Square Eyes



                                                "I need to use my most important investigative tool -- my library card."
                                                                                  Det. Robert Goren, Law & Order: Criminal Intent



My mother still predicts I'll develop square eyes someday. I've always been an avid and enthusiastic TV viewer.

From Fred Flintstone to Batman; That Girl to 30 Rock; Law & Order to Good Wife, the television has been a near constant companion. My father was horrified that, while on a family vacation, I refused to watch a gorgeous Key West sunset in order to sit, huddled, in front of a hotel TV, watching a Mod Squad episode. 

However, if television has been a good friend, books hold the title of best friend. Where would I be without John Steinbeck? Trixie Belden? Samuel Beckett? Anne Tyler?

I've enjoyed the best (and occasionally worst) of both worlds.

David Letterman has had me laughing late at night when I've been too restless or anxious to sleep. I've spent way too much time trying to figure out why Hyacinth Bucket (Keeping Up Appearances) is such a social-climber. After watching a few episodes, I decided I really didn't want to keep up with the Kardashians. And why are the Beverly Hills housewives so catty? My husband and I have gotten hooked on two intense dramas: The Following and The Killing. The gritty subject matter (especially in The Following) is the stuff of nightmares. But the writing and acting in each drama is top-notch. 

Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club whisked me from my armchair and introduced me to San Francisco. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn kept me up past midnight, trying to figure out exactly what had happened to Amy Dunne. I laughed my way through Jacob Tomsky's hotel-based memoir, Heads in Beds. There have a been a few books this past year or two that have me wondering why so many characters had to be remarkably unlikeable: Jean Thompson's The Year We Left Home; You are the Love of my Life by Susan Shreve; and You Came Back by Christopher Coake.

With both books and television shows, spirited discussions with friends and family have broken out, debating a plot's evolution or a character's behavior.

There are times when my television and book worlds overlap.
I had fun dreaming up book lists for these television characters, who have been seen reading in more than one episode. Are any reading lists close to your own?
                                                  
                                                  *****

*Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Per Petterson - Out Stealing Horses
Brian Green - Fabric of the Cosmos
E.L. Doctorow - Homer & Langley
Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone
Haruki Murakami - Chronicle of the Wind-up Bird

*Debra Barone (Patricia Heaton) Everybody Loves Raymond.
Jodi Picoult - The Tenth Circle
Nancy Turner - These is my Words
Sandra Dallas - Tallgrass
Tatiana deRosnay - Sarah's Key
Lisa See - Shanghai Girls
Garth Stein - Art of Racing in the Rain

*Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammar) Frasier.
New England Journal of Medicine
Bill Bryson - House
Dennis Lehane (Boston connection) - Shutter Island
Sigmund Freud - The Interpretation of Dreams
Jeff Eugenides - Middlesex
Ben Karlin - Things I've Learned From Women Who Dumped Me

*Brick Heck (Atticus Shaffer) The Middle.
Gary Paulsen - The Hatchet
Robert Cormier - I am the Cheese 
Robert Newton Peck - A Day No Pigs Would Die
JRR Tolkien - Lord of the Rings trilogy
Edward Bloor - Tangerine
Louis Sachar - Holes

*Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) Gilmore Girls
David Foster Wallace - Consider the Lobster
Joan Didion - Blue Nights
Ann Patchett - What Now
Rebecca Johns - Icebergs
Francine Prose - Reading Like a Writer
Dave Eggers - Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

*Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) Murder, She Wrote.
Agatha Christie - Body in the Library
Alexander McCall Smith - Sunday Philosphy Club
Catherine Gildiner - Too Close to the Falls
Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes series
Charles Dickens - Mystery of Edwin Drood
Camilla Lackberg - Stonecutter

*Blanche Deveraux (Rue McClanahan) Golden Girls
Debbie Macomber - Montana
Jude Deveraux - Scarlet Nights
Linda Howard - Kill and Tell
Amy Heath - Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society

*Dorothy Zbornack (Bea Arthur) Golden Girls
Thomas Paine (actually mentioned in episode) -  Common Sense
T.C. Boyle - The Women
Shakespeare (quoted in at least one episode) - Midsummer's Night Dream
Barbara Kingsolver - Poisonwood Bible
Anne Kreamer - Going Gray
Sonia Sotomayor - My Beloved World 

Funny Girls

"Well-behaved women seldom make history." 

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 

   My joketelling prowess (and maturity) stopped somewhere around the age of eight or nine. Then, as now, I had a love of knock knock jokes and weakness for puns. I don't believe puns are the lowest form of humor. Arguably, a well-executed pun can be clever word play.
   I think Freudian slips and malapropisms are hilarious. A librarian friend once told me, with a worried look on her face, that she thought a library patron with a suspected heart disorder would require genital testing. I bit my lip, trying hard not to laugh, but wound up guffawing until tears rolled down my face. She realized her mistake and gasped out,"Genetic testing -- genetic!" Too late - I was roaring with laughter. To this day, it still makes me giggle.
   My cousin has an entertaining story, now a family favorite, about  an aging minivan with a stubborn window that wouldn't go up and a grizzled carwash employee who was neither patient nor amused. His disdain was evident by his clenching of a cigarette while growling "son of a bitch" and fighting with the window. The punchline is that the window eventually worked on its own, and the employee was last seen still grumbling and shaking his head. 
  The late essayist Christopher Hitchens set off a firestorm by stating that women aren't funny.(www.vanityfair.com)  His essay asserts that women can be witty and comic, but don't NEED to be...if humor is seen as a way to attract a mate. He also floats the idea that men don't want women to be funny, preferring women as an audience. Sorry, Mr. Hitchens, I don't agree. This tired idea that women aren't funny is wrong on so many levels.
   I still miss Gilda Radner's Roseanne Roseannadanna and Lisa Lupner - characters on the 1970s Saturday Night Live.
   Flash forward 25 years. Also missed is Radner's heir apparent, Kristin Wiig. Wiig's manic Target Lady and pitch perfect imitations of Suze Orman and Kathie Lee Gifford were falling-off-the-couch-roaring-with-laughter hilarious.
   Do you need to laugh?
   How about the bawdy, raunchy humor of Bridesmaids' Melissa McCarthy?
   Or Betty White's man crazy "Happy Homemaker" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show?
   Carol Burnett's Gone With the Wind curtain rod dress?
   The befuddled innocence of Gracie Allen?
   Lucille Ball's vitameatavegamin routine?
   The biting sweetness of Melissa Rauch's Bernadette Rostenkowski on Big Bang Theory?
   The mononymous women who raised our eyebrows and our spirits - Roseanne and Maude? 
   If you enjoy celebrity bashing, you're probably a fan of Kathy Griffin or Chelsea Handler.
   Then there's Tina Fey. I was misty-eyed while watching the final episodes of 30 Rock. Long live Liz Lemon! 
   April is National Humor Month. Whether you enjoy slapstick, sarcasm or even knock knock jokes, there is a book for you.

Laurie Notaro - The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death- Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia and Laser Hair Removal. 

Erma Bombeck - If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What am I Doing in the Pits? 

Tina Fey - Bossypants.

Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened. (Check out her blog, www.thebloggess.com. Forbes magazine has named the blog one of the top 100 websites for women.)

Jean Kerr - Please Don't Eat the Daisies.

Lisa Scottoline - Meet Me at Emotional Baggage. (Who knew that the queen of Philadelphia mysteries was so funny?)

Dorothy Parker - Portable Dorothy Parker.

Merrill Markoe - What the Dogs Have Taught Me. (Markoe is, in part, responsible for David Letterman's success.)

Yael Kohen - We Killed - the Rise of Women in American Comedy.

Nora Ephron - I Feel Bad About My Neck.

Laurie Perry - Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair. (I was alternately laughing and weepy throughout the book.)

Regina Barreca - They Used to Call Me Snow White but I Drifted.

Carol Burnett - This Time Together-Laughter & Reflections.

Jen Yates - Cake Wrecks. Check out her hilarious website: www.cakewrecks.com Don't read the book or the website at work - you'll drive your coworkers crazy with raucous laughing.

Tad Hill - Knock Knock Who's There? My First Book of Knock Knock Jokes. (The list had to include one knock knock book)

Yes, there's more...

Books by:
Ellen DeGeneres
Roseanne Barr/Arnold
Kathy Griffin
Chelsea Handler
Whoopi Goldberg
Mindy Kaling
Lizz Winstead
Rachel Dratch

                                                  ***

Special note: the gifted writer, E.L. Konigsburg, died April 19. Thank you, Ms. Konigsburg, for many wonderful stories (for all ages), including "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."


   

                      Pipe Dreams


Thornton Wilder: "The whole world's at sixes and sevens, and why the house hasn't fallen down about our ears long ago is a miracle to me."  

        

Doom lies overhead.

Literally.

After four months of exterior construction on our house, we have discovered a leaking second floor bathroom that is now wreaking slow havoc on our kitchen ceiling.

The same kitchen we gutted and remodeled seven years ago.

Our house, a Colonial, was built in 1934.When my husband and I stepped into the center hall for the first time and saw the living room, we knew we were goners. The tall windows standing quiet guard on either side of the beautiful fireplace with the antique tiles and handsome mantle caused us to have that feeling of love's first blush. You know - the pounding heart, rapid breathing, maybe even a touch of dizziness.

Also like love's first blush, after eight years, the bloom is off the rose. For me, at least. I now feel free to say that I am over old houses. Instead, after years of poring over magazines that highlighted sometimes decades-long restoration and decoration of old houses, I have moved from thinking of the romance of it all to having outbursts of colorful expletives that have made me consider washing my own mouth out with soap.

When we bought our house, it was covered in narrow and unattractive vinyl siding. We hoped that someday we'd have the nerve, energy and money to see what was underneath.

This past spring, we found a contractor who was also curious about what was hidden under the siding. He removed a few pieces of siding, happily discovering that the original wood was in pretty good shape. 

As with many construction projects, there were setbacks and surprises. Perhaps the best predictor of the upcoming project's challenges was the removal of the siding. The handyman arrived one evening and got to work tearing off the long strips of vinyl. His unfortunate discovery was of wasps who had built entire cities of nests under our front shutters. That evening coincided with my book group meeting and an eagerly anticipated dinner out. As the four of us piled into the car, backed down the driveway and headed to the restaurant, we watched as the hapless handyman danced around the yard, arms flailing, hands slapping and legs in constant motion. He became known as Dances With Wasps.

There were days that the crews were early, late, or didn't show up at all. One afternoon, with no prior warning, a portable toilet was unceremoniously dropped off in our driveway.

Our contractor and his carpenters were, at times, awed by the beautiful wood detail that emerged from under the siding, especially around the front door.

Finally, around Thanksgiving, the final touches of new storm doors and a mailbox were hung.

My husband and I oohed and aahed over the dramatic changes, and we weren't alone.

Our street dead ends into a large, busy city park. Dog walkers, moms with toddlers, retirees and joggers all pass by our house everyday. We usually just got a wave or a polite smile but the construction project brought out people's natural curiosity. We were asked: "What color will you paint your house?" "When will your house be finished?" And my favorite question: "How long have you lived here?"

I swear that even a few dogs stopped to check out the progress.

I have had days of impatience, happiness, pride and frustration. That's typical, I've been told.

One lesson that I've learned is how much I appreciate a quiet afternoon at home, with long calming rays of sun drenching our living room floor. No painters. No carpenters. No electricians. Just me - home alone listening to the house's occasional creaks or groans. More than once, I've wondered if the old house was talking to me.

I think I share with most people the feeling of sanctuary. Whether you live in an 800-square foot apartment, an estate in the poshest suburb, or somewhere in between, our homes are where we go to escape the rest of the world. 

The idea of having more work done, and on the interior of the house makes me anxious and discouraged. But the people living in those beautifully restored houses featured in the long-ago magazines must've experienced all of this.

They just forgot to share it. Instead, they showed us the dream.

My dream is to have a snug, dry kitchen and a functioning bathroom.

My husband says we'll get there.

One room at a time. One leak at a time.

                                                     ###

Here are some book ideas to accompany you on any construction project. (Wine really helps, too)

At Home - Bryson, Bill. Have you ever wondered why we have living rooms or just what is a larder? Bryson's book explains how homes have evolved.

This Old Dump - Walker, Laura Jensen. The subtitle says it best: "renovate without decking your mate."

House - Kidder, Tracy. Pulitzer Prize winner Kidder has tackled topics ranging from computers to education. In this book he shares the wild ride that is house construction.

Home: A Short History of an Idea - Rybczynski, Witold. Turning the key and walking into your house, how do you feel? Rybczynski's book guides us through the idea of "home."

The Not So Big House - Susanka, Sarah. An architect, Susanka believes what materials are used to build a house far outweighs a home's size. She is a defender of smaller spaces and greener lifestyles.

How a House is Built - Gibbons, Gail. Written for children, but helpful for adults, Gibbons explains the construction of a house.

A Field Guide to American Houses - McAlester, Virginia & Lee. One of my favorite books for exploring houses. What types of houses are in your neighborhood? Colonials? Tudors? Four Squares? The McAlesters explain the art and architecture of American houses.

Home Comforts - Mendelson, Cheryl. Maybe your home construction is finished (lucky you!). But what is best way to clean and protect your home? Mendelson shares a lot of good ideas.

Happier At Home - Rubin, Gretchen. A follow-up to "The Happiness Project," Rubin concentrates on making home a happier and more serene place, month by month. What I've learned so far is that most of us don't have houses that are merely disorganized - we just have TOO much stuff!  

Books in Brown Bags

       "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege, too."
                                                                                    --Voltaire


On display at my library this week (September 30-Oct. 6) are books in brown bags. The brown bags have nothing to do with lunch. It's all about banned and challenged books.

Why is a book challenged? According to the American Library Association, there are three top reasons: 1) the book's material is considered sexually explicit; 2) the book contains offensive language; 3) the book is "unsuited" to any age group.

Is there a difference between a challenge and a ban? A challenge is the attempt to remove or restrict material based on the objections of a person or group. Banning is the removal of that material, said ALA.

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."                       --Noam Chomsky 

Is your favorite book or author on the banned/challenged list? 

These are only a few of the classics that have been banned or challenged:
Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
Ulysses - James Joyce
Native Son - Richard Wright
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser

In 2011, these books were also banned or challenged:
Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Alice - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Also on past challenged/banned lists:
Harry Potter (series) - J.K. Rowling
Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson

Some authors are in a "hall of fame" for their near-constant appearances on challenged/banned lists:
*Judy Blume
Gary Paulsen
Maurice Sendak
Mark Twain
Lois Lowry
Robert Cormier
John Steinbeck
Stephen King

"Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to talk to them"                               --Anna Quindlen 

Bill Moyers, author and journalist, has released an online video that discusses censorship and book banning. Check it out on YouTube. Moyers notes the irony of Ray Bradbury's book, Fahrenheit 451, which took a dim view of book banning, being on the list of banned/challenged books.

"A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it."
                                                       --Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451.

Websites for more information on banned books:
www.asja.org (American Society of Journalists/Authors)
www.bookweb.org (American Booksellers Association)
www.pen.org (PEN American Center)
www.ncac.org (National Coalition Against Censorship)
www.read.gov/cfbl (Center for the Book-Library of Congress)

"Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance"
                                                                 --Lyndon Baines Johnson

I'm reading two banned/challenged books this week:
Lady Chatterley's Lover - D.H. Lawrence
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs

*Author update: Judy Blume is recuperating from surgery following a mastectomy. 





  








   

Mrs. Parks' Gift

"A big truck was parked in the drive one day. They wrapped us in paper and moved us away."

                                          --Mary Chapin Carpenter "Only a Dream"

They sit quietly on a shelf in my kitchen - an old set of white ceramic salt and pepper shakers with delicately painted red roses. A casual glance at them wouldn't reveal any great value. But they are cherished reminders of my childhood. Every time I look at them, I remember Sycamore Street. And summer afternoons sipping lemonade with Mrs. Parks.

After we moved from Sycamore Street, I rarely thought of the neighbors we left behind. I was 12,and the idea that any of them would have a lasting impact on my life was remote. However, reading the 2008 obituary of a former neighbor, Ted Parks, brought back tender memories of the street where I lived as a child. His wife, Glee, had died several years earlier.

Ted and Glee Parks lived next door to us. Mr. Parks worked long hours and I rarely saw him. In my memory, he is captured as a hand waving out of a pickup truck that is slowly rolling down our street.

It was Mrs. Parks who was my friend and confidante. She was tall and thin with dark hair, and usually had a cigarette firmly attached to her lips. On summer weekend afternoons, Mrs. Parks would bring out a push mower and work in her yard. Propelled by the steady hum of the grass being clipped, I would drift over and soon become her six-year-old shadow, following her between the trees and along the drive. Eventually I would take a few laps around the yard with the mower and was rewarded with a glass of icy lemonade. 

I enjoyed those summer afternoons with Mrs. Parks, sitting on her concrete front stoop. Most of the exact conversations and topics are lost to me now, but her interest in my everyday life made me feel grown up and important. One afternoon she told me about her younger brother who stuttered. I also had moments when my thoughts were faster than my mouth and I would trip over opening syllables. It was frustrating to me. In a gentle and thoughtful way, Mrs. Parks' story about her brother taught me that an occasional struggle with words didn't lessen the importance of a story or of what I had to say.

I wasn't the only one who thought Mrs. Parks was our best neighbor. Halloween was even more fun for my two sisters and me because it meant stopping first at Mrs. Parks' house. She would ooh and aah over our costumes, eventually sending us off with special treats and big smiles.

Mr. and Mrs. Parks had no children. Instead, they had two dogs - a weimaraner, Gus, and a basset hound, Gert. Some days after school, I would go outside to sit next to the fence and talk to Gus and Gert, telling them about my day. They would sit quietly huddled together as if truly understanding my stories. On snowy days, I would race Gus and Gert down our back yard hill. I'd fly on my sled and the dogs would run along the fence, barking, with Gert working hard to keep up with Gus and me.

One summer everything changed. I don't remember saying goodbye to Mrs. Parks the June morning we moved away to Florida.

It was 10 years later when, as a newly-wed, I drove past my childhood home, introducing my husband to my little bit of Kansas City. I didn't stop to visit any of the old neighbors that day, a decision that I regret.

The day I read Mr. Parks' obituary, memories came roaring back - the lemonade, the dogs and the long talks on the front stoop. Later, my sister called me with the news that she was going to the Parks' estate sale. There was one thing I requested she look for at the sale: the push mower.

 The only relative there that day was Mr. Parks' nephew-in-law. He said the mower had been sold just the day before. My sister asked if she could walk through the house and, feeling overwhelmed, began to cry as she told him that Mr. and Mrs. Parks had always been our family's favorite neighbors. He was surprised, saying that Ted and Glee had always been quiet, even among family, and that he had never really gotten to know them. He said to choose something for me as a gift from Mrs. Parks' house.

She chose the now much-loved salt and pepper shaker set.

As a child, I didn't realize my good fortune of living next door to a kind woman with a push mower. Now I count that as one of my favorite stories of growing up on Sycamore Street. 

Biographies and Memoirs

What is the difference between a memoir and an autobiography? An autobiography usually tells a life story in chronological order. A memoir may highlight one particular time in a life, such as Cheryl Strayed's memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Either way, the stories can be eye-openers to lives otherwise only wondered about by outsiders.


Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand. Set aside some major weekend time for this book - you may not want to leave your chair. A gripping book about Louis Zamerpini, an airman in WWII, who had his sights set on the Berlin Olympics. An absorbing story about a larger-than-life man.

Perfection - Julie Metz. After Metz' s husband died, she discovered he'd had numerous affairs. She began to methodically piece together the story of his infidelities. It's an uncomfortable story, yet I followed Metz on her journey.

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson. Get ready to laugh. A lot. Bryson's story of growing up in 1950s Des Moines is laugh out loud and tender, with some snark thrown in.

Anne Frank - Francine Prose. Prose takes a scholarly and inviting look at the diary of Anne Frank, calling it a "work of art as well as a historical record."

A Ticket to the Circus - Norris Church Mailer. What was it like living with Norman Mailer? His fourth (and final) wife shares many stories with us.

Audition - Barbara Walters. The ground-breaking broadcaster has had an amazing life both on and off television.

By the Iowa Sea - Joe Blair. In the summer of 2008, the cities of Iowa City and Cedar Rapids (Iowa) were devastated by floods. As the water rose higher in his neighborhood and tensions grew, Blair started questioning his own life including his marriage and past choices.  

Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson. Isaacson promised to give us a full portrait of Jobs' good and less than flattering traits. He fulfilled that promise. Jobs emerged as a contradictory (who isn't?), brilliant, and complicated man.

Little Heathens - Mildred Armstrong Kalish. Life in Iowa during the Great Depression as seen through a young girl's eyes.

Beautiful Boy - David Sheff. Sheff's son has battled an addiction to crystal meth. At once this story is frightening, hopeful and loving.

Middle Place - Kelly Corrigan. The story of a family nightmare - Corrigan was battling breast cancer at the same time her father was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Still, this is also a story of a family's resilience and devotion to one another.

Grant Wood - R. Tripp Evans. You've seen the painting - the farmer and his wife in front of a small, tidy white house. Now learn about the artist who created "American Gothic." Wood may be best known for the single painting, but also created a stained glass masterpiece and gained respect for his metal work.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake - Anna Quindlen. This book is like an afternoon with an old friend and a cup of tea. Quindlen mulls over the changes that aging, parenthood and marriage have brought to her life.

Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls. A jaw-dropping memoir of growing up with parents who have questionable child-rearing techniques, and mental health issues. 

Bossypants - Tina Fey. Get ready to laugh, and to have an occasional lump in your throat. Fey's storytelling is phenomenal. I enjoyed learning more about life backstage at SNL and 30 Rock.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life - Barbara Kingsolver. Imagine that for one year that you would only eat food that you or a local farmer grew. No fast food, no fruit from exotic locales. Follow along on this family's attempt to eat differently and independently for one year. 

Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion. Didion experienced the deaths of both her husband and daughter in a relatively short time. This is the agonizing, well-written memoir of that time.

This Boy's Life - Tobias Wolff. Dark, funny, tragic describe, but don't entirely capture the story of Wolff's childhood.

Basketball Diaries - James Carroll. Another dark, funny and tragic tale of growing up.

Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer. What happens when a young man decides to move to the Alaskan wilderness to test himself? Krakauer examines the life of Christopher McCandless. You won't be able to put the book down!

In the Garden of Beasts - Erik Larsen. The rise of the Hitler regime as seen through the eyes of the Dodd family. William E. Dodd was the American ambassador to Germany.

Change Me Into Zeus' Daughter - Barbara Robinette Moss. Moss' childhood was difficult, to say the least. As tragic as it was, there are still gently funny aspects of growing up in the South. Moss died in 2009. 

Ambulance Girl - Jane Stern. Stern was in her 50s, overweight and increasingly stressed when she decided to push herself to work as a volunteer EMT. You may recognize her as half of the Jane and Michael Stern writing duo - they specialize in food and restaurant reviews. This is one of my favorite books.  

The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt - Arthur Vanderbilt. F. Scott Fitzgerald was right - the rich really are different! Offers interesting look at the Vanderbilt wealth as well as American history.

Here If You Need Me - Kate Braestrup. Braestrup was a young widow when she felt a calling to begin work as a chaplain for the wardens who conduct search and rescue missions in Maine. Lyrical yet spare writing make this book a delight to read.

Cleopatra - Stacy Schiff. Definitely not the Hollywood version of the Queen of the Nile's life. Still, loads of drama and intrigue! 

There's no shortage to celebrity memoirs. And this is a short list!

Check out these books by or about:

Sheila Weller - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon
Patti Boyd - Wonderful Tonight
Keith Richards - Life
Warren Zevon - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Eric Clapton - Clapton: The Autobiography
Carly Simon - More Room in a Broken Heart 
Roseanne Cash - Composed
Gregg Allman - My Cross to Bear
Patti Smith - Just Kids
Rue McClanahan - My First Five Husbands
Melissa Gilbert - Prairie Tale
Carol Burnett - This Time Together
Valerie Bertinelli - Losing It & Finding It
Carrie Fisher - Wishful Drinking
Ali Wentworth - Ali in Wonderland



***What I'm reading now: Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: Life of David Foster Wallace - D.T. Max. Definitely a book to read slowly and get to know the incredibly talented writer, DFW. 

***What's on hold at the library: Paris: A Love Story - Kati Marton. I'm looking forward to reading Marton's memoir about life with two very different husbands - Peter Jennings (journalist) and Richard Holbrooke (ambassador).



   

Pop Quiz!

"Intelligence is the wife, imagination is the mistress, memory is the servant."   Victor Hugo

It's back to school time. What are the two words that inspire the most fear in students? Substitute teacher? Cafeteria lunch? Gym class? For me, the two words were pop quiz, especially in math class. 

No need for any anxiety today...have fun browsing the questions. 

No peeking at the answers at the end of the quiz!

Good luck!

1) This Pulitzer Prize winner, for 1957's A Death in the Family, worked mainly as a screenwriter. Two of his biggest film successes are African Queen & Night of the Hunter.

2) According to the NY Times, transcendentalism blossomed in the US in the early 1800s. True or False: Ralph Waldo Emerson was part of this movement.

3) Author of Great Gatsby.

4) Author of Sun Also Rises.

5) The bestselling novel of all time is________.

6) Who is the wealthiest (worldwide) author today?

7) It's a tie! Who are the bestselling English-language authors of all time? A_______________ B__________________

8) In 2010, what were the top three most-borrowed titles in American libraries?

9) What book is the most commonly found in libraries around the world?

10) What is the largest library in the US? 

11) As of Sept 1, 2012, what was the NY Times' #1 fiction bestseller?                          Hint: I mentioned this book in an earlier post.

12) As of Sept. 1, 2012, what was the NY Times' #1 nonfiction bestseller?

13) This author has recently revealed herself to be the mysterious "Dear Sugar," an online advice column (therumpus.net). Her new book is a compilation of those columns. Hint: Her previous book is still on the NY Times' bestseller list.

14) These authors both died on November 22, 1963. 

15) Peggy Parish's lovable character has made early readers laugh for many years. Who is the too-literal kooky character? 

Answers

1)  James Agee 1909-1955
2)  True
3)  F. Scott Fitzgerald
4)  Ernest Hemingway
5)  Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities
6)  J.K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter series
7)  Agatha Christie & William Shakespeare
8)  A. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
     B. Women, Food & God by Geneen Roth
     C. Big Short in the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
9)  Bible
10) Library of Congress - 32,124,001 books
11) NY Times fiction - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
12) NY Times nonfiction - Paterno by Joe Posnanski
13) Cheryl Strayed
14) Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis
15) Amelia Bedelia     

My Leaning Tower of Books

"High summer can be pitiless to the low-spirited."

Dodie Smith
author, I Capture the Castle

So many good books and so little reading time! My nightstand is piled high again with fabulous books.

This is the list of my can't-wait-to-read July/August books. Please check back - I may be adding more!

Gone Girl - Flynn, Gillian (F). A missing wife...an odd-acting husband. This novel had my full attention until long past midnight. It was a thrilling roller coaster and kept me guessing. If anyone tries to spoil the ending - do not listen! This is a perfect group discussion book.

Canada - Ford, Richard (F). After seeing Ford on the Colbert Report, I decided to buy his new book. The plot centers around Dell Parson's story about his parents and their misadventures. I first read Ford's Independence Day (blog post May 27), and discovered that not only does he write well about unlikeable characters, he makes us care about them.  

The English Major - Harrison, Jim (F). A poet and novelist, Harrison is a new author for me. Who could resist this opening line: "It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn't"? 

True Sisters - Dallas, Sandra (F). Blending history with fictional characters, Dallas brings us along on the Mormon trek from Iowa to Utah. Dallas is the queen of historical fiction. Check out her books Prayers for Sale or Persian Pickle Club.  

Beginner's Goodbye - Tyler, Anne (F). Tyler is back! She has long been one of my favorite fiction writers, starting with Earthly Possessions. Some of her recent novels left me less than enthusiastic about recommending them. The story of Aaron Woolcott has changed all that. I spent the weekend wishing I could disappear with the book for "just one more chapter." Another good choice for book groups.  

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake - Quindlen, Anna (NF). Quindlen has brought us along on her life's journey from young parent to Newsweek columnist. Now, at 60, she is an empty-nester and pondering life's future challenges, while looking back at her life. Quindlen is a gifted writer and the book feels like a conversation with a dear, trusted friend. And in some ways, it is precisely that.    

Let's Pretend This Never Happened - Lawson, Jenny (NF). Don't make my mistake and read this book late at night next to a (sort of) sleeping mate. After a few grumbles from  my husband, I put the book away but kept chuckling to myself about some of Lawson's raw, outlandish writing. Lawson is "The Bloggess." Check it out: http://www.thebloggess.com/

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Morris, Edmund (NF). I'm looking forward to learning more about our 26th president.

Emily, Alone - O'Nan, Stewart (F). I've had this on my to-read list after reading so many glowing reviews. My introduction to O'Nan's writing was The Circus Fire about a devastating fire in Hartford, CT in 1944.  

Stay cool!