On the ferry from Hyannis to Alice Island, Amelia Loman paints her nails yellow and, while waiting for them to dry, skims her predecessor's notes. "Island Books, approximately $250,000.00 per annum in sales, the better portion of that in the summer months to folks on holiday," Harvey Rhodes reports.If the bookstore my friend Donna and I opened had "approximately $250,000.00 per annum in sales," we might still be in business. I loved reading about a bookstore and its owner. I rated it 10 of 10 because I couldn't put it down, literally, and read it in less than a day. Beautiful writing, and I loved the mention of books-books-books on every page. Very interesting way to portray the characters. Of course, it helped that I recognized most of books the author mentioned. Here's a summary of the novel that mentions "a mysterious package" that doesn't seem like the best way to describe what was left in A. J. Fikry's bookstore:
When his most prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, is stolen, bookstore owner A.J. Fikry begins isolating himself from his friends, family, and associates before receiving a mysterious package that compels him to remake his life.Oh, by the way, look at that book cover. You can read the title of one book (because I used a LARGE illustration). It's actually one of the covers of this book! That's unusual and kind of fun, huh? Once before I noticed the corner of a book cover showed part of another (famous) book cover, and it too was about a bookstore. But today's book is unique. I think you can click the cover to enlarge it, if you like.
"Do you ever weed out unwanted books from your library? And if so, what do you do with them?"Oh, sure! When my shelves look like this (photo from 2011), it's time to reconsider which ones to keep. I always manage to get rid of some of my books when I move. If I didn't weed out my books periodically, I would have nowhere to sit or sleep or eat because every flat surface would be covered with books. What do I do with those I discard? I take some to used book stores for trade credit. Notice that means I'll be replacing them with more books, possibly even the same day. Sometimes I give away my books, to my son or my friends or even some random stranger who may have found the one book I released through BookCrossing.
I’m sorry for...I was especially impressed that this teacher had children apologizing for not paying attention in class because it was wasting the time of all the other students as well as the teacher. The student had to:
This is wrong because...
In the future, I will...
Will you forgive me?
1. acknowledge what went wrong,And it worked! This is a great lesson in apologizing.
2. point out who was affected,
3. say how she or he would change,
4. ask forgiveness.
The freezing rain sifts down, handfuls of shining rice thrown by some unseen celebrant. Wherever it hits, it crystallizes into a granulated coating of ice. Under the streetlights it looks so beautiful: like fairy silver, thinks Constance. But then, she would think that; she's far too prone to enchantment.Nope, that doesn't grab me, the beginning of the first story. I flipped through the whole book, reading the opening lines of each of the "nine tales." The one I like best is the story that became the book's title: "Stone Mattress":
At the outset Verna had not intended to kill anyone.Oh, yeah! This sounds good. This one makes me want to read the whole book, so I'll hold off until I read it in its place, which happens to be the eighth story of nine. I hope the other stories are worth it. Here's a summary of the book:
In case you wonder why I'm reading it without having read the blurb I just shared, it's because my friend Donna enjoyed the book. She handed it to me, so I'm ready to take her word and start reading.Margaret Atwood turns to short fiction for the first time since her 2006 collection, Moral Disorder, with nine tales of acute psychological insight and turbulent relationships. A recently widowed fantasy writer is guided through a stormy winter evening by the voice of her late husband in "Alphinland," the first of three loosely linked stories about the romantic geometries of a group of writers and artists. In "The Freeze-Dried Bridegroom," a man who bids on an auctioned storage space has a surprise. In "Lusus Naturae," a woman born with a genetic abnormality is mistaken for a vampire. In "Torching the Dusties," an elderly lady with Charles Bonnet syndrome comes to terms with the little people she keeps seeing, while a newly formed populist group gathers to burn down her retirement residence. And in "Stone Mattress," a long-ago crime is avenged in the Arctic via a 1.9 billion-year-old stromatolite. In these nine tales, Margaret Atwood is at the top of her darkly humorous and seriously playful game.
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| Most fun (#93) because of the Charlie Brown tree and Linus's blanket |
"What was your favorite book (or books) for 2014? What reading really caught your attention? Sparked your interest? Changed your world? Made you laugh?"FAVORITE BOOKS
All year long, I "rate" the books I read on a scale of one to ten, all of which is totally subjective. Since I list those I finish, I could simply have you look at the books I completed in 2014. However, I also choose my favorite book each month. Here are my twelve monthly favorites.
January favorite (#4)
February favorite (#10)
March favorite (#14)
April favorite (#24)
May favorite (#30)
June favorite (#39)
July favorite (#44)
August favorite (#49)
September favorite (#60)
October favorite (#77)
November favorite (#78)
December favorite (#88)OUTSTANDINGThe Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain argues that literacy reinforced the brain's linear, abstract, predominantly masculine left hemisphere at the expense of the holistic, iconic feminine right one. This shift upset the balance between men and women and initiated the disappearance of goddesses, the abhorrence of images, and — in literacy's early stages — the decline of women's political status. Patriarchy and misogyny followed.
This one really made me think. Lisa Bloom, an American civil rights attorney, shows step by step what happened during George Zimmerman's trial for killing Trayvon and uses Zimmerman's own testimony to show without a doubt that he lied. Fascinating book about the state of our country today.
