Category: Books

Yep. School (and schoolwork) are in full force right now. Only five books read this month.

Read
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
Seymour, an Introduction
J. D. Salinger
This is the October Library Book Group selection and a J.D. Salinger creation I have not read. Reading the first story I was delighted to remember how much I love J. D. Salinger. Something about his prose leaves me just on the edge of a delighted hoot. Seymour, an Introduction, I did not love. I felt it was in need of a firm editor, and I ended up skimming most of it. Before Salinger’s death, I would imagine, now and then, that when he died we would get to read all the things I assumed he had been writing for forty years. There was talk that he was continuing the story of the Glass family. I imagined that, posthumously, we reading public would see thick novels published, that were as much fun to read as the Catcher in the Rye. Reading Seymour, an Introduction, I think that perhaps if there are more novels, they probably will lean in the Seymour direction, rather than the Catcher one.

The New Frugality
Chris Farrell
In some ways a run-of-the-mill financial planning book. Its main difference is that the advice comes from the “consume less” angle rather than the “budget and hope for the best” angle. There was a very good chapter about home ownership and how to figure out what the author calls your P/R ratio, the “Price to Rent” ratio. This chapter might be good to read for people who are currently renting and frustrated with it.

There is also a lot of talk about living long and prospering, a subject that I believe we who read a lot of financial planning books will see more of in the next ten years. The author points out that we all will probably not have the retirement our grandparents have and will keep working and working, at least part time until at least our 70s. He points out that our “retirement jobs” can be half time work and contain the best parts of our “career” jobs without all the baggage. Farrell gives the good advice to start to volunteer with organizations you care about in your forties, so that when you retire they know you, your strengths and you can work together.

The Time Traveler’s Wife
Audrey Nifflenegger
Achilles heel alert! Anyone wanting to distract me from whatever task is at hand only need hand me a Nifflenegger novel I have not yet read. The woman’s story lines are addictive and I have trouble getting anything else done until I reach the final page. Having now read both her books, I can say that her strength seems to be writing complex novels–this one skips around in time–and building enough tension through the book so doing anything other than reading seems uninteresting. Her books are also very long so getting to the end, and back to life, takes a substantial investment of my life. This is not the worst thing in the world.

The Aeneid for Boys and Girls
retold by Alfred J. Church.
This was written in 1962 and so its prose was old enough that I had to pay much more attention than I wanted to. However, I probably paid much less attention then if I had been reading Virgil’s masterpiece. To tell the truth, I was looking for an Action Comics version of the tale, but this was as easy as the library got.

I read this as a comparison to Livina, which I read last month for the library book club. I found some striking differences between the two, namely that in LeGuin’s telling of the story the gods are not involved at all. This makes sense as the book was from the main character’s perspective and most of us don’t have sense of the string pulling various gods do on a daily basis. It would have been fun if LeGuin and I could sit down and discuss her choices as to what to include in the book, but I think I would want to wade through an official version first. Given LeGuin’s lamentation of the death of Latin and how we are as a culture seeing the actual death of the great “dead language”–statements I agree with and feel sad about–I can’t imagine the withering look I would get if it came out I couldn’t be bothered to read even a translation.

Interesting differences between books written “for boys and girls” in 1962 and today: there was a forward and an afterward. When was the last time you have seen that in a children’s book? The scattering of drawings almost never matched with the text on the page, something that I think has to do with printing layouts. Also, I’m pretty sure when the publisher says, “boys and girls” they were aiming the book at the 11-14 age group. Today the title would be The Aeneid for Tweens and Teens.

*Note. I just published my review on Goodreads and I’m the only one to review this book! So exciting!

The End of Overeating
David A. Kessler
Fabulous book! In the first section Kessler accurately describes my–and apparently many Americans– interactions with food, (“I want a cookie. No I shouldn’t. Well, it’s been awhile. But I would be better off without one. But it’s been a hard day. I’ll just have one. Well but one will be one too many. and on and on and on”) as well as traces the brain chemical response that leads us to overeating. In the second portion, he looks at how food manufacturers have capitalized on our tendency to want more to increase their profits. In the third section, he describes steps people can take to retrain our brain chemicals and habits to stop overeating.

Kessler sometimes has a tendency to bring up a point and wander off from it, but overall the book is worth reading.

Started and did not finish
I finished all I started this month.

I think September was a great reading month. I finished a lot of books in a variety of genres and though it wasn’t a great month for fiction, it was a fabulous month for non-fiction.

Read
Comedy of Errors
Wm Shakespeare
While reading this I several times thought, “I think this part will be funny when I see it on stage.” But I didn’t find it especially funny while reading. The beauty of Shakespeare’s language continues to escape me, until I see trained professionals bring it to life. And they did with great verve. And Edwardian bathing costumes! Long live Portland Actor’s Ensemble!

Slim Margin
Alison Apotheker
A collection of poems by a local Portland author and teacher, as well as a mom of children who attend the school where I work. I enjoyed this collection, especially “Forty-Somethings at the Swimming Hole” and “Ground Waters” which was featured this spring in the Writer’s Almanac. I also enjoyed that I could tell when the children appeared in her life.

Tiny, Tiny Houses
Lester Walker
I passed away a delightful afternoon studying the architectural drawings in this book. Some of my favorites: Tent House, which is made mostly of nylon, but which can be folded up into a tight locked structure when you are away from it. George Bernard Shaw’s Writing Hut which could be rotated to follow the sun. 1950’s Ranch House which is a tiny version of the house we all know. Also the Dune Shack which at the time of publication could still be found in the dunes of Cape Cod.

This is great inspirational reading for anyone who dreams of having a small space of her own. It also highlights great innovations in small space technology. I’m sure I will turn to this again and again.

Lavinia
Ursula K. Le Guin
I read this for the library’s discussion group and I’m pretty sure I would have not finished it if I were reading it for myself. It was not a quick read and so I had plenty of time to contemplate what was going on.
What worked:

• I liked that I got to read the bones of a historic work without actually going to the trouble of reading the historic work.
• I liked that the story was from a woman’s perspective
• I liked learning about all the various ancient Roman religious rituals
• I like that I’ve finally read something by Portland author Le Guin.

What didn’t work

• The writing style was much more ornate that I am used to. I couldn’t skim.
• The plot device mostly had me bored. LeGuin set up the story so I knew what was going to happen in each major part of narrative, either because the Poet appeared and told Livina, or because Livina herself told us what was going to happen. So then when it did, I was never surprised.
• It turns out that even when I’m reading a rewritten tale from a woman’s perspective sometimes I won’t really care that much about the tale.

I will be interested to see what I learn in the discussion.

Late breaking news: at the discussion group, someone pointed out that the plot device that had me bored–telling you what will happen, then it happens–is a feature of Greek Theater. Ah! Now I see.

Empowering the Beginning Teacher of Mathematics Middle School.
NCTM
Short and to the point, this book is chock-full of important information and tips. I think my favorite page was the Summary of Questioning Techniques which lists several ineffective ways to ask questions and then presents several effective ways to make the ineffective question effective.

The funniest bit of advice was something along the lines of, “when your students ask how old you are, add 30 years to your current age, as that is how old they think you are.”

This would be a good book to review right before job hunting and, of course, after one secures a job and has yet to start teaching.

Papertown
John Green
I’ve been quite enjoying my foray into John Green’s works. This was a great novel told from a teenaged boy perspective that includes an elaborate prank, a mystery to solve, an incredibly funny road trip, and a love story. Alternately gripping, tragic, funny and smart, this is a fabulous YA novel.

Perfect Breathing
Al Lee & Don Campbell
Too tired to exercise? No healthy cooking skills? Don’t like fruits and vegetables? Do you want to improve your health but not really exert that much effort? Perfect breathing is for you. Lee and Campbell outline the many ways “perfect breathing” (taking a full, deep breath from your belly) can benefit you. Unlike many self help books, there is no program for you to adopt, no massive changes to make to your lifestyle. All you have to do is adopt the six second breath and you are on your way to better health. Sure, there are other exercises which you can do or not do. There is even a handy appendix which summarizes all of the exercises in the books. But really, the authors would be happy if you just revert to the belly breathing you did naturally as an infant.

Housebuilding for Children
Lester Walker
Yet another fabulous book by Mr. Walker. If I had children, this book would be part of our family library. By reading this book, children can learn to build their own play houses by themselves, with little-to-no adult supervision. Fabulous. Originally this was published in 1977 it is chock full of cute pictures of 1970s tykes (both boys and girls!) building six different play structures. In an age where children can’t do anything by themselves, for fear of whatever, this is a great book.

The Lonely Polygamist
Brady Udell
I’ve been stewing over this book for days and have come to the conclusion that I just didn’t like it. It was quite readable, but I couldn’t sympathize with either of the two adult (the polygamist referenced in the title and his fourth wife) main characters. I did like the other main character, the 11 year old boy. The adult problems seemed to be of their own making and the boy had little choice. Because I couldn’t connect with the characters, I was mostly annoyed and bored.

However, the lonely polygamist makes an observation that I did find truthful: women who learned of his polygamy were always distrustful whereas men were always very interested.

I think that polygamy works (somewhat) in agricultural societies where all those children can be put to work. But in our society it seems to create a lot of excess and lost children. I would argue that in the US today, if there is going to be polygamy, it should be one woman and several men, as this will result in less children and more “means” for the family to live on. I’d like to read that book. Who would be a good person to author it?

Started but did not finish.
Teaching Mathematics in the Middle School. A Practical Guide.
Krulik, Rudnick, Milou
If by “practical” they mean “boring” this is your guide. Incredibly thorough (does anyone going into teaching in the United States NOT know what an overhead projector is?) and includes sample lesson plans. I will grind through this in January when I’m gearing up for hiring season. Right now I just can’t force myself to read this.

Probably the best month of fiction reading I’ve had all year long. The nonfiction was good too.

Read

Manhood for Amateurs
Michael Chabon
It was interesting reading this directly after finishing Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed. I love Michael Chabon’s writing just as much as I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s. His paragraph-long sentences are delightful and most of this book I wanted to read out loud to someone. The opening essay “The Loser’s Club” was heartbreaking, and the rest was gleefully, beautifully written. When Ira Glass talks about us living in a time of “giants” of nonfiction storytelling, he is talking about Michael Chabon. I want to photocopy some of the essay just to possess them.

A Drink Before the War.
Dennis Lehane
New book in the series coming out November 30th. Time for a re-read.

Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure
Matthew Algeo
True story of Harry Truman’s post-Presidency road trip from Independence Missouri to the East Coast. The author retraces the route and discusses the original trip and how the sites have changed. This was a somewhat interesting book, though in places I felt it was not very well written.

Faithful Place
Tana French
After really loving Tana French’s previous books, I was excited to read this one. Like the other two I shirked responsibilities to tear through this one. Unlike the other two I figured out the “who” and they “why” about a quarter of the way through the book. As I am generally very slow on the uptake with mysteries, I would guess that this was a pretty obvious plot, which was disappointing. Still, I did devour the book, for whatever that is worth.

This Charming Man
Marian Keys
Ever since Olivia Goldsmith died–breaking my heart, by the way–I have been pining for someone who wrote the special class of books she did. On the surface, they were frothy “wronged woman finds love and vindication” sort of thick novels perfectly suited for a beach read. However, most all of her books had a strong, thoughtful social justice undercurrent that was very hard to miss. Near the end of this book I wondered if Marian Keys might just be my new Olivia Goldsmith.

This is the first book I’ve read by Marian Keys, whom I discovered through my friend Jan. I was initially put off by the narration of the lead character, and contemplated putting the book down because of it. I persevered, however and soon fell in love with her. This was a great, Goldsmith-style book that I was happy to spend the day with. Indeed, I couldn’t put it down. My thought of “I’ll get out of bed at 9:00” was moved to 11, then 1 and then I just gave up and kept reading until I finished around 4:00 in the afternoon. I’m interested to explore other Marian Keyes books and see if she can indeed engage me like Olivia Goldsmith once did.

What I Saw & How I Lied
Judy Blundell
This is a fairly engrossing YA book set in 1947. It’s a good exploration of the gray areas around telling the truth.

Looking For Alaska
John Green
Thanks to my current obsession, the Vlogbrothers, I now have three novels to read by John Green. This was a good YA novel that captured confusing parts of adolescence such as pining for someone you cannot have and identity formation.

Can’t Wait to Get To Heaven
Fannie Flagg
I have always enjoyed Fannie Flagg’s books, but this was incredibly saccharine. It was so sweet, I almost didn’t finish it. The plot is obvious, the mystery is haphazard and fleshed out/solved in the last few pages of the book and the characters are annoying. Overall, a disappointing read.

One Day
David Nicholls
Supposedly this will be made into a movie. The plot device–popping in annually on the same day to see what characters are up to–was pretty ingenious and kept me reading. I enjoyed the characters and their flaws and I think the best part about this book is how it captures so many life passages. I particularly loved the description of “third wave” weddings and also the thought process of a childless woman in her thirties. A very well done “romantic comedy” of a book.

The Motel Life
Willie Vlautin
I’m not such a big Raymond Carver fan and since Carver’s name is invoked in one of the many blurbs–along with Flannary O’Connor and also, Steinbeck, McMurtry, Johnson, McGuane–I was not such a fan of the book. Vlautin has a very crisp writing style which has an edge of desperation and hopelessness and humor. The book is a quick read and has great illustrations. I’m happy I’ve read it, but I don’t know if I need to read another by him.

Put Your Life on a Diet
Gregory Johnson
Tiny book written by a man who lives in 140 square feet. It’s full of good tips about how to reduce your footprint. My favorite: when downsizing, rather than agonizing about getting rid of things, just put everything in storage first, and take only the basic things you will need. After a year or two, you will not be as attached to many of the items and can easily give them away. The ones that still mean something to you are worth keeping. The book also includes a lot of resources.

Dies the Fire
S.M. Sterling.
Hey what if a strange event happened and suddenly all mechanical things did not work? Not even guns? Whose expertise would we need? It turns out that nerdy people who are involved in the SCA and other medieval/Renaissance recreation groups do come in handy after all. Who else today knows how to fight with a broadsword? Or make crossbows?

This was an engrossing distopian novel, though the Wicca exclamations (Lord and Lady!) of one of the main characters never ceased to annoy me, even after 500 pages. After awhile the fight scenes became repetitive, so I’m contemplating not continuing with the series.

An Abundance of Katherines
John Green.
It has footnotes! In a novel! And math! But not in an intrusive way! This was a great story, very funny, and the child prodigy reminds me of someone I know. A clever story and a great read, very recommended.

Started and did not finish.
Food drying with an attitude.
Mary T. Bell
I skimmed this for ideas, because after all, pretty much the drying world consists of the following recipe: slice, season, dry, store. There were some good ideas and I never would have thought of drying pickles, but you can bet your sweet bippy I will now, thanks to this book. One strength: there were a lot of recipes incorporating the dried food which comes in handy for anyone who ever wonders what the heck they are going to do with a bunch of dried zucchini.

July equals good month for non-fiction, not-so-good month for fiction.

Read.
How to talk to a widower.
Jonathan Tropper
Eh. I didn’t really like any of the characters. One of those books I just kept reading until I was finished. I will probably have trouble remembering anything about it three months hence.

Away
Amy Bloom
The best part about this novel is that you the reader get to find out what happens to the people the main character, a Russian immigrant named Lillian, encounters as she makes her way across the 1920s United States of America. My main problem with this book had to do with the map in the front cover. There are dots on the map–which to me imply that something happens–that have no bearing on the story. Fargo is clearly labeled, as is Spokane, and absolutely nothing happened there. It distracted from the story.

Superfreakanomics
Steven Levitt & Steven Dunton
Recently I looked over my transcripts and noticed I got a “B” in both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. Those were tough classes, but I enjoyed them, just as I enjoyed the first book by these authors. This book was fine, but didn’t reach the fabulous level that the first one did. I felt that the topics the authors explored were broader and that made this book not the delight that the first one was. I enjoyed learning why prostitutes are like holiday Santas, and all the things connected with that fact, but the data wasn’t quite as crisp as in the first book.

One Magic Square
Lolo Houbein
Thank goodness I checked this out from the library. This hasn’t been the greatest year for gardening, and this book reminded me that I don’t have to give everything up–I can plant now and still get good food for autumn.

This book combines a sort of backyard permaculture theory with the Square Foot Gardening concept, although she uses many things planted in a square yard, rather than one thing planted in a square feet. The author lives in Australia, so some of the plants are called by names we wouldn’t use, but this “ease-into-things” guide would be a great start for someone just beginning gardening.

There are a couple of great ideas I will use from the book. For instance, plant your starts in toilet paper rolls. The roots can grow a long way down the tube before you put them in the ground. When you do, the roll disintegrates over time as the plant grows. Also, cut a three-inch diameter PVC pipe into sections to place over your newly planted seedlings. She then puts screen over the top to protect the seedling from birds, which I’ve never had a problem with, but this will be perfect to keep the cats away from the newly planted seedlings. They labor under the mistaken notion that all of my vegetable beds are their best litter box and I lose seedlings to their scraping every year.

Essential Pleasures
Robert Pinsky
Finished! I’ve been reading this collection of poems FOR-EV-ER! I had one library copy for at least six months and then someone requested it, so I had to send it back. But I was so close to the end, I reserved it again and was able to finish it. To figure out which poem I want to memorize each month, I need to read a lot of poems. This was a good anthology, ranging over many centuries with a suitable mix of men and women. It also includes a CD of Pinsky reading some of the poems, which I’ve not listened to. It does not include a blurb about each poet, which I would have liked, but otherwise, a good book that has yielded seven poems I have memorized and a nice list of potential ones.

Sad side note: I had a list of potential good poems to memorize which accidentally got returned to the library with the book.

The Blind Side
Michael Lewis
I loved this book! Love, love, loved it. Interest in football? Zero. Interest in the surge of importance of a single football position I maybe could point out on the field, but probably not? Nope. Interest in the motives and actions of a white Christian Republican uber-rich Memphis family? Not even. Interest in this book which contains all of the above? Incredible. I couldn’t put it down. That is the mark of a very good non-fiction writer. Do you like football? Read this book. Do you not like football? Read this book.

River Kings’ Road
Liane Merciel
I really disliked this book. First off, what does every medieval fantasy novel worth its salt have in the front cover? Yes! A map. This is handy for several reasons, but mostly because when I read that Brys and Odosse traveled between Willowfield and some border town in Oakharn I need a visual to understand how far that is and also where everything is in relation to each other. Without that, all those town names are only made-up words on a page. The map makes the narrative real. Other problems? There are too many characters that flit in for two paragraphs and then don’t return for 50 pages. When they do return, they appear without reintroduction, which would be fine if they were memorable characters in the first place. Unfortunately, they weren’t and I didn’t care enough to flip back and find out who they were–and here e-readers with their search function would be very handy in this instance, though I suspect I wouldn’t actually use the function– so I spent substantial portions of the narrative thinking, “who is this?” Also, the author employs the abhorrent Steven King technique of killing off a very nice innocent minor character whose kindness should have been rewarded. Overall, this was an entirely unsatisfying 388 pages and I don’t recommend this book in any way, shape or form.

Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
Elizabeth Gilbert.
I loved this book. I love Glibert’s glib, funny, thoughtful and research-informed writing style. I am a skeptic about the issue of marriage too, and suppose I would get married if it was the only way to keep my partner in the country. But because I don’t have to? This book just added a lot of fuel to the “not getting married” fire, which I see as a good thing. The section about her mother was particularly heartbreaking to read.

Started but did not finish.
10-10-10: 10 Minutes, 10 Months, 10 Years. A Life-Transforming Idea.
Suzy Welch
I didn’t make it even halfway through this short book because there is not much there. At this point, I get that when I have a problem, I should think about it from a perspective of 10 hours, 10 months, 10 years. The many ways she is presenting the information has become repetitive. She does her best to show it from brain research perspective, but I’m yawning. Plus, I just got some medieval fantasy fiction from the library.

Hmmmm. Maybe I should start checking weekly to see if Dennis Lehane’s new Kenzie/Gennario novel that is published on 30 November is available to put on hold.

What’s this? It’s already in the system? And seven other people have placed holds? Sign me up!

Now the long wait until November 30 (and probably longer as I think they have to take time to process the books) begins. But at least I’m first in line. There are 37 copies on order.

• Emphasize Effort

• Creating Hope
• Respecting Power
• Building Relationships
• Expressing Enthusiasm

Brooklyn

Not a very long book. The whole time I was reading it, I kept wondering why. The plot seemed to have no compelling reason for me to keep reading. I did get attached to the main character and her choices, but there wasn’t really an ending. I feel like this was a fleshed out outline for a much longer book.

My reading style tends to be many books at once. I’ll start something, and if it isn’t a totally compelling narrative, I’ll read a little of that, and then maybe start something else and on and on. Then there tends to be the books I “must” read for one reason or other. This system, informal as it is, hasn’t been working for me lately. In the middle of the month, I decided I would read one book at a time. The thinking was that it would force me to decide earlier that I wasn’t going to finish the book and move onto something I did want to read.

In some ways, it has been a good thing, though I chafe against the restriction when I am working through a “must read” book I’m not enjoying much. I tend to skim then, which for those books, is probably what I should have been doing all along.

Read
Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Jamie Ford
The title is how the whole book went. On first glance, it’s a great one. But on second glance it becomes a bit schlocky. So was the plot. However, the relocation of the Japanese was heartbreaking and the book is probably worth reading just for that part.

Living Oprah
Robyn Okrant
A woman does what Oprah tells her to for an entire year. Sometimes this is repetitive, but other times very funny. It’s a quick read, you might enjoy.

Envoy: Your Personal guide to classroom management
Michael Grinder
This here is the discipline plan at George Middle School. Now that I read it, I understand why the teacher doesn’t move for 30 seconds after giving directions.

Every Last One
Anna Quindlan
Nice descriptions of life with teenagers. This is a hard book to read, subject matter-wise.

Empress of the World
Sara Ryan
Good YA first love fiction, but with two girls. These kind of YA books didn’t exist when I was a YA reader, so I was happy to see this.

Radical Homemakers
Shannon Hayes
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Examines women and men who are taking a different path to modern life. Very well written and interesting. Recommended.

Sing them Home
Stephanie Kallos
Nice, thick novel centered on a Nebraska family whose mother was borne away by a tornado. Great characters. Also, a fun take on “the dead.” This is my favorite type of novel.

Started but did not finish
A Celibate Season
Carol Sheilds & Blanch Howard
It turned out I had read this already.

Perennial Vegetables: From Artichoke to Zuki Taro, a gardeners guide to over 100 delicious, easy-to-grow edibles
Eric Tonesmeir
Good guide to vegetables you don’t have to keep planting every year.

Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution
Richard Bernstein
I can tell you, after reading this, that I don’t want to get diabetes so I don’t have to go on his diet. Interesting story of how the author became a doctor.

The Secrets of Making Wine from Fruits and Berries
Leslie G. Slater
Old fashioned book. Tiny, but packed with information.

The complete Diabetes Prevention Plan
Sandra Woodruff and Christopher Saudek
More commercial discussion of the diabetes topic.

Argh! I’ve written none of these summaries. Usually I’ve done about half of them. What WAS I doing in April? I’m giving myself 12 minutes to write these, that’s one minute per post. Here goes.

Read:
Half the Sky
Kristof and WuDenn
Very hard to read in places, but with a hopeful message and also a handy four step action plan for you to do something constructive at the end.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows
I never wondered how the residents of the island of Guernsey fared during World War II but I was very interested in reading about their plight. This was a great “letters back and forth” book and I’m sad that the woman who wrote it became too sick to finish this book, much less write another one, as this was delightful.

Water Woman
Lenore Hart
Well written, but depressing. Very. But you can tell from the first chapter, so you know what you are signing up for.

Her Fearful Symmetry
Audrey Niffenegger
So good! It has twins! And ghosts! And a cemetery! And is set in London! I wasn’t enthralled with the ending, but enjoyed the rest so much I recommend it.

Love’s Labor’s Lost
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare. Still boring to read, but much fun to see in the Shoebox theater.

Naturally Thin
Bethenny Frankel
A really cool bike columnist recommended this book as a very good “normal healthy eating” guide. It has a really awful title, but did I mention that the bike columnist is cool? Because of how cool she is, I ignored the lame title and got it from the library. When it arrived, I was disturbed to find out that a reality TV star wrote it. I hadn’t heard of her then, but now I see her everywhere. Aside from that, some good tips and her focus on real food was refreshing.

Strong Waters: a simple guide to making beer, wine, cider and other spirited beverages at home.
Scott Mansfield
Good, beginners guide though relies a lot on already bottled juices.

Started but did not finish:
Inside Secrets of Finding a Teaching Job
Jack Warner
Dated, but good, advice.

Knife Skills in the Kitchen
Charlie Trotter
Lots of pretty pictures.

The Sea is so Wide and My Boat is so Small
Marian Wright Edelman
I read the “for teachers” chapter and called it good.

Create an Oasis with Greywater
Art Ludwig
Someday this book will come in handy. Ludwig doesn’t mince words about bad ideas in greywater. He also tells you how to put the good ideas in place.

Growing Up: A Classic American Childhood
Marilyn vos Savant
Kind of dumb. A bunch of lists that every American child should do.

Hah! Five minutes left.

Man, there’s a lot of nonfiction going on this month? What’s up with that?

Read
Positive Addiction
William Glasser
This book is a bit dated it its psychological theories, but makes some good points. The author examines two groups of people: those addicted to running and those addicted to meditation. He supports such addictions, and sees great benefit to getting yourself addicted to some sort of positive activity. It also includes tips to establish your own positive addition.

Uprooting Racism
Paul Kivel
The guide (maybe even The Guide) for white people wishing to examine their own racism. Also the guide for white people who are sure they are not racist, but are concerned about other people’s racism. (Note: both of these groups most likely has some white privilege things to acknowledge.) Each chapter ends with discussion questions making this a very good book to use for a study group. Well written and recommended.

Mediterranean Women Stay Slim Too.
Melissa Kelly
I’ve successfully cut back on the reading of diet books, something of a hidden addiction for me. But I seem to have not actually divested myself from books that are about being slim and still eating good food. It isn’t such a bad thing. This book has a lot of good recipes and points. However, its tone can be slightly grating. It is clear from the text that the author grew up in a family that valued food and the communal ritual of eating food together. Today, the author runs a restaurant where she can continue this tradition. I am happy for her, and wish that we were all raised the way she was and strive to eat the way she does. That said, I think she may have laid out a bit of a tall order for most Americans.

Juliet, Naked
Nick Hornby
(first “Lucky Day” book)
I was excited, but cautious, about this book as I really love Nick Hornby’s writing, yet really did not like A Long Way Down. Happily, this book captures all the gleeful Hornby–esque dialogue and descriptions. As Hornby is aging, so are his characters. Because I am aging too, I don’t mind a bit.

The setup of the story was delightful, as were the life and musings of an aging former big deal rock star.

Math: Facing an American Phobia
Marilyn Burns
I was reading part of this book for an assignment at school and Burns was so funny, I just kept reading for pleasure. Burns analyzes why the vast majority of the country “hates” and “can’t do” math, and also points out that any efforts to teach math in a different, possibly more accessible way, are often loudly protested. It seems that people want their children to learn math in exactly the same way they did, even if the result was that they themselves hate math and describe themselves as not very good at it.

That makes me a little crazy. But Marilyn Burns, though troubled and confused about this, cheerily looks at a variety of math strands, how we use them in daily life, and how she would teach them in a classroom. This was so witty, interesting and thought provoking, I recommend it to everyone, not just “math” people.

Search for Dinosaurs
Bischoff
Another in the “Choose Your Own Adventure“-esque series from my youth. I had a very difficult time with this as my eyes tend to glaze over at words like “Mesozoic” and “Jurassic” and so I had trouble picking up the clues from each chapter.

Downtown Owl
Chuck Klosterman
I’m just going to say right now: prepare yourself for the ending. You will be breezing along enjoying the story and the writing and Klosterman’s incredibly unique way of seeing things and then BAM! The ending just hits you over the head and there is no real resolution and you will walk around in a kind of book daze for the next week feeling angry. But it is an anger tempered with some other emotions such as embarrassment–Why didn’t I see that coming?–and rationalization–Well, it is his book and he can end it anyway he wants, and indeed there were so many other memorable parts.

Ultimately, this is an awesome book, with several laugh-out-loud-read-them-to-any-one-who-is-willing parts. People who have spent any amount of time in a small town would enjoy the explanation of the change in the Town of Owl’s mascot, which I meant to read out loud to my mother, but the book went back before that could happen. His competing analysis of George Orwell’s 1984 from an adult/teenager perspective has clearly been fermenting inside of him for years, possibly since high school. The hidden rules of the single woman in a small town are hilarious, as are the twin internal monologues during a conversation between a man and a woman in a bar.

“Glee” is one word to describe how I feel when I read Chuck Klosterman. In this, his first work of fiction, I felt a sustained glee for 250 of its pages. Those last six pages? Be prepared. They are coming.

Olive Kitteridge
Elizabeth Strout
Yet another book that I didn’t have to wait for 187 people to bring back from the library. I love, love, love the “Lucky Day” cart at the Kenton branch library. I also loved this book of interconnected short stories. I didn’t love Olive Kitteridge, but I came to respect and feel sympathy for her, which I think was the point.

The Pleasures of Cooking for One
Judith Jones
I liked that the focus on the cookbook is using your leftovers in two or three delicious meals. I’ve found this method in cookbooks with “normal sized” portions, but this was the first time I’ve seen it in a “cooking for one” cookbook. I enjoyed Judith Jones chatty tone and her discussion of techniques and equipment used in cooking for one. This cookbook seems to me to be very French inspired, which is fine with me, but might not be good for some. Overall, it was good enough for me to buy in hardback, which says a lot.

Started but did not finish:
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression
Mildred Armstrong Kalish
I would like to read the rest of this book as I always find depression-era tomes interesting, even if they make me feel guilty for not scraping the extra bit of egg white out of the eggshell with my finger, as the author pointed out the women in her family always did. Nothing was wasted.