something to think about

I have just finished (and enjoyed) Susan Hill's Howard's End is on the landing. While looking through her bookshelves in search of Howard's End, Hill discovers a wealth of books unread or look since read but needing to be enjoyed again. She decides to spend one year reading only the books she already owns, no buying new books for a year (can you imagine? I don't think I could do it.).

On finishing her book, I headed to my bookshelves to see what I had that was untouched by reading eyes. I still have books from a trip to England in 2000 and a trip to New York in 2004 but I had fewer unread books than I expected. The titles include:

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

A stranger to command by Sherwood Smith (a post-surgery gift from MRC, a devoted reader and cohort in crime at my library)

The great tree of Avalon by T.A. Barron (New York trip)

The Sally Lockhart trilogy by Philip Pullman

Children of the wheel by Pamela Scobie (England trip)

The rose revived by Katie Fforde (England trip)

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean (started but never finished and highly recommended by Floating Lush and Cleery from my library)

The welcoming home by Michaela Mahady (a Minnesota architect and daughter of one of my favorite library patrons of the past)

When I go on vacation later in the year, I will choose some of these titles to carry with me. Some will be wonderful and some won't, some will retain their place on my shelves and some will go to the book sale at my library. Which books are on your shelves, unread and unheeded?

if only dreams came true

One of my more hopeful dreams in life is to own a Tiffany window. I love the color and the elegance of his stained glass. Unless I win the lottery, I fear this dream will not be fulfilled. Sigh.

One Sunday, listening to NPR on the way to church, I heard an interview about a novel about Mr. Tiffany. Amazingly, I remembered the title of the book and managed to request it when I got to work the following day. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland is the story of Clara Driscoll, the woman in charge of the women's department (yes, in New York in the 1890s--Mr. Tiffany thought women had a better eye for color and a more delicate touch with the many small pieces in any stained glass project) at Louis Comfort Tiffany's studio (not to be confused with Tiffany jewelry, the company owned by Tiffany Senior). Clara was the force behind the popular and amazingly beautiful Tiffany lamps (okay, if I can't have a window, a lamp would be a lovely replacement!).

While some of the story was a little over the top, the detailed descriptions of New York in the 1890s and early 1900s were amazing--the city was booming and growing and starting to be the highly energetic city it is now. The descriptions of the artistry and hard work involved in making stained glass were fascinating--Tiffany patented many forms of glass (rippled, striated, opalescent and more) and changed the face of the decorative arts in America. The city, the Tiffany company and all of the vast array of characters--the people living in Clara's boarding house, the girls of various ethnic and social backgrounds who were a part of the design department, Clara's artistic friends and more--are so charming and interesting--I finished the book last night and I already miss them!

I've spent some time researching Clara Driscoll on the internet, trying to find picture of the windows and lamps mentioned in the book. She was not given credit for her work--all designs were credited to Mr. Tiffany--but do look up dragonfly lamps and wisteria lamps and the underwater scene lamp and appreciate her talent. And read the book!

from the first word

Mere sentences in to reading C.J. Sansom's Heartstone, I was back in Henry VIII's London with Matthew Shardlake, the hunchback lawyer and solver of mysteries. Queen Catherine Parr has asked Shardlake to pursue the case of a former servant's son (now dead of a suicide?) who had filed a complaint in the Court of Wards against the adoptive family of the children he once tutored. When the Queen asks for a favor, one says yes so Shardlake takes the case even though he has no experience in the courts dealing with the orphaned children of the weatlhier classes. Shardlake is also investigating the mysterious background of a woman he has befriended--she is an inmate at Bedlam, the notorious "hospital" for the insane. Then there is the matter of the devalued currency caused by Henry raising taxes to fund a war against France, the impending birth of the child of Shardlake's assistance Barak (a former street ruffian) and his wife whose first child was stillborn. Shardlake is also dealing with the retired military man/martinet who has become his steward and bullies the other servants in Shardlake's home. This is just part of a complex and fascinating story filled with complex and interesting characters and unexpected twists and turns in the plot.

I am not a mystery fan but I devour the Shardlake stories. Matthew Shardlake is an intelligent and entertaining companion, very human and very frail (his hunchback gives him constant pain and he is often negligent of his back-strengthening exercises...sound familiar to anyone?). I can see the sights, smell the smells and feel the heat and humidity, unpleasant at the best of times but made more uncomfortable by the heavy robes and gowns required by the lawyer's trade. I resent any time when I'm not curled up in my chair or stretched out on my daybed, nose poked deep into the adventures of Matthew Shardlake.

I think I'll go spend some time with him right now!

the carrot dangling in front of my nose

My friend and traveling buddy JN has been dropping suggestions about a trip to Italy as in "take care of your knee, Carol, so we can go to Italy." Well, I took care of my knee and we are now starting to plan a trip to Italy in 2012. Being me, I have been out buying travel guides--I love travel guides and have oodles of them, some for places I've never been and will probably never see. Planning the trip is almost as much fun as taking the trip. Needless to say, I am one of those travelers with a long, long list of places I want to go and things I want to see and foods I want to eat...especially chocolate.

Frommers came out with a new series called day by day which is full of color picture, maps and little personal tidbits about the country/city it describes. I picked up the book about Italy and have been dipping into it whenever I have a few minutes. I now know a bit about soccer mania and famed players, a few words I need to know--arbitro is referee, portiere is goalkeeper (actually doorman); about the fashion industry in Milan (those of you who know me know what a fashionista/trendsetter I am...Ha!); about the Roman emperors Hall of Shame, featuring Caligula among others. This is just the kind of travel guide I love...lots of trivia and details which I can bore JN with when we're traveling. Isn't she lucky?

Fodors has started a new series called See It which is very similar but includes personal walking tours and things you need to notice for specific locations like Tivoli and Villa d'Este. Much more casual and personal than other travel guides. Also perfect for a few minutes of daydreaming whenever I can sit quietly for a little while.

From the reading I've done so far, I know I want to spend more time in Florence and the surrounding region (have to see David since he is on my life list). I need to see the Sistine Chapel (life list again) which will probably cause me to burst into tears...JN is used to that happening when we travel...with joy and disbelief (you should have seen me when I first saw the Taj Mahal...sobbing and incoherent...it was wonderful). JN longs for Venice which sounds great to me--credit card and Venetian glass are a perfect combination, don't you think?

perfect day

I managed to make an early escape from the reference desk on the first day of our new computer catalog system (whew!) thanks to a school visit to Garlough Elementary's 3rd graders. I visited 3 classes of terrific 8 year olds who greeted me with cries of "I remember you!" and "I remember when you read The End." Talk about feeling special when they remember something I did 2 years ago.

This time I read Kevin O'Malley's Once upon a Royal Superbaby which is a companion book to his Once upon a cool motorcycle dude. The story is told in the dialog of a boy and a girl, forced to work together on a school project: writing a fairy tale about a king and a queen. The boy's part of the story is full of laser guns, robots, motorcycles and a supermuscular baby named Strong Viper. The girl's version is about lovely Queen Tenderheart and her beautiful baby Sweet Piper and is full of unicorns, shopping, sweet birds and tender family moments. The book is a riot and tremendously fun to read aloud...if you're at all melodramatic (which I am in spades!).

The kids hung on every word, laughed uproariously and clapped when I finished. In other words, the perfect audience. I don't remember the public librarian ever visiting my school but I am so glad I get to do it, and with such a warm welcome from teachers and students alike. I love talking about reading and about all the cool programs at the library.

And I love Kevin O'Malley and his fun-to-share books!

Love at first word

Have you ever picked up a book and known, from the very first word, that you were going to love it? That's the way I felt about Mary Robinette Kowal's Shades of milk and honey which has been described as Jane Austen with magic.

Jane is the older (late 20s, oh my) of two sisters. Melody, the youngest sister, is fair of face and popular with the young swains of the neighborhood but her appearance is all that she has. Jane is sallow-complected with a prominent nose but she has a warm heart and is an accomplished "glamorist"--she can manipulate her surroundings magically to make them more appealing. With a few twist of the magical threads attached to everything, she can make a gentle and flower-scented breeze waft through a room, add the gentle music of bird song to a dinner party and more.

Melody is "in love" with the man next door, a feeling, unfortunately, shared by Jane. In hopes of gaining his favor, Jane acts as friend and teacher to his teenage sister who soon finds her true place in Jane's affections. Jane also attracts the grudging attention of a professional glamorist, hired to decorate the home of a noblewoman living in the area.

From such a simple beginning come elopements, reduced circumstances, unrequited love and all the other behaviors so amusing to society in early 19th century England.

Jane is a delightful companion, her plain-ness and lack of pretence make her oh-so-appealing. Do try to spend some time with her. You won't regret it!

a lovely little book

When reading book reviews, odd and unexpected things catch my eye. This is one of them.

While traveling in Europe, Elizabeth Tova Bailey picked up a virus that, over a period of time, almost totally incapacitated her. She was moved to a care facility for recovery and, while there, a friend of hers brought her a flower pot with a wild violet planted in it. On the bottom of one of the leaves was a snail. Watching the snail fascinated Ms. Bailey and she was soon full of questions about snails and their behavior. The result was The sound of a wild snail eating.

This lovely little book came from her observations and research about snails and they are, indeed, fascinating little creatures. Ms. Bailey kept her snail, moving it to a terrarium, until it had produced eggs (snails are hermaphrodites), becoming the proud father/mother of many, many offspring. Soon afterwards, the snail was returned to the forest, its original home.

Warm, graceful and gentle, this is a delightful bedside book. A few pages each night was a perfect transition from wakefulness to drowsiness. A lovely little book.

thank goodness I love to read

Today is 3 weeks since my knee replacement and my world is completely new: I can move without pain! Wonderful medical personnel, excellent physical therapists and a lot of hard (i.e., painful) work and I can walk. It is an extraordinary experience.

In the hospital and at transition care, every moment is spent in therapy (physical and occupational), having your "vitals" checked, giving blood or having someone bang on your door when you have finally gone back to sleep. Reading is not an option.

Being at home has completely changed that. Six hours of each day has to be spent in a CPM machine (which bends and flexes by leg--the kind of exercise I like since I just lie there and let the machine do its job) so I had 3 2-hour stretches of time for reading. Lovely.

I read The raging quiet by Sherryl Jordan, the story of a young widow in 15th/16th century England (Ireland?) who befriends the village mad man. She soon discovers that his wild behavior is caused by deafness and sets out to teach him to speak by using hand signals/movements. The prejudices of the villagers (who think she is a witch) are countered by the support and care of the village priest (who also has a soft spot for the mad man). A good read but not a great one.

Then came Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson, the story of a clothing designer/seamstress living in pre-WWI Vienna. Susanna, a woman in her late 30s, decides to keep a diary of the one year's events in the neighborhood: the birth of yet another daughter to the family living across the square, the piano prodigy living in a dingy attic apartment waiting for someone to discover his talent, the eccentric old woman who gives her family treasure (meaning junk) to pay for new dresses, the military man who is Susanna's lover, Susanna's search for the daughter who was taken from her at birth by well-meaning nuns. Eva Ibbotson's writing has such an immediacy that you are right there in the midst of each event. I love her books! (She now writes children's fantasy which is also great fun.)

Now, I have given in and am reading what I wanted to read all along: Harry Potter! I am well into Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and loving every minute of it. J.K. Rowling has created such a wonderful, interesting, fantastic, humorous, frightening world and I enjoy every minute I spend at Hogwarts, even the terrible moments. Great fun.
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oh,what to read, what to read

The big day is Monday and my house is a disaster. I brought my suitcase up and am throwing things in it as I think of them. Packing for the unknown is such fun. I don't know how long I'll be away, where I'm going and when--this is not the way I live my life.

My over-riding concern is what will I read in the hospital. I have checked and rechecked my bookcases and this is what I've come up with (for now):

Notes from a small island by Bill Bryson

Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson

A spoonful of jam by Michelle Magorian

The raging quiet by Sherryl Jordan

I think this is a nice mix of adult, light, cozy and fantasy. You never know what you'll be in the mood for, right?

I talked to my brother last night (he had his knee replacement surgery on September 13) and he said it's a little hard to concentrate on reading when you're in pain so I've decided to throw a couple magazines in the bag, too. Country Living, Victoria and Vogue (I buy the September issue each year because the fashions are so hysterically funny and totally unreal--highly amusing reading). I also have crossword puzzles, a pentominoes (I've been fascinated with those since reading Blue Balliett's Chasing Vermeer) travel game and an embroidery project (the skyline of New York which I've been working on for close to 20 years--it includes the World Trade Center).

That's the plan for now but there is still 48 hours until I start packing and who know what will happen between now and then.

ooh, I love sewing (and hate computers)

This is the second typing of this entry since my cursed computer ate the first one. It always thinks it knows more than I do. Hah!

I am looking ahead to a 4-6 week convalescence after knee surgery so I am hoping to do a lot of sewing when I am home (and not doing leg exercises). My first project is a winter jacket which I have been studiously avoiding--it is hard to sew purple wool when it is sunny and warm outside. However, I do need a winter coat and it must be completed...did that sound convincing?

Being me, I have been out buying books about sewing. I have more clothes than any one person could possibly need--making your own is so reasonable in price, why not have a lot of clothes? So I am looking for some fun little projects like pillows (for my beloved daybed where I spend so much time reading), stuffed animals, bibs (for a project at church), bag and purses (like shoes, one can never have too many) and pretty little things.

Sew Retro by Judi Ketteler is both a history of sewing since the mid-1800s and a project idea book. Home sewing became increasingly popular when pattern companies sprang into being, making dressmaking much simpler. In my 4-plus decades of sewing, patterns have gone from $1.25 to $21.95 (Vogue, of course)--wish I'd kept some of those patterns I loved in the past. The book's projects include Opera Bag, Pinch-a-Penny Change Purse, Birds of a Feather Table Runner and Groovy Patchwork Throw (guess which decade that one's from?). Fashion has reflected the times--think of the craziness of the 1920s inspiring the flapper, the economy of the Depression when women made dress from flour sacks (flour came in pretty calico-printed cotton bags back then), the freedom of the 1960s brought changes that would never have happened at any other time.

I adore Mary Engelbreit so I had to buy Stitched So Cute, a book of needlework and embroidery projects. There is the cutest little stuffed owl made with bright colored fabric, rickrack and buttons. I want one!

Amy Butler is one of the darlings of the sewing world right now. She designs fabrics, makes patterns and has a host of linens, papergoods, etc. with her designs as well. Amy Butler's Style Stitches includes instructions for 26 different bags, large to small and easy to difficult. I need to conquer my abhorence of putting in a zipper to make some of these but, groan, groan, that can probably be done. In time.

Last, but not least, is Boo (can you imagine willingly calling yourself Boo?) Davis's Dare to Be Square Quilting with the cutest owl quilt on the cover. There are some stunning pillows and, I won't tell you what since I hope to make one for a coworker at the library, the cutest and most offbeat pillow idea (I'll have to adapt this one since it is actually a quilt) I've ever seen.

All in all, I should have plenty of little sewing projects to keep me busy. Maybe I'll use up some of the lovely fabric stored in 40 or so boxes in my beautiful pink sewing room. (I just got a new Hancocks of Paducah (a huge fabric store in Kentucky) catalog so I know I'll be buying more....)

ooh, I love to sew

I'm awaiting a 4-6 week convalescence because of knee surgery so I am hoping to get some sewing done while I'm at home (and not doing my leg exercises). My first project is a winter coat which I have studiously been avoiding--it is hard to sew on purple wool when it is sunny and warm outdoors. However, I do need to have a coat so it must be completed...did that sound very convincing?

In preparation, I have, of course, been buying new books. I have more clothes than any one person needs to have since making your own is so reasonable in price. I need to branch out and make other things: pillows (for the beloved daybed where I spend much time reading), bags and purses (one can never have enough of either of them, or shoes), and pretty little things.

Sew Retro by Judi Ketteler is both a beautifully illustrated history of sewing and a book of fun little projects like an Opera Bag, Pinch-a-Penny Change Purse, Birds of a Feather Table Runner and Groovy Patchwork Throw. It includes a history of the sewing pattern industry (in my 4 plus decades of sewing, patterns have gone from $1.25 to $21.95 (Vogue, of course)) and how women have dressed over the last years. The styles do reflect the world around us--think of the freedom of the 1920 inspiring flappers, the depression brought dresses made from flour sacking (flour came in pretty calico print bags back then), the 1960s brought a freedom of dress that would never have happened in any other decade.

someone's in the kitchen with Carol

Fall has arrived with a vengeance in Minnesota which has renewed my interest in cooking. It is finally cool enough to turn on the stove!

I've been going through cookbooks looking for some new ideas. One, because I'm tired of everything I cook and two, I'm trying to fill up my freezer in preparation for convalescence after knee surgery. While I love "mom" food prepared with time and care, I am much more interested in quick and easy cooking right now.

I went to my cherished cookbook collection and pulled a few books. Many are from Taste of Home which I learned to love at my beloved mother's knee. Better Homes and Gardens has some nice books and even Martha Stewart makes an appearance--I didn't think she did anything easy....

First, Better Homes and Gardens' Fast Fix family food. Colorfully illustrated which is a source of inspiration since everything looks good. I've got the fixings to make Red Tomato Soup (page 371) which has V8 juice and diced tomatoes as its base. I love tomato soup but canned soups are just too salty. Let's hope this one is a keeper--if I can taste the soup through the mountain of crushed crackers I always add.

Then there is Taste of Home's Dinner on a Dime. I've got Noodle Rice Pilaf (page 191) marked in this book. It is also known as homemade Rice-a-Roni. When I was growing up, my neighbor Colleen and I would make the San Francisco treat and sing "Sunrise Sunset" as our prayer since she was Catholic and I am Methodist it worked as a good compromise! (yeah, I know, I was a strange little kid.)

Better Homes and Gardens also produced Everyday Easy Recipes. Since everything is better with bacon, Bacon and Brie Salad (page 219) caught my eye. I first enjoyed that combination on a baked potato in a pub in Salisbury, England, eaten under the watchful eye of a huge deer head.

Taste of Home again with Simple & Delicious Cookbook. On page 70 is Linguine with Garlic Sauce...and a half a pound of bacon, spinach makes it healthy and guiltfree.

The Busy Family Cookbook is also from Taste of Home. It contains 10, 20 and 30 minute recipes. Citrus Garlic Shrimp (page 150) is a 30 minute meal and is served with pasta, which is a food group in my world. Yum.

Last, but never least, is Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast. Page 202 show Stir-fried Chicken Wraps, spicy chicken served wrapped in lettuce. Disgustingly healthy but I want to try it anyway. The Grilled Chocolate Sandwich on page 255 looks tempting too...maybe as a treat after a really good physical therapy session....

live from my living room

I thought the day would never come but I am actually writing this in my own little home which means that I must own a computer!!! And I do!!! I'm not a natural or even slightly relaxed about using a laptop but nothing has blown up yet so.... I already have a problem since I don't know how to highlight anything while using a touch pad. Once I get a battery in the mouse, the touch pad can go away as far as I'm concerned.

Now, on to more important things: what have I been reading?

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, of course. The final volume in an incredibly rivoting trilogy did not disappoint. Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Primrose and everyone else in Panem went through adventures, twists and turns that left me breathless at times, loudly cheering at others. This was an incredible reading experience. Suzanne Collins has mad a world that, at times, was more real to me than my own. I cared deeply about the characters and desparately wanted them to succeed in their quests. A truly memorable reading experience.

There were so many references to events in the first two books that were hazy in my memory--I know I didn't get the full reading experience. Sometime in the future, I want to read the books (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are the first two books) back to back. Due to the gut-wrenching emotion of the story, now is not the time. But, someday....

Here ends my first blog post on my new computer. Amen.

a latecomer but, at last, I'm here

Working in a library, I request books on CD for people quite frequently. They all tell me the joys of a wonderful narrator, the companionship of a good book while spending extended hours in a car and on and on. Frankly, I'm not having it. But then...

Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a devoted fan of Winnie the Pooh. My entire Christmas tree, and the tree skirt, is Winnie the Pooh. My current sewing room was once my Winnie the Pooh room--I love him.

While reading reviews, I came across a listing for a new recording of Winnie the Pooh, featuring the voices of Stephen Fry, Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer and other wonders of the British acting realm. My library had the CDs so I requested them.

Yesterday, driving from quilt shop to quilt shop (3 in a day--heaven!), I listened to it. I loved, loved, loved it! I laughed out loud (Jane Horrocks as Piglet is a wonder to behold--breathy, gravelly and innocent all at once). I appreciated the glories of the language. I enjoyed every second of the stories. Wonderful.

Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench are the narrative readers, acting as Christopher Robin's parents, telling him bedtime stories. They also provide the voices of Eeyore and Kanga. Stephen Fry is Pooh and a proper bear of little brain he is.

I'll never give up the joy of a book in my hand but I will certainly be more open to listening to a good book. Maybe I'd get more sewing done if I were listening to a book....

Bach - Goldberg Variations: Aria (Glenn Gould)

In the key of G

BR, one of my fellow librarians, knows that I love the piano. She recommended a most wonderful book to me: A romance on three legs: Glenn Gould's obsessive quest for the perfect piano by Katie Hafner. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude!

Glenn Gould was a quirky (irritating, hugely talented, self-involved...the list goes on and on) Canadian pianist who first started performing in the 1950s. He performed live for a very small part of his career, preferring the solitude of recording over the company of an audience. He was very opinionated about music and very eccentric in his interpretations of different composers, especially Bach. His recording of Bach's "Goldberg Variations" is the benchmark by which other pianists are judged. A recording of Gould playing Bach's "Aria" was included in a capsule sent into space to show other civilizations what Earth is like.

Gould was very particular about the instrument he played. In the 1950s, the Steinway Company provided concert grand pianos to orchestras/artists throughout the U.S. and Canada. These pianos were available through piano dealerships and could be shipped around the country as needed. Steinway had several instruments at a department store in Toronto, some of them new and pristine, others worn and well used by concert-playing pianists. Glenn Gould was enamored with one of the old and worn pianos and claimed it for his own. A visually-impaired but extraordinarily gifted piano technician (a piano tuner though that title hardly shows the artistry involved in caring for a Steinway piano) worked with Gould to make piano CD 318 the perfect instrument for Gould's exacting (to say the least!) standards.

The book is a biography of Gould, an explanation of the piano as an instrument, the story of the Steinway Company and its history, an examination of the support system for a musical artist and so much more. I learned so much about the piano and gained a greater appreciation of the talent, strength, stamina and artistry involved in playing it. I will listen to pianists with a very different respect now.

I'm so glad we had this time together...

When I was growing up, Saturday night on CBS was the television watcher's dream: Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and the sublime Carol Burnett. My first year in the dorm at the U of M, my neighbors across the hall would pop popcorn and I'd carry my portable TV to their room and we would watch Carol Burnett. And laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

I've just started reading Carol Burnett's This time together: laughter and reflection and it is delightful. I flew through 41 pages over a cheese pizza sandwich at Carbones (if you live in the West St. Paul area, stop in at Carbones and try one--yum, yum) and she is wonderful company!

Not a memoir in the strictest sense, it is a series of memories, vignettes, tributes to her friends--the book starts with her much-loved favorite actor Jimmy Stewart. Can you imagine having Jimmy Stewart in your living room, standing by the piano and singing? I know just how she must have felt.

If you, too, have happy memories of Saturday nights in front of the TV, spend some weekday nights with your nose in this book.

a lo-o-o-o-ong wait wasted

Once you've read a book that nestles in a corner of your heart, you want to read everything new by the author of that book. I absolutely adored Yann Martel's The life of Pi. Pi is one of the most appealing and endearing characters I've ever met in a book.

This week, Martel's new book appeared on my desk. The anticipation started to build in my little reader's heart. I started the book on Thursday. I read the first several pages. Nothing. I read up to page 45 and still nothing. I returned the book. Nothing happened in those first 45 pages. Nothing. No action in the book, no involvement for me the reader. Blah.

Today, I read a few reviews and they panned the book. I'm still very disappointed. Let's hope Martel's next book is a stunner.

(Don't be shocked that I didn't finish the book. I often don't because I know there are wonderful books out there, waiting for me to spend happy hours reading. I was at a memoir workshop this week and the presenter said the "rule" for readers over 50 (yes, that's me!) is: subtract your age from 100, the remainder is the recommended number of pages you should read before abandoning a book. So there.)

Kevin, I wish I'd known you

Many years ago, I was in high school in Osseo, Minnesota. I have a vague memory of a tiny boy with big glasses and an arm that was much shorter than the other, a member of the AV Club and I always see him pushing an AV cart through the dusty halls of Osseo High. Flash forward to the 1990s and I see the name Kevin Kling mentioned in the newspapers as an actor/playwright taking his play "21A" on tour across the U.S. Could that Kevin Kling be the same guy forever pushing AV carts around in my memory? Yes, it could.

Flash forward to 2009 and the book "The dog says how" which I had to request for oh-so-many people that I finally decided to read it myself. I just about died laughing. Kevin has an unusual take on the world: part philosopher, part humorist and entirely open and honest. It was such fun to read a book and know some of the places and people described.

Last week, I read Kevin Kling's Holiday Inn and found myself laughing, crying, pondering and absolutely enjoying every word. How could I resist tales of the church Christmas program "Disasters of the Bible" put on by the teens with a Moog synthesizer and the church organist? Or Otto the man with the locking knee who drove 30 mph/90 mph/30 mph/90 mph, depending on when his knee locked? Or Kevin's memories of his first love (my jaw hit the ground on who she was--a friend of mine from Drama Club)? I wished with all my might that I really and truly knew this person with the wonderful way with words.

In August, Kevin is appearing in the Club Book series sponsored by the MELSA system--he'll be at Maplewood Library on Thursday, August 26 at 7:00 p.m. I'll be there--maybe I could sing the Osseo fight song (We'll sing a song, both loud and long to cheer our team to victory...) to catch his attention. Please join me...I'll be the one laughing and crying and grinning like a fool.

(the orange and black is in honor of the Osseo Orioles...)

an excellent traveling companion

Now that the Olympics are over and my time is, at long last, my own, I once again have my nose in a book. It has been a rough week--I've started three books and returned all of them. In spite of being well-reviewed in the library literature, they were not of interest to me. (I've been a devoted reader for enough years that I don't feel obligated to finish every book I start--there are plenty of books awaiting me that I will really truly enjoy reading. Really.)

I just started Stephen Fry in America: fifty states and the man who set out to see them all and look forward to spending time with this witty and wonderful traveling companion. Stephen Fry is quintessentially British and a man of many talents, acting and writing amongst them. Seeing my native land through his eyes should be quite entertaining (and, maybe, eye opening?). He is starting his journey across America, driving a British taxi, in Maine.

A few words about Stephen Fry--the perfect Jeeves (with Hugh Laurie (you know, House M.D.) as the clueless Bertie Wooster), a heartbreaking Oscar Wilde (the movie Wilde is painfully sad but Mr. Fry is extraordinary), intelligent, funny and eye-catching (well over six feet tall with a nose that points to his left ear and all-seeing blue eyes). I've enjoyed watching his movies and reading his books. Give one or the other (or both) a try.