Books Read, 2007

So, in the waning hours of the old year, it looks like 61 books for 2007. That's a little bit down from 66 in 2006, but since I'm partial to the number 61, I can deal with it nicely. Someday though, I hope to achieve my goal of 100 books a year. The impossible dream? The unreachable star?

In 2007, 38 books were fiction and 23 were non-fiction. I wish that the numbers could be a little more even. That'll surely happen in 2008, as I participate in the In Their Shoes Challenge.

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I read 3 children's books and 2 Young Adult books.

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I was surprised that I only read 4 graphic novels this year, since that's rapidly becoming a favorite category. That number should go up in 2008 since I'm also in the Graphic Novel Challenge. [I'm so close to buying a graphic biography of Emma Goldman, which would fit perfectly for both of these challenges.]

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There's always the resolve to read books from as many different countries as possible, and once again my resolution, while not broken, is badly and sadly bent: [My Tough & Cool Inner Bookworm is all over me for this; she thinks that since I'm an expat, my reading should be a hell of a lot more global. What about that book of contemporary New Zealand short stories that TechnoKiwi brought back after last winter break? Gathering dust on Mt. TBR! I hang my head and sigh; the bitch is right this time]

Australia: 2

Brazil: 1

Canada: 1 [extreme guilt pangs, since I now know so many of my neighbo(u)rs to the North]

England: 15

Malaysia: 1

South Korea: 1

USA: 40

Books written 1700-1799: 1

Books written 1800-1899: 3

Books written 1900-1999: 24

Books written 2000-2007: 33

Books written by men: 30

Books written by women: 31

DNF: 3

Re-reads: 1

Pulitzer Prize Winners: 2 [I know there's a Pulitzer Challenge, but it's more fun for me just to chip away at the list here and there with no great plan]

Here's my complete list for 2007. The books that were standouts for me are highlighted in red.

1. The Good Earth - Pearl Buck [One off the Pulitzer Fiction list, and she deserved to win]

2. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray [I'm still haunted by that big question about Becky: Did she?]

3. Malcolm X - Randy Helfer and Chris DuBurke

4. Murder In Coweta County - Margaret Anne Barnes [also an excellent 1982 TV movie]

5. Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte

6. A Pound Of Paper - John Baxter

7. Shirley - Charlotte Bronte

8. Gilgamesh -Joan London [I hope to read more by this Australian author]

9. Captain Underpants And The Perilous Plot Of Professor Poopypants -Dav Pilkey

10. Captain Underpants And The Invasion Of The Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies From Outer Space - Dav Pilkey

11. All Creatures Great And Small - James Herriot

12. Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss [Fun, English teacher-style]

13. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time - Mark Haddon

14. Three Days In That Autumn - Wanseo Pak [I resolve to delve more into Korean Literature]

15. The Secret Life Of The Lonely Doll: The Search For Dare Wright - Jean Nathan

16. The Colour - Rose Tremain

17. The Measure Of A Man - Sidney Poitier

18. Confessions Of A Failed Southern Lady - Florence King

19. Outsider - Diana Palmer [I'm sure it wasn't the author's intent, but I laughed like hell]

20. The Laments - George Hagen

21. How To Cook A Wolf - M.F.K. Fisher [Wow. MFK rocks my culinary socks! I'll be going back for seconds]

22. The Annotated Charlotte's Web - E.B. White, Peter F. Neumeyer [Also included are some of White's essays. "Death Of A Pig" is close to perfection]

23. How To Talk To Anyone - Leil Lowndes

24. Down And Out In Paris And London - George Orwell [I know it's hopeless with him being dead and me being married, but I can't help having a crush on him; I love his writing so much!]

25. Notes On A Scandal - Zoe Heller

26. My Side Of The Mountain - Jean Craighead George

27. On The Road - Jack Kerouac

28. My Brother's Keeper - Marcia Davenport [Davenport is a neglected author who needs to be rediscovered for this novel as well as some of her others]

29. Road To Perdition - Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner [Even better than the movie]

30. Slackjaw - Jim Knipfel

31. Who Put That Hair In My Toothbrush? - Jerry Spinelli

32. Anne Of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery [Glad to finally meet you, kid]

33. The Secret Life Of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

34. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay [Looking forward to reading the sequels and seeing the TV show]

35. The Witch Of Portobello - Paulo Coelho

36. The Prize Winner Of Defiance, Ohio - Terry Ryan [I gulped this one down. It's strange -- written in that sprightly 1940s-50s housewife humor style popularized by Shirley Jackson and Jean Kerr among others, but with a dark undertone]

37. American Splendor: Another Day - Harvey Pekar [Oh Harvey...I love you. Just love you. You're my geezer crush]

38. A Conspiracy Of Paper - David Liss

39. Summer Of '49 - David Halberstam [I will be reading more Halberstam]

40. Terrorist - John Updike

41. You Remind Me Of Me - Dan Chaon

42. Fun Home - Alison Bechdel [Bechdel is on my list for 2008, thanks to the Graphic Novel Challenge]

43. Andersonville - MacKinlay Kantor [One off the Pulitzer Fiction list. Not an easy or enjoyable read, but worth the time]

44. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel DeFoe

45. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver [I admire how Shriver so deftly walked the tightrope between nature and nurture, and also admire her portrayal of Eva, Kevin's mom and the unreliable narrator of this novel]

46. Comfort Woman - Nora Okja Keller

47. James Tiptree, Jr: The Double Life Of Alice B. Sheldon - Julie Phillips [What a life! If you like biographies, give this one a try]

48. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins [I've never read anything like this in my life. I found it exhilarating]

49. Lisey's Story - Stephen King

50. Fearless Interviewing - Marky Stein

51. The Memory Of Running - Ron McLarty

52. Book Lust - Nancy Pearl [I know it's hopeless, with me living in Korea and Nancy living in Seattle and both of us married not to mention both of us female, but I can't help having a girl-crush on her; I just love her reading lists so much!]

53. Kadazan Folklore - Rita Lasimbang, editor [A small book of folklore from Malaysia with tales of how the earth and sky came to be, the origin of land and water leeches, and why mosquitoes make a buzzing sound in our ears, among other tales. Very entertaining]

54. Breakout! Escape From Alcatraz - Lori Haskins [A good non-fiction children's book about the big escape from Alcatraz in the early 1960s. Well-illustrated with drawings and photos]

55. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini [Believe the hype. This is a well-told story of two women and their families and Hosseini deftly weaves in 30+ years of Afghanistan's troubled history]

56. Letty Fox: Her Luck - Christina Stead [A long and difficult read. An almost-unlikeable heroine who often had me grinding my teeth. Somehow, I find myself thinking of her often with great affection]

57. Funny, But Not Vulgar - George Orwell [See #24 comment above...sigh...]

58. The Dance Of Intimacy - Harriet Lerner, Ph.D [One of CanadaBoy's friends moved and left behind all the books in his apartment --around 100-- that were accumulated from at least the last 3 occupants. I grabbed this one because my beloved (I mean Nancy Pearl) had mentioned that The Dance Of Anger was a good self-help book. Ordinarily, I don't like this kind of stuff, but Lerner's approach to intimacy won my respect, because she advocates thinking and planning to build honest intimate relationships, and doesn't just cover everything with a gooey blanket of "emotional honesty". I also like what she said about distancing; it doesn't mean that the person doesn't care -- it's the person's way of managing feelings that are extremely strong]

59. Of Human Bondage - W. Somerset Maugham [Maugham's writing style is so beautiful and clear -- how could he have ever fallen out of style? Even though he had to adhere to the strict conventions of the time, (this novel was first published in 1915) and the reader has to sometimes infer what's going on, he's able to spell it out pretty plainly. Terrific characterizations -- they may get a little extreme, like slutty, grasping Mildred or Philip, in the wretched throes of his unrequited love, but they're unforgettable. I'll try another novel by Maugham but don't know which one yet]

60. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen [Excellent novel about a second-rate train circus in the early 1930s. Can't wait to see the movie]

61. In The Company Of The Courtesan - Sarah Dunant

Give Me Back My Time! 2007 Reading Dislikes

I must've been in an unusually amiable reading mood this year. There were only 4 books that I really didn't care for, but went ahead and dragged myself to the finish line, anyway.

On The Road - Jack Kerouac [It was OK during the stretches that Dean Moriarty wasn't in it, but alas, he's one of the main characters]

Who Put That Hair In My Toothbrush? - Jerry Spinnelli [Tedious and badly dated Young Adult fiction]

The Secret Life Of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd [I gagged on the sappy mixture of sweetness, sisterhood and soap opera]

The Witch Of Portobello -Paulo Coelho[I traded it in at the bookstore as soon as I finished, but my resentment still smolders. Even now, almost 6 months later, I still glare at copies of it and even thumped one reproachfully. Cardboard characters spouting New-Age-y platitudes! It's put me off trying anymore Paulo Coelho for good]

100 Books By Women

[Practically everyone else has done this list, so I thought I'd give it a go. I bolded the books I've read, and added comments. I'm so glad Ayn Rand isn't on this list! How did I get so lucky?]

1. Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind
2. Anne Rice, Interview With the Vampire
3. Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
4. Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
5. Virginia Woolf, The Waves
6. Virginia Woolf, Orlando [re: the other 3 Virginia Woolf reads -- it was a Bloomsbury class, OK? I'm not that intellectual or high-strung or anything]
7. Djuna Barnes, Nightwood [I really want to read this book]
8. Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth [Wharton had me at Ethan Frome, but this is the book that convinced me that she was a master]
9. Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence [I want to read it. Saw the movie]
10. Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome
11. Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness [Definitely want to read]
12. Nadine Gordimer, Burger’s Daughter
13. Harriette Simpson Arnow, The Dollmaker [I was surprised to see this book on the list; it seems to be an often-overlooked classic. If you find it, grab it and read it. You won't be sorry]
14. Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
15. Willa Cather, My Ántonia [I may have read this, but it would've been before 1993, when I began keeping track, so I don't remember]
16. Erica Jong, Fear of Flying
17. Erica Jong, Fanny [I had kind of an Erica Jong thing going on in my mid-to-late teens]
18. Joy Kogawa, Obasan
19. Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook
20. Doris Lessing, The Fifth Child
21. Doris Lessing, The Grass Is Singing [I want to read this]
22. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
23. Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time
24. Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres
25. Lore Segal, Her First American [I've never heard of this book or author. Off to Amazon to investigate]
26. Alice Walker, The Color Purple
27. Alice Walker, The Third Life of Grange Copeland [Want to read]
28. Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon
29. Muriel Spark, Memento Mori
30. Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie [I've never read any Muriel Spark. Guilt feelings abound]
31. Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina
32. Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea [I like her other novels like Good Morning, Midnight better]
33. Susan Fromberg Shaeffer, Anya
34. Cynthia Ozick, Trust
35. Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
36. Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife
37. Ann Beattie, Chilly Scenes of Winter
38. Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God [I don't know why I haven't gotten around to this!]
39. Joan Didion, A Book of Common Prayer [I may have read this, but don't remember. Want to read]
40. Joan Didion, Play It as It Lays
41. Mary McCarthy, The Group
42. Mary McCarthy, The Company She Keeps [Want to read]
43. Grace Paley, The Little Disturbances of Man
44. Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
45. Carson McCullers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter [And the movie's damn good, too. What a career Sondra Locke could've had!]
46. Elizabeth Bowen, The Death of the Heart [Want to read]
47. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood [See Muriel Spark comment]
48. Mona Simpson, Anywhere But Here
49. Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
50. Toni Morrison, Beloved
51. Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm [Definitely want to read!]
52. Sylvia Townsend Warner, Mr. Fortune’s Maggot
53. Katherine Anne Porter, Ship of Fools [I've read everything else by her except this...WTH?]
54. Laura Riding, Progress of Stories [Not familiar with this author]
55. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust
56. Penelope Fitzgerald, The Blue Flower [Want to read]
57. Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits
58. A.S. Byatt, Possession
59. Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
60. Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle
61. Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
62. Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus
63. Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca
64. Katherine Dunn, Geek Love
65. Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle [I'm so happy to see this book on the list! I champion it at every available opportunity!]
66. Barbara Pym, Excellent Women [I was on a Barbara Pym kick in the late 80s, but that was before I was keeping lists of what I read, so I don't remember if I read it or not. Want to read]
67. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
68. Anne Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant [YES YES YES!!! Tyler's opinion is that this is her best book, and I staunchly agree, although I love just about everything she's written]
69. Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist [Wonderful book]
70. Nancy Willard, Things Invisible to See
71. Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry
72. Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Disturbances in the Field [I checked it out from the library once, but couldn't get it read before the due date & never got back to it. Want to read]
73. Rosellen Brown, Civil Wars
74. Harriet Doerr, Stones for Ibarra
75. Jean Stafford, The Mountain Lion [Her collected short stories are her best work, but this short novel showcases her talents perfectly, unlike her bloated and reader-unfriendly but bestselling first novel, Boston Adventure]
76. Stevie Smith. Novel on Yellow Paper [I've heard about this book for years, but have never actually seen a copy in all my years of searching. A definite want-to-read]
77. E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
78. Rebecca Goldstein, The Mind-Body Problem [REALLY surprised to see this book. Good stuff]
79. P.D. James, The Children of Men
80. Ursula Hegi, Stones From the River
81. Fay Weldon, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
82. Katherine Mansfield, Collected Stories
83. Rebecca Harding Davis, Life in the Iron Mills [Want to read]
84. Louise Erdrich, The Beet Queen [I may have read this. I forgot]
85. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness [My poor first husband, Manfred, Sr. He tried in vain to get me to read this novel, one of his favorites. I kept resisting because it was SF. I regret that now, and resolve to read the novel if I run across a copy]
86. Edna O’Brien, The Country Girls Trilogy
87. Margaret Drabble, Realms of Gold
88. Margaret Drabble, The Waterfall [I really didn't like this novel. I'd rather have the time back that I spent reading it]
89. Dawn Powell, The Locusts Have No King [I read Angels On Toast and really liked that, so I'd read this novel without hesitation]
90. Marilyn French, The Women’s Room [I read this when I was 16 and was horrified. I wonder what I'd think of it now, 30 years down the road]
91. Eudora Welty, The Optimist’s Daughter
92. Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries
93. Jamaica Kincaid, Annie John
94. Tillie Olsen, Tell Me a Riddle
95. Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
96. Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head [See comment about Muriel Spark]
97. Anita Desai, Clear Light of Day
98. Alice Hoffman, The Drowning Season [I read Blue Diary and Here On Earth, but I'm not sure Alice Hoffman is my cup of tea]
99. Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole [Really funny]
100. Penelope Mortimer, The Pumpkin Eater [Want to read]

Unfinished Business: The DNF Files

I hate giving up on books, and I hate admitting it all the more. There's all that guilt. It was MY fault. Not the writer's. (The only exception to this was when I failed to finish Atlas Shrugged back in 2005. Ayn Rand takes all the blame for that one. If she weren't dead, I'd call her up and yell at her.)

Since I'm such a big fan of Nancy Pearl's and she doesn't hesitate to admit that she doesn't finish books, I've decided to get over it and announce my unfinished business right here. These are the 3 books I gave up on in 2007: (I'm pretty sure there won't be any more DNFs; I like everything I'm reading, and that'll take me up to the end of the year.)

1. Daisy Fay And The Miracle Man - Fannie Flagg [I really liked Fannie Flagg on Match Game and I think it's really cool that she and Rita Mae Brown were once close friends, but this first novel of hers just didn't do anything for me. The narrator's voice seems so thin and monotonous. I was dying for an aspirin by the time I quit on page 132.]

2. Skinny Bitch - Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman [Please believe me; I didn't pick up this book because Posh Spice was seen carrying it around. I had no idea. I just liked the title. Obviously I wasn't offended by the bad language and verbal abuse as some readers were; what bugged me were the lists and lists AND lists of name-brand organic food that would be almost impossible to find outside of NYC or LA. I took Skinny Bitch to book group a couple of months ago and begged someone to take it. Liz kindly complied, and reported back that she was offended by the language.]

3. The Master And Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov [I'm not much of a fan of Russian literature or magical realism, and when you put 'em together...not my cup of borscht. I really really REALLY did try to finish this novel, however, but finally admitted defeat about 110 pages from the end. Gotta lotta guilt here; this feels like MY fault. After giving up, it felt as if 20 points had been deducted from my IQ. I had to keep asking myself, "What would Nancy Pearl do?" To end with an almost-non sequitur, I'd like to say that if they ever make a movie of this book, Ian McShane should play the devil.]

I shouldn't feel so uncomfortable about admitting my DNFs, but there it is. I hope I won't have any in 2008.

Graphic Novels Challenge

I tried to resist -- I really did, but it was futile. I love graphic novels! Here's my list:

1. Maus - Art Spiegelman

2. Blankets -Craig Thompson

3. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth - Chris Ware

4. American Splendor: Unsung Hero - Harvey Pekar and David Collier

5. Dykes To Watch Out For - Alison Bechdel

6. Ethel and Ernest: A True Story - Raymond Briggs

7. The Snowman - Milo Manara

December 9 BOOKLEAVES Meeting

Goodbye final exams, and hello long weekend! I went to Seoul on Sunday for book group, where we discussed A Thousand Splendid Suns, which everyone seemed to enjoy. Dazzled by how beautifully the author wove 40+ years of Afghanistan's history into the saga of two families, I'm recommending this book without reservation. I'm eager to read The Kite Runner as well.

Veronica was sick and couldn't make the meeting, but even though she was feeling cruddy, she must have had some sense of satisfaction that as BOOKLEAVES' founder, she's created something beautiful and viable and enduring that doesn't require her actual presence. (Although we missed her like hell!)

Speaking of creative and bookloving, this was Aaron's last meeting because he's headed back to Canada. Bummed about leaving book group but undaunted, he immediately started up a book discussion group on Facebook called Bookin' Around. Aaron's a big Douglas Coupland fan, so the first book he selected is All Families Are Psychotic. I joined his group of course, so I must find this novel and add to my dangerously tall TBR stack. Damn thing's gonna avalanche one of these nights, and I'll be a goner. Oh well. There are worse ways to go. Meanwhile: O Canada!

[I have to stop and ask myself: Why didn't I just start up a book group of my own in Gumi? Wouldn't that have been brave of me? Instead, I bleated piteously in the wilderness for nearly 2.5 frickin' years! Of course, all that bleating and waiting has resulted in a happy ending, but still...]

After book group in Gangnam, I headed back to Itaewon where Mr. Bybee was patiently waiting. After dinner at a Mexican restaurant (wonderful, but small portions) we headed up "Hooker Hill" towards What The Book?

Guess who I ran into? Aaron! (Before you exclaim, "What a small world!", I should explain that Aaron and I rode the subway together from Gangnam to Itaewon.) During the subway ride, we'd talked Canadian books and authors, and I mentioned that I wanted to read A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, an author from Manitoba. Aaron had spotted this novel a few moments before I arrived at What The Book? and when he saw me, he plucked it from the shelves triumphantly. So that was my purchase for the evening...except a Men's Health magazine for CanadaBoy. (Are you picking up on a pattern in this post? O Canada! ...My Canada???)

The big surprise of the night came from Mr. Bybee. Get this: HE BOUGHT A NOVEL! This is decidedly untypical behavior. I never thought I'd live to see the day. He could've knocked me over with a feather...okay, enough cliches and suspense. He bought The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen. I'm sure that the selling point was the faux aged and grainy photo of Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck on the cover. I read this novel last year, and it's about as close to nonfiction as you're gonna get, but the fact remains: Mr. Bybee has crossed over! He is no longer 100% Mr. Nonfiction!

Before leaving What The Book? I ordered You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore, which is the book for our January 20th meeting. I've never read any Moore, but Catherine and Aaron are enthusiastic about his writing. That's good enough for me. The book for the January 6 meeting is Water For Elephants, which I can't seem to stop referring to incorrectly as Like Water For Elephants. Whatever its title, I can't help feeling that I'm going to love this book. I'd better get busy, though. With preparing final grades and doing camps during December, tempus will be fugiting big time!

5 Things Meme

Halie tagged me for this meme. I'm still exhausted from the 7 weirdnesses in my previous post. My brain hurts. Pass me a cold compress that smells faintly but sweetly of chamomile...

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:
-Getting a tattoo
-Reading Anne Tyler's whole canon all over again
-Trying to figure out if I wanted a Master's in TESOL or Special Education
-Freaking about my son's first kidney stone
-Working 2 jobs

5 Things On My To-Do List Today:
-Get my hair trimmed and those pesky roots camouflaged
-Grade final exams and reports
-Shop for food
-Kick CanadaBoy's and Smartypants' (another coworker) asses at Scrabble on Facebook and reclaim my dignity
-Watch an episode of House (Season 1)

5 Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire:
-Give a huge dollop of money to Manfred, Jr. so he could finish school and get a solid start in life.
-Help the rest of my family
-Travel to several countries on my wish list
-Buy or set up a used bookstore...I don't know where....yet
-Contribute to some charitable organizations

5 Things I'll Never Wear Again:
-Dresses, skirts
-Shoes with heels over 2 inches
-Horizontal stripes
-Red toenail polish
-Bikini

5 Favorite Toys:
-Etch-A-Sketch
-Barbie & all of her accessories (except Ken...I preferred GI Joe)
-A deck of cards
-Fisher-Price tape recorder
-Scrabble game

The 7 Weirdnesses Of Bybee

Dewey tagged me for this meme several days ago, and I've had a hell of a time culling the list down to something manageable!

1. I used to lie and tell people that my birthday was December 10th instead of December 11th because I wanted to have the same birthday as Emily Dickinson. I was born around 5 a.m. on the 11th, so it really wasn't that much of a lie, but at the time, it felt like I was telling a whopper.

2. A bowl of popcorn liberally laced with pickled jalapeno peppers is my idea of comfort food.

3. While watching a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game, I can't read when the opposing team is up to bat, because if I'm engrossed in my book and not watching carefully, those SOBs will score a run (or worse!) off of my beloved Cards.

4. If I get an interesting word on my rack in Scrabble, I'll play it even if there's a better move available. "Gadfly" is a recent example.

5. When I'm running a fever, I dream each letter of the alphabet in agonizingly slow motion. The letters pulsate. They hurt me.

6. I absolutely crave time alone. I'm a solitary junkie. The more solitude I get, the more I want.

7. I can't spell "weird". I have to look it up every time.

Tag! You're it! If you've already been tagged by someone else, my apologies.

Veronica
Lazy Cow
Sam Houston
Zeek

Isabella

Joemmama

Kookiejar

April 22, 2008: Circle Your Calendars!

Yes, I'm happy. Extremely pleased. Today I got word from John, a blog reader that seems to share my Don Robertson obsession, that The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread will be re-released in paperback on April 22, 2008!

http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Thing-Since-Sliced-Bread/dp/0061452963/ref=sr_oe_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196695218&sr=1-1

Maybe it's too much to hope for, but if The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread does well, (and why wouldn't it do well? It's terrific!) perhaps Harper will come out with the other two books in the Morris Bird III trilogy, The Sum And Total Of Now and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened.

If you've read this book and enjoyed it, please talk it up in your blog. If you haven't, keep an eye out this upcoming year for one of the finest coming-of-age stories you'll ever read.

I see good things ahead: Don Robertson will be discovered by a whole new generation of readers and he'll get his own Wikipedia entry. Libraries will order the novel instead of sticking it on the discard table, and Clevelanders who have been like "Don who?" will suddenly regain their memories and be able to knowledgably discuss their hometown author and one of the great literary characters of the 20th century set against the backdrop of their own city. It's about damn time!

Dreaming Up A New Novel For Someone Else To Write

I'm slightly hopeless when it comes to technology, so CanadaBoy set my cell phone alarm for me a couple of semesters ago. It goes off at six a.m. I don't have any classes until 9 a.m. right now, so I've been turning off the alarm ("Eine Kleine Nachtmusik") and going back to sleep until about 7:15. Lately, during those 75 minutes, my dream factory has been working overtime. First Lorrie Moore and now Percy Bysshe Shelley.

...It must have been the early 80's, because I was an English major undergrad once again. I was at one of the many parties we had, and someone asked what I thought of Shelley. That this person (male or female, I don't know) liked him was obvious, because they started quoting his poetry, and just wouldn't stop. I tried to change the subject. No luck. I got To A Skylark. I got Ozymandias. Finally, I said, "Well, you know, Shelley WAS kind of an asshole..." It worked. While my fellow party goer looked on, horrified but silent, I started reciting the facts that I could remember from Shelley's biography. He'd just run off with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin when I woke up...
I woke up wondering if anyone has ever done a biographical novel about Shelley. Then I wondered if anyone has ever done a biographical novel about Shelley's first wife, Harriet Westbrook. Shelley eloped with her when she was about sixteen. Five years later, she was dead, a suicide. She took a permanent bath in the Serpentine River, in Hyde Park in London. By this time, Harriet and Shelley had had a couple of children but he was openly living with Mary Godwin and his children with her. After Harriet's death, Mary became Shelley's second wife until he took a permanent bath (assumed accidental) a few years later at the age of 29, but not before Mary thoroughly kicked his literary ass all over the place in a famous incident involving a certain ghost story-writing contest.

Shelley was not an exact contemporary of Jane Austen's, but he was doing all of his running around at roughly the time she was writing her novels. Harriet and her family were almost certainly a lot closer to Austen-think than Shelley-think. What would it have been like to have someone like Shelley unleashed in your family in that time and place? I'll bet that their heads were literally spinning on their collective necks. His behavior makes Wickham look like a Sunday school parson.

Did Shelley push Harriet over the edge? Was it icily disappointed parents? A disapproving society? Did she quietly throw herself into the Serpentine, or did she make scenes like Alanis Morrissette in "You Oughta Know"?

Some biographers and lit crits suggest that Harriet was as dumb as a box of rocks and of course poor brilliant Shelley just had to go and find someone who could be his intellectual equal, or at least close to his poetry-god powers. I'm thinking of a word that starts with a B, and it's not Bysshe.

It goes without saying that this novel (do you think Serpentine is a good title?) would be a bleak but enjoyable read, if anyone is up to the task. I don't expect it, but a brief mention in the acknowledgments section would be lovely, or you could just dedicate the damn book to me...hmmmmm...something artsy-fartsy like my name and underneath it, "Blue Hearted Bookworm" written in Latin.

I'm so far behind on my reading that it's absurd, and now I'm dreaming up novels for people to write so I can add to my TBR! Fish gotta swim. Birds gotta fly.