Library Loot ~ December 4-10

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion ~ by Fannie Flagg, 2013, fiction (Alabama, Wisconsin), 9/10

Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle.  The only thing left to contend with is her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry.  Lenore may be a lot of fun for other people, but is, for the most part, an overbearing presence for her daughter.  Then one day, quite by accident, Sookie discovers a secret about her mother’s past that knocks her for a loop and suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself, her family, and her future.  Sookie begins a search for answers that takes her to California, the Midwest, and back in time, to the 1940s, when an irrepressible woman named Fritzi takes on the job of running her family’s filling station.  Soon truck drivers are changing their routes to fill up at the All-Girl Filling Station.  Then, Fritzi sees an opportunity for an even more groundbreaking adventure.  As Sookie learns about the adventures of the girls at the All-Girl Filling Station, she finds herself with new inspiration for her own life.  I read this New York Times bestseller straight through and returned it to the library the next day.  I rate it 9 of 10.

One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale ~ by Demi, 1997, children's (India), 7/10

A village girl outsmarts a selfish king by asking him to double a portion of rice every day for 30 days in order to feed the hungry.  Long ago in India, there lived a raja who believed that he was wise and fair.  But every year he kept nearly all the people's rice for himself.  Then a village girl named Rani devises a clever plan, using the surprising power of doubling to win more than one billion grains of rice from the raja.  The artwork is inspired by traditional Indian miniature paintings.  I rate it 7 of 10, a good book.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls ~ by Anton Disclafani, 2013, fiction (North Carolina)

It is 1930, the midst of the Great Depression.  After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, passionate, strong-willed Thea Atwell, age fifteen, has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes.  High in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty, and girls’ friendships, the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is a far remove from the free-roaming, dreamlike childhood Thea shared with her twin brother on their family’s citrus farm — a world now partially shattered.  As Thea grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her here, she finds herself enmeshed in a new order, one that will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family, her country.  The narrative unfurls the true story behind Thea’s expulsion from her family, but it isn’t long before the mystery of her past is rivaled by the question of how it will shape her future.

Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers ~ by Anne Lamott, 2012, religion

Anne Lamott is known for her perceptive and funny writings about spirituality.  Readers of all ages have followed her faith journey through decades of trial and error (sometimes more error than Annie wanted), and in her new book, she has coalesced all she knows about prayer to three essentials:  Help, Thanks, and Wow.  It is these three prayers — asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating all that we have and all that is good, and feeling awe at the beauty of the world around us — that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward.  In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.  In July, Jonna Jensen wrote a beautiful meditation on this book, which you should read.

Northgate Branch of the Chattanooga library system, or "my library"

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages us to share titles of books we’ve checked out of the library.  Add your link any time during the week, and see what others got this week.

Word for today ~ librocubicularist

Ha!  I don't have insomnia?  No, never had that problem.  But I am definitely a librocubicularist.  What a great word.

A librocubicularist is person who reads in bed.

This succinct definition comes from an apparently extinct blog called Obsolete Word of the Day.  And I cross-posted this on my word blog.

Sunday Salon ~ funny faces and a happy face

My great-granddaughter Raegan is paired up with her mom (my granddaughter), making funny faces.

And here's one where Raegan is in disguise as a man with a handlebar mustache.  Yeah, right!  So convincing, that dark mustache with the long blonde hair.  Do you think she's having fun?

Jaxon's got a happy face, as his mother reads to him on Thanksgiving Day.  My great-grandson, who will be three in a few days, loves books.

Here he is, nearly two years ago, surrounded by books and reading one I gave him.  Can you tell we're a bookish family?

NEW BOOK

Tao Teh Ching ~ by Lao Tzu, translated by John C. H. Wu, 1961

Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching — or "The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue" — has probably had a greater influence on Asian thought that any other single book.  It is also one of the true classics of world literature.  Traditionally attributed to the near-legendary Old Master, Lao Tzu, the Tao Teh Ching teaches that the qualities of the enlightened sage or ideal ruler are identical with those of the perfected individual.  Lao Tzu's words are useful in developing a sense of balance and harmony in everyday life.  To follow the Tao or Way of all things and realize their true nature is to embody humility, spontaneity, and generosity.

I took various translations of this book to class when my Religions of the World class studied Taoism.  There are only 81 "verses" or sayings, and number 11 is probably my favorite.  I gave you Ursula K. Le Guin's version of verse 11 back in March.  Here's the translation by John C. H. Wu, from this newest version.

Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub;
It is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges.
We make a vessel from a lump of clay;
It is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.
We make doors and windows for a room;
But it is  these empty spaces that make the room livable.
Thus, while the tangible has advantages,
It is the intangible that makes it useful.

So which of these two translations most appeals to you? I think I prefer Ursula K. Le Guin's version. As you can tell from the title of her version's post, I like the phrase "where the pot's not."

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Black Friday

This is #46 of the Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu, translated by John C. H. Wu:

There is no calamity like not knowing what is enough.
There is no evil like covetousness.
Only he who knows what is enough will always have enough.

Thanksgiving greetings

May your day be wonderful.  That is all.  Carry on.

Word ~ inveigle

"Could I inveigle you into feeding Babe in the evening?"

Oh, what a wonderful word!  I haven't heard or seen it used in years.  My friend Jane is having day surgery in the morning, and her son and his wife want to take her home with them afterwards.  So she emailed me the request about feeding her cat.  That's Babe in the photo I took last year when I took care of her while Jane was on a trip.

But back to the word.  Have you ever used "inveigle" yourself?  Have you heard it said?  Have you read it in a book?

in·vei·gle = verb: persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery.

"We cannot inveigle him into putting pen to paper."

Synonyms:  entice, tempt, lure, seduce, beguile, wheedle, cajole, coax, persuade.
Informal usage:  sweet-talk, soft-soap, con, sucker, snow.

"Planted in colleges are members whose only mission is to inveigle unsuspecting students into the cult."

Cross-posted on my word blog.

Sunday Salon ~ baby shower books

Guess How Much I Love You ~ by Sam McBratney, 1994, board book

Little Nutbrown Hare wants very much to impress Big Nutbrown Hare with the enormous scale of his devotion, but ends up being the one who's impressed.

Tickle Time! ~ by Sandra Boynton, 1996, 2004, 2012, board book

If you’re feeling blue / and you don’t know what to do
there is nothing like a / TICKLE TIME
to make you feel like new.

Today, there's a shower for my great-granddaughter, due on January 4, 2014.  My friend Donna suggested we give her books (after all, we used to have a bookstore) to go along with what each of us chose from the registry.  These two books are the ones we got for her.  Now I hope I can find their new house that they've just moved into.

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