FYI

I am going to be out of town until Wednesday (for a job interview--fingers crossed!!!), but I just wanted to say how excited I am to chat with ya'll soon about The World to Come, by Dara Horn. While I am out of commission, enjoy the first half of your week and check out these great blogs:

The World Is My Oyster--my dear friend's "lifestyle blog," based on her amazing life

Rani Pink--another dear friend, who blogs with her sis about all things fashionable

decor8--great place for beautiful finds, especially in the home department

Ana White--an interesting site for all you DIY-ers and new homeowners out there

100 Layer Cake--okay, okay, I just can't help myself! I am in the midst of planning my wedding, and have found wedding blogs to be a totally addicting pastime; this one is especially great, with its fabulous color boards and wonderful real wedding photos

Sunday Edition: Staying Positive

As many of you know, I recently completed my masters degree and am in the rather unfortunate position of looking for a full-time job that relates to my studies in interior design. While I continue to get positive feedback from various firms, the response ultimately remains the same: "We simply aren't hiring." As you can imagine (or perhaps know from first-hand experience), the process is beyond disheartening, since I cannot will job openings into being. So how to stay positive? Well, I must admit that I haven't completely unlocked the secret to that one, but I did recently come across a little video on YouTube that provides a pretty good model.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

PS: I like my blog followers! I like my books! I like anything!

A Book in Brief: Atonement

So in yesterday's post, I mentioned Atonement, by Ian McEwan, as one of the incredible books I am hesitant to see in movie form. One of my dear readers asked whether the original was worth reading, and I felt like--as the one and only blogger of Noveltease--it was my responsibility to give an answer slightly more informative than an ardent "yes."

This winner of the National Book Critics Circle award and a Booker Prize Finalist is at once sweeping and unbearably intimate. Told in four parts, the novel explores the irrevocable consequences of one child's misunderstanding of a tragic and violent event. How can thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis possibly atone for so drastically altering the trajectories of her family and friends--for causing the innocent to suffer, for allowing victims to remain vulnerable and the guilty to go unpunished? Major themes here include atonement (obvi) and the line that divides truth from imagination. Interestingly, McEwan explores how the act of writing itself relates to the above motifs--how creating a story can at times be a form of condemnation and at others a type of redemption.

In summary: yes, dear Saranade07, this particular juice is definitely worth the squeeze! And once you read it, let's both take the plunge and watch the movie!

Top Three New-ish Movies Based on Books I'm Afraid to See

Today's top three list is even more subjective than usual, but I think that's okay, right? Talking about The Help's upcoming film adaptation on Wednesday made me think about other great stories that have recently been made into movies. Now, while I am one of the millions of people who agree that a movie based on a book seldom even competes with the original--too much is lost, too much challenges the reader's original interpretations of characters and events--I want to see my favorite stories brought to life...I just really want to see them done well!

The following three movies are all currently hanging out in my Netflix queue, just waiting to be shipped out and watched by yours truly. However, I hesitate: each of them are based on books that I love, that possess a certain level of magic and poignancy and bittersweet wonder. Can they do the originals justice? I'd love to hear from those of you out there who have both read the book and seen the movie! Oh, and by the way, if you haven't read any of the books listed below, you absolutely should. Fabulous!

1. The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd

2. Atonement, Ian McEwan

3. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

Have Your Cake and Mock It, Too

Since I am feeling the familiar pangs of a sweet tooth right now, and since I recently baked a mean key lime pie for my honey's birthday, I thought it would be fun to feature the NYT Bestseller, Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilarously Wrong, by Jen Yates. Based on Yates' hilarious blog of the same name, this book contains over 150 photos of bizarro cakes that boast some kind of ridiculous and cringe-worthy misstep. Jen Yates defines as a cake wreck as: "Any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate--you name it. A wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places." Pretty delightful, no?

Among my personal favs on the blog are the cakes with grammatical errors and typos in their messages (obvi.), but I also can't get enough of the cakes where the cake-decorator and cake-orderer have a major communication breakdown--see here, and here, oh, and here, too (make sure you keep scrolling!).

Hope this provides a healthier and more hilarious alternative to raiding your fridge for that late night treat!

Book of the Week: The Help

It's Wednesday again, which means it is officially time to discuss The Help, Kathryn Stockett's debut novel. Holy smokes, people, I whipped through this delight in exactly 1.5 days...I just couldn't put it down! Confession: I am finding the whole one-book-a-week thing hard to do; the last few weeks I've actually been secretly reading another book or two between Sunday and Wednesday, just old favs rather than other new books. Hopefully when I am employed somewhere full-time the book-a-week thing will work out perfectly, though. Perhaps in an upcoming post, I'll spotlight some of those secret alterna-books-of-the-other-part-of-the-week-once-I-finish-the-actual-book-of-the-week-because-sometimes-I-just-need-to-know-RIGHT-NOW-what's-going-to-happen-next-books.

What made The Help so engrossing--to me at least--was the multifaceted harmony created by the three "ordinary women" whose voices entwined to paint a compelling portrait of life in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen, the story's heart, is a battle-weary black maid who has spent her life being a mother to white babies, and who lost her own son only a few years ago in a racially-sensitive incident. Her young friend, Minny, is also a housekeeper for white women, and absolutely brims with sass, which I love. The third voice is Skeeter, a young, rather naive white girl who has returned home after graduating college and decides to write a novel composed of the experiences of black maids serving white families--through this process, her eyes are opened to the complicated amalgam of intimacy and detachment, nurture and disgust, love and bitterness that exist in these relationships.

These three characters' potent and unique voices work to create a single overarching narrative, and secondary characters are similarly well handled by Stockett, adding to the story's richness. Through Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter's eyes, we see the strange opposites that live side-by-side not just in the segregated 60s, but in each of us. Characters continually surprise: a brassy black woman who doesn't take crap from anyone is physically abused by her husband, a drunk jerk turns out to be a suffering spurned lover, and a helpless country bumpkin ignores societal lines to stand up for her black employee. Over and over, Stockett reminds us of the paradoxes residing within each of us, thereby underscoring both the impossibility of anything being simply black and white as well as the futility of creating labels to divide "us" and "them." As Skeeter wisely observes towards the story's close, "We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought." Love!

While I could go on and on about this great read, I really don't want to be a spoiler, so just go out and pick up a copy if you haven't already. (It really is engrossing, with lots of spunk and meaning). For those of you who are already fans of the book, you might be excited to hear they are making a movie, being filmed in Mississippi and due to come out sometime in 2011. You can check here on IMDB to learn more about the movie and find out who has been cast to play each of the characters. Now, while I am not thrilled with all of their choices, I do absolutely love the idea of Allison Janney playing Skeeter's mom, and think that Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly could be interesting, too. Who would you cast for some of The Help's main characters? I'm going to think on it and get back to you for my personal dream cast, but would love your input!

Okay, now it's time for a quick reminder: this week's book of the week is The World to Come, by Dara Horn. Magical and quirky and historical and bittersweet (all in the first 30 pages), so definitely worth the read; I can't wait to tell you more about it once I finish it next Wednesday (or let's be honest, I'll probably accidentally finish it Saturday and have to hold my bloggin-breath until Wednesday)!

Also, it's time to announce next week's book, too, in case you want to get a head start on the reading. I've picked The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. Why did I pick it, you might ask? For several reasons, including:

1. It was winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2007

2. In one of my favorite English classes at UVA, I read Drown, a collection of sharp, vibrant, and sometimes quite raw short stories that was Diaz's debut work; I remember feeling like he was one of those authors who had a true voice, completely gritty, singular, funny, and worth revisiting.

3. The Brief Wondrous Life is Diaz's first novel and tells the tale of a "ghetto nerd" from NJ who want to be the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien. Oh, and fall in love, too. Interesting, no?

4. I felt like it was time to juxtapose the tone of The Help and The World to Come, and think Diaz will fit the bill. As A.O. Scott wrote in his NYT review: "Diaz's novel has a wild, capricious spirit, making it feel much larger than it is...Holding all this together--just barely, but in the end effectively--is a voice that is profane, lyrical, learned and tiredless, a riot of accents and idioms coexisting..."

I hope you'll join me in both of the upcoming books of the week!

Strange and Wonderful

Not so long ago, I stumbled across a review by Steven Heller (from the NYT) about a book that sounded absolutely fascinating: Strange & Wonderful: An Informal Visual History of Manuscript Books and Albums.

From what I can gather, this book is an image-based collection of fantastical covers--old and new, photos and drawings, real and sublime. Apparently, it is the brainchild of New York City's Sanctuary Rare Books, which has a super stock of fine books and manuscripts. It also looks ridiculously cool.

Reading about this book and then browsing through the virtual Sanctuary Rare Books combined to remind me of one of my very favorite experiences in college: attending a special class at the University of Virginia's (very) Special Collections Library. I went because I was TA-ing a collaborative printmaking and poetry class--the idea was to see firsthand some exquisite first edition, antiquarian books as well as rare contemporary artist monographs, observing the pervasive careful craft, attention to detail, and brilliant layouts. This visit was especially inspiring because UVA's special collections had just been moved into a brand new building, which in a way really emphasized (to me, anyway) the tactile experience of books, of sinking into a comfortable chair, of plunging into that exhilaratingly quiet, cool, dry air one encounters in hermetically sealed libraries, and of timorously turning the pages touched by so many other inquisitive fingers.

All of this got me thinking about how much I love, love, love the tactile qualities of books....so strange and so wonderful indeed. And so while I believe technology like the Kindle and the iPad are fantastic concepts that will hopefully cut down on wasted paper and really, truly seem to satisfy a lot of people out there, I just don't quite know if I will ever truly be able to get on board with them. What do you think, friends? Am I being a complete luddite or do you agree that something must inevitably get lost in translation?

Sunday Edition

How do you organize your bookshelves? There are all sorts of options: the classic dewey decimal system, by subject, by author, by color...or perhaps you are more of a go-with-the-flow kind of person, letting books organize themselves organically based on what was read last or purchased most recently.

Personally, I love organizing things; I'm not too big on actual cleaning (as V. can attest), but boy do I love to sort and straighten! That's why when we moved from Savannah to Athens last month, I relished the opportunity to upgrade our bookshelves, finally giving ourselves enough shelf space for the piles and piles of books we have been storing under beds and in closets for the last three years. (Side note: moving is the one time when I seriously consider dumping half of our collection and really start regretting Vince's proclivity to any kind of bargain; for example, the time he was at Savannah's public library while they were having a book sale: everything you could fit in a bag for one buck. Needless to say, he walked 2 miles back to our apartment with three outrageously heavy bags loaded down with gems like Whale Nation and Mrs. Shakespeare.)

But back to the subject at hand! So, a few weeks ago we bought these spiffy new Expedit shelves at Ikea--which, as we all know, is an absolute dream store for all of us sorters and straighteners and bargain-lovers, too--to put in our dining room and load up with a good majority of our novels, allowing us to shift our old bookshelves into the study, where we could then put relevant design books (me) and business texts (Vince).

Okay, so we had the space and a basic plan of attack about what was going where. I then had to decide how to organize everything (yay!). While I dream about the spectacular spectacular of bookshelves organized by color, practicality intercepted. I mean, it obviously looks brilliant (see images!) and it's a great idea for organizing your closet (my clothes are indeed organized by color) but if you actually want to find a book, you have to remember the color of its spine. Tricky.

Not to mention my aesthetic concern, which is that so many of our books have white or black covers that the rainbow effect might be dampened. However, while looking for pics of color-coded books to share with ya'll, I stumbled upon someone's genius solution to the black/white quandry:

See, they did colors in columns, putting the black books on the two ends and white books running down the middle. Love! I still hold out hope for doing the "by color" form of organization someday, either when I am really bored one day or perhaps by just putting together a small bookshelf with some of my favorite books with a certain color spine, and letting that fill my need to organize by color.

For now though, I should finish this up and get back to telling you how I actually did decide to organize our books: we went for the old standard--alphabetically by author and broken down by subject (literature, art and design, etc.). While it's not the sexiest solution, it sure does make it easy to find books, and I finally get my dream of having a wall of novels...well more like 6'-0" high by about 12'-0" long, but still-YAY!

Top Three Characters That Created a New Word

It's Friday again, which mean it's time for a top three list! This week's theme is the top three book characters whose name inspired a new word. While this is an undeniably dorky subject, I thought it also might be kind of fun to see whether or not you knew about these derivations, which, btdubs, are known as a form of neologism--the coining of a new word.

Now, we all know the concept of Catch-22 was inspired by Joseph Heller's novel of the same name, and that Lewis Carroll's poem, The Jabberwocky, included bunches of invented words. (Fun fact: while in college, I worked at a restaurant called The Jaberwoke, and its menu included references to "bandersnatch" and the "jubjub bird.) However, there are also some fantastic classics out there whose characters have established new words we now use in everyday conversation. This is truly one of the signs of a wholly original character whose character resonates with readers; it also, of course, implies the potential power of a name:

1. Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Okay, so this first one is a little obvious, but seriously, how often do we hear miserly people being referred to as scrooges, or even the use of scrooged as a verb?

2. Gargantuan: The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel, Francois Rabelais

This 16th century French novel (well, actually five novels) tell the story of voracious father-and-son giants in rollicking, satirical tones. Gargantua is the father, and as you can guess, his towering stature inspired the word gargantuan.

3. Quixotic: Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes

This is undoubtedly my favorite. One of the great works of western literature, period, and one of the most interesting characters, too. Meaning exceedingly idealistic, unrealistic and impossible, quixotic is inspired by the title character, a retired country gentleman who becomes obsessed with books of chivalry (believing their every word) and so decides to go out into the world as a knight-errant. Fantastic farce ensues!

PS: I decided to only choose from books that I had read and to limit my selections to novels, rather than getting into plays, poems, etc.

Book of the Week: All the Pretty Horses

This week's book, All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy, stands in bold contrast with last week's Little Bee. In fact, adjusting to its brusque tone and lack of punctuation took a few chapters; I didn't really hit my stride on this one until about 100 pages in. Does that ever happen to you? I tend to dive right into unfamiliar authors, but as my man Vince can attest, I really struggled getting into the story, occasionally even grimacing (okay, let's be honest, yelling!) at McCarthy's habit of forgoing commas and refusing quotation marks all together. I mean, how am I supposed to know who is talking to whom?

Thankfully, I stuck with it, and as my brother Brett would say, the juice was worth the squeeze. In fact--once I adjusted--McCarthy's unadorned style suits the story's rugged setting and plain-speaking characters. Furthermore, his tendency to form run-on sentences by stringing together a series of ands establishes a kind of rhythm that mirrors the actions being described, which is then contrasted with a clipped "Then..." Let me give you an example:

"It [the train] came boring out of the east like some ribald satellite of the coming sun howling and bellowing in the distance and the long light of the headlamp running through the tangled mesquite brakes and creating out of the night the endless fenceline down the dead straight right of way and sucking it back again wire and post mile on mile into the darkness after where the boilersmoke disbanded slowly along the faint new horizon and the sound came lagging and he stood still holding his hat in his hands in the passing ground-shudder watching it till it was gone.

"Then he turned and went back to the house."

Woah! Now that is some kind of protracted sentence! But can't you feel the train coming at you, as you keep reading, quickening your pace, feeling the rhythm of the words like the rhythm of the train ties? Then it just stops, and you are back in the quiet night, back to a simple singular action as the boy turns back towards home.

I think another advantage of McCarthy's style is how it really propels plot. At its most basic, All the Pretty Horses is the coming of age tale of John Grady Cole, a sixteen year old Texan who goes to Mexico with two companions seeking a new life when his family ranch comes to an end. The story spans two countries, prisons, horse ranches, near-death experiences, love affairs, murder and more, all in 300 pages. My favorite aspect is how romance and realism are so seamlessly blended together in those pages, as the harsh truth of life in the 'wild west' collides with the main character's hopes and intrinsic sense of integrity. At times, we see John Grady Cole's resolute sense of rightness challenged by ugly human nature and politics, but we also see him prevail. Bottom line: while I don't think I will be reading any more Cormac McCarthy in the near future, All the Pretty Horses truly captivated me.

Moving on to the next couple of weeks! This is a friendly reminder that this week's book is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. I just started it today and can already tell it's going to be a winner! Also, next week I will be reading, The World to Come, by Dara Horn. Now folks, this story sounds absolutely brilliant! As far as I can tell, it is about a typical New Yorker who--while at a singles' cocktail party at a museum--sees a Chagall painting he is sure used to hang in his family home. So, he steals it back (obviously!). "This work of art opens a door through which we discover his family's startling history--from an orphanage in Soviet Russia where Chagall taught to suburban New Jersey and the jungles of Vietnam." Horn has twice won the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction, and I am hoping this story will appeal to those of you out there who are really into art (Sarah M.), books that mix history and fiction (Sara B.), and everyone else, too!

Shelfari Update

Just a quick post today to boast about my amazing computer abilities! Look to your left, and you should see a list of the books of the week. While I would like to give myself all the credit for making this marvel happen, truthfully I just used Shelfari to add a widget to my blog (yes, widget--can you believe that's a real word in blogger land, not just something you hypothetically sell when speaking business speak?).

For the purposes of this site, I've decided to limit my blog's shelf to what I'm reading for the book-of-the-week challenge; to accomplish this, I simply added a "book of the week" tag to all the books in my Shelfari library that I've read or am reading for the challenge and used that as a sorting device. I think that in a few weeks, when we've accrued a few more books of the week, this will be super snazzy and helpful! Fun fact: while I decided to keep my books on a clean white background, if you decide to add a shelf to your blog someday down the road, Shelfari also has options for actual bookshelves, customizable down to dimensions and the finish.

Now, the one thing I can't for the life of me fix is the order in which the books are listed. I want them to go chronologically (obviously), and that's how I set it up, but for some reason this darn widget won't comply. *Sigh* You can't win 'em all, but hopefully I can crack this egg soon.

For those of you who might be interested in seeing other books in my virtual library besides the books of the week, you can still visit my Shelfari page and see what else I have read as well as various ratings and reviews. Okay, that's enough tech talk for now, but I hope this brief and hands-on introduction to Shelfari has peaked your interest!

Shelfari

Do you ever struggle with keeping track of what books you've read when? Or who you lent them out to? Or even just reminding yourself what you want to read in the future? Well, thanks to my dear friend, Sarah, I've got the perfect solution! It's called Shelfari, and it just might change your life.

This multifaceted site is half search engine and half organizing tool, with a little social networking thrown in for good measure. The idea is that you become a member (for free!), and then create your own "shelf," where you can store information about as many books as you choose. Seriously, how great is this? The interweb comes to the rescue again!

Give reviews to help out other Shelfari members, make notes to yourself about who gifted you a certain book, assign "tags" as a way of organizing your titles, and so much more. Once you've created your own virtual library, you can also reach out to other members, joining in book discussions, posing questions about certain books, and tracking what like-minded friends are reading to get new ideas (hint, hint). As if that wasn't enough, Shelfari also has a fairly interesting blog with fresh conversations about various titles and authors. Also, they allow you to synch your library up with your blog...which I have just attempted! That's right, look to the right of this posting and you should see a link to my very own Shelfari Shelf! Apparently there's a way to actually show your shelf, but I cannot get that to work...yet. Stay posted because I plan on makin' it happen, captain!

FYI-Figuring out how much to add to my shelf has been a bit of a challenge. I haven't invested the hours it would take to add everything I've ever read to this bookshelf; instead, my goal is to start tracking from now on (as of July 1, 2010) and perhaps on a rainy day in the future I'll go through and add some more favorites. Of course, when I do come across a title I've read (for example, once I entered Little Bee on my shelf, Shelfari suggested Kite Runner, which I had already read a few years ago) I've gone ahead and clicked "yes" to add those to my shelf, too. As far as user-friendly interfaces goes, this site definitely rocks. You'll have no problem signing up and getting your shelf going; I hope you'll sign up so we can share shelves (I'm looking at you, Lorin!).

Sunday Edition

I hope you are all getting the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing summer weekend filled with family, friends, and literature (of course!). This weekend has been one of the rare times where my honey's schedule actually synchs up with mine, so we have been taking a little time to explore our new town. On the agenda: beer tasting and tour at Terrapin Microbrewery, a trip to Earth Fare, and several dynamite home-cooked meals from The Flat Belly Cookbook, including smoky tomato soup, grilled pork with garlic oil, and chicken pad thai. Yum!

Naturally, I've also made a trip or two to the bookstore, and have gotten some great titles I am excited to share with you over the next few weeks! I like to have some semblance of structure in my life, and I'd have to say that the theme for this weekend's purchases was that the majority of them were by acclaimed contemporary authors who have already engaged me in some way, to the point where I'm hungry to read more. Authors include Nicole Krauss, Junot Diaz, and Zadie Smith. Now the big challenge is figuring out which one to read first!

Top Three Friday

I am a huge fan of lists. I mean, what's not to love? They provide a way to make your to-dos finite, they reward your accomplishments (checking things off always gives me a thrill), and they make information bite-sized and easily digestible. Okay, so now that you know how much I love lists, you might be wondering: Erin, why don't you have any lists on your blog? I mean if they're so great, why don't we see you making any?

Well, all that is about to change, my friends! I've decided to establish "Top Three Friday," in which I will list the three books that--in my opinion--best meet a certain criteria. Obviously, all of these top threes will be utterly subjective and completely limited by what I have read, but I think it might be a fun way to introduce ya'll to a few more books and potentially address some of your reading list questions. In fact, it would be totally awesome if you, loyal readers, suggested topics. No such thing as too bizarre a category: top three contemporary works of fiction that start with the letter "I," top three Renaissance plays not written by Shakespeare, top three stories told from the point-of-view of a young boy with learning disabilities, etc. The possibilities are endless! So without further ado, I give you the inaugural "Top Three."

Top Three Books to Finish on a Plane (in Tears)

Alright, so this maiden top three might seem a little random, but there is a method to my madness. Admittedly, I am a frequent crier, and I cannot even begin to count the number of books that have prompted waterworks. However (and maybe some of you out there can sympathize with this), I can very vividly remember those amazing stories that have provoked that simultaneously awkward and cathartic experience of crying on a plane.

Thus, the following three books have been chosen for several reasons: they are all fast-paced with intriguing storylines, making them easy to read even with the myriad distractions one encounters when traveling; they all exude a certain dreamlike, enchanted tone that perfectly suits the feeling one gets when soaring through clouds; and yes, they have all provoked me to cry as I finished them on a plane.

1. History of Love, Nicole Krauss

2. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami

3. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

FYI-All three of these stories are absolutely phenomenal and worth reading, whether or not you have a plane ride in your near future!

Too Lovely Book Covers!

Hello there, readers! Today I want to share one of my absolute favorite book cover designers with you: Coralie Bickford-Smith. You might be familiar with the exquisite clothbound classics series she recently designed for Penguin (I know the Mom-Squad has a few on her shelves), but Bickford-Smith has also created charming covers for a series of boy's adventure classics and several F. Scott Fitzgerald books, which are so glam and Gatsby-esque.

I would absolutely love to have a few of these (aka ALL of them) gracing my bookshelves, and think they would make a great go-to gift for all sorts of occasions--Sense and Sensibility for a girlfriend's birthday, A Christmas Carol on the holidays, Penguin's Poems for Love and Life for a wedding, perhaps the 10-book set as a really nice housewarming present, etc. The best part of these beauties?? They retail for a ridiculously reasonable price: under $20 each on Amazon! Too lovely!!!

Book-a-Week Wednesday: Little Bee

One week down, one book down! To be honest, Little Bee, by Chris Cleave, was such an engaging story that I actually finished it Sunday and have been waiting (impatiently) for book-a-week Wednesday to roll around so that I could discuss it with you!

If you remember my introduction to Little Bee last week, I mentioned how the back jacket implores readers to keep the story secret from friends, suggesting that the "magic is in how the story folds." At the time, I found this disarmingly charming, but now I realize it puts me in a difficult position as someone who vowed to blog about the book...so what to do? Well, I think I'll honor the author's request and focus my review on the book's dual narrative, rather than its plot.

The book's two main characters are Little Bee, a young Nigerian refugee, and Sarah, a sophisticated British journalist; the story consists of a delicate weaving together of their voices to construct a richly layered narrative. This back-and-forth of perspectives allows the reader access to both characters' inner thoughts while gaining multiple interpretations of the book's characters and events. Although both of these voices feel new and genuine, Little Bee is especially captivating; just as the book jacket addresses the reader directly, so does this sixteen-year old survivor. She is earnest and kind and funny and sad and true--through her eyes we can see our own world differently. Adding to the richness of voice in this book are the reoccurring imaginary conversations Little Bee has with the girls from her Nigerian village. As we hear their shock and confusion over her experiences in London, we can start to understand the vast cultural gulf that Little Bee is attempting to navigate.

I think one of the most interesting results of using a dual narrative is how it heightens our awareness of self and other. Without giving too much away, a lot of what this story focuses on is what we are willing to sacrifice for others versus what we must do to survive ourselves, and the extent to which either option must irrevocably change lives. This is a book about wanting and taking, suffering and surviving, horror and beauty and all of their consequences. In its review of the book, The Washington Post states that the story is, "both surprising and inevitable," and I have to agree. Little Bee has its flaws and so do its main characters, but it shows a sort of surprising grace in the way it chooses to unfold its message. If you are looking for an enthralling story told with wit and compassion (and you have an iron stomach!), then you should definitely check out this book.

Before signing off for the day, I want to remind you, my lovely readers, that this week's book of the week is All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. Also, I have settled on a selection for next week: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. This story--about "three ordinary women who are about to take an extraordinary step"--comes highly recommended (including a good review from the Mom-Squad), so if you haven't already read it, pick up a copy!

The Grammar Police (beep beep!)

Today, I would like to deviate slightly from the blog's typical scope to discuss grammar. I know, I know--a scintillating topic--but many of you are familiar with my err, shall we say sensitivity to grammatical mistakes. After all, I've been the editor-in-residence for my immediate family since the age of thirteen, refused to apply to a masters program that had typographical errors in its recruitment literature, and even compulsively corrected a police officer's grammar after he pulled over my brother and me for speeding (hey, he should have used an adverb!). Suffice it to say, I like my grammar like I like my weather forecasts: accurate!

But, much like getting an accurate weather forecast in March, is the hope of a world without major grammatical errors utterly inconceivable? Believe you me, I'm not claiming to be above committing grammatical crimes (the laws can be confusing and even counterintuitive sometimes), but there are some pretty awesome grammar-vigilante sources out there dedicated to protecting and serving the English language. Check 'em out!

1. The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

2. The Great Typo Hunt

3. The Grammar Vandal

Outsourcing

Two weeks ago, I was in Atlanta visiting my dear friend Sarah, and--surprise, surprise--we started talking books. I mentioned how it can be difficult to find really good contemporary books and worthwhile new authors, to know what's worth reading vs. what's just hip. Currently, my primary sources for new fiction include sites like The New York Times or Powell's as well as family recommendations or gifts; for example, my brother Brian recently passed along Roberto Bolano's epic last work, 2666, and a few Christmases ago my book-lovin' Aunt Lorin gifted me Stephanie Kallos' Broken For You, which I now read at least once a year! Add a few oops-I-should-have-read-this-sooner-after-all-I-was-an-English-major-for-pete's-sake classics, and that tends to comprise my reading list.

While the above sources are undeniably fantastic and have done me well, I'm always looking for new avenues for finding great reads. I think part of it is this question of whether we as readers can sift through all that's being published today to determine what might be lasting, what could make it into the canon and remain relevant 100 years from now...In a way, determining what books might have lasting resonance is an exercise in determining how our current times will be summarized for future generations. For example, Virginia Woolf's novels certainly have great relevance today, but she is also widely read (and taught) because of how artfully works like To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway depict the time in which they are set: how poignantly they portray issues of solipsism in the modern era, how eloquently they explore individuals still reeling from the world war and the ensuing societal shifts.

But back to the point: other sources for uncovering new fiction! My conversation with Sarah (who, by the by, you can learn more about on her always charming lifestyle blog, The World is my Oyster) instigated a search for new sources. Obvi, the first idea was to start this blog and get you, my lovely readers, to offer up suggestions for what's worth reading (please!!), but I've also come across some good outside sources, one of which I'll share with you now:

Whichbook.net

Okay folks, this is pretty cool. Go to this site to find a series of spectrums (happy::sad; funny::serious; larger than life::down to earth, etc.) that you can set to mirror your current tastes. For example, if I say I'm in the mood for a semi-sad, very funny, rather unpredictable, and absolutely beautiful book, I can get a series of recommendations that fit the bill, such as The Elegance of the Hedgehog (which we know from my previous posting I adored, and if you have read I think you'll agree it does meet the above criteria) and Paper: The Dreams of a Scribe, by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, which is now officially on my reading list. I mean, come on--it's like a mood ring for books! Each recommendation includes a brief reader comment, an excerpt from the book, and several "parallels," which are lists of similar books. FYI-rather than using the qualitative spectrums I just described, there's also an option for defining interests in character, plot, and setting. Either way, you can provide focused specifications to find book recommendations that fit your interests.

You've learned where I get my book recommendations, but how about you? What sources do you use? Which friends or family members do you ask?

Moments of Always Within the Never

Today I want to chat with you a bit about the last book I read before officially beginning my book-a-week challenge: The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery.

Now I had heard a lot of buzz about this title over the last few months from reliable sources, and was intending to get around to it soon enough, but as luck would have it when I was home in upstate NY a few weeks ago the Mom-Squad passed along a copy to me, admitting that it had been a little challenging to get into but that she wanted to give it another whirl in a few months. Obviously I snatched it right up (don't worry Moms, I promise you'll get it back!) and devoured it over the course of a weekend.

At it's most basic level (and I promise I'm not being a spoiler, this is information you could glean from reading the book jacket) the story revolves around two women--a middle-aged concierge and a precocious twelve-year old--who choose to live as inconspicuous outsiders looking in, hiding their true selves from a world they perceive as unreceptive. The arrival of a elderly Japanese man catalyzes a remarkable series of events, as he recognizes and teases out the exquisite nature both women are secreting away.

While the plot is unassailably beautiful in its exploration of class, character, and redemption, my favorite aspect of The Elegance is how Barbery continues to probe, "moments of always within never," mediating on those beautiful and unexpected gems that sneak into ordinary moments, offering us respite and hope. This book doesn't apologize for its small scale, instead showing extraordinary restraint in its scope, focusing tightly on the earnest portrayal of two women who--in spite of their best intentions to remain invisible--deserve our special attention. This story's patient eloquence, its delight in ellipsis, its thoughtful reflections and, well, elegance, I suppose, all serve to remind the reader to search for beauty, regardless of the quotidian shell that might be incapsulating it. I believe this is the kind of book one can read again and again, simply to be reminded of those "moments of always... "

Admission: While I did finish The Elegance in a 48-hour period, I must admit that my mom's point about the book being tough to get into holds weight. For those of you who get intimidated and/or frustrated with allusion-heavy books, please be patient with this one; yes, there are multiple references to phenomenology, Tolstoy, and Marx (which, because I'm a dork got me super-excited, especially the beautiful section on wabi, pg. 164-5), but it's worth wading through all the semi-obscure references to get to the heart of the story, which in a way, is a good metaphor for the story itself--a kind of commitment to forging beyond the shell to see what lies within.

Inside+Out

Happy Weekend, Friends! While you all know I am a huge fan of literature, I also enjoy a good design book every now and then: glossy pages, full bleed images, handsome layouts...YUM! Since I know I've got at least one interior designer for a follower (and because, after all, I spent the last three years earning a graduate degree in the design field), I thought it would be nice to mix it up a little today and talk about one of my favorite design books out there: Inside Outside by Petra Blaisse.

This gorg. book was a birthday present from my oh-so-amazing brother, Brian, in 2007 and continues to be a source of delight and inspiration for me today. In case you're not familiar, Petra Blaisse is a Dutch designer whose talents include textile, landscape, interiors, and exhibition design; one of her firm's most well-known projects in the U.S. is the Seattle Public Library (architect: OMA). She has also created some absolutely fantastic installations using curtains as architecture, challenging the typical rigidity of architecture with more fluid, mutable forms.

But back to the book, which is and of itself a captivating work. At 500+pages, it boasts a true richness of visual and written information: over 50 projects, interviews with Blaisse, process and documentation, and essays by other well-known architects and designers, like Cecil Balmond (who, PS, has also created some lovely books; check out Informal and Element).

One of my favorite aspects in Inside Outside is how text regarding the book itself starts on the cover and runs through ten or so pages of introduction about why a formal introduction shouldn't really be necessary, insisting instead that, "you just fall into the book like we fall into daily life late at night afer work...front Matter that makes words superfulous, images that announce the things to come...this is what lies now in front of you...the weave of things, one thing leading to another." It is this mix of poetry and candor that defines the book, gracefully guiding the reader-viewer through a web of lush images, engaging process diagrams, and articulate essays.

Other captivating details include fluorescent perforated pages in the front and back (which can be torn away and used as tabs) colored book edges to demarcate sections, and an entire codicil filled with project particulars. Every inch of this book is amazing and can serve as a source of inspiration. All in all, whether you are looking for good visuals to flip through while sipping your Starbucks at Barnes+Noble or a truly captivating blend of design ideas and opinions, Inside Outside takes the cake! I'll leave you with a few more images to whet your appetite:

Judging Books by Their Covers

The saying goes, "You can't judge a book by its cover," but I tend to think a well-designed jacket can speak volumes about what's waiting within. One of my favorite sites, Design Observer, has a feature called Today's Images, in which designer Eric Baker posts: "a weekly jewel box of seemingly random, yet thoughtfully selected, images. At times tender, wicked, nostalgic, amusing, and dazzling, each edition is presented without narration, editing or explanation by its author..." I thought as a fun Friday treat, I'd take a hint from one of my favorite web links and post some excellent covers, stringing images together with some sense of the narrative they combine to create. Enjoy!

(designer: NA)

(designer: Ben Gibson)

(designer: John Carrera)

(designer: Charlotte Strick/FSG; artwork by Gustave Moreau, Cy Twombly, and Albertus Seba)

(designer: John Gall)

(designer: John Gall)

(designer: Darren Haggar)

(designer: John Gray)

(designer: Robin Schiff+Anna Bauer; drawing: Matteo Pericoli)

(designer: Level)