Non-Fiction

A Wreath for Emmett Till

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Printz Award Challenge, Young Adult /

When I created the Printz Challenge, I paid absolutely ZERO attention to which books I’d be reading. When I add them to my library reserve list, I don’t look at the listing in the card catalog at all. So when they arrive, I’m often a wee bit surprised by what I’m holding in my hand.

A Wreath for Emmett Till was one of those surprising “what the heck is this” moments. It’s a tiny little book, it looks more like a kids book than a YA. But then you open it and you realize – ah it’s a poetry. Sonnets. Written in Petrarchan Rhyme. With a lot of big words YA kids will not know. Tough read. Interesting though. Also led to TW giving me MORE instructions for her funeral.

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The Nasty Bits

5 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

I’ve finally read The Nasty Bits, remember when a million bloggers got free copies? Hah. It only took two years (?) for me to read it, no thanks to TW who said I’d probably hate it. Except that it was crude…or maybe she said crass… so maybe I’d like it after all. Whatever.

I did like it. I like books written by foodies or about foodies. Reading the prologue, I wasn’t sure. All of that seal blubber stuff was a little much even for me (the woman who likes crude and crass stuff.) Thankfully Bourdain settled down and for the most part left the really disgusting raw meat descriptions in the trash bin.

Interesting book and I’m sorry I don’t really like food well enough to “get it”, also sorry that I’ve never read Kitchen Confidential, also sorry I’ve never seen him on TV and sorry I haven’t been to Vietnam yet.

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The Witch’s Dream

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women /

Do not ask my why I read The Witch’s Dream. I started it because I thought it was on my “From the Stacks Challenge” list. It was in the box clearly labeled “FtSC” but when I went to look at my FtSC post, it was not there. By then, I’d already added it to my books widgety thing and didn’t feel like taking it off. So, I read it.

And at first, I was really grouchy about reading it. Not only was it NOT on my challenge list, it was confusing as all hell in the beginning. TW kept saying “It’s good! You’ll like it!” (I don’t know why she insists on telling me whether something is good or bad, after that whole Kiterunner incident of 2004 I’m not really listening to her book feedback.)

I kept reading it and by the end of the first night, about 100 pages in, I was hooked. Interesting as all hell and I did actually start to like those witches, mediums, healers and whatnots.

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The Flame Trees of Thikka

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, From the Stacks Challenge, Non-Fiction /

This is another book in my From the Stacks challenge and when TW saw me reading The Flame Trees of Thikka she said – “Didn’t you read that in middle school?” Err no. I cannot imagine such thing even being in my middle school library in Charleston, SC. It certainly wouldn’t have been on the required reading list for either middle or high school. So no. I hadn’t read it or anything else by Huxley. I should read more though. Old, dated, African non-fiction – awesome. Loved it.

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Sleep is for the Weak

3 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Women /

Yay! The first BlogHer book, Sleep is for the Weak, is awesome. It’s also difficult to review properly but I’m going to give it a try.

I picked up my copy (and my sister’s copy), at the Macy’s party, and walked through the line to have it signed (that’s me in the weird brown jacket) by a bunch of the brilliant bloggers in the compilation. Lisa said, “have you read my essay?” When I said I hadn’t, she gave me THAT look and laughed. I looked at what she wrote in my copy and it made me very very nervous…

Fast forward to later that evening, back in my hotel room, I picked up my copy and read the acknowledegement and flipped through the index thinking about which bloggers I’ve been reading for years, which I used to read but stopped reading, which I read from time to time, which I’ve never read at all and which I have tried to read but just never felt a connection to. And then, I put the book down and went to sleep.

I picked it up again when I got home and immediately flipped to Lisa’s essay, nervously. And then I laughed. She’s such a TEASE. (TW read the book last night and her response to Lisa’s essay was “THAT is Lisa Stone. That’s who she is, that’s what she sounds like all of the time.” Heh. So true, but she’s also a TEASE.)

I flipped back to the beginning and read Stacy Morrison’s forward and it was awesome. Really awesome. Who knew the EIC of Redbook could use the word FUCK so often? Not me. (TW’s response to the forward was “The book is worth buying just for the forward.” – she’s right, it is.)

Then, on to the rest of the essays – and I loved it. Some of them I had read on the writer’s blog – Three Kid Circus, Fussy, Mir, Mom 101, Not Calm Dot Calm – all bloggers I read every single day. When I read an essay that I remembered from the blog, I immediately thought “oh I wish Rita had included this and that and that other post too!” Blogging is like that – one post sparks a memory of another one and I think it’s good that the book sparks the same thoughts.

There are bloggers who I’ve never read and will now start reading because I loved their essays.

There are bloggers who I have never read, though have tried to read them because everyone loves them – but they didn’t grab me on their blogs. They still didn’t grab me in the book. And again, I think this is good. We don’t all love the same bloggers. We don’t all love the same voices or stories or experiences or ideas. That’s what blogging is and that’s what a book written by bloggers should feel like.

Rita – you did a great job with this book. Congratulations. Seriously.

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Off the Beaten (Subway) Track

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Travel Log, Women /

I have been looking forward to BlogHer Contributing Editor Suzanne Reisman’s book, Off the Beaten (Subway) Track, for ages. It sat in my wishlist folder for a long time. It sat in my shopping cart for an even longer time. I finally took it out of my shopping cart and decided I’d just buy a copy while at BlogHer ’08 and have Suzanne sign it since she’d be there too.

TW bought it, while I was in a session, and it was already signed. But, I wanted a PERSONAL note and Suzanne graciously complied and I love it.

I started reading it on the trip home from the conference and didn’t stop laughing until I finished it last night. I should point out that I find it a lot more amusing than TW does because I have spent a lot more time reading Suzanne’s writing, listening to her talk, interacting with her via email and on the phone. The book sounds like Suzanne so it’s more personal for me than it will be for someone who just picks it up from the shelf (or orders it online) without knowing Suzanne. Even someone with only a passing relationship with her may not find it as amusing as I do. Or maybe I find it amusing because Suzanne and I share the same type of sense of humor?

The penis jokes in the book – awesome.

Her review of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors had me laughing so incredibly hard, I could barely breathe (and this is probably related as much to my children’s worship of Alex Grey as it is to Suzanne’s irreverent writing – my kids, they are insane about A.G. and his sacred mirror-ness.)

Also, Suzanne is not aware of this, but TW was supposed to take me to the NYC Police Museum many years ago and didn’t come through – so any book with a review of that museum within the first 50 pages has me sold.

I want to book a trip to NYC right this second and visit every spot highlighted by Suzanne – that’s my kind of sightseeing! Now if I could just convince her to write the same type of book for Chicago…

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The biggest lesson learned from BlogHer ’08

10 Comments / Books in Bed, Daily Dose, Health and Wellness, Non-Fiction, Women, Women, Work /

I’m not sure it’s really a lesson learned, more like a very big reminder of something I already knew. A very big reminder of something I already knew and should be doing but probably won’t.

I should blog more often.

That’s it. That’s the big lesson. The big reminder. It’s not anything new, I say it all of the time. I need more time to blog. I don’t have time to blog. I missed my own damn deadline (no CEs are reading this, right?)

I’m not blogging much and while I miss it, I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about it or trying to juggle my schedule or my energy so I can do it. It’s not a big deal, nobody is reading my blog anymore anyway. And, I keep contracting great writers on BlogHer so I’m not missed there either.

Except, that damn community keynote on Friday reminded me that I actually have been known to write posts that are important.

When we were reading the zillion entries for the community keynote and I saw Y’s post about body image was one of the submissions, I cringed. I cringed because I knew I’d get all weepy if I read it again. I had a hard time writing my post about Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. I had a hard time reading Y’s post when she published it and I was right, I had a horrible time reading it again during the selection process. And then listening to her read that post…during the keynote… ack.

That damn keynote.

Emotional subject matter with a little something else thrown in – the reminder that I really should blog more often because I do occasionally write stuff that other people appreciate reading.

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John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Non-Fiction, Printz Award Challenge, Young Adult /

So, the last book I read in Gainesville from the very excellent Gainesville library was John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography and to tell you the truth, I didn’t quite finish it before we left town. I had two chapters to go. I might someday grab it from the shelf of a bookstore and finish the last two chapters, but probably not.

It was “OK” but I couldn’t figure out why it was even on the Printz award list. There wasn’t anything outstanding about it – it was just a kids biography of Lennon. Shrug. The photos were nice. The tidbits about Lennon’s childhood and how it all started was sort of interesting. Maybe if I was more of a Beatles fan…?

In other challenge notes, I’m reading Quatrocentro from my “from the stacks” challenge but I feel like maybe I’ve already read it. I’ll know for sure tonight, I think.

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Hole in My Life

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Non-Fiction, Printz Award Challenge /

I had no idea a book about prison life could be written without horrible gang rapes and bloody fight scenes. Hole in My Life was almost refreshing because of its lack of these types of scenes. Who knew it was possible? And who knew I’d appreciate it this much?

Good thing I do appreciate a “light touch” on a prison book because otherwise I’d have been pretty bored. I’m not sure most teens would sit through a non-fiction piece like this. I’m also not really sure why it was on the Printz short list. Because the ex con writer is the author of the Joey Pigza books? Whatever. I was pretty bored with it all.

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