Thoughts on Reading a Book That Is Almost About Me

I just finished reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, who I first stumbled upon because of this post about Beyonce' the Giant Metal Chicken.

I have to say that initially I was wary. Lot of swearing and some of the sarcasm struck me as "striving for alternativism".

But then, the book really started to freak me out because apparently Jenny Lawson and I are bizarro twins!

Some things we have in common...

* Generalized Anxiety -- I could totally relate to not only her specific thoughts about GAD, but also about feeling socially awkward. I don't think I usually share such inappropriate info in such cases, but it isn't uncommon for people to call me quirky or to comment about my "interesting" thought/observations. But her writing on this topic was like reading my own thoughts. Very weird, and where the similarities begin.

* Love of cheese!! -- Enough said

* Dressed with her husband as the cheerleaders from Saturday Night Live for a Halloween party -- No joke, we had the EXACT SAME COSTUMES. Only instead of no underwear, I solved the polyester problem by wearing Spanx tights under mine (clingy, and also the skirt wasn't cut to an appropriate length for someone who is 5'10 - apparently Jenny and I are not the same height). I have access to a picture of us in costume, but it is 2:30am and I am too lazy to get up and take a picture of it with my phone.

* Fear of her house having serious issues -- Scorpions, snakes, dead animals in the walls, built over a cemetery (?). My fears are more mundane: flooding toilets, settling foundation, termites.

* Makes money blogging. -- I don't make money blogging, but my dad thinks I could!

* "From you, Dad! I learned it from watching you!" -- 80s pop culture references from someone who is, like me, borderline too young to really remember this but somehow has a photographic memory about random bits of info like this

* Once lived in a house with a serious bug infestation problem -- In my case, we called the bugs "Many Leggeds". I have no idea what they really were. But Eric was there, and he will back me up on this. The first night in the house, I turned off my light, then remembered something so got back up and turned the light back on and about 20 MANY LEGGEDS HAD COME OUT OF THE CEILING LIGHT AND WERE ABOVE ME ON THE CEILING! And once, Eric lunged at me and slapped me because there was a Many Legged on my coat. Yes, and there were also mice.

* Making up words that aren't really words -- Did you notice I did that at the start of this post? BAM!

Library Book Addiction

There have been periods in my life when I was a frequent library visitor, but never as frequent as recently. Little Man really enjoys Library Story Time at our library, which coincidentally is on the same mornings that he does not have school. He also likes playing games on the library computer.  He has not yet figured out that he can play the same or very similar computer games at our house. We do not actually have to travel to the library so that he can color pictures on the computer.  Pictures like this. That I just linked to. At my house on our home computer.

Once or twice a week we go to the library for story time, and so that Little Man can play on the computer.  While he is doing his computer stuff, I have 20 minutes or so to think about... books!!

I have become seriously addicted to checking out books from the library! Especially the New Releases, as you may have gathered from these earlier posts. I love wandering through the New Releases and reading the blurbs for the ones with names and covers I like. I also admit that I have figured out how to put a GoodReads app on my fancy phone, so I can find a bunch of "to reads" with just a few weird movements of my fingers. And a pair of glasses.

The addiction part comes in here. I almost cannot stop myself from checking out new books!! For example, right now I have 100 pages to go in a library book. Another library book waiting on my bedside table. And, I have a book to read for book club that meets at the end of the month. And, I want to re-read The Hunger Games before I see the movie because I am an overachiever like that. Not to mention my physical "to read" shelf in the bedroom that currently has about 10 books & 3 magazines that I own and haven't yet read.

I am a girl who does NOT need to be checking out more library books for myself at this point.

Today I avoided checking out books for myself only because Eric asked me to check out a book for him. So that way I got my book fix on without saddling myself with more book reading responsibilities.  Oddly enough, checking out 5 Elephant and Piggie books does not seem to help with my library book cravings. (Little Man is in LOVE with these right now because he can read them himself.)

4. Bedside

The most important thing I keep bedside is the stack of books I am reading, or will be reading soon. 

#Marchphotoaday

2012 12 Book Challenge

In 2011, I participated in a challenge on Goodreads to select 12 books that I have wanted to read for at least a year and commit to reading them in the calendar year.  I completed my goal, even though it involved the 800 or so pages of Anna Karenina.

I decided to do something similar this year, only instead of officially being part of a challenge, I made my own challenge. And, it's already February, so I already have some catching up to do!

I *heart* Goodreads for a lot of reasons. Most of all, I like to save titles of books I hear about that seem interesting, that friends enjoyed, that may be good for book club or whatever. Right now I have 207 books sitting on my "to read" shelf.

How to choose the 12? Last year I read 51 books, so picking 12 doesn't mean I am selecting every book I will read for the year. And with 207 to choose from, 12 is a drop in a bucket.

So I decided instead of choosing books I am dying to read, I would choose randomly from my 'to read' list. After all, they ended up on that list for a reason, so I might as well read them!

I used an online random number generator and then matched the generated numbers with the position on my "to read" shelf.  I must say, the collection is interesting. A few of the books I am super excited to read, a couple not so much, and a few I don't even recall anything about!

Here they are, my 12 books for 2012. I will try to remember to update when I read them!

Destroyer of Books 2: The Next Chapter

Alternate Subtitle: I Really Should Stay Out of the New Releases Section


Way back in November 2011, I was persecuted by our local library staff for a very heinous and malicious bit of book destruction. The book has been sitting peacefully and in relative comfort on a bookshelf in our home.  No other books have been harmed by its existence and I have managed to keep all of my books clean and dry since that time. I have obviously reformed.

It is as if the creepy music from episode one has started playing in the background while I read before bed. A little Sleeping with the Enemy, only the enemy in this case is a book. Now I am reading a hardcover version of Before I Go To Sleep, also from the New Releases section, for book club. Yes, it has the very same book sticker marking it a New Release. And it appears pristine from the outside.

The trouble started a few nights ago when I noticed that the inside of the back cover, which is black, has been scribbled on with a dark pen. You can't actually SEE the pen, you can see the line where the pen wrote, if that makes sense. I showed it to Eric, because he knows I am still a freak about my last library book destruction experience.

But last night, things got serious. Seriously serious. And now I have a dilemma.

I am about halfway through the 350ish page book, reading away. I turn the page and find... A PAGE HAS BEEN TORN OUT!

I am going to give you a minute to collect yourself because I know you can't believe it either.

Page 146/147 is missing from my book, minus a tiny residual strip along the spine. The strip is large enough and inexact enough that the page was clearly there at some point. This isn't a printer mistake. Someone tore the page out of the book.

Do you see where I am going with this?

I did not tear the page out of the book, and didn't notice it until I actually got to the page last night. Meaning whoever thoroughly combs the New Release books looking to fine people/me missed this serious book destruction situation.

But I am faced with a decision. My first reaction was to finish the book, take it back to the desk when I return it, tell them that a page had been torn out when I got it, and hope that this nightmare will end without me being asked for $600 to replace the new, hardcover book. As I told Eric this morning, I know it is the "right" thing to do, but honestly, if they accuse me of damaging the book, I do not know what I will do. Other than freak out.

My other option is to quietly return the book and not say anything. But then if they notice the missing page, I will look guilty. Or if they don't notice but the person after me says something, again I might look guilty. (Unless they pin it on that sucker.)

Decisions, decisions....  The Sunday School class we are leading right now on "Fearless" by Max Lucado would encourage me to not "fret" about this, but rather act. So I am going to finish that book in a lightning quick manner so that I can do some kind of action. But what action? We shall see.

Do things like this happen to other people? I just have to know.

Book Love

I'm a part of a book club. It is actually my third book club. Right after Big Girl was born, I joined a book club associated with an attachment parenting group in my town. I was drawn to it because they met once a month and chose a wide variety of books: fiction, parenting, other non-fiction.  I was introduced to In Defense of Food and Brain Child magazine.

Then a few friends who knew I was book clubbing mentioned the possibility of doing a book club among ourselves. I ended up sort of being in charge of that one. I think we only read a few books (because then I moved away), and they were pretty big fails in my mind. (If I never hear about this book again, it will be too soon. Sorry Mom.)

When we came up here to visit so that Eric could consider whether to accept his Call to become principal here, I met a few school moms at Starbucks one morning while he was doing... something. I mentioned I was in a book club, and one of the moms was all about it! So when we moved here, she and I started Book Love - a women's book club with a generic name! =)

We've been meeting every month or two for the past 2 years. There have been some big successes (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, The Forgotten Garden, etc...) and some fails (The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Breakfast with Buddha, etc.)

Some people join book clubs to "force" themselves to read. That is not me.  I don't have any trouble with finding time to read.  I like book club because it gives me a chance to hear about books I wouldn't otherwise discover, read some books that are outside of my reading comfort zone, and talk with friends about books we've read.  I admit, I don't really enjoy the "book club discussion questions", I prefer a less structured talk about what everyone thought about the book.  And I have gotten a chance to get to know some women a little better, which is a good benefit.

Thinking about joining a book club? You should totally do it! Even if you can't read every book or make it to every discussion, it is a perfect kind of format to pop in and out.  You'll get to spend time with other book lovers and keep that brain working too!

I have to give a shout out to GoodReads, which is a great website for finding books, getting info and reviews on books you hear about, and keeping a list of books you hear about that are interesting that you want to remember to read when you have a chance! 

It's Official: I Destroy Books

Today's story actually begins with the book I have been reading recently, which I hate with the power of a thousand suns. I can't give up on a book, so have been forcing myself to read it for the better part of a month. Yesterday, with 40 pages to go, I had to renew it online because it's due date had come around. Again. 

I logged in to renew my book, succeeded in renewing it and then noticed there was a "block" on my account. (Why I can renew a book when my account is locked, I don't understand.) I learned the reason for the block was because I "destroyed" a book I checked out about 2 months ago and then returned. Really, if you actually destroyed a book would you bother returning it?  My penalty for book destruction is listed at $15 to replace the book. 

The destroyed book was called The Irresistible Henry House and was actually quite enjoyable. My sin? I put the book into the same bag as Big Girl's swimming suit. Yes, it got damp. 

When you think about a library book that is "destroyed" to the point that it can't be reshelved, what do you think of? Here's what I think of:

Is there significant damage to the cover? 

Is there damage to the binding?

Are there pages missing, torn or falling out?

Are any of the pages illegible?

Is the book partially burned, covered with paint or marker or otherwise marked? 

In this case, the answers are no, no, no, no and no. Yes, some of the pages towards the back got a little warped the way books do if they get wet. That is it. 

The news that I am a book destroyer came at a pretty bad time for me.  My week has been filled with insomnia, unforeseen stress, a notebook paper length list of not-super-important-but-necessary things to do that I'm worried about forgetting and probably some other things. You know, "If something could go wrong, it will"? One of those. So the $15 book fine thing really has been bugging me more than it probably would ordinarily. 

I am still denying that I destroyed the book or damaged it in a way that makes it unworthy of library shelf participation. 

After I raged out for awhile yesterday, I decided that I would go in today, demand to see the book (or, ideally, find it on the shelf and then do a "Ah-ha!" surprise reveal showing that I know they are scamming me), argue that the book wasn't damaged and the fine is undeserved, and then probably end up paying the fine anyway. But I would demand to take my destroyed book home, dammit! 

Eric counseled me yesterday at dinner about flying off the handle about little, insignificant stress like a "small library book fine". (First, he clearly missed the major injustice that has been put upon me. Second, I also fly off the handle when he assumes my stress is insignificant.) He was right, though after dinner he got his chance to stress out because we got a letter in the mail that he has been sent to collections over a $10 unpaid magazine subscription. Seriously, does that actually happen? 

So this morning I woke up and decided I have had enough stress this week and I would just go to the library, be nice and pay my fine, as unjust and slanderous as it is, so that I don't work myself up and carry around bad feelings all day.  

As Little Man and I walked into the library, there was an announcement on the intercom. (No, it was not signaling that a book destroyer with a blocked account entered the library. That would be cool though, right?) "Will the owner of a black lab with a tan collar please report to the circulation desk?"  And then guess what we saw! A young (maybe 1 or 2 years old) black lab having the time of it's life running around off leash in the library. There's the downside of those automatic sliding doors. (Do dogs ever run into the grocery store? I have never seen it, but I bet it happens.)  

The dog came and greeted us and then headed off to the children's section, because that's where the fun is.  The library worker made the intercom announcement again while I was searching the shelves to see whether my destroyed book was actually shelved and still in circulation. No luck.  

I approached the circulation desk as a random guy with his daughter brought up the dog, held by the collar, and tried to convince the workers to tie the dog to something so that it would not continue to run free in the library during library story time.  For those of you on my facebook who saw my post about the library book, what follows is one example of what I mean when I say that the library workers have been jerks and "really strict" when we've been there.  

The woman who seemed to be in charge honestly psychoed out while I was standing there. She was stomping around like a little kid, muttering about how "now people are going to call my administration and complain because there is a dog in the library". And she attacked the poor guy who brought the dog over and was like "If you want to tie the dog up, you tie the dog up. That's on you. I'm not going to have the dog's owner complaining because I tied it up." (If you are like me, you are thinking, Are you going to DO anything about the dog running around the library? Making an announcement and then letting the dog run loose doesn't seem like much of a solution. The dog was very friendly but still.) 

The dog in the library situation was amusing and reminded me to relax and not take myself or my $15 too seriously. Plus, the head library lady clearly has had a hard day and needed a Valium.  

So finally the guy dragged the dog outside (tying him up to a tree with some rope he had in his van) and it was my turn to approach the desk. I was actually nice! I basically said: I saw on my account I owe money for a damaged book. I already returned the book because I didn't think it was anything that would make the book unsuitable to be checked out. I will pay the fine, but I would like to have the book if I am going to be paying for it. 

And... 

THEY GAVE ME THE BOOK! 

I still don't really believe it. Nor do I believe that they can only accept cash. Luckily my credit union is right down the street because I only had $1.73 in my wallet. 

So now my record is clear, I own a copy of a book that I enjoyed and can recommend to others, and am out $15.  

A friend of mine was at library story time during this whole experience, so I showed her the book. For the record, she agrees with me that the damage was minimal and it is stupid that I had to pay for the book. And now she is living in fear because of a slight spill on a library book she still has at her house.  Honestly, I can think of at least a handful of books I've checked out over the past two years that were in much worse condition.  

For those of you who are doubters and don't believe all my no, no, no-ing above... I took pictures!! 

WARNING: The photographs below may contain images that some readers will find disturbing.

Binding

Cover -- the little bend on the edge happened when I put the book
in my purse after I destroyed it, then paid for it.

Back cover

Damage!!! 

Legibility! 

 

I'm not saying the book didn't get damp on the corner, I'm just saying, is this a destroyed quality library book? I really don't think so. 

Happy reading, everybody! I'm off to take my chances on my next library book!

Books I Loved in 2010

In the past year and a half when I have been a true stay-at-home mom (before that, I was a SAHM but worked on contract from home a little bit for a social services agency), I have gotten back to reading. Lots of reading. 

It's time for "year end" countdowns of the best and worst of 2010, so I thought I'd recap some of the books I read this year that I really enjoyed. *Note: these are books I read in 2010, not necessarily books published in 2010.*

THE TOP TEN

10. "The Samurai's Garden" by Gail Tsukiyama  -- Reading this book was like sitting in a quiet garden. It was soothing and very eloquently written.

9. "Slave" by Mende Nazar  -- This was a difficult read - an autobiography about a woman who lived through slavery in modern times.  While not a pleasant topic, the story is amazing.

8. "Five Quarters of the Orange" by Joanne Harris -- Probably would not have read this one if not for the recommendation of a friend. The themes of the book are the relationship between mother and daughter, past and present. Oh yeah, and there is lots of talk about cooking and food!

7. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini -- I think I'm the only person in the world who hadn't read this book or seen the movie.  Still haven't seen the movie, but I am definitely glad I read this book about friendship, betrayal and coming of age in Afghanistan.

 6. "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton -- Part mystery without being too "mystery genre", this book fell right into my wheelhouse: generations of women and their interconnectedness.  Blurbs about the book I read were pretty vague and didn't do much to sell me on reading it, but it was one of my favorite books of the year. I will definitely be reading more Kate Morton in 2011!

 5. "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers -- I love pretty much all of Dave Eggers' work and this is no exception. Zeitoun is a "fact based" novel, basically the novelization of the true story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-American living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. What starts as a story of heroism in the face of a natural disaster turns into a telling story about the way immigrants and the poor are sometimes treated by our country's officials.

4. "The Heretic's Daughter" by Kathleen Kent -- I tend to enjoy books set in colonial times and this is no exception. Another "relationship between women" book, a young girl struggles to understand what is happening when her mother is accused of witchcraft in Purtian New England.

3. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein -- I admit, I may have read this at the end of 2009, but I can't remember, so I'm counting it.  I am not a fan of gimmicky books, so I was surprised to find I really enjoyed this book narrated by... a dog! It is funny and tender, left me thinking and talking about it for a long time afterward!

 2. "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova --  It is not often that a work of fiction changes people, but I believe this is such a book. Narrated by a woman suffering from early onset Altzheimer's Disease, this is fiction that reads as autobiographical.  It is deeply moving and really made me think.

 1. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by Dave Wroblewski -- I know what you are thinking: Did you seriously pick a book from Oprah's Book Club as your favorite book of the year? Luckily, I didn't realize it had been a OBC pick when I read it! This story was fascinating in pretty much every aspect. It was funny, sad, hopeful, interesting. Everything that makes a book engaging and, well, good! Though not hard to read, my brain was completely swamped by the time I finished reading. I wandered around the house for days in search of a "beach read" because I was totally worn out by the emotional toll this book took on me. What's not to love?



THE BEST BOOK YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF...

"The Art of Devotion" by Samantha Bruce-Benjamin -- I won this book on a reading website and was able to participate in an online discussion with the author.  This is a first novel that I thought was really fascinating and well written. Another "mystery that isn't mystery genre", this book tells of the story's events from the differing perspective of multiple narrators. As soon as you think you understand the "what" and the "why", perspective changes and you realize that maybe you don't understand any of what is going on at all!