By: Miriam,
on 11/18/2010
Via Laughing Squid, our video of the week celebrates a playful love of books:
I think we can all agree: that is so cool.
By: Miriam,
on 10/26/2010
It’s nearly Halloween, and instead of bemoaning how quickly the fall has gone and the imminence of winter, I’m going to celebrate instead: Halloween’s an excuse for literary costumes!
Me as Portia from A Merchant of Venice. Or as Hero from Much Ado About Nothing. Or as... I forgot.
Personally, my default costume is “Shakespearean Heroine of the moment.” I’ve been Juliet, Hero, Viola… all the fun females from the Bard. I’ve been villains, too, like Bellatrix Lestrange (from Harry Potter), and Miho from the webcomic Megatokyo. I know I’m not the only one; The Book Bench is collecting photos and GalleyCat is offering ideas.
Why do we dress up as favorite characters? When we read, we immerse ourselves in the world and its people, making them seem real—and dressing up as them lets us make them real for an extra day, extending the enchantment of the book. We also look up to characters: we want to have their bravery, or intelligence, or beauty. Being a villain goes the other way: it lets us indulge in our curiosity about the impulses we don’t want to give in to, the power we don’t want to have lest it corrupt us.
What literary characters have you been for Halloween, or would you like to dress up as? Why?
By: Miriam,
on 7/20/2010
Last month, Sonya Chung had a post at The Millions on breaking up with books: quitting a book mid-read.
Now, I’m a big fan of Nancy Pearl’s Rule of 50: if you’re under fifty years of age, read the first fifty pages of a book and, if you’re not enjoying it, stop; if you’re over fifty years of age, subtract your age from 100, read that many pages of the book, and, if you’re not enjoying it, stop. I apply this rule often—there is just not enough time, and I am blessed to live a life filled with far more free books than I can possibly read. However, some books I’ve really tried to keep reading, hoping that if I just keep slogging through it I’ll love it.
These tend to be books that were recommended by people who are important to me, whose opinions I respect, and who know me well. With those recommendations behind them, they’re books I should really love, right?
Alas, it is not always so.
My mother is an avid reader, and her particular Genre Of Choice is historical fiction, which I often appreciate as well. I also minored in Medieval Studies and am particularly interested in the British Isles. So, logically, my mother suggested I read one of her all-time favorites: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman, historical fiction set in thirteenth-century England and Wales. The historical research is impeccable, the sense of place and time is excellent, the book well written… but after a couple hundred pages of constant wanting to throttle the main character, I realized that I would be happier if I didn’t put myself through several hundred more pages of wanting to throttle the main character, who was showing no inclination to open her eyes and abandon her naivete.
And then there’s one of my dad’s favorite books, The Book of Flying by Keith Miller. It’s fantasy about a librarian, a book about books, totally my kind of thing! And a hundred pages in, the writing was oh so beautiful, but it felt like nothing had happened. It was like reading Ursula Le Guin, and I’d already accepted that I am a deficient fantasy reader because I don’t particularly like Le Guin’s books. So I gave up.
It’s not just a family thing. One of my dearest friends recommended The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente. Once again, the writing was gorgeous, and in this case, the form was brilliant—layered folktales, overlapping stories blending and developing and unfolding and interlocking. The problem was blood: the magic in these stories required women’s blood. Lots of it. I reached a point where I couldn’t deal with another woman tearing into herself—and I didn’t particularly want to deal with it.
I still respect and value the literary opinions of my parents and my friend—and have read and enjoyed other books recommended by all three—but these books and I, we just didn’t mesh.
So, dear readers, what books have you been recommended but abandoned (or wish you’d h
By: Miriam,
on 2/10/2010
It’s a dreary, snowy day outside the office windows—the kind of day that makes me want to curl up with a book (or two or three) and a steaming mug of hot cocoa. And is that book (or two or three) something new and provocative, something I’ll need to think about and stretch my mind around?
Nope. Not a chance.
That book (or two or three) is comfort reading. Pulled from the stack of books that I reread over and over. They are dogeared, their spines are broken, many show water damage or the covers have fallen off. They are well loved and comfortable. They are old friends.
I asked around the office; here’s what some of us at Lee & Low turn to on snowy days, sick days, and other days when comfort reading is just the right thing to do.
Miriam
I mostly go in for fantasy. Or ballet.
Anything by Tamora Pierce. I have my favorites among her canon, sure, but her particular brand of girl-power fantasy never fails to make me happy.
The Drina series by Jean Estoril. I have a soft spot for books about girls wanting to be ballerinas, and this series does it so well.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Sometimes reading is about escapism. Like escaping from this world into a grimier, dingier, entirely more dangerous underworld!
Sunshine by Robin McKinley. It’s not vampire romance, it’s vampire friendship.
Emily
I don’t usually re-read entire books cover to cover, but I like to browse my favorite parts — which works especially well with poetry or nonfiction (e.g., a collection of personal essays) that doesn’t read in a fully linear way.
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
Individual poems I’ve collected, including poets Ruth Forman, Lynn Powell, Lucille Clifton, etc.
“Old favorite” picture books.
When I was younger:
Maizon at Blue Hill by Jacqueline Woodson
The Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
Hannah
The Complete Poems of Elizabeth Bishop. Poetry is great for snowy days when you have time to read slowly and ponder.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Still thrilling no matter how many times I pick it up.
Pride & Prejudice. When it comes to comfort reading, my favorite Jane Austen. Me and everybody else…
Gilead. I can open this book to any page and be amazed by the sheer loveliness of Marilynne Robinson’s words.
Any of the Harry Potters! Though especially 3 and 4. Oh, and 6. And maybe 1 and 2…
What about you? What are your favorite books to pick up again and again?
By: Miriam,
on 1/19/2010
Welcome back after the long weekend! Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day is an important one, reminding us of this great man, how far we have come since he had a dream, and how far we still have to go. It’s also a nice opportunity to relax and, for many of us, enjoy a day off.
So, what did you do with your day? Please select as many options as you want, and tell us more in comments!
View This Poll
By: Miriam,
on 1/12/2010
We talk a lot about art in books and on books—covers, more covers, and illustrations. Art that’s part of the book. But what if we go in the other direction?
Art made of books?
From Villiard.
From Apartment Therapy.
Art made on books?
From This Blog Rules.
Art made for books?
From Josepfin Hellström-Olsson.
My son is going as Captain Underpants this year. It may not be high class but it is literature. LOL
I don’t know how to put a pic on here or I would let you see his costume.
Hmm…hottest literary Halloween costume this year would have to be Katniss from The Hunger Games. Any of her costumes would work, but I think that her dressed as the Mockingjay would be the coolest.
I wish these kinds of things happened more in Australia! I’d probaby try to go make a costume from Jonah Winter’s book, Frida, lifting one of those beautiful illustrations. Maybe even a red bird to float in on…mmmm