On When to Read

When I was a little girl, on Sundays at our house it was quiet. And if I wasnt' staring up at the ceiling looking for patterns in the popcorn or running around the neighborhood building forts with the other kids, I was reading. I read for pleasure.

I still read to escape the busy world and find new thoughts, new friends, new contemplations in a book. People always ask me when I read. I don't know, I just fit it in. If a book is good, it finds its own way into my day. I would rather read a good book than watch tv, see updates on Facebook, surf the net, or any other thing we all so often fill up our time with.

I remember when I was in 10th grade we had an exchange student living with us from Germany. And I vividly recall sitting in her room one night and telling her all about this boy I had read about in A Separate Peace by John Knowles. His name was Finny. I described him in great detail to Karen, she listened carefully as I went on and on about his characteristics, his demeanor, and his good looks. Karen stopped me and said..."You sound like you are in love." Finny, the character, had inhabited my thoughts so much I was infactuated with him so that I couldn't help running back to the story just to exist in that world and know this boy some more. I feel sometimes as if the people I read about inhabit my thoughts, they certainly haunt my daily life and go along with me as I go along.

As I write this, I think I sound a little nuts! OK, I know it might sound loco, but I don't think I am alone. I think that is the draw of well written stories. They dwell with the reader and open up new avenues of thought and experience in the best sort of way.

The way to fit reading into a life is to find satisfaction in the story. There are good ones out there, just waiting to be discovered.

The Seasons of the Robin

We have a playhouse in the backyard, built by my brother-in-law and husband one summer week years ago. We built it two stories tall, the ground floor is our shed and the second floor has a balcony that all the kids like to stand on and look over the world from. It also has a swing attached to one edge of the balcony's base and while possibly a danger (of swinging into the corner of the playhouse and losing a limb), it is my girls' favorite place to fight over all year round. Nearly every day in the summer and many times during the school year my youngest two run in the house from school and lace up their Nike'sand the race is on out to the swing. I am not proud to say that I usually try to pretend I have no idea what is going on because I SAID YOU ALL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SHARE!

Anyway, the fighting over the swing came to a screeching halt a few weeks ago when a male robin began making swooping menacing dives at whoever was on the swing. The dive bombing was particularly effective in ridding the swing of its little girl. An unfortunate side effect though, was that now my children think robins are scary predators. Instead of the welcomed harbinger of spring, they run and screech when they see the flash of orange. The male robin was just protecting the nest of bright blue eggs that he and his wife robin had built under one of the beams of the balcony.

I had a friend from kindergarten (33 years ago!) whose house I saw the inside of more often than my own for quite

a few summers growing up. Her dad wrote for a living. And at age 8, I only had a vague notion that it was something about birds. Last Christmas, when I saw her, she mentioned that her dad had recently written a book, The Seasons of the Robin by Don Grussing (it can be ordered on Amazon). I had picked it up and have been reading it off and on this spring (as a nice diversion from a big project I am working on). I have had the lovely opportunity to read about the world from a robin's point of view. Looking for the male and female robin as they go about their day with a nest that is now full of hungry growing birds, I have come to appreciate their territory and their yearly goal of raising a new set of robins to fill the morning and evening with song. This world is really full of amazing things big and small. Often, I am stunned at how little I notice yet how much beauty is just waiting to be had.

I feel especially proud to know the man who wrote this book.

Of course, I would love to have you read it, too.

Why not open your eyes a little more to the little things flitting around you?

Reading List

Here is the list of books I have read recently that I would recommend. I may write more about them later, but let's be honest, probably not. But, then again, maybe I will.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. This is a fun mystery about a 12 year old sleuth and her harrowing experiences trying to figure out who killed the man they found in their garden and why her dad is so secretive. Good beach read.

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. Gripping and eye opening true story of Pat Tillman's tragic death in the mountains of Afghanistan. Well written, shocking, and a book you will wish you could find someone else to talk about with.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. I was in Savannah, Georgia with a dear friend last August and every store was selling this book. Was this made into a movie?? Not sure, but I LOVED this book. It is a true crime novel with twists and turns, voodoo, zany characters, good intentions and a gripping story. Read it!

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Hmmmm. This is essentially the story of long (super long) distance running in America, a tribe in Mexico who run 100 mile races for fun, and of the history of long distance running around the world. It also is an attempt to take down the $200 running shoe industry and make you, to your own shock and amazement, surprisingly consider running barefoot. Need I say more?

Bossypants by Tina Fey. I was intrigued to read this book because of the media blitz that has recently surrounded Tina. I saw her on David Letterman, heard a podcast with her on NPR and saw the book everywhere. The book is a collection of essays, poorly written, but somewhat interesting. I saw some reviews that said the book was hilarious. I didn't find it to be hilarious, that would be a stretch, but I did think it revealed a character in Tina Fey that is just as conflicted as the rest of us, that second guesses herself, tries to justify her role in this world and is just a regular human being. For all of that, I really liked the book.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Having recently spent some time in Paris, I was curious about this book as I walked by it one day at Target. Then, a friend also recommended it to me when I was desperately looking for a good book to read. Based on the true story of the Jewish relocation and their eventual annihilation that occured in Paris (which is not a history Paris would like to remember), it is a fictional account of one modern day journalist and one little girl's victimized family. Her story is soul stirring and agonizing. The writing bounces between the journalist's modern day investigation and the unfolding of Sarah's story. I found the modern part of the story awkward and a little boring, but Sarah's story was riveting. This would be a great book club book.

That's all for now.

Why

"Some censuring readers will scornfully say, why hath this lady writ her own life? Since none cares to know whose daugther she was or whose wife she is, or how she was bred, or what fortunes she had, or how she lived, or what humor or disposition she was of? I answer that it is true, that 'tis to no purpose to the readers, but it is to the authoress, because I write it for my own sake, not theirs."

Margaret Cavendish, 1655

Some Catch-up, please

Wow, how time has flown. This blog is for me, really, more than anything, and I can't seem to be committed to even writing once a month. Part of the reason is the lack of books I've really wanted to write about, but really, it is mostly that I just haven't spent the time to sit down and write.

I just want to highlight two books that I read a couple of months ago that I think are worth reading.

The first is: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. I read a review of the book last fall that intrigued me and I couldn't resist. The story is first of all, interesting and true but more intruiging than the story itself is the ethical questions the story raises. One woman, Henrietta Lacks, made one of the biggest contributions to medical science known today without either her or her family's knowledge. And while her family's life has been hardscrabble, the effect of Henrietta's contribution has been enormous on lives around the world. The question the book ultimately raises is: Are our cells our own once they have been removed surgically from our bodies? I don't know about you, but this is one question that I have never ever asked myself. And frankly, I probably won't ever, because I am fortunate enough to have great health insurance. But, for the Lacks', the question of not benefitting from their mother's inadvertant contribution has been a constant source of pain for them. While medical science has advanced due to the use Henrietta's harvested cells, her family has languished without consistent medical care. The book doesn't answer difficult questions so much as pose them while telling a pretty fascinating story about a family who have certainly been on the short end of the stick.

Secondly, a friend sent me a book for my birthday called Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman. This is also non-fiction and was another book I couldn't put down. The title pretty much sums up the story. Again, this book raises more questions than it answers. It would be an awesome read for a book club; you could talk about it all night. The author is a white, upper middle class girl with a good education and loving family. Piper, in her young and less discerning days, made some pretty bad decisions about drug trafficking. Woah, that sounds more horrible than it really was. But, in some ways, her actions, were horrible. She reflects on how her actions not only got her into prison but how her choices trickled into greater society and contributed to the downfall of some of her fellow inmates. On the other hand, the Kerman's story also raises a huge question about the efficacy of our prison system. While telling about her survival in jail, she brings attention to a system that in many ways seems broken. Both prisoners and prison administrators are stuck, and inadvertently become their own worst enemy. I certainly don't know how to fix a problem so large as repeat offenders, abuses of power by administration, and the inhumanity overall of the entire prison system. But, there are absolutely questions we need to be asking, and really need to try to determine some kind of solutions. Those are the larger questions that the book raises, but on a personal level, Piper's story is a true one of regret, and one that challenges the notion that our youth is meant to be spent making stupid mistakes. Some mistakes are just not worth it. I don't know if Piper Kerman knows what she should have done differently, or what might have given her a better ability to make good decisions as a student fresh out of college, but it certainly was a reminder that no matter our age, we are responsible to make the right decision, or it just might catch up with us in an awful way.

Now I am searching for some more good books to read. Any ideas?

Just an Update

Plodding along here at the camp. I just put down two books. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. And hmmmm. What do I say about them?

Verghese's book was fascinating, and would quite possibly have been more so if I were a surgeon. While I fancy that I have many abilities, I am wise enough to stop short at internal repair work. A friend gave me this book because it is about identical twins (which I actually am one). But, it is also about a nun (which I am decidedly not), and a revolution, and Ethiopia, and surgery. Well written, and at moments perfectly executed, I would even say that it is at times surgically wrought in that the investigation into the main character's thoughts and circumstances are minute dissections of humanity, circumstance, and psychology. And, the fact that it was written by a MD makes sense yet at the same time is astounding. Slow at times, overall it was a beautiful story.

Egger's book: I think I should take a break from Eggers for a while. Not because this last book wasn't interesting, but I have to say in my small little thought processes, I have become a little tired of Egger's way of posing a problem. In this book, he calls attention to the atrocity of events surrounding one man after Hurricane Katrina and they were atrocious. And even more shocking is that what Eggers writes truthfully about happened on American soil. However, as the problem is laid bare, I got a sneaking feeling that the story was just a little more complicated than Eggers would like to admit. Yes, what happened to Zeitoun should not in any way have happened. That Zeitoun was a victim of terrible circumstances when he was doing the best he could in a horrible situation (the frightening days following the hurricane) is without question. I just want to point out one thing (by way of an example): Every day I give my kids what I feel is the best guidance I can, for their own good. For instance, just tonight, I sent the kids to bed, after bedtime prayer, with very clear instructions to GET INTO BED. Now, surprisingly, this is a difficult request, as there are other sisters to tease, toothpaste to squirt and general bedlam to be had. And once again, when they did not follow my simple request (albeit simple in MY mind, it was a post-graduate physics equation to them), someone got hurt, no big surprise. Instead of getting into bed, as directed, the two littlest decided, "Bedtime... shmedtime!" What could be more fun than a sword fight with sharp pencils!! And...I don't need to tell you any more. Back to Zeitoun. In my opinion, all of this horrible story would have never happened if he had followed the direct instructions of the officials of the city, which were to evacuate the city. It was mandatory. And the edict was for the best interest of the citizens of New Orleans. That said, Zeitoun was guided by moral principles once he was stuck in the city to help others the best way he could, and he suffered unjustly for it. It shouldn't have happened, and it wouldn't have happened if he had just evacuated as had been demanded of all. That is all I will say about that.

I will be gladly reaching for a new book and will report back soon.

Imperial Woman

I meant mightily to consume books like candy one after another, but alas, it wasn't so. I can't seem to stop eating the peanut M&M's on my counter, but the reading, it has not been so easy to come by.

I got five books at the library plus have had one book that I started a while back that my sister absconded from me and then returned sated on good bookism, but I have only eeked out a page or two a day. The last book I have finished was Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck (of The Good Earth fame), which was started merely seconds after I had turned the last page of The Writing on My Forehead more than a MONTH ago. Oh well, I might as well surrender to the reality of life. I seem to forget every summer that the notion of lazy afternoons consumed with a book doesn't jive with four kids (plus an exchange student!!). One day I will have eons of time, I know, so really, I can't feel too sorry for myself, the time will soon pass that someone needs something (namely, me) every nano-second and so I will try to enjoy what I can.

Anyhoo, that is so off the subject of the intriguing book of the last reigning Empress of China. I don't know how factual it was, but somewhat like Joan of Arc, if only 10% were true, it is still an amazing story of clawing one's way to the top and maintaining authority in a place and during a time in which: 1) no woman was viewed as capable of leadership, 2) women who had tried to gain power (in the ancient annals of Chinese history), were conniving and considered evil at their core, and 3) tradition meant EVERYTHING. How she did it is an unbelievable story of opportunism. Again, Pearl S. Buck's books are such an intimate portrait into the culture, tradition and mind of the Chinese, and are written with utmost respect and understanding. How she gained such insight into the intricate workings of the Forbidden City and its inhabitants is a marvel unto itself.

The Empress was born not into the imperial line, but rather by her own determination and the best instance of taking advantage of a limited opportunity I have ever read about, she rose from a lowly concubine of the Emperor to high ruler of the kingdom and held that power through mighty power struggles and suspicion. She determined from the time she first was brought to the Emperor to be considered for a concubine that she would rise in whatever way she could and she dedicated herself to gaining power by learning, listening and performing the role of subservient lover first to the Emperor and later as subservient Ruler of her people. She didn't make a move that wasn't calculated to the nth degree. She acted imperially from the beginning, without remorse and with such dignity and self-control. She was a study in contrasts, both arrogant and kind, both traditionalist and feminist, both ancient and modern. Although, she resisted contact with the outside world (outside of both the Forbidden City and any foreigner in China she considered to be trespassing and desired their explusion), she came to embrace it on her own terms and in her own controlling way.

Someone named Hilary Spurling has written a book: Pearl S. Buck in China: Journey to the Good Earth that is just out this past June. I have put it on my ever growing list of books I must read as I want to know more about Buck and her ability to transcend Chinese culture and history as she has done so well in this recent read of mine. While I was captured by the story of the Empress, I was even more in awe of the story-teller, I have a hankering to know more. Give me some quiet moments, I have some books to read.