My Second Blogiversary!

Review of the Day: The Well and the Mine

Few debut novels are as polished and engaging as The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips. Set in the 1930s in Depression-ravaged Alabama, the book is the story of the hard-working Moore family. Their home is the center of attention after daughter Tess sees a woman throw a baby in their well.

Narration moves among the five family members: father Albert, a supervisor in the local coal mine, mother Teva, daughters Virgie and Tess, and son Jack. Phillips does not hide much from the reader, and narrative switches are indicated with the name of the speaking character. Only Jack tells his story from the perspective of his adult self, providing information about what happened to the family in the future.

The characters maintain distinct personalities – something authors using multiple perspectives often fail to accomplish. The precocious Tess is the most charming because she has an impish spark but an angel heart. She definitely brings to mind Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. Although she observes life through a child’s eyes (“Jack had gotten me thinking about why we didn't ever see fairies in the woods. I figured something ate them.”), the story moves forward through the life lessons she learns.

These lessons involve the power of generosity, hospitality, and grace in the face of poverty, racism, hardship, and heartbreak. There is little in the way of cynicism, but neither is there schmaltz. The Well and the Mine has all the makings of a new classic, perfect for a book club discussion or a high school English class.

NOTES

Gin Phillips won the Discover Award for this book.

Fannie Flagg wrote the introduction.

I recommend getting the original edition published by the super cool Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts because it has the beautiful, thick, matte-finished cover with French flaps. 

The cover photo is credited to Eudora Welty.

OTHER REVIEWS

The Stones Inside My Shoes

(If you would like your review listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.)

In Trial

I had hoped to keep up with daily posts while in trial, but things are going so fast and furious that blog posts are going to be sporadic. Please check back.

Opening Sentence of the Day: City Limits

"I walked all the way around Portland, along the invisible line called the Urban Growth Boundary."

City Limits: Walking Portland's Boundary by David Oates (published by the Oregon State University Press).


I like to walk. I live in Portland. I'm intrigued by the idea of walking the whole way around the city's raggedy boundary.  For non-Oregonians, the idea of an "Urban Growth Boundary" may seem wacky, but we've got one. And I'm about to experience all of it -- at least second hand.

Teaser Tuesday: The Well and the Mine

"Jack had gotten me thinking about why we didn't ever see fairies in the woods.  I figured something ate them."

-- The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips (Discover Award winner; introduction by Fannie Flagg; published by the super cool Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts).

This is an excellent book. It's a great story, rips right along, includes all the life-lessons of a Hallmark made-for-tv movie, but has none of the schmaltz.  Unless it falls off dramatically in the last third, this has all the makings of a new classic -- perfect for a high school English class.


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks to a terrific give-away on Book Dilettante, I got something in time for Mailbox Monday. I have read a little about this one and it caught my fancy. Also, it was the only book that came into my house last week, so I am extra pleased. Thanks, BD!

Corked by Katheryn Borel



My law firm is starting a big trial today. We've been going all-out for weeks getting ready and it is going to keep us busy. But I am planning a little wine tour weekend getaway for as soon as we are finished. I am going to take this book with me, along with this one:

The Grail: A Year Ambling & Shambling Through an Oregon Vinyard in Pursuit of the Best Pinot Noir Wine in the Whole Wild World by Brian Doyle



I'll be ready some reading, relaxing, and wine drinking!

Author of the Day: C. P. Snow

Strangers and Brothers is a series of novels by C. P. Snow, published between 1940 and 1974. Set in England, all eleven novels in the series are narrated by Lewis Eliot and follow his life and career from humble beginnings to a reasonably successful career as a London lawyer and Cambridge don, through wartime service in Whitehall, to a later career as a senior civil servant and, finally, retirement.

I have not read any of these books yet, but they have been on my radar for quite a while and several are on my TBR shelf. My plan is to read them in narrative order rather than publication order, so that is the way they are listed below.

Those on my TBR shelf now are in blue.

Time of Hope (1949)
George Passant (first called Strangers and Brothers) (1940)
The Conscience of the Rich (1958)
The Light and the Dark (1947)
The Masters (1951)
The New Men (1954)
Homecomings (1956)

The Affair (1960)

Corridors of Power (1964)
The Sleep of Reason (1968)
Last Things (1970)

OTHERS READING THIS SERIES

Books Do Furnish a Room (a thorough review of the series)

(If you are also reading this series and would like me to list you here, please leave a comment with a link to your progress reports or reviews and I will add them.)

Review: An American Map

An American Map is a collection of essays by Anne-Marie Oomen about and inspired by particular spots across America. It is more memoir than travel guide, as Oomen writes less about the facts of a place than what she thinks about when she is there.

Her words are beautiful and she writes with poetic flourish with phrases that describe a cabin retreat that “eddies with chill” or a waterfall with “the look of a million feathers tipped to catch the force of motion.” Her essays inspired by hikes on the Appalachian Trail and to the top of El Yunque in Puerto Rico are particularly lovely.

Readers who may find Oomen’s prose a little too purple for their tastes will enjoy the more action-oriented essays, like “Squall” about learning to flyfish with her sisters in Colorado, or the title essay about going to New York city to promote a documentary about Michigan asparagus farming.

Book lovers and writers will enjoy “Finding (My) America” in which Oomen describes her thoughts and experiences while on a mini-book tour to small public libraries in rural Michigan. In it, she examines the importance of books and reading and discusses the community between authors and readers:

I sense that when I am reading [aloud] or being read to, if it is done with skill, the energy shifts and flits between the reader and the read to, and evolves into something just short of reading each other's minds. Do a group of people all listening to the same story -- a story that has taken them not to spirituality like a prayer might, but to the internal realm of imagination where all of us, through language, enter another world -- create a unity there, in that place, that we find in no other communal experience?

It is this way Oomen has of bringing a big idea out of a simple experience that makes traveling through her essays so pleasurable.

NOTES

This book is part of the Made in Michigan Writers Series.

OTHER REVIEWS

(If you would like your review posted here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it here.)

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Well and the Mine

"After she threw the baby in, nobody believed me for the longest time."

-- The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips (Discover Award winner; introduction by Fannie Flagg; published by the super cool Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts).

I wish I could skip work and read this straight through. But I have to be in court this morning, so no such luck.


NOTE
Book Beginnings on Fridays is a new "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners.

List: Cookbooks

I would have to live to be about 962 if I wanted to cook every recipe in every cookbook I have. But I have a goal of making at least one new recipe from every cookbook I own -- a goal I've been working on in a desultory way for about five years now.

There is little rhyme or reason to my cookbook collection.  There are old standbys, like The Joy of Cooking; splashy coffee table "food porn"; kitschy, often politically incorrect, vintage favorites; ethnic and regional books reflecting a series of passing fancies; and quite a few "ladies' auxiliary" type cookbooks from Junior Leagues, civic organizations, and the like, just because they comfort me.

This is a list of all the cookbooks on my shelves. As I add links to cookbook posts, I will add a note and show the title in red. This is a work in progress, because I know there are cookbooks missing from this list. 

The ABC of Canapes by Edna Beilenson

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking by Molly Stevens

Amber Waves, published by the Omaha Junior League

American Cookery by James Beard (notes and recipe here)

The American Everyday Cookbook by Agnes Murphy

America's Best Lost Recipes: 121 Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget, from the Editors of Cook's Country Magazine

The Amish Cook at Home: Simple Pleasures of Food, Family, and Faith by Lovina Eicher (reviewed here)

Appetizers, published by Bon Appetit Magazine

The Ark: Cuisine of the Pacific Northwest by Jimella Lucas

The Art of Grilling: A Menu Cookbook by Kelly McCune

Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Barbecuing the Weber Covered Way by Carol D. Brent

Bayerisch Kochen by Brigitta Stuber (from my Bavarian cousins)

Beard on Birds by James Beard

The Best of Martha Stewart Living: Weddings by Martha Stewart

The Best of Scanfest: An Authentic Treasury of Scandinavian Recipes and Proverbs by Cheryl Long

Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar (A Year Round Guide to Meal Planning with Recipes and Menus)

Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook

The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook by Beverly Lewis

The Cafe Brenda Cookbook: Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine by Brenda Langton (notes and recipe here)

Cafe des Artistes : A Pictoral Guide to the Famed Restaurant and Its Cuisine by Fred Ferretti

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Cape Collection, published by the Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod

Casserole Treasury by Lousene Rousseau Brunner

Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras: Recipes for Divine Indulgence by Katherine Alford

The Chafing Dish Cookbook by John and Marie Roberson

Charleston Receipts, published by the Charleston Junior League

The Cheese Plate by Max Mccalman

Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook by Alice L. Waters

Chopsticks, Cleaver and Wok by Jennie Low

The Christmas Cookie Book by Judy Knipe

Classic Crafts and Recipes: Christmas with Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Classic Crafts and Recipes Inspired by the Songs of Christmas by Martha Stewart

Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World by Richard Sax

The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan

Classics From a French Kitchen, by Eliane Amé-Leroy Carley

Classic Spanish Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the Spanish Kitchen by Elisabeth Luard (reviewed here)

A Collection of Traditional Amana Recipes: Family-Size Recipes of the Foods Prepared and Served in the Amana Villages, published by the Ladies Auxiliary

Connecticut a La Carte by Melinda M. Vance

Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher

A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: the Best Restaurants and Their Recipes by Doris Muscatine

The Cooking of Germany, published by Time Life Books

Cooking with a Foreign Accent, published by Sunset Magazine

Cooking With Caprial: American Bistro Fare by Caprial Pence (reviewed here)

Cooking with Wine and High Spirits: a Lighthearted Approach to the Art of Gourmet Cooking by Rebecca Caruba

A Cordiall Water: A Garland of Odd and Old Receipts to Assuage the Ills of Man and Beast by M. F. K. Fisher

Crafts and Keepsakes for the Holidays: Christmas With Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Creme De Colorado Cookbook, published by the Junior League of Denver (discussed here)

Cucina Rustica by Viana LA Place

Desserts: Our Favorite Recipes for Every Season and Every Occasion: The Best of Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Easter Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family by Jill O'Connor

English Bread & Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David

The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery for Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures by Auguste Escoffier

The Esquire Cook-Book, published by the Editors of Esquire

The Esquire Party Book by Scotty and Ronnie Welch

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts, published by the Editors of Esquire (1949 edition)

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts: A Time-Honored Guide to the Perfect Party, published by the Editors of Esquire (1999 edition)

Fabulous Foods, published by the Assistance League

Favorite Greek Recipes, published by the Daughters of Penelope

Favorite Recipes from Great Midwest Cooks, published by Midwest Lving

Finger Food by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Fishes and Dishes: Seafood Recipes and Salty Stories from Alaska's Commercial Fisherwomen by Kiyo Marsh, Tomi Marsh, and Laura Cooper (review and notes here)

Flavor It Greek by Maria Boyer

Fog City Delights, published by the Letterman Auxiliary (notes and recipe here)

The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller

A Fresh Taste of Italy: 250 Authentic Recipes, Undiscovered Dishes, and New Flavors for Every Day by Michele Scicolone

From Julia Child's Kitchen by Julia Child

The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas by Jeff Smith

The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking by Mimi Sheraton

Gifts from the Herb Garden by Chris Mead

Glorious American Food by Christopher Idone


Good things: The Best of Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

The Gourmet Prescription for Low-Carb Cooking by Deborah Friedson Chud

Great Beginnings and Happy Endings: Hors D'Oeuvres and Desserts for Standing Ovations by Renny Darling

Great Parties: Recipes, Menus, and Ideas for Perfect Gatherings by Martha Stewart

Greek Island Cookery by Rena Smith and Linda Salaman

The Greens Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine from the Celebrated Restaurant by Deborah Madison (discussed here)

Grill Cookbook by James McNair

Hawaiian and Pacific Foods by Katherine Bazore

Hors D'Oeuvre and Canapes by James Beard

The How to Keep Him (After You've Caught Him) Cookbook by Jinx Kragen and Judy Perry

Italian Casserole Cooking by Angela Catanzaro

The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Jacques Pepin Celebrates by Jacques Pepin

Jake's Seafood Cookbook, published by McCormick & Schmick's

Theory & Practice of Good Cooking by James Beard

Japanese Country Cookbook by Russ Rudzinski

Jean Anderson Cooks: Her Kitchen Reference & Recipe Collection by Jean Anderson

Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer

The Joy of Eating: A Simply Delicious Cookbook by Renny Darling

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home by Julia Child

Key to Greek Cooking by Barbara L. Christou

La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio by Wanda Tornabene

License to Grill: Achieve Greatness At The Grill With 200 Sizzling Recipes by Christopher Schlesinger (notes and recipe here)

Lost Recipes: Meals to Share with Friends and Family by Marion Cunningham

Louisiana Kitchen by Paul Prudhomme

Louisiana Tastes: Exciting Flavors from the State that Cooks by Paul Prudhomme

Malcolm Hillier's Christmas by Malcolm Hillier

Marcella's Italian Kitchen by Marcella Hazan

The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Every Day by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Christmas: Entertaining, Decorating and Giving by Martha Stewart

The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook: A Collection of Favorite Holiday Recipes by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Quick Cook by Martha Stewart

Master Recipes by Stephen Schmidt

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 by Julia Child

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 2 by Julia Child

Metropolitan Cook Book, published by the Editors of the Metropolitan Life Company

Mexico's Feasts of Life by Patricia Quintana

More Remarkable Recipes by Antoinette Kuzmanich Hatfield

Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania by Arthur Schwartz

The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso

New Casserole Cookery by Marian Tracy

The New Complete Book of Cookery by Anne E. Marshall

New Fish Cookery by James Beard

The New Making of a Cook: The Art, Techniques, and Science of Good Cooking by Madeline Kamman

The New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne

New York Times Heritage Cookbook by Jean Hewitt

Pacific Flavors: Oriental Recipes for a Contemporary Kitchen by Hugh Carpenter

Papas' Art of Traditional Greek Cooking by George and Chrisoula Papas

Parties and Projects for the Holidays by Martha Stewart

Party Receipts from the Charleston Junior League: Hors d'Oeuvres, Savories, Sweets by Linda Glick Conway

Paso Robles Main Street Family Cookbook, edited by Russ Restine

Pasta Classica: the Art of Italian Pasta Cooking by Julia Della Croce

Pasta Cook Book, published by Sunset Magazine

Patio Daddy-O: '50S Recipes With a Modern Twist by Gideon Bosker

Patricia Wells at Home in Provence: Recipes Inspired by Her Farmhouse in France by Patricia Wells

Paul Bocuse in Your Kitchen by Paul Bocuse

Picnics: Over 40 Recipes for Dining in the Great Outdoors, from Mercedes Benz, edited by Heidi Cusick

Popular Greek Recipes, published by the Ladies of the Philoptochos Society

Pork, Sausage and Ham Cookbook, published by Better Homes and Gardens 

The Prudhomme Family Cookbook: Old-Time Louisiana Recipes by the Eleven Prudhomme Brothers and Sisters and Chef Paul Prudhomme

Real Cooking, by George! by George Jacobs

Remarkable Recipes: From the Recipe File of Mrs. Mark O. Hatfield by Antoinette
Kuzmanich Hatfield

Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant flavors of a World-Class Cuisine by Rick Bayless

San Francisco Encore, published by the Junior League San Francisco

San Francisco Firehouse Favorites by Georgia Sackett

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making by James Peterson

Sausalito: Cooking with a View, published by the Sausalito Woman's Club

Seasoned America by Paul Prudhomme

The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (notes and recipe here; review here)

Simply Simpatico: The Home of Authentic Southwestern Cuisine, published by the Junior League of Albuquerque

The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook by Paula Wolfert

Southern Accent, published by the Charleston Junior League

Special Occasions by John Hadamuscin

The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Star-Spangled Cooking, published by Chateau Ste. Michelle

Stews, Bogs and Burgoos: Recipes from the Great American Stewpot by James Villas

The Stinking Rose Cookbook: The Layman's Guide to Garlic Eating, Drinking, and Stinking by Jerry Dal Bozzo

The Sunset Cook Book; Food With a Gourmet Touch, published by Sunset Magazine

The Tapas Cookbook: Seventy Delicious Recipes to Capture the Flavours of Spain by Adrian Lissen

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas

A Taste of Oregon, published by the Eugene Junior League (discussed here)

The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces by Diane Seed

Trader Vic's Book of Mexican Cooking by Victor Jules Bergeron

A Tuscan in the Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from My Home by Pino Luongo

Veneto: Authentic Recipes from Venice and the Italian Northeast by Julia della Croce

What's for Dinner? Dinner Menus with Some Very Special Recipes by Maryana Vollstedt

Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest by Cory Schreiber

Williams Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook by Joyce Esersky Goldstein

With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood (discussed here)

With Bold Knife and Fork by M. F. K. Fisher

With Love from Darling's Kitchen: Treasured Recipes for Family and Friends by Renny Darling

The Wok: A Chinese Cookbook by Gary Lee

World in Bite-Size by Paul Gayler

OTHER COOKBOOK LISTS

(If you would like your cookbook list included here, please leave a comment with a link to the post and I will add it.)

NOTES

Last updated on September 3, 2016.

Review of the Day: Titus Groan

Titus Groan is the 77th Earl of Gormenghast, born in the opening pages of this first novel in Mervin Peake’s famous Gormenghast Trilogy. Although considered a “fantasy” classic, the novel should not be cubbyhole by its genre. There are no wizards, warlocks, orcs, or walking trees. The inhabitants of Gormenghast Castle come in the recognizable forms of humans, cats, birds, and other common creatures.

The story is fantastic in that it is free of geographical or historical constraints. It seems to be set in a Britain “of yore,” but is so self-contained that it does not matter. The point is the elaborate world contained within the sprawling walls of Gormenghast Castle.

The plot centers on the canny, 17-year-old Steerpike, who aims to control Gormenghast. In this first volume, we watch Steerpike wriggle his way up the ladder of power from a post as kitchen scullion, to the servant of the awkwardly endearing Dr. Prunesquallor, into an elaborate plot that gives him command over the nitwit twin sisters of the aged 76th Earl, to the exalted position of heir-apparent to the Master of Ritual at the castle. Who knows what heights he will reach in the remaining volumes.

Peake fills every page of Steerpike’s journey with intricate details of the ceremonies, manners, foibles, and relationships that govern the Groan family and their court. Darkly humorous and lusciously written, Titus Groan is a novel to get lost in.

NOTES

This book is listed on at least one of the lists I am working on, but I am too scatterbrained by trial prep to remember which one right now. I will figure it out and add the information later.

This counts as one of my books for the Typically British Challenge.

OTHER REVIEWS

(If you would like your review listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.)

Teaser Tuesday: An American Map

"I sense that when I am reading [aloud] or being read to, if it is done with skill, the energy shifts and flits between the reader and the read to, and evolves into something just short of reading each other's minds.  Do a group of people all listening to the same story -- a story that has taken them not to spirituality like a prayer might, but to the internal realm of imagination where all of us, through language, enter another world -- create a unity there, in that place, that we find in no other communal experience?"

-- From "Finding (My) America" in An American Map by Anne-Marie Oomen. 

In this essay, Oomen describes her thoughts and experiences while on a mini-book tour to small public libraries in rural Michigan. It is my favorite essay in the collection because it is about books, reading, and the community between authors and readers. 


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

It is a short Mailbox Monday list this week, because only one book came into my house:

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks



I was a little bored by March (my review is here), although Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for it, so I was reluctant to read this one.  But I've now read several reviews and I've been converted -- it sounds great.

It will count as one of my Bibliopholic Books.

A Mini-Smackdown: Modern Library v. Radcliffe

Finishing the books on the Modern Library's list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century inspired me, in a round about way, to start Rose City Reader.  I was so jazzed by finishing the list that I started adopting other Must Read lists.  The Radcliffe Publishing Course's list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century immediately caught my eye because it is the declared rival of the Modern Library list.

The Radcliffe list is nagging at me right now. I have only 14 or so books to finish before I have completed the list -- a tantalizingly achievable goal. Having recently finished Where Angels Fear to Tread (reviewed here), I am one step closer.

There is a tremendous amount of overlap between the two lists. If I had to chose which list really represented the "best" 100 novels of the 2th Century, I would pick the Modern Library list for a couple of reasons. First, I think the Radcliffe list leans in general to books that are more popular (Gone with the Wind, for example, which also won the Pulitzer, so I'm not knocking it, but still), while the Modern Library list includes books that are more literary. For example, the Modern Library list includes An American Tragedy, which I thought was heavy going, but it was a groundbreaking work so I agree that it should be on the list.

Second, but along the same lines, the Radcliffe list includes a number of children's books. They are good children's books, but I would have chosen only from books for adults.

Finally, while I understand that the Modern Library list is often criticized for not having "enough" books by women, I think the Radcliffe list overcompensates. I really don't think the list needs three books by Tony Morrison or even three by Virginia Wolf, especially at the expense of some of my favorites from the Modern Library list like A Dance to the Music of Time and The Alexandria Quartet.

I'm open to persuasion. Other thoughts?

If anyone is working on wither list, please let me know. I love to read blogs about these lists. And if you would like to be listed on either of my list posts, please leave a comment here or on my list posts with appropriate links and I will add them.

Pro-Choice

Becky at Page Turners recently let me answer several blog-related questions when I made it to the Winners Circle on her followers contest.

One of these questions was particularly interesting to me, because I wonder what makes people chose the books they read -- on a general level, but even more so, on a particular level. What makes you pick up the next book?

I never thought about how odd my own book-choosing system might seem, until I put it into words. Here is how I answered Becky's questions, "How do you chose your books?"

I am a compulsive "list" reader. Books make it onto my TBR shelf because they made it on to someone's list of books that should be read. So on a "macro" level, I chose books because they are on one of my lists.

On a "micro" level, I have an idiosyncratic method that makes me look like a nut: My TBR books are arranged alphabetically on the shelves. When I am ready for a new book, I choose one from the first shelf. The next time, I chose one from the next shelf, and so on through the shelves. My rule is that I can choose any book on the designated shelf, but I have to choose from that shelf. So if I am in the mood for a prize winner, I can chose a prize winner -- or a mystery, a book by a favorite author, a book I’ve been meaning to read but keep putting off. Whatever the mood is, I chose a book to fit that mood -- but only from the one shelf.

How would you answer? Please let me know in a comment, or leave a link to an answer you post on your own blog.

New Weekly Event -- Book Beginnings on Fridays

Becky at Page Turners has started a new weekly event she calls Book Beginnings on Fridays.  I am kind of tickled because she gave me credit for inspiring her with my "Opening Sentence of the Day" posts.

Here is her explanation:

This is a new meme that I have decided to start entitled Book Beginnings on Friday. I hope that you all join in.

At this stage I do not have a button for this meme, being someone that is very technologically challenged. If there is anyone out there that wants to participate in this meme and has the skills to make a button, I would really appreciate it :-)

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. 

Please visit Page Turners to participate. And maybe help her come up with a cool button. I started off her Mr. Linky list with the opening sentence from An American Map by Anne-Marie Oomen.

Book Notes: The Magus

The Magus by John Fowles was my least favorite book on the Modern Library's Top 100 Novels list.

I could not stand The Magus! It may be the only book that I actually hate. Pompous nitwits running around a stupid island playing games with each other! And all the time spouting humanistic gobblygook about the death of God, or whatever they were prattling on about. It has a cult following, but I thought it was overwrought nonsense.

So no full-length review -- just my gut reaction.

Get it Right!

This week's Booking Through Thursday asks about grammar:

In honor of National Grammar Day … it IS “March Fourth” after all … do you have any grammar books? Punctuation? Writing guidelines? Style books?

More importantly, have you read them?

How do you feel about grammar in general? Important? Vital? Unnecessary? Fussy?

I put myself in the fussy category when it comes to grammar and punctuation. When I file a legal brief or send a demand letter, I want what I sign to be perfect.  When I edit someone else's legal writing, I am ruthless with the red pen. This fussiness carries over to my blog posts and book reviews.

I recognize the influence that brought me to this point: a high school English teacher who made us diagram sentences; a year as the Editor of my college paper; a very short time trying to write free-lance feature stories for our local paper, with my reporter-husband editing over my shoulder; law review; and three bar exams.  Add on 17 years of legal writing, and you can understand my obsession.

There are a couple of grammar and punctuation books on my shelves, including Strunk and White's The Elements of Style; Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss (reviewed here), and my old copy of The Harvard Blue Book, although I think it is too outdated to be of much use.

Don't even get me started on text messages . . .

Review: Where Angels Fear to Tread

Where Angels Fear to Tread is a gem with too many facets to appreciate fully at first inspection. E. M. Forster packed so much into his short first novel that it would be a pleasure to read several times.

When Lilia Herriton left for a year in Italy, her in-laws breathed a sigh of relief to have the impetuous, somewhat gauche, widow out of their stodgy hair. But when they discover that Lilia has gone and married the ne’er-do-well son of a provincial Italian dentist, their shocked overreaction leads to a series of misfortunes that eventually crush their prim conventions.

Forster uses the star-crossed lovers, Lilia and Gino, to illustrate the clash between star-crossed cultures and philosophies. In surviving these clashes, Lilia’s brother-in-law, Philip Harriton, and her companion, Caroline Abbott, grow to appreciate a world much bigger than their tedious hometown of Sawston.

Forster is – for the better – a stripped down version of Henry James. The beauty and big ideas are there, but are not swaddled to obscurity with a million extra words. Where Angels Fear to Tread was published in 1905. To readers used to James’s heavy hand (The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, and The Golden Bowl were published in that order in the three years prior to Angels), Forster must have seemed like the breath of life itself.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this or any other Forster novels listed her, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

This book is on the Radcliffe Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century list. It counts as one of my books for the Typically British Challenge.

Teaser Tuesday: Where Angels Fear to Tread

"Romance only dies with life. No pair of pincers will ever pull it out of us."

-- Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster

 

 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

I've been so busy getting ready for a trial that I don't think I would even notice if something came to my mailbox. But I have a short list for Mailbox Monday because I took a head-clearing break from drafting pleadings to walk to Powell's last Friday.

I must have been thinking of food (or maybe a different career) because I got these two books:

A Cordiall Water: A Garland of Odd and Old Receipts to Assuage the Ills of Man and Beast by M. F. K. Fisher



That's the cover on the copy I bought. It's very pleasant, but I would love to find an old edition with this cover:



Epicurean Delight: The Life and Times of James Beard by Evan Jones

Opening Sentence of the Day: An American Map

"Tucked as it is in a Michigan woods thick with tall maple and ash, the Think House eddies with chill in winter, and remains too-cool and shaded in summer."

-- From "Warming the Flute," the first essay in An American Map by Anne-Marie Oomen.

This book is a collection of essays about and inspired by particular spots across America. This essay is set at the Think House in Empire, Michigan.

I love the perfection of the phrase "eddies with chill." I am ready for some armchair traveling.

Review: Portland Noir

Portland Noir is a collection of original short stories that is all over the map -- if the map is of the Rose City. The stories are set in different neighborhoods that collectively make up the seedy underbelly of Portland.

The anthology, edited by Kevin Sampsell, is part of the Akashic Books Noir series -- "a groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book."

The Portland stories take readers to many a gritty, greasy corner of Portland, where junkies break into the wrong houses, lesbians fantasize about strangling the men in their beds, and love gets strange. The stories come in many shades of dark, from creepy (“Baby, I’m Here”) to clever (“Shanghaied”); violent (“The Wrong House”) to sadly sweet (“Alzheimer’s Noir”).

If there is anything generally missing, it is high-end noir. The stories do not venture much past seedy motels, dive bars, and strip clubs, although there must be plenty of noir to be found in tonier venues. There are a few references to the trendy Pearl District, but a story or two involving the residents of Portland’s ritzier neighborhoods would have enhanced the collection.

And there are slim pickings for those who prefer their noir in the form of hard boiled detective stories. But the two included are a couple of the best pieces in the book because they capture Portland’s soul as well as her geography.

The first, "Coffee, Black" by Bill Cameron, is a great bit of caffeinated noir – a coffee-house mystery that perfectly captures Portland's espresso-fueled and anti-corporate culture. Camron has the hard-bitten prose down flat:

She's a touch thick, not quite shed of her winter fat, but she wears her flesh with oblivious self-assurance. I have no doubt a man with a flatter belly could pay her bar tab and bed her the same night, with no idea of the problems she'll cause over breakfast.

Philip Marlowe could not have said it better himself.

The second is “The Red Room” by Chris A. Bolton. This shakedown caper is set entirely inside Powell’s – the City of Books. There is something metafictional about an independently published story set in the world’s largest independent bookstore that seems very, very Portland.

Not every story in Portland Noir will appeal to every reader, but there is something in there for every noir fan.

NOTES

This book was the #3 fiction bestseller at Powell's when I was there yesterday.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

Review of the Day: New Orleans Mourning

Julie Smith won the 1991 Edgar Award for New Orleans Mourning, the first in what became her Skip Langdon series. A former debutante and police rookie, Langdon is a misfit in both high society New Orleans and the blue collar police force. Her oddball status means she must find her own way when given a special assignment to work on the murder of a prominent civic leader.

Langdon is an appealing heroine because she is imperfect. She is six feet tall and hefty, a horrible dresser, and remarkably headstrong for someone who is making it up as she goes along. Smith uses Langdon to present a take on pre-Katrina New Orleans life that is perceptive, irreverent, and for mystery fans, a refreshing change from the always dark and creepy Louisiana of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series.

Sometimes the conflicts in the story – between Langdon and her homicide detective co-workers or the amateur filmmaker who she cannot decide wants to love her or use her for a great story – seem forced. But Smith makes up for these flaws with a complicated story that twists several times before all the loose ends get satisfactorily tied up.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Where Angels Fear to Tread

"They were all at Charing Cross to see Lilia off --  Philip, Harriet, Irma, Mrs. Harrington herself."

-- Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster

I'm a Forster fan, but I have never read this and I have never seen the movie.  I don't really like movie tie-in covers, but that's the edition I ended up with. I don't even remember where I got it, it has been on my TBR shelf for so long.

WAFtT is on the Radcliffe Top 100 list. I am trying to concentrate on this list more than others because I only have 15 to go (if I count the last two volumes of The Lord of the Rings as two separate items on the list, which I do).

Author of the Day: A. J. Cronin

A. J. Cronin (1896 to 1981) was a prolific mid-century author who wrote more than 20 novels, many which were made into movies or television shows.

Cronin was born and raised in Scotland, with a Protestant mother and a Catholic father. Many of his characters came from similar backgrounds.  Cronin was a medical doctor before he became an author and many of his books, especially his most famous, The Citadel, concern medical school and doctors. 

I have had a copy of The Green Years on my TBR shelf for decades. But I only got around to reading his books after I found a nifty matching set of six of his most popular books at a library book sale. I started with Three Loves, his second published novel and the earliest in my set. I was swept away in the story, which is sometimes all I want out of a book.

I may never get around to reading all of Cronin's fiction and non-fiction -- most of his books are out of print -- but I would like to try. I only included novels and his autobiography on my list, I have not included "serial novellas" (unless they have been published in a book), short stories, or a play.


Those I have read are in red; those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

Hatter's Castle (1931)

Three Loves (1932) (reviewed here)

Grand Canary (1933)

The Stars Look Down (1935)

The Citadel (1937)

Vigil in the Night (1939)

The Valorous Years (1940)

The Keys of the Kingdom (1941)

Adventures of a Black Bag (1943) (out of print and hard to find)

The Green Years (1944)

Shannon's Way (1948)

The Spanish Gardener (1950)

Adventures in Two Worlds (autobiography, 1952)

Beyond This Place (1953)

A Thing of Beauty (also published as Crusader's Tomb) (1956)

The Northern Light (1958)

The Native Doctor (also published as An Apple in Eden) (1959) (out of print and very hard to find)

The Judas Tree (1961)

A Song of Sixpence (1964)

Further Adventures of a Black Bag (1966) (out of print and hard to find)

A Pocketful of Rye (1969)

Desmonde (also published as The Minstrel Boy) (1975)

Lady with Carnations (1976)

Gracie Lindsay (1978)

Doctor Finlay of Tannochbrae (1978)

Teaser Tuesday: Portland Noir

"She's  a touch thick, not quite shed of her winter fat, but she wears her flesh with oblivious self-assurance.  I have no doubt a man with a flatter belly could pay her bar tab and bed her the same night, with no idea of the problems she'll cause over breakfast."

-- From "Coffee, Black" by Bill Cameron in Portland Noir, edited by Kevin Sampsell.

This collection of original short stories is all over the map -- if the map is Portland, Oregon. Each one is set in a different neighborhood in the Rose City, but all those neighborhoods are in the seedy underbelly of my city. 

I am half-way through the collection, and so far, Bill Cameron's story is my favorite. It is traditional, hard-boiled detective noir -- but caffeinated. This coffee-house mystery perfectly captures Portland's espresso-fueled culture.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks mostly to the Oregon State University Press, I had a very full mailbox last week and a long list for Mailbox Monday.

Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz 1942-1957 by Robert Dietsche (Hubby is a huge classic jazz fan, so most of what we listen to is jazz from this era. I am looking forward to learning about Portland's jazz history.)



Another Way the River Has: Taut True Tales from the Northwest by Robin Cody



City Limits: Walking Portland's Boundary by David Oates



An Architectural Guidebook to Portland by Bart King



The Grail: A Year Ambling & Shambling Through an Oregon Vinyard in Pursuit of the Best Pinot Noir Wine in the Whole Wild World by Brian Doyle (This looks fantastic!)




I also got a novel in the mail from my favorite book publicist:

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees



And I found a boxed set of the first six volumes of John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga. I have been meaning to read this for years and I already have the last three volumes in the same Scribner's edition. Thelast three aren't boxed, but at least all the books match.

The Man of Property



In Chancery



To Let



The Silver Spoon



The White Monkey



Swan Song