While we waited for the ferry to Whidbey Island a few days ago (was it really just a few days?!?), we popped in to a coffee shop just a few blocks from the terminal – Better Living Through Coffee.
And so it was! The best coffee we’ve had this side of Salt Lake City! (alas! no photos ).
But, more than that (and its lovely seaside view), it had a delightful collection of children’s books. Including one I’d never seen before…
When the Sun Rose by Barbara Helen Berger.
I’m not exactly sure why I was so struck by it. I’m hardly the sun’s biggest fan. And yet, both JumbleSon and I were smitten.
So, I went in search of it…to obtain our very own copy. Only to find it selling – used – for over $80. Minimum!
Are you kidding me?!?!
Off to Paperback Swap, to put my name on an endless wait list. Only to find some amazing soul had posted it.
It’s winging its way to our house now. For free!
What a treat!
Have you found any treasures at paperback book swap or the equivalent lately?
Filed under: Book Review — jumbleberryjam @ 9:08 pm
My first major packing task is to tackle our library. We sold nearly US$200 worth of books prior to our 2006 Oz Odyssey, so we’re down to 6 shelving units. Still, too much to pack (short or long term). So, I suspect I’ll be purging again soon. But not before I stop and take a moment to appreciate each and every one. I love our library. I love books!
That being said, I must admit that I have only actually read a tiny fraction of the books in our library. I fear I’m more of a collector than true consumer (that’s JumbleSpouse’s job).
I tend to dwell in the Non-Fiction section. It is not uncommon for me to start a book, run across a question, issue or more interesting topic that leads me off to find another, more suitable book to satisfy my curiosity.
I guess I’m a book slut.
So, if you can get past my little idiosyncrasy, here’s a meme from Holistic Mama. I’d love to see your answers!!
Did it bother you that those questions ended with prepositions?
Only if I had originally penned them.
Which fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Hmmm, tough one. I’ve never been good at secret love. Really must work on that.
Which books have you read the most times in your life?
I have attempted to read Anne Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek about 4 times. I read the same staggeringly beautiful passages over and again, totally slayed each time. I can not absorb the beauty. It’s just too much for me – like trying to visit Michelangelo’s David in the afternoon following a long morning at the Uffizi. I shall try again year after year until I get past the first 7 pages, at which point I fully suspect to wake in Nirvana.
What was your favourite book when you were ten years old?
What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
I don’t think I’d ever felt the urge to throw a book across the room until A Reasonable Life by Ferenc Mate. Lest I sound like the author, I will refrain from angrily spewing my judgment. But I will say that when I live off the grid to save the environment & restore community, I want his life – the restored friary in Italy, the years living on sailboats, the winery, the works!
What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
No crazy Shakespeare comes to mind, but I once attended an indie production of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon in which the dialogue was mostly replaced by figures in black bellowing “Ag-aah-memmmm-non!” over and again in foreboding tones.
Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
What? No Germans? I demand a new category.
Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?
Shakespeare, baby.
What is the biggest or most embarassing gap in your reading?
I live in a pop-culture bubble. When we go to play at the train table in our local chain bookstore, I’m always a little freaked out by all the flashy books by authors totally unknown to me. But, who are obviously wildly popular given all the attention lavished on them by the people hovering about their displays. I only learned about Twilight this year when HalfPintPixie fell into it.
So, at the risk of offending the authors and followers, I will say most writers on Oprah’s reading list (or whatever it’s called) – not because they are bad (I don’t even know who they are), but because they are associated with her.**
Which less widely read novel would you recommend?
Because I live in a bubble, I have no idea how popular Thomas Pynchon’s Mason and Dixon was back in 1997, but I think it’s brilliant.
What are you reading right now?
Thoroughly enjoying Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (for the first time ever…shocking! positively shameful that I’m just now doing this at 38)
So there you have it. Please let me know if you join in the fun
**one day I’ll reveal the dark secrets behind Oprah and her true personality, but for now I’ll leave you wondering why in a throw down match between her and Martha, I back Ms. Stewart.
Nearly a month ago, our overly optimistic library set out the “Spring” books. We took home a fair number of them, but JumbleSon only expressed keen interest in a few (Ok, so I admit that most of the picture books we check out are for me ).
I’m always intrigued to see which book from our weekly library visits will win the “most loved” award. Since mid-March, it goes to Paperwhite by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.
The art is very simple – paper-cut collage style. And the story sweet – a little rabbit goes to her neighbor’s house for visits throughout the Winter and in to Spring.
Together they plant a paperwhite bulb, then watch it grow and ultimately bloom over the coming months. They also do all sorts of wonderful things together after tending to the bulb – make cookies, craft, play music, etc. – while Spring unfolds.
So imagine our delight when we opened our front door this past wintry Saturday to find a glass jar filled with pebbles and bulbs! Just like Paperwhite!
Thank you! Oh thank you, Angeliki! How did you know?? Now JumbleSon’s favorite page of the book – the stages of growth from bulb to flower – can be observed daily!
And, snowy April aside, we will make Spring just like Miss Mammie and Lucy did.
I tried to calm my nerves as I watched a large African man approach. Standing on the steps of a brick school building at 6:45am, I was planning to introduce myself before my 1 1/2 hour shift started.
He unlocked the doors and greeted me warmly, “As-salaam Alaikum.”
I didn’t know what he had said, but it was clear that I didn’t need much of an introduction. He knew who I was.
Standing side by side with him week after week, I listened to him greet the children and their concerned parents as they entered the school. I learned that the response to “Peace be with you” in Arabic is “wa `Alaikum As-Salaam” which translates to “and upon you be peace.”
Soon after 9/11 JumbleSpouse and I joined other peace activists in front of Mosques and Sikh temples (as the Sikh’s were also targets of ignorant hate crimes because of their dress) around the city. We would arrive in shifts and hang out for an hour or two, talking with the Faithful, and waving and smiling at cars passing by, trying to demonstrate that these buildings housed our neighbors and friends, not terrorists. We were often graciously invited in to hear the Koran sung (something that I could listen to all day – it’s so incredibly beautiful), or to share simple but delicious Sikh meals.
Every time I think about the 331 page epic I just finished, tears well up in my eyes. I am pretty sure I’ve never cried my way through any book as I did this one.
As a result, I’m having trouble putting my thoughts in to words, so I will talk objectively as I can about the writing style first.
This book is half memoir, half interview, which makes sense as it was co-authored by Greg Mortenson, the Director and Co-Founder of the Central Asia Institute and David Oliver Relin, an investigative reporter.
Though initially, it took some getting used to – the rapid shift between direct Mortenson quotes by Relin, and Mortenson’s own narrative – I didn’t mind it once the story really got rolling.
And once it did! Action. Adventure. Romance. Terror. Beauty. Hope. Fear. And so much joy! What a journey. I am so grateful that they gave the time and enormous energy required to put this book into print.
As a student of Women in Development, I appreciated the references to Helena Norberg-Hodge’s work. And was blown away by Mortenson’s ability to sensitively and successfully bring about positive change for women in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan (never mind the fact that it’s a miracle he’s still alive).
Ethnic Diversity in Pakistan (1973)
I think my only complaint is that I wanted more detail. I wanted to know more about life in all of the culturally diverse villages touched by Greg Mortenson and the CAI, about how Mortenson – seemingly effortlessly – fit in to these radically un-American, non-Western societies, and about what happened next.
The story ended (as much as I can tell) in early 2004. I’m so ready for the sequel, which, hopefully will be written, and will detail Mortenson’s Noble Peace Prize-worthy work in Afghanistan, as well as give us updates on what has happened with Jahan, the first educated woman of Korphe who started medical training, and all of the others we met in this first book.
Happily, there is a pictorial follow up called Journey of Hope available for download.
Now for the serious evangelism…
Hurry! Click! Buy! Today! Donate 7% of the proceeds to the Central Asia Institute if you link to Amazon through this link! Read with tissues in hand! Buy more! Including the Young Adult and Children’s versions! Donate to libraries! Give to friends! Release copies into the wild through Bookcrossing! Start a Pennies for Peace Campaign.
This is my plan, because, as Jean Hoerni, Financier and Co-Founder of CAI noted, “‘Americans care about Buddhists, not Muslims.’” May we prove him wrong.
My first “grown up” fiction book since before JumbleSon was born is finished at last. It took over a month, but I finished the chunky, Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex.
I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I’d be reading something written by a Greek. But, of all the first post-baby, non-Harry Potter, fiction books to read, why this one?
For one, I’d heard Eugenides read a passage from it on NPR back in 2003. It was the passage I mention below, and his reading of it was magical.
Also, it was for a book club. Sadly, it wasn’t until I was nearly 3/4 of the way through the book that I realized I wouldn’t be able to attend the discussion. But, since I had already invested so much time in it, I pressed on, only to finish today exclaiming, “Glad that’s over with!”
Family drama is no longer on my list of “things I enjoy,” even if it is promoted as good fiction. By my estimation, Cal’s story – to which I was very sympathetic – could have been told in 250 pages. Putting me through 530 was so unnecessary. Unless he was going to tell me more about Callie/Cal. That’s whom I was really interest in, not her family so much.
That said, there are four places where the novel earned my respect:
On pages 95-97 of the 1st edition (told you I was a detail person , he describes his grandfathers work in the Ford factory. His repetition of the sentence, “Wierzbicki reams a bearing and Stephanides grinds a bearing and O’Malley attaches a bearing…” throughout those three pages was lovely. Through the cadence, I was transported to the factory floor and could hear every sound made on the production line. Brilliant. And, it was incredible to hear the author read this passage. He brought it to life even more than my own imagination did.
Page 297 describes Callie’s locker room experiences of girls as sea creatures. I felt like I was floating in the deep. Fantastic.
Then, miraculously, on page 472, Cal reads Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha. My heart did a back flip. Anyone who references Hesse (my favorite author ever), immediately shines golden in my eyes … at least for a moment or two .
On the last page, the book comes abruptly to an end. I was turning the page for the “real ending” but it was only blank. Well done.
If I wasn’t feeling so pressed for time to luxuriate over books, I probably would have appreciated the length and breadth of Eugenides’ story telling. I did enjoy the WWI history lesson, and the taste of Greek-American culture, too. But honestly, so many books, so little time…
The book clubs next reading is another Pulitzer winner – The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Juno Diaz. It appears to be another family-drama filled story, and not one I’m up for just now. I’ll wait to see what Christmas Eve treasure JumbleSpouse has in store for me (we gift books on the Eve) before starting another book.
What about you? Have you read Middlesex or The Brief Wonderous Life…? What did you think?
And so it was! The best coffee we’ve had this side of Salt Lake City! (alas! no photos 
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