July's Calling Card

I did finish The Northern Clemency Tuesday evening. In the event that you are planning to read this novel, I will simply note that all families have dysfunction and this might make you feel better (or worse) than your own. Incidentally, the women (mostly) seemed to fare better than the men.

My trip to the library this week left me thinking that I'm reading the same titles as fifteen others in the metro area, or at least this seems to be the magic number of holds on each book I attempted. I had also left my main reading list at home so I was selecting books from the small notebook I keep stashed in my purse. The good news is that I had a completely new experience at the library; I pulled titles using their call numbers rather than the author's surname. To be quite honest, I felt a bit more scholarly, or at least less mainstream, as I walked around the third floor searching for books using the posted numeric signs as my guide.

My current selections both have multi-page indices which, I think means I won't be skimming through these in a few days. My new reads are Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey by Isabel Fonseca and The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Here's to Ms. Foshie

I had to do an extra odd-day post just to pass this along. It was included in my list of NPR most emailed stories for the week: "Librarians Go Wild for Gold Book Cart." It just might remove a few of the stereotypes you may hold regarding librarians. It definitely should, however, make you think twice about vikings with book carts.

Ms. Foshie was my high school librarian and I wonder what her life was like outside of her cats, the school library, and the year-book.

July's Lucky 13

Two updates for you today:

* I have just under one hundred pages remaining in The Northern Clemency and today I've found reasons not to read. I'm not certain as to whether this was a conscious decision in order to delay completion of the book or that merely, I have had more pressing things to do. (I do suspect the former as I enjoy savoring those last few pages as the sun begins its downward set.)

* The 2009 Man Booker Longlist was released today and there is always something to appreciate about a long dozen (also called a baker's dozen). I'm sure that I'll find a few to peruse from the list and I hope you will as well.

Happy Reading!

Journey North

I have long thought that Sundays lent themselves to reading, particularly a rainy, gray day like today. I have picked up The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher as my next read. With its nearly 600 pages of prose, perhaps my mind was subconsciously preparing for North and South. I’m one sixth (easy math) into the story which, thus far, has begun the tale of two families in the area of Sheffield, UK. This book was short-listed for the 2008 Man Booker Prize and Hensher’s The Mulberry Empire also received a nod for the 2002 Longlist. I sense a mid-afternoon break for tea in my future. Cheers!