Younger than 5 years, more than 500 books

As a family, we may have a book problem.

Both my daughter and I have LibraryThing accounts. I've been updating mine lately with my recent reads and some old favorites, but it's not comprehensive... I don't have that kind of time, plus I can't always tell if a book is mine or my husband's (and I can't decide if that matters), plus we have probably a dozen (or more) banker's boxes of books in a storage unit that we try to rotate periodically through our house so I don't even know the full extent of what books we have, and there are overstuffed bookshelves and stacks of books like snowdrifts in every room of our house as it is.

For Serious Girl, though, I thought maybe I could keep track. I signed her up for a lifetime account shortly before her first birthday, and I figured I could input every book she's ever owned and read, and she'd be excited to see how many books that is when she gets older. Cool, right? And she doesn't have nearly as many books as my husband and I do, so it'll be easy to keep up.

I just finished a massive update of Serious Girl's LibraryThing last night. I haven't included all her books, because (like her parents) they are spread out all over the house, but I think I've gotten the majority of them, especially the ones that live in her room, the playroom, and the kitchen (but definitely not the ones in the office/study).

My daughter has over 500 books in the apartment right now. She doesn't turn 5 until April.

I think this might be awesome. But it also might be a sign that we're all going to die in a tremendous paperback avalanche when one of us knocks over the wrong book pile late one night. Or worse.

Maybe I should get my daughter one of those emergency help-line call-button necklaces now...

Are you sexy enough for literature?

poster from Cafe Press

Yesterday's Dystel & Goderich blog post talked about the phenomenon of authors as rock stars. The blog linked to an article about the rock-star-ness of Joshua Ferris, and ended with the question, "Does an author’s looks or celebrity status influence your decision to buy his/her books?"

I was all set to scoff. Choosing a novel because the author is hot? That's probably the last thing I think about, running way behind the pack of more important reasons like: who recommended it, if I liked the author's work before, the back-of-book plot summary, cover art, availability in my format of choice (trade paperback), publishing house, and typography. Sure, we joke about it, but no one who actually cares about literature would care about an author's looks, because writing ability and appearance are wholly and utterly unrelated.

Yup, I was all set to comment, and then I remembered my post on John Irving. Into which I inserted no fewer than six author photos. Damn. What can I say, I have a total reader-crush on the guy.

Okay, I stand by my belief that I would NEVER EVER buy a book just because the author was good-looking. I mean, jeez, that's what the internet is for: free photos of people we like to look at. But there's definitely something enjoyable about reading a work of genius and then discovering that the person who wrote those words is visually appealing as well. Whether it's an expression like they've got a secret (Irving), a certain scruffy-headed charm (Neil Gaiman), killer eyes (Zadie Smith), or a wicked smile (David and Amy Sedaris), it IS nice if we like to look at those who we like to read.

But is there too much pressure for writers to have an intriguing (sexy) image? Take a quick look at this blog post: Can we stop being sexy? Just for five minutes? to compare one author's book jacket photo with a more casual photo. I personally think that the intent behind the "sexy" photo may have been to make the author look more intense and thoughtful (writerly) rather than give her a come-hither expression... after all, the title of her book was Special Topics in Calamity Physics, and I imagine that the marketing people decided that a certain formal glamour fit the book's packaging best. But the result was more or less the same: the photo made her look ethereal, and like a deep thinker, AND sexy. (But can we blame the author at all? Who wouldn't want to look amazing in a publicity shot?)

So. Any writers you love to look at? Any thoughts on the presentation of authors as a visual commodity? And, what's going on YOUR book jacket?

Goodbye, tough guys.

The lit world is abuzz with news of the passing of J.D. Salinger (left). I remember my dad giving me his copy of Nine Stories, telling me about reading it because it had been banned by the nuns at his high school, telling me his favorite story had been The Laughing Man. I was torn between Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut and Just Before the War with the Eskimos. Here's a link where you can read some of Salinger's "under-published" stories (as well as the more well-known ones).

We've also recently lost Robert Parker (right), author of the Spenser novels that led to the Spenser: For Hire t.v. series. I did the best acting of my short career in an episode of that show (At the River's Edge), and Parker was a Cambridge man (MA, not UK).

Gentlemen, thank you.

Things to read on a snowy day

Photo by Keith Dotson

Well, it's snowing here, anyway.

1) For those of you who, like me, had yesterday off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, here's the text and video of the I Have A Dream speech. Writers, take note: remember that post about breaking the rules? Remember when I said that it's all about what you can get away with? A badly written version of the same speech would have an editor writing REP in the margins for all those repeated uses of the word dream, especially that line that says "It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream." In awkward hands, enumeration and repetition is endlessly boring. In the right hands, it becomes the number one top speech in the history of the U.S.

2) While we're on the subject of race, go read:

• White Readers Meet Black Authors
• Reading in Color
• The Rejectionist's Homework for White Folks post (and all accompanying links)
• And, WTF, Bloomsbury? I thought we already had this discussion. Knock it off.

3) While we're on the subject of snow, here are my daughter's favorite winter books:

• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Snowy Day by Anna Milbourne
• Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
  
• Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer
• 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental
• The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss

4) Nerds rejoice! Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are getting hitched! If you haven't read Gaiman's work, in particular American Gods, you are missing out.

5) Stephen Elliott writes about his D.I.Y. Book Tour.

6) My most recent reads: Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy (memoir of a poet, about her Ewing's sarcoma and the accompanying facial disfigurement) and Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett (memoir of a novelist, about her friendship with Lucy Grealy). A good pairing; I read Patchett's book first.

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

ETA: Justine Larbalestier on the new Bloomsbury debacle

Curl up with a good (writing) book

I like to think that most of us are getting at least a few days off at the end of the year. (And if not, that probably means that you're working in a medical field or are a cop or soldier... THANK YOU!) So, what are we going to do with our time off? READ, of course!

Yesterday's Pimp My Novel Guest Post by Randy Susan Meyers was a great round-up of eighteen (yes, 18) books on writing. This post inspired me to pick up my copy of Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees which I bought months ago but never started, and it's exactly as awesome as Randy says it is. "Instant shrink for writers" indeed!

I would also add Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life to the list -- it's got great advice on networking and self-promotion, but also it's about self-motivation, self-encouragement, and how to write that second book. And third. And fourth. It's not a craft book; it's not about how to write, it's about how to be a writer.

I also need to finish Walter Mosley's This Year You Write Your Novel. "Let the lawn get shaggy and the paint peel from the walls..."

Is there a writing book you love that didn't make the PMN guest post list? Tell us about it! My to-read stack is only three feet high, I'm sure I can squeeze another book in there before it topples...

Library Love

Take a tour of the Main Branch Cambridge Library.

What is it about libraries? They are so fabulous. As I walked to my book club meeting this evening (oh, you should see this library lit up at night!), I was just flooded with memories of all the good NYC libraries I grew up with, the particular smell and feel that all library books seem to have, and the quiet energy that pervades these buildings and their patrons.

When my daughter was born, I got a packet in the mail from the Cambridge Library that included a cotton "Born to Read" tote bag, and four brand-new children's picture books, plus a coupon to hand in at my local branch for yet another new book. Is that not the most incredible thing? I didn't even write to them -- they must get birth record information from the city. Welcome, baby, here's a pile of amazing books just for you, and there's are a bunch of buildings where you can come borrow more any time you want. It's just so cool.

The book club was delightful (more on that another time), but even better was getting a stack of new releases, plus requesting two more. This is the first time in forever that I've gotten library books for myself instead of just for my daughter... what can I say, she's sometimes a little too enthusiastic to be kept on the non-children's floors for too long. She will happily unshelve an entire section in the firm belief that I will be able to read them all to her before we leave, and if I tell her to read quietly to herself, there's a high probability that she will interpret this to mean: (1) Remove book from shelf. (2) Turn book to last page. (3) Declare, "And they all lived happily ever after." (4) Repeat until Mom stops being busy.

I only have a week to read three novels, but I'm not worried. A stack of purchased books on the bedside table can sometimes feel like a "hafta"... ugh, I spent so much money on these, I hafta read them soon... whereas library books are always in the "wanna" pile. If you don't wanna read them, heck, just give them back! No pressure at all.

My "wanna" read pile as of tonight includes a Chuck Palahniuk, a Meg Cabot, and Peter Cameron's Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (what a great title). Do you guys have any library books in your pile? What are they? Tell me something you like about YOUR local branch.

AND... I have 100 followers!!! Squee! This makes me think that I should get my blog more organized, as writer Kiersten is on an epic quest to do. Wanna help? I am hereby taking nominations for Readers' Favorites of 2009. I think it would be a nice link to have available for those future readers who will be new to the blog.

On my bookshelf

Kansas City has the coolest library EVER.

You asked, I'm answering! (Questions about my former acting career will be answered on Friday, you vultures.)

Julie and Shelby asked if I had any favorite cookbooks and/or any unique, un-fashionable, non-obvious books on my shelves that I could share with you.

First, I basically don't cook. At all. I mean, I can cook to the extent that I can follow directions, but I don't like experimenting, risk-taking, or multi-tasking in the kitchen. I like baking, where I can just assemble the dish and stick it in the oven. Having lots of dishes on the stove at the same time panics me a little. So, I like Seriously Simple (hey! they have a holiday cookbook! thanks for asking the question, guys, or I would have had no idea!) and selected dishes from the Williams Sonoma cookbooks -- the older, more basic ones that have titles like PASTA and POTATOES, not the "new flavors" or "foods of the world" ones. And I love Japanese Women Don't Get Old Or Fat because on page 200, there is a recipe for the Perfect Bowl of Noodles. I don't normally link to Google reader because of all the legal issues, but I will trust you to use it wisely, and BUY the book if you like the recipe. I use udon noodles instead of soba; I use instant dashi instead of homemade (which means you don't need the bonito flakes); I skip the sake, scallions, mitsuba, and tempura; and it is hands-down the best noodle bowl I've had outside of Japan. It took me FOREVER to find this recipe.

As for some of the less predictable stuff on my shelves... well, naturally I'm going to list non-fiction first, because as a wanna-be writer, I'm of course expected to have an enormous range of novels on my shelves.

There's A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America by Marilyn Rouvelas (y'all know my husband's Greek, right?)... and there's A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters (y'all know I was born in Tokyo, right?) which provides a detailed etymology of nearly 2,000 kanji and has spectacular appendixes for looking up the characters by pronunciation or by number of brush strokes...

I highly recommend The Lawyer Who Blew Up His Desk for any attorneys in your life... and from my childhood, there is the fantastic Great Pets! which has pet-care advice for everything from dogs and rabbits to geese, ferrets, and snakes. They don't cover chinchillas, which was a bit disappointing for me when I got a chinchilla in college, but if you can't decide whether you want a skunk or a tarantula, this is the book for you.

Poetry: I am apparently still the only person on LibraryThing who owns Colmez Astre's Poésie française: anthologie critique, which is a shame, because if you read French at all, it's one of the best anthologies I've come across.

Graphic novels: Has everyone here read Transmet? For the love of all that is holy, get yourself a copy of the full series IMMEDIATELY.

Audiobooks: I'm not normally a fan of abridged works, but the audiobook of World War Z is genius. Even my mom agrees. And it's not a surprise that I like Stephen King, but I have to give a shout-out to Ron McLarty's reading of Salem's Lot, because it's just masterful.

Fiction: I don't know if I have any surprising fiction. I have uber-popular books like Harry Potter, "required reading" books like Moby Dick and Les Miserables, literary fiction like Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, tons of sci-fi/fantasy, plenty of YA (check out Godless)... and that's just the stuff that's in this room. We also have a storage locker filled with books that we try to rotate stuff in and out of.

Probably the most surprising thing for many would be my lack of any classic women's Brit Lit. No Jane Austen, no Bronte sisters. I can't stand any of it.

Tomorrow: lessons learned from tonight's class on "Obsessive Writing"!