Tag Archives: books

by

A Thursday 3 for National Poetry Month

There was a time when I lived and breathed poetry, but somewhere along the way I seem to have lost track of it.  Here is my attempt to re-connect with a lost love: discovering new poets.

3poets

  • Space, In Chains by Laura Kasischke –  This poet landed in my inbox via the Poem-a-Day email from the Academy of American Poets, and I was intrigued enough by what I read to seek out more of her work.
  • Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability – I’ve perused much of this collection, and the poet that stands out to me is Ona Gritz (also a picture book author and columnist).  She doesn’t just write about disability.  Her work is about parenting, stories, and relationships as well as her experiences as a person with cerebral palsy.
  • Real Karaoke People by Ed Bok Lee – I believe I became aware of Lee through MPR, perhaps it was this story from Euan Kerr, and I’ve been meaning to read more of his work for some time.

Are you doing anything for National Poetry Month?  I particularly like Poem in Your Pocket Day, especially for kids.  Hennepin County Library has poetry related events all month long for local readers.

Of course, it is also Autism Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, so it’s a good month to challenge your preconceptions.

–

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.  A portion of purchases made from these links may benefit this blog.  Thanks for your support!

by

A New Zine for Women’s History Month

For Women’s History Month, I dug into my own history.   Several years ago, I started a zine about the books that shaped my ideas of feminism and femininity, but I set it aside.  I revisited the idea back in 2011 when Bitch Magazine published their list of books for the young adult feminist reader, and the resulting controversy over the titles left me too intimidated to share my own such list.  It took a while, but I got over my intimidation.

Here is the final version of Being a Girl: A Recommended Reading List:

beingagirl

If you peek inside, you can see it is a mix of the old (typed) and the new (handwritten).  My original book picks and comments are unedited, but I couldn’t resist adding my current thoughts.

beingagirl2

You can order it online here.  

Also, if you are interested in books and feminism, you might check out a new series from First the Egg in which feminist readers share childhood favorites and current children’s book picks.  Watch for my contribution, and share your thoughts in the comments! :)

by

March Book Pick: The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

burgessboysWhen an ARC of Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel found its way to my desk at work, I almost passed it on without reading it.  When you work in children’s books, you get really picky about the general adult books you read because your reading time is a precious work-related commodity.  For most people, the name Elizabeth Strout (and the fact that it is attached to the words “Pulitzer Prize winner”) is probably enough to make the book a priority, but I am not most readers.

The extra push that put The Burgess Boys in my “to read” pile?  As usual for my reading choices it involved a local connection.  Like Strout’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel Olive Kitteridge, The Burgess Boys is set in small-town Maine.  Maine and Minnesota both have a large population of Somali refugees, and that sometimes results in some cultural misunderstandings–like the recent incident at Washburn High School in Minneapolis.

The incident that begins The Burgess Boys is only part of the story in the book.  It is a family story about relationships and motivations.  It was occasionally heavy handed in the don’t-assume-too-much-about-people theme, but not so much that it detracted from the intimate story of people trying to make sense of the world in which they live.

Highly recommended.

As a side note for those who know or work with teens, Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian addresses some of the same issues (Maine, Somali immigrants, tolerance) for a young adult audience.  Also recommended.

–

Check out last month’s book pick: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.  A portion of purchases made from these links may benefit this blog.  Thanks for your support!

by

Happy Day After Thanksgiving!

If you’re not out shopping for Black Friday deals today, you may at least be starting to think about what you are going to give this holiday season now that Thanksgiving is over.  As you might imagine, I like to give books. :)

Here are a few ideas for you to give books this year too.

Gift Books for Little Kids:

    

  • I like to stick with the basics.  The cute basics.  LMNO Peas and 1-2-3 Peas by Keith Baker are about as adorable as vegetables get, and they introduce numbers and letters as a bonus.  If your style is more retro than cute, try Apple Pie ABC and One, Two That’s My Shoe by Alison Murray.

Gift Books for Bigger Kids:

Gift Books for Future Scientists:

  

Gift Books for Grown-Up Science Buffs:

Gift Books for Artists, Poets, & Musicians:

  

  • Remember I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail from this post?  Perfect gift book for anyone interested in poetry, language, or design.
  • Record Collecting for Girls kind of limits the audience in the title, but it’s a great book for anyone interested in indie music (of either gender). I blogged about it here and here.
  • Everyone is talking about How Music Works by David Byrne.  I haven’t seen this one yet, but it may be worth checking out for the musician in your life.

Will you be giving books this year?  Which books do you like to give?

–

A portion of purchases made from Amazon.com links on this site benefit Proper Noun Blog.  Thanks for your support!  I might also point out that zines make great stocking stuffers.  My zines are available online here!  I also have books and blog related merch in my Cafepress shop.

by

What Zinesters Have Been Reading

What do zinesters (& zine appreciators) like to read?  I asked the question at the Zinefest last weekend and collected nearly 100 post-its with books of all sorts.  I can’t fit all of the titles into this post, but I’m going to try to share as many as I can.

Here goes!

A few are books that I’ve read and liked:

Pictured: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (I blogged about his latest here), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

A few are books I have on my to-read list:

Pictured: Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists by J. Courtney Sullivan, Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon

There were a few kid’s books:

Pictured: Matilda by Roald Dahl, Nikki and Deja by Karen English, two for Junie B. Jones, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, and Coraline by Neil Gaiman (exclamation point!)

As a side note, I loved that there were kids at the fest, and I hope there are more next year.  This was the first time there was a kids’ activity table there, and maybe we can plan more kid/family stuff next year!

Back to the photos.  There were only a couple of teen books, I say sadly:

Pictured: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson.  Does no one read teen fiction anymore?!

Some people still read the classics:

Pictured: The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Arabian Nights, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. None of which, I must admit, have I read.

Some contemporary & literary fiction:

Pictured: Larry’s Party by Carol Shields, Project X by Jim Shepard, Scruples by Judith Krantz, Savages by Don Winslow, When the Killing’s Done by T.C. Boyle, The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty, I was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn

Some mystery/thrillers:

Pictured: Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie, Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, Sister by Rosamund Lupton, Death Ship by Bruno Traven

Science Fiction & Fantasy was a popular choice:

Pictured: Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick, Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Kraken by China Mieville, Embassytown by China Mieville, and The Gift of Fire/On the Head of a Pin by Walter Mosely

As were graphic novels & comics:

Pictured: An Elegy for Amelia Johnson by Andrew Rostan, Witch Hunter by Jung-Man Cho, Blankets by Craig Thompson, Tank Girl by Alan C. Martin, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Mr. Natural by R. Crumb

Don’t forget the nonfiction:

Pictured: Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock by Jesse Jarrow, Illiterate America by Jonathan Kozol, Reading is My Window by Megan Sweeney, Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick

And, of course, my favorite sort of nonfiction, memoirs:

Pictured: The Magic Lantern by Ingmar Bergman, War by Sebastian Junger, ‘Tis by Frank McCourt, I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed by Kyria Abrahams

I’m sharing this one by itself because I applaud the enthusiasm:

Pictured: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz – I just may pick this up thanks to the “read it!” at the bottom of the post-it.  I am a sucker for strong recommendations.

Not everyone had a particular title (or even a book to share):

That’s a sampling of what people at the Twin Cities Zinefest were reading.  What about you?  What have you read lately?

–

Disclosure: Amazon.com links are affiliate links. A portion of purchases made via these links earns a commission for this blog.  Thanks for your support!

by

If You Like… Room by Emma Donoghue

A couple of years ago, Room was the book of the season–over a million copies sold, a handful of awards, several starred reviews, and long library waiting lists everywhere.  If you haven’t read it yet, now is a great time.  No waiting list at my library!

If you’ve already read this affecting novel about a kidnapping, imprisonment, and freedom, and you are interested in a similar story, try Asta in the Wings by Elizabeth Watson.  This comparatively quiet novel is narrated by Asta, who is seven.  She lives with her mother and brother completely isolated from the outside world until one day her mother doesn’t come home.  When the two kids set off to find her, they find a world very unlike the one their mother had warned them about.  It’s a fascinating story that is part fish-out-of-water, part survival, and part psychological suspense.

Also recommended: Adult Fiction with a Child Narrator and Fish-Out-of-Water Fiction for Teens

–

Disclosure: Amazon.com links are affiliate links. A portion of purchases made via these links earns a commission for this blog. Thanks for your support!

by

Drunken Decision-Making, Part 2

No, I am not talking about my own intoxicated indiscretions (which I don’t even admit to having).  I’m talking about books.  In April, I declared drunk driving/drunk decisions as the season’s trend in YA fiction, and time has been giving me more evidence for my wild assertion.

Case in point: Midsummer’s Nightmare by Kody Keplinger and 37 Things I Love by Kekla Magoon.  I’ve added both of these to the growing list of 2012 titles that take on the bad things that happen when you get wasted.  It isn’t just about driving.  Actually, neither of these books take on drunk driving or any of the potentially dangerous things that might happen when you’re too drunk to think straight.  They’re mostly about embarrassing yourself.

In Midsummer’s Nightmare, Whitley parties hard and often, but when the summer with her dad doesn’t go as she thought, she is forced to take stock of her life.  It is basically a just-for-fun chick lit title that will appeal to older teens, but the unreliable narrator  and a strong, assertive heroine that may draw in a deeper audience.

37 Things I Love isn’t about drinking, and it isn’t really the light read you might guess from the cover.  It’s about the complexity of family and connection.  Ellis is dealing with some heavy family stuff and watching her best friend Abby make poor decisions (such as getting drunk at a party and doing a strip tease that ends up getting her mocked mercilessly in school).  The result is a thoughtful novel that is well worth reading.

For the most part, I don’t think that the books I’ve pointed out that take on this issue are trying to demonize alcohol.  There is a bit of moralizing, I suppose, as the point seems to be to examine why we choose to drink, but overall, these are good stories with real situations that, perhaps, will help readers to get beyond black and white.

–

Disclosure: Amazon.com links are affiliate links.   A portion of purchases made via these links earns a commission for this blog.  Thanks for your support!

by

Warnings on Teen Books: Helpful Tips or Censorship?

Teen fiction is in the news, and it’s bad news again.  Last time it was too dark.  Now there’s too much profanity, and some people are suggesting a rating system or content warning on books for teens as a solution for parents who are overwhelmed by the thought of reading each and every book their kids want to read.

Today I sat at my desk, which happened to be piled high with the latest in teen fiction, as I listened to an MPR segment discussing the issue.  It hit all the usual points about protecting kids or empowering them as readers without reaching any kind of consensus.  That’s understandable.  It’s a nuanced topic, as many librarians have said.   What stood out to me in the show was the host’s apparent surprise at the passion of those arguing against a warning system.

The anti-ratings passion does not surprise me.  I think many of us, myself included, argue so fervently against rating the literature of our youth because we remember what we read as teens.  We remember how it resonated.  It moved us.   In many cases, it shaped us.  I think we know there’s a strong chance that many of those life-shaping books we connected with at a young age would not have been available to us if they’d had a rating or warning label for our more conservative parents, teachers, or other well meaning adults to see and judge.

I was one of the lucky ones.  Mom, if you’re reading this, I am incredibly grateful that you empowered me as a reader.  It is a big part of what made me the person I am today, and I am proud of who I have become.  I hope you are too.

by

The Value of Travel (& Reading)

“Travel has taught me the fun in having my cultural furniture rearranged and my ethno-centric self awareness walloped.” – Rick Steves in Travel as a Political Act

I really haven’t traveled as much as I’d like.  The most exotic place I’ve been in the last 7 years is Seattle–not a huge cultural shift from Minneapolis.  I sometimes daydream about really getting away to someplace that might rearrange me a bit, but my travel plans are likely to stay vicarious in the near future.

For me, no vicarious journey illustrates Steves’ quote above better than Ariel Gore’s memoir of her time as a teen in China and Europe, Atlas of a Human Heart.   As a mother, it is hard to imagine allowing my sixteen-year-old to drop out of school and travel to the other side of the world by herself, but, in all honesty, I lost myself in her adventures and wondered if I hadn’t been rather rearranged by them myself.

What travel experiences (or books) have left you feeling differently about the world?  

–

Disclosure: Amazon.com links are affiliate links.   A portion of purchases made via these links earns a commission for this blog.  Thanks for your support!

by

Now Available: The Year of the Gadfly

Reviews have compared The Year of the Gadfly by Jennifer Miller to Dead Poets Society, Heathers, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin (which you might remember from this post).  In the spirit of comparisons, I might add The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney to that list.

All that aside, Gadfly is a page-turner.  Pick it up when you have some time.  If your reading tastes are anything like mine, you won’t want to put it down.

–

Disclosure: Amazon.com links are affiliate links.   A portion of purchases made via these links earns a commission for this blog.  Thanks for your support!