PaperCuts

Have you ever been reading a book and then just had to stop because it contained something you just don't like to read about?  If a dog dies, or a child is hurt, or someone is raped, or a creepy serial killer dismembers someone is it enough to make you stop reading?  What kinds of things will make you put down and book and not be able to finish it?

I know for a lot of people, the scene in When the Emperor Was Divine where the dog is killed bothered them so much they had trouble finishing the book.  I didn't like that scene either, but I managed to get through it and read the rest of the book.  I can usually get past creepy/sad scenes if there aren't too many of them.  But the one genre I have the most problem with is true crime.  I can read all kinds of fiction about murderers and such, but I can't read too much true crime without getting freaked out.  Knowing it is true starts to make me paranoid and keeps me up at night.

Posted on December 15, 2007 by Deb at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

As I was reviewing the questions I've written over the course of this year (and trying to remember what I had written about) I observed that I haven't asked any questions related to the many wonderful settings we can find in books.  Some authors do such a wonderful job of describing a place or even creating a whole new world that it makes you just want to go there.  Where in a book would you like to go?  Would you like to go somewhere familiar or exotic?  In a book you can not only travel to places around the globe, but also to different times, different planets, alternate universes, and fantasy worlds. 

Hmmmm, I can think of many places from books that I would love to visit--and several that I would not want to go to.  I've recently read some books set in Europe during the Middle Ages which I really liked, but while I have enjoyed learning about that time period I'm not sure I'd want to go for an extended visit.  It'd be hard to live without modern day conviences.  I do think I'd like hanging out with Robin Hood and his friends in the forest of England, especially after reading about their adventures in Hood by Stephen Lawhead.  I'd also be cool to visit the Shire or the Elven lands from the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings series.  I'd want to stay out of Mordor though.  And I would absolutely love to visit the land of Narnia from the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.  At least we can always visit these places in our imaginations, and the best thing is, it won't cost us anything.

Posted on December 08, 2007 by Deb at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Do you have a special reading place?  Many of us will read just about anywhere, but is there a place you have that you gravitate towards when you are ready to settle in for a good long read?  Is it an especially comfortable couch? A chair? Or do you read in bed?  Do you have any accesories that you like to have with you when reading--a nice light, a snuggly throw, a hot beverage in a special mug?

As for myself, I do have a very comfortable chair in my office room at home that I like to curl up in and read.  I keep a very warm throw next to it in case it is a chilly evening, and sometimes I indulge in a cup of hot chocolate or tea while reading.  I mostly like that spot because it is quiet and cozy--it is also where I write in my journal every evening so there is also a pen and paper handy in case I want to write something down.  There is a radio/CD player in that room too so I can turn on some quiet background music if I wish (it has to be strictly instrumental if I'm reading, if it's music with words I find it too distracting).   I'm so glad I have a nice spot like this too read, I just wish I had more time to use it! 

Posted on December 01, 2007 by Deb at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wow, we are on question # 47 which means there is only ONE MONTH left until Christmas.  It's time to start dreaming of all the wonderful presents you will hopefully receive this year, as well as to start purchasing gifts for all those on your shopping list.  So, to help each other out, let's share:  What book or book related items are on your Christmas wish list this year?  Who knows, maybe someone you know (or Santa) will see what you want and you'll find it under the tree on Christmas morning!

As for myself, I love cooking and would be delighted to receive a well written and beautifully illustrated cookbook Christmas morning.  One of my favorite cooking websites is allrecipes.com, so I would particularly like to get one of their cookbooks (that I don't already have).  I've also become fond of the Cook's Country magazine this past year, so it would be wonderful to get a subscription or to receive one of their cookbooks.  Don't forget that audiobooks make good gifts too, I'd love to have the 2007 audiobook of the year,  The Bible Experience, around on CD to listen to again and again.   Or how about The Chronicles of Narnia CD box set, or The Lord of the Rings, or (I'm really dreaming here) the new Complete Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes set from the BBC.  I could go on, but I think I'd better stop there.

Posted on November 24, 2007 by Deb at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So next week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, most of us by getting together for a feast with our relatives.  That got me thinking of some of the memorable families from the world of literature and what it might be like to sit down for a meal with them.  Some I think would be very enjoyable (mabye even more enjoyable than with your real relatives), some not.  What do you think, which family from a book would you like to eat dinner with and why?  Or are there any you would not want to dine with and why not?

There are so many memorable families to choose from it's hard to pick just one.  Some would be nice to eat with for the loving and warm atmosphere you know would be there: The March family from Little Women, the Ingalls from the Little House books.  Some would provide a more stimulating and lively atmosphere: The Gilbreth family from Cheaper by the Dozen, The Weasley family from the Harry Potter series.  Some, like the Corleone family from the Godfather books, I think I would be scared to eat with unless I could be an invisible observer.  My final pick would be sit down with the Cratchit family from Dicken's A Christmas Carol to eat roast goose with sage and onion stuffing and Christmas pudding--provided by a reformed Mr. Scrooge.

Posted on November 17, 2007 by Deb at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Oprah Winfrey has caused a bit of a stir recently for a decision she made to remove The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter from a list of recommended books on her website.  The book, a children's tale about an orphaned boy raised by Cherokee grandparents, is controversial because the author was really Asa Earl Carter, an outspoken white supremacist who was a member of the Klu Klux Klan and a speechwriter for Alabama governor George Wallace.  According to the AP news story, Oprah said that including the book on the list was an "archival error" and that she no longer feels the same about the book after learning the truth about the author. 
So readers, what do you think?  Did Oprah make the right decision in removing the book from her list of recommended titles?  Or should the story be judged on it's own merits and our reaction to it be divorced from what we know about the author?

I haven't read the book so I can't comment on how well it was written or the way it portrays the Cherokee people.  I do know part of the controversy is that the author originally said it was a true story--and later it was found out to be a work of fiction-- which does seem pretty unexcusable.  What Oprah did was a personal decision about what she was going to endorse.  People certainly have the right to choose who and what they are going to support and not support.  As far as allowing what you know about an author's background to influence your opinion of their writing, that's a tougher question. All writing is a form of communication, and as such it's hard to not let what you know about the creator of that communication to influence how you think about their work.  Does knowing that Thomas Jefferson was a slaveholder influence the way you think about the Declaration of Independence?  It's intriguing to speculate about what the author was thinking about or what his or her motivations were when he or she chose to write about a particular topic.  Yet stories also seem to have a life of their own, and they may end up being interpreted and used in ways far beyond what the author imagined or intended.  So while the author's background can add insight into a story or help us understand why it it was initially written, in the long run I think the writing will stand or will not stand because of how true it comes across to the reader, not because of who or what the author was.

Posted on November 10, 2007 by Deb at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In a recent article from the Topeka Capital Journal, federal prosecutor June Jeffries talks about how she likes to read murder mysteries in her spare time.  Her passion for seeing justice delivered thus spills over from her work day to her leisure time.
That got us wondering about whether our readers also like to read books related to their professions.  Do you like to read books about your job? Or do you like to escape from the workplace and enter an entirely different world when you read?

As for myself I do like to read novels featuring librarians as characters or that are set in libraries. One that I enjoyed recently was Monday Morning Faith by Lori Copeland, in which the main character is a librarian.  She was very stereotyped in that she liked order and calm and so the whole book was about her breaking out of her boring little world when she starts dating a guy who wants to be a missionary doctor to Papua New Guinea.  But it wasn't too far off the mark in terms of what she did on the job.  One of the fun things about reading a book related to your job is either spotting where the author got it right or where they got it wrong.  It can be annoying if the book gets details about the job wrong--thankfully this one didn't.  I like my job so I like reading books set in the same kind of wonderful world where I work.  How about you?

Posted on November 03, 2007 by Deb at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So a certain author caused a bit of a flap recently when she made a revealing comment about one of her characters that may or may not change how that character is perceived in her books.  This question isn't about that as about how much you like authors telling you these extra bits of information about their book after the fact.  Do you like learning all these extra bits of detail, or would you prefere the author just left well enough alone and left it up to the reader's imagination?
I can certainly understand enjoying the world and characters an author has created so much that you want to learn every possible detail about them.  It allows you to spend some more time in that world and can create more depth in the characters and your understanding of them.  But then it's also fun to imagine the characters in your own way and have your own mental image of what they and their world is like.  This is probably why so often movies based on books are disappointing--they just don't measure up to or shatter the mental image you have created on your own.  And I also think having a bit of ambiguity makes it more fun to discuss the books with other people.  How can you speculate and debate over details in the books if every little detail is spelled out by the author?  So once the book has been written and released I would say the author can keep these details to him or herself--unless he or she is going to write them into another book.

Posted on October 27, 2007 by Deb at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The editors of Cook's Country thought it would be a good idea to help people preserve their family traditions by asking them to write down and submit old family recipes for a new coobook.  The result is America's Best Lost Recipes: 121 Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget.  The recipes published were the best out of the more than 2800 submitted, according to this article from USA today.  The article also includes a few of the recipes and stories--the Hungarian Sweet Rolls sound scrumptious!

So to celebrate this new book coming out, let's ask the question: What old family recipes would you most want to save (or wish you had saved)?  You don't necessarily have to share the recipe with us (though that would be great it you did!).

As for myself, I sure wish I had my grandmother's recipe for the yummy apple pie and applesauce she used to make.  I suspect it wouldn't be the same though without the apples from the tree that used to grow in her yard though.  I still remember climbing up in that tree to pick the apples when I was little and helping her chop them up.  I remember lots of sugar and cinammon were involved in making her pies (the apples were really tart) but that's about it.  Sadly, my grandmother is not with us anymore.  I suggest you get your family recipes written down before it is too late!

Posted on October 13, 2007 by Deb at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many readers today feel pressured to not just read, but to read fast.   A recent BBC news article about the judging for the Man Booker Prize notes that the judges were faced with the daunting task of reading about 100 novels in 100 days.  Yikes! I've often read a novel in a day, but I doubt I could keep that pace up for 4 months.   But, book contest judge or not, in this day and age of information overload the BBC article suggest that we would all benefit from being able to read quicker.  Some have even turned reading into a competitive sport, using websites like LibraryThing to track their reading and compare it to others, or just try to beat their personal best from previous years.
What do you think, is speed reading good or bad?  Does it really matter how quickly you are able to read a book, or make a difference in how much you remember it later?  As readers do we lose something by reading too quickly?

As for myself, I have been blessed with an ability to read rather quickly which I often do.  I will also skim a book or skip parts of it on occasion, if I decide once I start reading it that I'm not interested in reading it deeply.  Some books are harder to read fast than others, and I think some are too good to speed through.  No matter how much you speed read, I think that you should always retain the ability to sit and savor a novel.  So speed read yes, but not all the time.  And for the record, according to my LibraryThing list I've read 91 books so far this year...can anyone beat that? 

Posted on October 06, 2007 by Deb at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ever wonder what library staffers are reading when they aren't working?  At a recent staff meeting we discussed books we had recently read and enjoyed.  Here is a list of what we discussed, since we have varied reading interests you're sure to find something you would enjoy too:

The Great Mortality : an intimate history of the Black Death, the most devastating plague of all time by John Kelly

The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley

Patriot Hearts: a novel of the founding mothers by Barbara Hambly

Mason Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner

Breaking Back: How I lost everything and won my life by James Blake

Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing by Lee Server

Pure Flavor: 125 fresh All-American recipes from the Pacific Northwest by Kurt Beecher Dammeier

Epic by Conor Kostick

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta

The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah

Four Seasons in Rome: On twins, insomnia, and the biggest funeral in the history of the world by Anthony Doerr

Embryo Culture: Making babies in the twenty-first century by Beth Kohl

Posted on October 01, 2007 by Deb at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a recent article from the Oregonian, the author talks about how he has gotten into the habit of keeping some books in his car just in case he needs something to read.  This prompted him to do an informal poll with his reader friends--and he found out many of them had the same habit, keeping items ranging from dictionaries, atlases and phone directories to comic books, books of knitting patterns and a handbook on vipassana meditative practice.   The most common books he found to be carried around in cars, besides overdue library books, were Dr. Seuss books. 
So readers, do you indulge in this habit of keeping a book or two in your car in case of a need-to-read emergency?  And if so what do you keep in your car to read?

As for myself, I do generally have some books floating around in my car.  I always keep a phone book in the car, which is extremely useful and has bailed me out several times when I need to know an address, phone number, or refer to a local map.  (BTW, the library has free copies of phone books that we are giving away, in case you want an extra for your car).  Besides that I think I have some old magazines stuck in one of the seat pockets, a couple of audiobooks, a couple of inspirational novels.   I like the Dr. Seuss idea, I think I will put one in my car, what could be better to cheer you up in a stressful situation.  Do any of you women carry books around in your purses?  I sometimes have a paperback in mine, and I always have a small Bible in there for reflection.  I guess I'm well prepared in case of a reading emergency!

Posted on September 29, 2007 by Deb at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

This is in response to a list that's been around for a while, but which I just learned about.  On Oprah's website you can find this article about the Five Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once.  Their picks are Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Four Quartets by TS Eliot, The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century translated by Thomas Merton, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
First of all, I'm not entirely sure that lists like this are such a good idea.   Who have given the author of this article and Oprah the authority to say that these are books everyone should have read?  Of course, I might be a bit put off because I haven't personally read any of these books. 
But for the sake of this blog post, which is supposed to ask you a question, I will ask: What do you think of this list?  Do you like lists like this or do they make you mad?  And of course, if you were to put together a list of 5 books everyone should read, what would you include?
As for myself, if I put together such a list I think it would include books that I consider important to read because they have become a part of our western culture and so knowing them helps you understand the frequent allusions that are made to them.  So I would include books like Don Quixote by Cervantes, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.  I'm not saying that those are the final five I would pick, but those are the kind of books I would choose.

Posted on September 22, 2007 by Deb at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Share your vision of the future!  That is the focus of a campaign being run by the National Library of New Zealand.  They are asking their users to share with them what they think libraries will be like by the year 2017--just 10 years from now.  You can see the responses the have gotten here.  Check it out and then let us know your ideas for what the future of libraries should be in the comments below.



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Posted on September 15, 2007 by Deb at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)