Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Lady Q at Let Them Read Books is hosting in December.  Be sure and visit her terrific blog!

Thanks to Mary Bisbee-Beek, book publicist extraordinaire, I got a timely Christmas book. It is darling!



The Lighthouse Santa by Sara Hoagland Hunter (author) Julia Miner (illustrator).  

13 Days to Christmas!

14 Days to Christmas!

Opening Sentence of the Day: Delights and Prejudices

 

When Proust recollected the precise taste sensation of the little scalloped madeleine cakes served at tea by his aunt, it led him into his monumental remembrance of things past.

-- Delights and Prejudices by James Beard.

Proust's madeleine is such a cliche now that I was a little disappointed with this opening sentence.  But maybe back in 1964 when Beard wrote this memoir, the Proust reference was fresher.

My disappointment disappeared in an instant because by the second sentence, Beard is deep into his own food history and the book is a real delight from then on.  He bounces around from his childhood in Portland to Les Halles in Paris and beyond.

I love it! Particularly the parts about Portland's rich culinary history.

His chapter on his family's holiday traditions, which I just read this morning, is wonderful.  He describes many delights, including his mother making fruitcakes a year in advance and a ginger shortbread recipe (see below) that sounds amazing, but he also had a lot of holiday prejudices, like thinking cranberries were an "abomination," homemade candy "really unsavory," and Christmas cookies only good if you make them yourself and eat them right away, exhorting well-wishers:

But have pity on us, all you bakers -- the spirit of Christmas notwithstanding -- and deliver us from cookies that have crumbled or gone stale.

Amen!

Ginger Cakes

Mix 2 cups sifted flour, 1 firmly packed cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon ginger and 1 teaspoon soda thoroughly, and then combine them with 1 cup butter until the ingredients are well blended and crumbly.  In 6- to 8- inch layer cake pans, put 1/2-inch thickness of the mixture and bake in a 325[degree] oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Cut the ginger cake into finger-shaped pieces while it is still warm.  Remove the pieces carefully with a spatula and store them in covered tins. 

This is my sixth and final book for the 2011 Foodie's Reading Challenge.  I can't wait to sign up again for the 2012 version.

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

15 Days to Christmas!

16 Days to Christmas!

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Luminist

The noised outside her window were of wind and the near sea, of clay chimes kilned to crystalline tones.

-- The Luminist by David Rocklin.  Illicit love and photography in 19th century Ceylon -- sounds good to me!

Photography in its infancy was a dangerous game.

-- from the Introduction by Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean.  One of the many things I love about these beautiful Hawthorne Books editions, in addition to the fancy French covers, is that they commission famous authors to write really good introductions.

Rocklin is on tour with this book, with the following appearances scheduled for next week:

Monday, 12 December 2011 (check website to confirm time)
The Makeout Room with The Rumpus: 3225 22nd Street, San Francisco

Wednesday, 14 December (check website to confirm time)
192 Books: 192 10th Avenue, at 21st Street, New York



A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

2012 Challenge: Venice in February

February 1 to February 28, 2012

Venice in February Reading Challenge

FINISHED

Snow Feathers and Dolce Bellezza, are hosting a short, simple, and marvelous reading challenge: read one, two or how many books you would like and have the time for, that are related to and/or based in Venice.

They chose Venice "because it's a unique city, with a dreamlike atmosphere and yet, with secrets to discover. Whoever visited Venice once still wishes to go back and this challenge may be the next best thing."

Like so many people, I love Venice.  And since it doesn't look like I'll be going back any time soon, I am always in the mood to read books about La Serenissima.

Ideas

I made this list of Venice books a while back.  There is also a list on the Venice in February site.  And there is a much lengthier list of Venice books on a great website called Fictional Cities.

BOOK POSSIBILITIES AND REVIEWS

I ended up reading two books for this challenge, but I only reviewed one of them:

• Serenissima by Erica Jong (novel), reviewed here

• Dressed for Death by Donna Leon (third in her Commissario Guido Brunetti series)

One will also count as my Italy book for the European Reading Challenge.

17 Days to Christmas!

2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version -- Wrap Up Post

I finished the 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version (click here for the 2012 challenge).  The challenge runs through January 31, 2012, so I finished early this year.  I still have to finish the British Version. 

This challenge pits winners of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction against the winners of the National Book Award.

I did not draw any grand conclusions from a comparison of the books that won the Pulizter compared to those that won the national, but I have a half-baked theory: I think that Pulitzer winners tend to be more accessible, more in the "good yarn" category; and National winners tend to be a bit more challenging, more willing to take chances.  Because of this split, I think it is more likely that a random Pulitzer winner will still be enjoyable, while any given National winner may not have aged so well -- what may have seemed commendably edgy when it first came out now can be just trying to a reader.

Like I said, this theory as, at best, half baked.  I'd say it holds true for the two Pulitzers I read and, somewhat, for the two Nationals.  Both Nationals were more challenging and had experimental components to them, but The Hair of Harold Roux was knockout entertainment.  

Here is my list of books -- links click to my reviews:

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler on Rose City Reader (Pulitzer)

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren on Rose City Reader (Pulitzer)

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier on Rose City Reader (National)

The Hair of Harold Roux on Rose City Reader (National)

Please visit the main challenge page to see the 2011 list of other participants and their reviews.

Please visit the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, to sign up for the 2012 challenge.

18 Days to Christmas!

19 Days to Christmas!

Teaser Tuesday & GIVEAWAY: Who in This Room

At home you study the report, looking up words online that you don't know.  It is good news, but you feel heavy, tired.

-- Who in This Room: The Realities of Cancer, Fish, and Demolition by Katherine Malmo, published by Calyx Books.

This is the very personal, but still vary readable, account of the author's (successful) battle with inflammatory breast cancer.  

GIVEAWAY

THE GIVEAWAY: Thanks go to Mary Bisbee-Beek, an incredibly diligent book publicist, for providing two copies of Who in This Room for a "leap-frog" giveaway.

The leap-frog part is that I have two copies to giveaway.  The winners will each get to host another giveaway for one additional copy.

The contest is open until next Monday, December 12, 2011. To enter, do any or all of the following, but you must leave a separate comment for each one:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include a way to contact you (email or website address in your comment or available in your profile). If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway. (Posting the giveaway on your sidebar is also acceptable.) Leave a separate comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to my rss feed, follow me on blogger, or subscribe via email (or tell me if you already are a subscriber or follower). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

4. Tweet this post on Twitter. Leave me a separate comment with your twitter user name. (1 entry)

5. Stumble this blog, digg it, technorati fave it, or link it on facebook. Leave a separate comment. (1 entry)

There are a lot of ways to enter (maximum of five entries), but you must LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each one or they will not count. I will use random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is open to entries from the U.S. and Canada only. The deadline for entry is 9:00 PM, Pacific Time, on Monday, December 12, 2011. I will draw and post the winner's name in my Teaser Tuesday post for December 13, 2011.



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

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Lady Q at Let Them Read Books is hosting in December.  Be sure and visit her terrific blog!

I got two books last week, both on a whim:

The Gospel According to Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman by Karen Karbo.  This looks like a great first choice for the Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Challenge I am going to sign up for.



The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville.



This is his debut novel, published by Soho Crime, publisher of several great series set in foreign lands.  Neville's series (two now) is set in Ireland, other series are set in Greece (Jeffrey Siger), Iceland (Yrsa Sigurdardottir), London (Dan Waddell), and Paris (Cara Black) -- any of which would be great picks for the European Reading Challenge.

20 Days to Christmas!

Review of the Day: The Hair of Harold Roux

Thomas Williams won the 1975 National Book Award for The Hair of Harold Roux, a novel within a novel about balancing a writer's creative impulse with the domestic needs of family life. Specifically, Williams wrote a novel about a college professor writing a semi-autobiographical novel about a college student writing a novel about a man who wrote a novel.

It sounds more confusing – and more experimental – than it is. Williams uses this nested structure to ponder big issues like love, fame, violence, responsibility, and madness, and fills in the spaces with anecdote, humor, and astute observations. But the story rattles right along and makes perfect sense as it goes.

The main story takes place over two days, as professor Aaron Benham struggles to write his novel while his family is out of town without him.  Telephone calls, a friend in trouble, guest teaching a creative writing seminar, a motorcycle crash, memories of old loves, current flirtations, and a faculty meeting distract him from his work.  The short story he reads the seminar students, memories of a long fairy tale he told his children, the first chapter of a novel by Harold Roux (the toupee-wearing character in his novel), and other stories deviate from the plot, but, along with the plot of his novel, combine to tell a full story of Aaron's closely examined life.

Williams is an incredible writer. This is a first-rate novel that deserves a wider audience. Kudos to Bloomsbury USA for reprinting it.

OTHER REVIEWS

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

NOTES

I got my copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.  It counts as one of the two National Winners I am reading for the Battle of the Prizes, American Version, Challenge.

21 Days to Christmas!

2012 Challenge: Battle of the Prizes, British Version

This is the third year Rose City Reader has hosted the Battle of the Prizes, British Version, Challenge.

This challenge pits winners of the English Man Booker Prize against winners of the Scottish James Tait Black Memorial Prize in a British Version of the Battle of the Prizes. (Click here for the American Version.)

Does one prize have higher standards than the other? Pick better winners? Provide more reading entertainment or educational value? Maybe challenge participants will be able to answer these and more questions – maybe they will simply read three or four great books!

For details and sign up, please go to the challenge page, here, or use the challenge page tab in the bar at the top of the blog.

22 Days to Christmas!

23 Days to Christmas!

Opening Sentence of the Day: Who In This Room

As soon as I completed chemotherapy, I began to write.

-- from the Author's Note to Who in This Room: The Realities of Cancer, Fish, and Demolition by Katherine Malmo, published by Calyx Books.

Patty says she's having her reconstruction right away because if she is going to die, and she does believe she is dying, then goddamn it, she is going ot die with breasts.

-- from "Permission to Land," the opening chapter.

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION: Based on autobiographic experiences, Who in This Room is a gripping collection of creative nonfiction that pushes the boundaries of story and memoir. Kate's adventurous life is interrupted by a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer, giving her a ten percent chance of living five years. But her story isn't just about cancer. It is a true tale of survival that is both lived and dreamt. It's about joy found in lemon trees or fly-fishing. It's about the survival instinct that helps us re-emerge and engage with the world.



A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

2012 Challenge: The European Reading Challenge

The European Reading Challenge
January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013

TAKE THE GRAND TOUR

Welcome to the European Reading Challenge – where participants tour Europe through books. And win prizes. 2012 is the first year for this challenge.  Please join me for the Grand Tour! Go to the challenge page, here, to sign up or click on the challenge page tab in the bar at the top of the blog.

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

What counts as "Europe"? For this challenge, we will use the list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), the really huge Russia, the tiny Vatican City, and the mixed bag of Baltic, Balkan, and former Soviet states.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION

Five Star (Deluxe Entourage): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.

Four Star (Honeymooner): Read four qualifying books.

Three Star (Business Traveler): Read three qualifying books.

Two Star (Adventurer): Read two qualifying books.

One Star (Pensione Weekender): Read just one qualifying book.

Alternate Arrangements

Agritourisimo: For foodie readers – read a selected number (your choice) of food-related books written by European authors or about European food, cooking, restaurants, culinary traditions, farming, winemaking, etc. Again, each book must be by a different author and set in a different country.

Youth Hostel: For participants under 18 only – read a selected number of books (your choice), by European authors or set in a country of Europe. (Adults reading YA books still participate as adults, not in this sub-category).

Culture Vulture: For those obsessed with prize-winners – read a selected number of books (your choice) that won a major literary prize in its original country. Any of the following literary prizes would count, but there may be others: Anton Wildgans (Austria), Magnesia Litera (Czech Republic), Finlandia (Finland), Le Grand Prix du Roman (France), German Book Prize (Germany), Balint Balassi Memorial Sword (Hungary), Icelandic Literary Prize (Iceland), Bagutta (Italy), Batty Weber (Luxembourg), Norwegian Critics (Norway), NIKE (Poland), Camões (Portugal), Russian Booker (Russia), Prešeren (Slovakia), Premio Planeta de Novela (Spain), August (Sweden), Swiss Book Prize (Switzerland), Sedat Simavi (Turkey), Shevchenko National (Ukraine), Booker (United Kingdom).

PRIZES

Jet Setter Grand Prize: The participant who reads and reviews the greatest number of qualifying books (more than five) will get a $25 gift card to Powell's Books (can be used in store or on line). Each book must be by a different author and set in a different country.

Agritourisimo: In addition to qualifying for the Jet Setter Grand Prize, the participant who reads and reviews the greatest number of qualifying books in the Agritourisimo category will receive a $10 gift card to Powell's Books.

Youth Hostel: In addition to qualifying for the Jet Setter Grand Prize, the under 18 participant who reads and reviews the greatest number of qualifying books in the Youth Hostel category will receive a $10 gift card to Powell's Books.

Culture Vulture: In addition to qualifying for the Jet Setter Grand Prize, the participant who reads and reviews the greatest number of qualifying books in the Culture Vulture category will receive a $10 gift card to Powell's Books.

DETAILS

Go to the challenge page, here, to sign up or click on the challenge page tab in the bar at the top of the blog.

24 Days to Christmas!

2012 Battle of the Prizes, American Version

2012 will be the fourth year I've hosted this Battle of the Prizes Challenge here at Rose City Reader.

This challenge pits winners of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction against the winners of the National Book Award in the American Version of the Battle of the Prizes.

Does one prize have higher standards than the other? Pick better winners? Provide more reading entertainment or educational value? Maybe challenge participants will be able to answer these and more questions – maybe they will simply read three great books!

For details and to sign up, please visit the challenge page, here, or click the page tab in the bar at the top of the blog.

Teaser Tuesday Oregon Two-fer: On Mount Hood and An Architectural Guidebook to Portland

Over the years the mountain has been host to a range of unique climbing feats and stories not readily found on other Cascadian peaks.  In 1894, in response to an advertisement in the newspaper, more than one hundred people climbed to the top of Mount Hood and formed the Mazamas outdoor club.

-- On Mt. Hood: A Biography of Oregon's Perilous Peak by Jon Bell. Another good one from Sasquatch Books. Mount Hood is the highest peak in Oregon and an icon of the state.

Definite Christmas gift potential!

It doesn't matter if you've been through the sacraments or not; if you want to see a beautiful spiritual and architectural space, visit [St. Mary's Cathedral]. . . .  The architect chosen for this job was Joseph Jacobberger, the man who oversaw the layout of the University of Portland and executed many church designs in the early 20th century.

-- An Architectural Guidebook to Portland by Bart King, also published by OSU Press.

This entry was particularly interesting to me because we live in a 1912 house that Joseph Jacobberger designed.  Jacobberger designed 261 houses, but only about half of them survive. 

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

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Marcia herself is hosting in November. Seem like old times! Please go by and visit her Mailbox Monday site to see all the people participating and remember to stop by her wonderful blog.

I got one book last week, from the author:

Understanding the Abuse of Adults by Catholic Clergy and Religious by Kathryn R, Byrne.



In my law practice at O'Donnell Clark & Crew, I work with many adults who were abused as children by clergy and other trusted adults.  And I work on cases involving elder abuse.  I am interested to learn more about how those two issues may come together.

But I confess that I am not going to read it until after the New Year.  It is not an uplifting topic for the holidays.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Hair of Harold Roux

Aaron Benham sits at his desk hearing the wrong voices. 

-- The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams.

This was the 1975 winner of the National Book Award.  It has recently been reissued after years of being out of print.

I got my copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.  It counts as one of the two National Winners I am reading for the Battle of the Prizes, American Version, Challenge.

Opening Sentences of the Day: On Mount Hood and An Architectural Guidebook to Portland

On this Big Shopping Day, it seems appropriate to feature two books that I think would make great Christmas presents for the Oregonians or Oregon visitors on your list:

Misty here at 6,000 feet on the south side of Mount Hood.

-- On Mt. Hood: A Biography of Oregon's Perilous Peak by Jon Bell. Another good one from OSU Press.

It may seem strange to begin a guide to architecture with an "empty" space.

-- An Architectural Guidebook to Portland by Bart King, also published by OSU Press. He is talking, of course, about Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland's living room.





A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Author of the Day: David Lodge

David Lodge is a British author who writes substantive, entertaining novels about people coming to terms with the changing world, such as Londoners in WWII, Catholics facing Vatican II, and college professors braving the sexual revolution. His characters do not always find answers, but Lodge follows their quests with unrivaled intelligence and humor.

Lodge has also written nonfiction books, plays, and screenplays.

Of his fiction books, those I have read are in red. Those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

The Picturegoers (1960)

Ginger You're Barmy (1962)

The British Museum Is Falling Down (1965)

Out of the Shelter (1970)

Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975)

How Far Can You Go? (1980) (winner of the Costa BOTY award; on Anthony Burgess's list of favorites; reviewed here)

Small World: An Academic Romance (1984)

Nice Work (1988)

Paradise News (1991)

Therapy (1995) (reviewed here)

The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up: And Other Stories (1998) (out of print)

Home Truths (1999) (reviewed here)

Thinks . . . (2001)

Author, Author (2004)

Deaf Sentence (2008) (reviewed here)

NOTES

If others are reading David Lodge's books, please leave a comment with links to relevant posts and I will list them here or, if I've reviewed the book discussed, on the review page.

Last updated on June 28, 2012.

Teaser Tuesday: Murder in the High Himalaya

It is gravely forbidden for PAP officers to talk to Westerners and would likely be an imprisonable or court martial offense to talk to journalists.  So Akar, a senior PAP officer was understandably wary when we met at an undisclosed location in an international city.

-- from the author's Introduction to Murder in the High Himalaya: Loyalty, Tragedy, and Escape from Tibet by Jonathan Green, published by PublicAffairs Books.

This is a non-fiction account of the 2006 tragedy in Nepal, when Chinese border guards fired on Tibetans fleeing to India, killing one.  The scene was witnessed by a group of western climbers.

This is the kind of book that makes us give thanks for the freedom and blessings we have.

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

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Marcia herself is hosting in November. Seem like old times! Please go by and visit her Mailbox Monday site to see all the people participating and remember to stop by her wonderful blog.

I got one book last week.  Sometimes funny things show up in my mailbox from OSU Press, and this is one of them:

Wading for Bugs: Exploring Streams with the Experts by Judith L. Li and Michael T. Barbour, Illustrations by Boonsatien Boonsoong