Reading Woolf Sets a High Standard

Virginia Woolf's On Being Ill engages, delights, confuses, conspires, and again delights readers in only 24 short pages. Her artful yet very precise use of language could do it singlehandedly; because her writing is also very insightful I think she's rightly been deemed a "masterful" writer.

I enjoyed the essay but wonder what it will do to my perspective as I continue to tackle my reading list.

Maybe I'll be quicker to close a book that's not quite as engaging. Maybe I'll be smarter in my picks in the first place. Or maybe an essay like this is the protein-rich fortification my brain needs; but I'll still reach for the "snacks" on the shelf, and enjoy those too...

Gifts to Open Again & Again

I don't wait for holidays or birthdays to shop, I pick up gifts all year. (And sometimes I remember where they are when it's time to wrap.) A couple I've been delighted with recently:

1- Ribbit: Flip and See Who Froggy Can Be. Yes, I know, it's a hot title; maybe you've seen it. My local library doesn't have it, though, and I bet a lot of libraries won't carry this hands-on picture book because the pages would likely get mangled quickly. Haven't seen it? Get your hands on it; it's a hoot. While there's a running "story," the real story here is in what you can do with the pictures. Each page is divided horizontally into thirds. Readers (I recommend it for toddlers on up) can make froggy be a cowboy, cowgirl, doctor, ballerina... you get the idea. I'd say it's an ideal gift for a kindergarten student, and the whole family can laugh along.

2- Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids is a title I didn't want to like (I'm not a RR fan) but I did. Maybe it was the hip language and layout (your GH is your Grownup Helper, and some photos feature the GH in some pretty funny situations), maybe it was the Turkey Sushi (looks like a cool lunchbox item). Whatever, I was sold. The book is divided into sections with recipes by ages (4-6, 7-11, 12-up and a "take these to college and you'll have a ton of friends" section), and all of the recipes are formatted to be easy to follow. I bought this for an 11 year old girl - and I guess I'll give it to her, but I might have to buy my own copy. Sigh. That happens to me a lot. Oh, and I think the title is macho enough for boys, too.

3- Hey! I said a couple! It's your turn. Recommend some great-to-give books on a post... please! The holidays are coming....

On Being Ill and Doodling

I thought I'd read Virginia Woolf's On Being Ill over breakfast this morning, but I only made it through Hermoine Lee's 32-page introduction (I skipped the two pages of endnotes) before work beckoned. I'm eager to read it but bet I won't be able to claim as much insight as Ms. Lee, or an English lit student. I'm not exactly a deep diver when it comes to themes and answering questions like, But what did the author REALLLLLLY mean when she wrote...?" Ah, you know, I managed to imagine enough to get by in Honors English for a couple of years, but I agree with what a smart man once said: sometimes a pickle is just a pickle.

Speaking of pickles, I'm still in one trying to read Team of Rivals. Yes, I've been fascinated by a few things I didn't learn in history class, but golly. That's a long book with a lot of words in little print. A few pictures might prod me along...

And speaking of pictures (no, I couldn't think of another transition that time) I haven't read a graphic novel yet, but I've been easing into it with some cute middle-grade titles, first-person diary formats with doodles presumably included by the main character.

Are you reading my diary?

I LOVED the first of Dian Curtis Regan's Kaley books, The World According to Kaley, and just picked up the very similar Ellie McDoodle - Have Pen, Will Travel by Ruth McNally Barshaw. IMHO, Ellie isn't as smart or funny as Kaley, and I think even Kaley's sequel, CyberPals was better than the newer Ellie McDoodle title - still, it's bound to appeal to young girls. Ellie's travels with her not-exactly-favorite relatives (Aunt Ug, cousin Er-ick, and family) have just enough of a bite to elicit a few mean laughs, but because Ellie isn't mean, readers will like her. I'm not quite done, but I don't think there's a tear-jerker of a scene coming soon, like the one in Paula Danzinger's United Tates of America, another MG I enjoyed.

Now, if the work fairy would just show up and finish my newsletter, folks, I'd read all day, but she's nowhere to be found. So, it's time to shove the bookmark between the pages and get back to less enjoyable stuff. Read on!

A Decade of Work

I'll admit I'm only on page 16, but so far the most incredible thing I've read in Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals is that she spent TEN YEARS writing the book. Yikes! I understand how she could become engulfed in the project, though - and pouring over hundreds of diaries, letters, and newspaper articles seems to have given her a great deal of insight into the already-widely-profiled Lincoln.

So, I'm sure it'll be a great book... I'm just not sure I'm going to finish it before the end of the year.

Just finished reading about the Invisible Man

Correction - make that, the invisible young adult. Bobby Phillips, to be precise. He's the main character in Andrew Clements' Things Not Seen - it's a great read.

Things... was the first of Clements' books that I've read. As an adult, at least. I love Young Adult, or YA literature - in spite of the fact I'm a not-so-young adult myself. I just had to finish Things because (1) it was a great story and (2) Team of Rivals, all 912 pages of it, is taunting me from the kitchen countertop. I've got another week before the library will want it back. Ah ... so many books, so little time.

And then there's my stack o' mags. Popular Science. Discover. National Geographic. PC Magazine. National Geographic Kids. Highlights. My Big Backyard. Well, what did you expect from an admitted lover-of-kid-lit? Call me young at heart.

This blog is a place for me to blather about books and magazines - and I hope you'll join in. Otherwise, it'll just be my online reading list. Which is OK, but borrrrrr-ing!

So ... read any good books lately?