Wednesday, July 30, 2014

It's a Cover Up

I loved this article in particular because of my recent discussion with 16 fourteen year old girls about the book cover to The Unwanteds.

In books, like wine, the label sometimes sells.

Peter Mendelsund (whose name was not known to me before today) has designed numerous book covers (including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and is soon to publish his book What We See When We Read.   The NYT has the story.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Bring me a Dream Catcher

Driving out of the Exxon station Saturday, I saw a picture frame upside down in the drive.  It looked accidental so I stopped to pick it up.  A few minutes earlier, my receipt had not printed from the gasoline pump so I went inside to see the cashier.  On the way out of the store, I noticed a gentleman with a pickup truck full of a variety of items.  (It was the three stuffed deer heads that drew my attention.)  Forgetting any Southern manners, I yelled "HEY" across the lot to get the guy's attention and walking toward him asked if the picture could be his.  I held up the wood and he said, "oh, wow, did that fall?"  He took the frame from my hands and said as he dusted off the glass, "That's my home."  We both stood there for a few seconds in silence admiring the aerial photo of the farm house and the surrounding lands, both nostalgic for our ideas of home.  He offered me a wind catcher for the find and told me how much he loved them but he lost most of them driving along the interstate. (I declined his gift hearing that he had lost most.)   He said, "if you find one, pick it up.  It's the prettiest thing you'll ever see."

Today, I left yoga and walked through petals of crape myrtle trees falling like rain and I thought of his wind catchers, spiraling through the air, like petals.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

It is Now Safe to Turn on Your Portable Electronic Devices (but we don't want to do so)

On the international flight home today, I was completely surrounded by people reading.  It was the quietest flight I have been on in ages.  The enrapt passengers were evidently hooked on their titles.  The most fascinating thing to me (besides this noiseless ascent to 10,000 feet) was that everyone was reading a paper copy.

Across the aisle, a woman was reading about altruism.  A woman at the window was skimming the latest issue of Cosmo.  I saw a book in Spanish, a book on math, and my little novel that I've carried around (despite the fact that I was also flying with five electronic devices*).  Just to my right, the woman who accidentally left a dozen banana muffins cooling on her stove** instead of packed in her bag was reading Jame Bowden's gem, A Street Cat Named Bob.  The scene was refreshing.


*  The author acknowledges this does seem excessive.  
**Not to worry, her father will pick them up.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Way We Were...Are

My plane rides are translating into very nice progress through The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope.  The characters are all interesting in their own way and I'm still having difficulty selecting my favorite.  The title is available free on the kindle, but I've rather enjoyed toting around the 800 page book around.  There's a comfort in the weight of it.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Climb Every Mountain

Humphrey's Peak, AZ
June 2012

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
John Muir, The Mountains of California

Monday, July 14, 2014

Ratios and Highlights

It could be post-exercise elation or the caffeine, but I found this excerpt from The Guardian particularly amusing today:  Can the Hawking Index tell us when people give up on books?  It's a tongue and cheek reference to this WSJ article from Dr. Jordan Ellenberg, a professor of mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Both are great reads over your morning coffee or afternoon tea.  

For me, it's not the Kindle reads I fail to finish.  It's the random library book or hard copy in hand.  Perhaps I could start a model of probability to finish a book based on its library shelf position.  I have 28 shelves containing books neither arranged by author nor title but loosely arranged by genre.  If I cataloged the read vs unread (and indeed read more than once), would I find anything interesting?    I might need to check yours as well to be statistically significant.

Have a great mathematical Monday.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

In the Summertime II

I got hooked on volunteering a few years ago and have been fortunate this year to support a great organization called Girls' Inc.  This summer's project has included a book club for a group of 18 young ladies preparing them for next year's school session by completing their summer reading assignment.  Our book is The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann.  We will finish up the session this week (which means I have a lot of reading to do to catch up with them)!  

Have a great weekend!  

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Rusty Nails and Marigolds

If you've got four minutes to spare, it's worth the time to listen to Linda Wertheimer's voice from Sunday's  Weekend Edition.  She interviews Ms. Fornari about her new book, Coffee for Roses: ...and 70 Other Misleading Myths About Backyard Gardening. My favorite snippet from a review is "it's an argument settler."

Happy gardening!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Choosing Hope

I hope everyone had a fantastic long holiday weekend and avoided sunburns, poison ivy and water-ski injuries.  I hope you laughed with old friends, made new friends, and enjoyed moments alone when you needed them.  I hope you had cupcakes and reading water as a splurge dinner while you made cookies (though this is not recommended as a nightly activity).  I hope car trips were filled with great shuffles of random bands and that all are safe and happy.

We're not far away from the July read The Beekeeper's Apprentice.  I hope you're making great progress.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman

I'm in love
100 Postcards of Book covers from Penguin.  I can't even begin to describe how awesome these are.  (Okay, some are a little odd, but collectively, I can't wait to send these.)

Expect mail.

Have a great weekend ahead:  happy reading, happy writing, have a happy time with the ones you love.