by setting up composers with lyricists and generally helping out his contemporaries while always seeming to best them. Sheed moves on to talk about Harold Arlen ("Over the Rainbow"), Duke Ellington ("Don't Get Around Much Anymore"), Cole Porter (Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate), Richard Rodgers (duh!), Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls), and many others and of all of their continuation of the legacy of Gershwin. Sheed reminds you of songs that you love, of which you probably never thought "Wow, who wrote that?!" He does a great job of giving character to each composer and lyricist, linking them with those songs that they're famous (or not so famous) for, and he doesn't hide their flaws, but shows how those flaws are part of the greatness of what they produced.

Almost every other page found me throwing the book down, running to my laptop and typing in names in my iTunes or searching for songs on youtube--it was too much fun, and now I've spent too much money downloading things to beef up my own collection. It's all made me want to simply lie on the floor with my eyes closed and listen to these wonderful songs like I used to when I would discover a new show or song when I was a girl.

But I think the best thing abouot The House That Gershwin Built is in the fact that it doesn't read like a history book, even thought that's really what it is. Sheed even gives us a caveat: "Anyway, this book is no technical study. A life of Keats or Robert Frost doesn't depend on metrics. This is also a book about a time and place, America 1900-1950, in between the horse and buggy and the jet plane, and the men who wrote music that would still sound good on "Jupiter and Mars," and wherever we decide to fly next." And he's not lying. Through the eyes and ears of these composers, Sheed is able to give us a glimpse of what life was like between 1900-1950 in America. Of course, this view isn't comprehensive, but the overview is wonderful. In a time when we take advantage of the fact that we have so many things at the snap of our fingers (or really, the touch of a screen), it's lovely to read about a time when you had to learn to play the piano so you could read the sheet music to play the new songs you loved and how important that music was to the general feeling of life. Not only this, but it's also thought-provoking to realize that those people in the 1920s were not so different from us--they craved entertainment (both quality and escapist) and these composers gave it to them through melody and witty lyrics, while also using that entertainment to change the way their audiences listened. Unfortunately, our idea of entertainment has strayed far away from quality (see: Jersey Shore, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Eminem, etc.), but we still have this wonderful "old" treasure-trove of songs that will hopefully never die. And, if you think about it, the best soundtracks for movies or bride and groom first dances at weddings or songs you close your eyes to are standards, right? And Broadway always loves a good revival (see: South Pacific in 2008, or Come Fly With Me which is all Frank Sinatra music (who sang so many of the songs Sheed talks about) and is done a la Movin' Out). I mean, who doesn't know "I Got Rhythm" by the Gershwins, or "The Lady is a Tramp" by Rodgers and Hart, or "You're the Top" by Cole Porter? Well, I won't say "shame on you" if you don't, but I certainly will pity you and beg you to read The House That Gershwin Built. Sheed's jazzy, personal, and engrossing writing and stories make you feel like you're on the inside of a wonderful inside joke (and it made me wish I played the piano).

I hope that I haven't made it sound like you need to possess my own level of fanaticism about this era and its music in order to enjoy this book, because I don't think that you do. Like I said before, this isn't a book just about the music, but about the life and times of the era that produced some of the greatest American music ever written, and it gives a great background to beginning or furthering a love of all kinds of music. However, if you're like me and know every word to every Rodgers and Hammerstein shows (even the one you might not like so much coughCarouselcough) and smile when you hear "De-Lovely" or wish you could write words like "The way you wear your hat/the way you sip your tea/the memory of all that/no, no they can't take that away from me," then this is most certainly the book for you. If you are looking for a non-fiction fix that won't feel like required reading, pick up The House That Gershwin Built.

Keep reading (and singing!)
Stephanie

PS--Another fabulous non-fiction of a different ilk is The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (which you may recognize as being the book that the movie Adaptation was VERY loosely based on). It's a really insightful, fun look into the lives of "orchid people" and especially John Laroche--a dirty, scummy, alarming, passionate, and real man who you can't help but love. I love Orlean (and read her blog at The New Yorker every day) and really enjoyed The Orchid Thief!

PPS--I've made it an end-of-summer goal to put all of my handwritten lists of books I've read (can you believe I've been making those lists for 10 years now!?) in an Excel spreadsheet... and I'm hoping to blog about that experience, because it's been great fun!

What Happens When You're Spending Your Time Reading Like a Maniac

"No shame in saying that I felt a loneliness drifting through me. Funny how it waws, everyone perched with their own tale, beginning in some strange middle point, the trying so hard to tell it all, to have it all make sense, logical and final."

Let the Great World Spin

I'm finding that sometimes, life gets in the way of even the most well-intentioned plans like keeping a blog, for instance. I haven't updated here since APRIL?! How have I become so detached from something that I was so excited about?! But never fear, dear Reader--for, although my blog-writing goals have fallen to a dusty way-side, my reading habits have grown and developed. In fact, I have been simply devouring books to the point where I wonder where I find time to do much else (and those around me worry about my well-being). I can blame one word on my recent obsessive reading--SUMMER. When I was still in school (okay... I'm still "in school," but I'm talking about real school here) the idea of summer meant way more free time than I knew what to do with, which usually meant that I ended up longing for school and filled my days splitting my energies between swimming, beating up my brother, sucking down gallons of fruit punch Kool Aid, and getting lost in book worlds. Even though I am not in real school anymore--meaning that those summers are supposed to be out of reach to me now--I refuse to give up my insanely long "to read this summer" lists and hours-long reading-fests.

Suck on that adult-world. You can't keep me down!

So, to kick off the summer (a little late), I thought I'd give you an idea of the things I have been reading! So... since Little Bee, the most notable books I've read have been:

The Swan Theives by Elizabeth Kostova--This is Kostova's newest book (and she's coming to the National Book Festival! Yay!), and although I think I had higher expectations for it, I still liked it. The book follows a psychologist who has a patient who recently tried to take a swipe at a painting in the National Gallery of Art (how fitting!! I was a little disappointed to find out that the painting doesn't exist...) and although the man won't talk about why he tried to ruin the painting, the psychologist soon becomes entangled in an ages-old mystery and, soon, in his patient's life. It's a fun mystery-type book--well written, although some of the story lines are a little hard to believe, but that's fiction for you! This book made me want to learn more about painting and art, and happy to be working at the National Gallery, even though I don't see art, really--at least I'm close!

The Last Station by Jay Parini--This was recently adapted into a movie (for which Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren were both nominated) and well worth the read! I don't know anything about Leo Tolstoy, so I really cannot attest to the historical accuracy of this historical fiction piece, but after I finished the book, I looked some things up, and it seems pretty true to life! The story is told from several perspectives of the people who surround Leo Tolstoy in his final weeks of life, the most notable of which are his wife (whom every hates), his daughter, his servant, and his "manager," but you never hear from Tolstoy himself. It's an interesting story about what seemed to be a very troubled, though revered life.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann--If you pick up none of these other books, please do yourself a favor and choose this one to read. I loved this book. Let the Great World Spin won the National Book award for 2009, and rightly so. This story follows several characters around a central event which is the real-life occurance of a man who strung a tightrope between the Twin Towers and walked it in 1974. The characters are vivid and beautifully written and include a judge, his wife who cannot get over her son's death in Vietnam and meets with a support group for it, a monk who is having trouble with his faith, a prostitute, a young boy with a penchant for graffiti, and the tightrope walker himself. This book is wonderfully written and real, and really speaks to a post-9/11 world well. The ways that all of the stories line up (or don't) is brilliant and reveals the connectivity of us all under an umbrella of tragedy, hope, and spectacle. Seriously. Read this book.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Scaffer and Annie Burrows--Let me be frank--I put off reading this book because it was one of those ones that EVERYONE was talking about, and I'm typically not pulled in by the popularity of a book. But, I was at the library one day and spotted it and figured I'd give it a shot. I'm so glad I did. This epistolary novel (which is so awesome because it's so hard to find a good one and they're my favorite kind!) is comprised of letters written right after World War 2 between a woman writer in London and a group of people in Guernsey (an island in the Channel) who formed a book club in response to German occupation. The letters become more detailed and they all begin to grow a bond. This is a fun, touching, and easy read that is definitely suited for the beach!

The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow--If you are female, this should be on the top of your to-read list. Zaslow was the man who helped Randy Pausch put The Last Lecture on paper, and he does an excellent job with this book. This non-fiction read tells the story of a group of friends from Ames, Iowa who have been friends since grade school. There are 11 in all (although one did pass away in their early twenties) and they still get together to this day even though they are spread all around the country. Many of the girls have had tragedy, although one more so than others, and it is an amazing thing to see how these women come together even after so many years. Zaslow does a great job of interspersing information about female friendships throughout the story and it really made me think about my own friendships and how much I cherish them. This is non-fiction, but reads like fiction.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon--When my book club voted on this book, I rolled my eyes, but read it anyway since I had missed the last meeting. Oh. My. God. Even though it is almost 500 pages, I finished it in four days because I simply could not put it down. I am not someone who really likes mysteries or suspense stories, but Zafon knows how to tell a good story. The story is about a boy whose father owns a used-book store. One day he is given the chance to pick one book from the "Cemetary of Books" and he chooses The Shadow of the Wind by an obscure author whom he had never heard of and soon learns that all of the books the author has written have been burned by an anonymous man. The boy soon learns everything he can about the author and becomes involved in a tangled reality of death, disguises, burning books, love, and post-Spanish civil war politics. So awesome. It's really a great read, and I can't wait to talk about it at book club this week! Also, note that this was originally written in Spanish and has been translated... the prose is fantastic.

That's about all the time I have to write about, but here's what else I've read since my last update, and I'd be happy to discuss any of them with you and give you my opinions!

Alice Have I Been by Melanie Benjamin
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (yes, again)
The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha (based on the blog 1000awesomethings.com which is pure gold)
Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner
Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
His Excellency George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass (I'm reading her first book right now and loving it so far! She's coming to the National Book Festival too!)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (good God, do I love Faulkner!)
The Red Tent by Anita Diament (better than I thought it would be.. I really liked it actually!)
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (yes, this is a children's book.. but Paterson is coming to the National Book Festival and she's the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.. I couldn't resist! Jacob Have I Loved, here I come!)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (yes, again. But I went to see Hamlet while there was a production at the Folger, and it made me want to read it again!)
Push by Sapphire (whooo... gird your loins before you read this one)
The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman (what happens when imaginary friends get out of hand..)
The Bad Beginning and The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket (I found myself missing Snicket's wit.. so I had to do it! :) )

So, on a sort of side note, I've been considering taking on the challenge to read all of the past National Book Award for Fiction winners.. which is about 60 books. But I've read about 7 of them already, and I think I'd spread it out over a few years. Thoughts?

Keep Reading (and sharing what you're reading!!)
Stephanie