Bookish Blessings

Counting My Bookish Blessings (1)

Blessings are all around me, every day. I have stopped at 25 that are related to reading and books.  Even as I typed the last one on this list, I thought of two or three more.  But to start:

Endless choices to fill my “to read” list.

Several comfortable locations to read in my home.

My hometown library, the staff and the services it provides.

The “book box” at the mall near to my home, as an alternative place to pick up and drop off books.

Our library system and its staff, who are always looking for new ways to serve their customers.

A “bookish career” in the library that has led me to a perfect retirement, with plenty of time to read, write, and connect with books and authors.

Independent and local bookstores who lend a personal touch and pleasure to the reading and shopping experience and who promote and nurture local and regional authors.

Enough money to purchase an occasional book for myself.

The option to use Amazon and other online sellers for specific needs.

The freedom and convenience of my electronic reader.

The pleasure and comfort of traditionally published books.

My grandchildren and other youngsters for whom I can buy and recommend books.

“Bookish” friends who understand me.

Book discussion groups for talking about and sharing our favorites.

Audiobooks, especially those provided free by the library.

Magazines and other periodicals, also made available online by the library.

Booklists, reviews and recommendations to help guide me.

Goodreads and other online services that bring readers together.

Book bloggers who write about their own reading preferences and the bookish life.

Opportunities, through libraries and bookstores, to meet and hear authors speak about their work.

The National and Oklahoma Centers for the Book and other state centers whose mission is to promote books and reading.

The Friends of the Library, who sponsor programs and special events for all ages, all-year long.

The many poets and authors and illustrators who have brought me so much reading pleasure.

Legislators who understand how important reading and books are to our nation.

All of those who nurtured my love of books and reading when I was growing up.

 

How about you?  What bookish blessings would you add? I look forward to sharing more with you in the future.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to my “Marginalia” newsletter (click here). You’ll receive it by email and see what I’ve been reading, other bookish news and information, and progress reports on my own writing.

 

 

“Best Books” or Personal Favorites?

 

_Best Book_ of 2017 or Personal Favorite_ (2)

I have, for many years, been interested in critical reviews when deciding which books to add to my “to read” list. These examinations of theme, character, tone, plot, and the author’s mastery of the written language have been my guideposts, as have the nominees and winners of the various literary prizes and the ever-growing lists of “best books” by publications that feature reviews.  One of my favorite magazines, Bookmarks, helps by publishing summaries of reviews from such authorities as The New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, NPR, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post, and averaging their ratings.

There is another factor that comes into my personal selection which is equally important (to me) and compels me to change my end-of-the-year list from “Best Books” to “Personal Favorites”. Books on my  Favorites list are chosen according to the qualities and characteristics of the books which have spoken to me – one reader – and my tastes and preferences.

I will always pay homage to those who read deeply and critically, and have often set my sights on emulating them.  The challenge is that I often find myself so involved in the story that I forget that I am trying to read critically and get carried away. One of my own mantras as an aspiring writer is “It’s always about the story” and the very best stories make me forget anything else.

I have to consciously focus my thinking on the elements of good storytelling if I wish to read critically.  This is probably because I haven’t practiced deep reading enough, something I wish to do to develop my writing skills.

I have decided to leave the critical reviews to the professionals and share my favorites with you. This is not to say that the titles on my list are not praise-worthy, but to provide a measuring device to help guide you to (away from) a book I have enjoyed.

I am a member of Goodreads and would encourage you to join and become my reading friend there. Members rate the books they read from one to five stars and often write reviews (short and long, sometimes critical and sometimes “I loved this book”). You can see how popular a book is by looking at the average rating and the number of readers who have rated it.

I limit my own ratings to four or five stars, with an occasional three-stars for books I feel compelled to finish. I don’t complete books that would please me less than that – there are other readers who will rate them with one or two stars and I choose to spend my time other ways.

For those who are interested in what books might end up on my favorites list, I offer this:

  • I enjoy books about relationships, especially about families, friendships, and marriages.
  • I enjoy books where the protagonist or main character is close to my own age (although I don’t limit myself to stories about older people).
  • I enjoy books set in the south (especially the mid-south, where I grew up), in Oklahoma and the mid-west.
  • I enjoy rural and small-town settings.
  • I enjoy historical fiction and nonfiction about different eras and events.
  • I like to read biographies, autobiographies and memoirs about people who inspire me.
  • I enjoy books and stories that let me see myself and the world more completely.
  • I read books about storytelling and writing to build own my understanding and skills.
  • I read for entertainment and pleasure when I need a break, when I’m on vacation, or doing a task that doesn’t demand my full attention. (Audiobooks are a part of my reading diet.)
  • Finally, I am always thrilled to be surprised by a new author, a great book that doesn’t fit into any of these categories, or a good book that I missed earlier.

The following are the books that I enjoyed most during 2017.  I hope that you can find one or two (or several) that appeal to you. I will be interested in your own lists of favorites and recommendations as we move through 2018.

 

Fiction Favorites

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett – This was one of the first novels I read during the year and has remained a favorite.  It is a story about a “blended” family, which fits into one of the catgeories to which I am drawn. Storytelling is another nonfictional category I read – what makes stories compelling and how our brains are wired to use story to help us function in the world. Commonwealth is about the stories the members of one family tell themselves, each other, and the world about the events in their lives, specifically the breakup of their parents’ marriages and how it affects them personally. This book began a year of exploration for me – reading memoirs and books about writing memoirs – in preparation for writing my own personal and family stories.

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott – This is another story about family – those we are born to and those who nourish us and bring us to our best selves. It begins with a young father’s suicide in a New York tenement and leads us through the multiple generations that experience the love and sacrifice of the Catholic nuns who extend their caregiving to those left behind. A beautiful story, simple yet complex in its understanding of the human condition, The Ninth Hour won my heart and gratitude that there is such goodness in the world.

Nonfiction Favorites

American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee – My choice of American Wolf as one of my two favorite nonfiction books was a matter of serendipity, since it would probably not been a typical title I would read.  I chose to listen to the audiobook version after I heard it described as a staff favorite by a representative of Penguin Random House at a “Book Buzz” at one of my favorite libraries. I learned that the wolf is considered the closest species to man in terms of their behavior and was enthralled to hear the story of O’Six, the celebrated alpha female wolf of Yellowstone National Park. Her story, like our own, is one that encompasses generations and reflects the need for control and protection of the places we call home.

Most American: Notes from a Wounded Place by Rilla Askew – I have been an avid reader of the novels by this celebrated Oklahoma author.  They all speak to our state’s history and the challenges that have faced its citizens since its inception as Indian Territory.  Most American is a collection of essays that lends personal credence to the fiction she writes, in the form of her observation of and participation in the Oklahoma narrative. She writes with authority about the scars left by the Trail of Tears, the Osage Murders, the Tulsa Race Riots, the Oklahoma City Bombing and her own personal experiences as one who is an Oklahoman, a former resident of New York, and a citizen of the United States.

 

Five-Star Fiction

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Camino Island by John Grisham

Flight Patterns by Karen White

I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane

Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward

The Feathered Bone by Julie Cantrell

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott

The Risen by Ron Rash

The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner

The Storied Life of A.J. Filkry by Gabrielle Zevin

The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

 

Five-Star Nonfiction

A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections on a Writing Life by Pat Conroy

American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee

Books for Living by Will Schwalbe

Dimestore: A Writer’s Life by Lee Smith

Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott

In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas by Daniel Schaeffer

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

KNOWN: The Handbook for Building and Unleashing Your Personal Brand in the Digital Age by Mark Schaefer

Most American: Notes from a Wounded Place by Rilla Askew

Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts by Ryan Holiday

Red Dirt Women: At Home on the Oklahoma Plains by Susan Kates

The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall

Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best Stories Will Rule the Future by Jonah Sachs

Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron

 

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to my “Marginalia” newsletter (click here). You’ll receive it by email and see what I’ve been reading, other bookish news and information, and progress reports on my own writing.

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Holiday Collectible

 

IMG_1641

I have a framed Mary Engelbreit poster in my office that illustrates the quotation: “A book is a present you can open again and again.” For the month of December, I will amend this quote to say “Christmas books are presents (you can give yourself or others) that you can open again and again, year after year.”

It is one of my favorite decorating tasks to take the Christmas books down from the top shelf of the closet (Tom climbs on a chair and hands them down to me). I feel the excitement grow once again, as if Santa has already arrived. I can’t stop to enjoy them yet (Tom keeps the pace – a quick hand-down as I make stacks around the room), but I am thinking ahead to where I will place them this year.

I have several collections that will claim their usual places – the Robert Sabuda and Chuck Fischer Christmas pop-ups on or under the end tables in the living room, the Mary Engelbreit books in the office, smaller volumes such as my southern Christmas books and the recipe and celebration titles on the roll-top desk in the kitchen.  Large volumes, including most of my “The Night before Christmas” books and some others with especially beautiful photographs or illustrations, take their place of honor next to the fireplace.

Sabuda Popups2

 

ChristmasWorld Popup

NewYorkChristmas Popup

MEngelbreit Christmas

SouthernChristmas

NightBC

 

This year, because our grandchildren will be with us (a rarity) I am placing a basket of children’s books near the tree for the four-year-old twins to enjoy before they open their own books (from Grandma and Grandpa) on Christmas morning. My older granddaughters can enjoy the Norman Rockwell Christmas books and the Stockbridge miniature village that decorate the guest room.

BooksBasket2

JanBrettChristmas

Norman Rockwell Christmas2

I hope that you enjoy these photos of books from my collection. It’s not too late to begin one for yourself or for somebody on this year’s Christmas list. If you have done all of your shopping, be sure and drop by your book store for the after-Christmas sales; you’re sure to find something lovely to purchase for next year.  What better holiday wish could there be for those of us who love books than this:

A Merry Christmas Book to You and to Those You Love!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to my “Marginalia” newsletter (click here). You’ll receive it by email and see what I’ve been reading, other bookish news and information, and progress reports on my own writing.

 

 

 
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