by Mark Haddon

I started this book a couple of years ago, but never finished until now.  It offers insight into an austistic teenager’s mind.  The passage about him waiting and waiting to catch the train by himself was incredibly surprising, because it was so realistic.  I also enjoyed the little drawings and math problems scattered throughout the book.  It’s neither an incredibly sad, nor a happy book.  It’s also not a typical mystery novel either.

by Leif Enger
Originally published May 2008

When we went to see Minnesotan author Leif Enger at a small local library in April, we picked up a copy of his second novel.  But I put off reading it, because I was afraid it wouldn’t be as engrossing as  his first (Peace Like a River) and I just wasn’t ready for a cowboy tale.  But I’m glad I finally picked it up.  It’s an adventure set around 1915 with lots of boats, trains, and horses and it’s full of romantic leanings.  I also enjoyed how different rivers from Minnesota to California play major roles in the story.   There were also a lot of surprises in the plot and with character development.  Watch out for the Charles Siringo character, based on a real life Pinkerton detective.

This is a perfect book for summer reading.  The pace is quick, because each chapter is only three to six pages long.  Enger  also keeps the characters’ diction simple and short, perfect for a cowboy kind of yarn.  I also couldn’t help thinking that the main character Monte Becket seemed a lot like the author who seemed grounded, curious, and reflective when we saw him read and answer questions at the library. I’m already looking forward to his next creation whenever that may be.

Deng Ming-Dao’s nine-page statement on his website is worth reading if you’re interested in learning more about this low-key author/artist’s life.  He covers aspects of his childhood including a teacher who made a difference.

I can’t provide a direct link to his writing, because the site is in Flash, so once you get there go to About >> Statement.

Quotes:

 

by Joan Didion

I picked up this copy from a Friends of the Library bookstore for 25 cents more than a year ago.  All the essays written between 1961 and 1967 are set mainly in California.  Didion’s sharp and dry writing style reflects the image of the dry, golden hills of California that are conjured up when reading these essays.  I enjoyed “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream” the most.  It’s a murder mystery set in the San Fernando valley that also exposes the alienation of suburban America.  The most disturbing essay is “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” about the Haight-Ashbury crowd in the ’60s, because of the scene of a mother giving her five-year-old child a hit of acid.  I can see how anyone reading this essay in 1967 might have easily reviled hippies given the aimless and drug-filled lives Didion writes about.

by Stephen S. Cohen and John Zysman

Review pending

by Rollo May

My friend gave me this book.  He was reminded of the book when he watched an episode of Northern Exposure called “Burning Down the House.”  It is clear from Chris’ speech that the writer had read The Courage to Create.  It’s almost word for word, and it summarizes much of May’s writing.

Chris: “I’ve been here now for some days, groping my way along, trying to realize my vision here. I started concentrating so hard on my vision that I lost sight. I’ve come to find out that it’s not the vision, it’s not the vision at all. It’s the groping. It’s the groping, it’s the yearning, it’s the moving forward. I was so fixated on that flying cow that when Ed told me Monty Python already painted that picture, I thought I was through. I had to let go of that cow so I could see all the other possibilities. Anyway, I want to thank Maurice for helping me to let go of that cow. Thank you Maurice for playing Apollo to my Dionysus in art’s Cartesian dialectic. And thanks to you, Ed, cause the truth shall set us free! And Maggie, thank you for sharing in the destruction of your house so that today we could have something to fling. I think Kierkegaard said it oh so well, ‘The self is only that which it’s in the process of becoming.’ Art? Same thing. James Joyce had something to say about it too. ‘Welcome, Oh Life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience, and to forge in the smythe of my soul the uncreated conscious of my race.’ We’re here today to fling something that bubbled up from the collective unconsciousness of our community. Ed, you about ready? The thing I learned folks, this is absolutely key: It’s not the thing you fling. It’s the fling itself. Let’s fling something, Cicely! ” [via Moosechick]

 

Here some noteworthy passages from the book:

One longs for the presence of a leader like Lincoln, who openly admitted his doubts and as openly preserved his commitment.  It is infinitely safer to know that the man at the top of his doubts, as you and I have ours, yet has the courage to move ahead in spite of these doubts.  In contrast to the fanatic who has stockaded himself against new truth, the person with the courage to believe and at the same time to admit his doubts is flexible and open to new learning.

On the question of what is creativity:

 We are thus not dealing with hobbies, do-it-yourself movements, Sunday painting, or other forms of filling up leisure time.  Nowhere has the meaning of creativity been more disastrously lost than in the the idea that it is something you do only on the week ends!
       The creative process must be explored not as the product of sickness, but as representing the highest degree of emotional health, as the expression of the normal people in the act of actualizing themselves.

by Bonnie St. John

This book was on the new arrivals shelf at the library and I checked it out, because I already knew a bit about Bonnie.  But I learned some more about her.  She finished Harvard in three years because she was worried that not having enough money for four years of school.  Then at Oxford, she was rejected from the master’s in economics program.  She was advised to pursue a bachelor’s in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) instead.  But she thought that it would be a repetition of what she had done at Harvard, so she became intent on getting a master’s in economics.  She fought hard to get into the master’s program where she spent an additional two years.  She didn’t realize if she had gone along with the PPE degree, Oxford would have awarded her an equivalent of an American master’s degree.  She was not living her joy then, because she was so busy studying, she had given up a lot of the ease and social aspects of that came with such a generous scholarship.  You can tell by her writing that she is really feisty. She defines joy as coming from within.  It’s not the same thing as happiness and pleasure.   Having a bad hair day can really throw her into a tizzy.  It’s an ongoing process for her to maintain her joy.  And she even has an emergency joy kit containing a photo of her, bubble bath, a letter from her mother, chocolate, etc.

by Barack Obama

Paul Krugman wrote that Obama’s “command of the issues — and ability to explain those issues in plain English — is a joy to behold.”  Krugman was writing about Obama’s oratory skills, but it could also describe his writing style–clear and engaging.  If I had read this book before the November 2008 election, I certainly would have voted for him.  Sure, he’s a politician, but the way he writes about educational issues or foreign relations demonstrates that he cares about all people making progress.  He’s also well aware of the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the media and right wingers.  A great read if you want some reassurance that in the Oval Office there is a fundamentally good, grounded person with a wide and deep understanding of topics ranging from failure (there is a great passage about losing an election and Al Gore)  to the relationship of manufacturing to the service sectors in the economy.

Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future
by Will Bunch
published 2009

It’s easy to take for granted recent history more than distant periods like the Civil War.  For more current times, we think we can rely on our memory.  But that’s exactly why it’s essential to read a book like Tear Down This Myth to clarify the events and effects of, in this case, Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

There has been a successful effort by the GOP to create a legend out of Reagan.  And the biggest myth they’ve created is that Reagan ended the Cold War.  This particular myth makes us think that Reagan tough talked his way with the Soviets.  When he gave his “tear down this wall” speech in 1987, it only made it to page three in the New York Times.  He was already speaking and  negotiating with Gorbachev since 1985.  The end of the Cold War did not end, because Reagan told the Soviets to do so.  There were many factors that led to it including the economic stagnation in the USSR and Gorbachev’s policies.  An interesting argument is that the rise of the PC also contributed to the decline of the Cold War.  The US was having a high tech revolution in the 1980s and the Soviets were being left behind.

Another big myth is that Reagan freed the Iranian hostages in 1980.  Negotiations were occurring in November and December of 1980 and January 1981.  Yes, that’s right, under the Carter administration.  A final agreement was made on January 17, 1981 and officially became the Algiers Accords on January 19th.  Reagan’s inauguration ceremony was on January 20, 1981, the same day the hostages were physically released.

One anecdote that stood out in the book was the $1 million contract Reagan got in 1941 for his next seven films.   At the time, the marginal tax rate was over 90% on such an income.  Of course, Reagan thought it was too much to give the government and he was also feeling financially stressed from his divorce from Jane Wyman.  So in 1981, when he reduced the marginal income tax rate, the wealthiest benefited the most.  Their rate dropped from 70% to 50% while those in the lower income bracket only saw their rate decline from 14% to 11%.  The author also gives other examples of the negative effects of Reagan’s policies including the Iran-Contra affair.

I recommend this book if you want o gain a realistic understanding of Reagan’s legacy.  See what you remember and what you didn’t.  You will also gain some insight into the large role Grover Norquist played in building the Reagan myth and creating the GOP we know today.

by Alan Moore (author), Dave Gibbons (illustrator)
Published 1986-1987

Months ago, a friend bought a new copy of this graphic novel even though he had read it years ago and then he sent it to me (via intracompany mail) to read.  He claims it’s the best graphic novel ever.  There are a lot of details in the illustrations, so initially it wasn’t easy to breeze through the first few chapters.  I found myself turning the book upside down often to read headlines of newspapers strewn on the street or someone’s desk in the different panels.  In general,  I found the pace and the story really intense and pretty violent.  It’s not the best reading to do before bedtime.  And for some reason I found it hard to concentrate on the longer prose pieces between the chapters, even when some of them had a pirate theme.  But don’t take any of these reflections as negative.  I highly recommend it.  It’s a mature story with lots and lots of layers  including the nuclear arms race with Russia and of course, human nature.  I won’t summarize the story for you.  For that, you can go here.

What I did find interesting was a line in Chapter XI: “Look On My Works, Ye Mighty…” about “frighten[ing] governments into co-operation, I would convince them that Earth faced imminent attack by beings from another world.” It reminded me of something I had read about Ronald Reagan.  He had given a speech to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 21, 1987 and in his address he said:

Can we and all nations not live in peace? In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.

Since the last chapter in the series, Chapter XII: “A Stronger Loving World”, was released in October 1987. It’s doubtful the second to last one (Chapter XI) was written after Reagan’s address.  I’m sure if I research more deeply into inspiration and references for Watchmen, this one parallel wouldn’t seem so trippy.

Pico Iyer reflects on moving from NYC to Japan.

by Eric Simons

I picked up this book, because I really liked the organizing principle behind the author’s project.  Simons, a twentysomething-year-old journalist and science major, would travel in Brazil, Argentina and Chile to retrace the steps of the young Charles Darwin.  Darwin was only 23 years old when he began his three-year exploration of South America. I especially liked Simons’ thought that traveling and experiencing the world outside of England were just as important to Darwin’s intellectual development and work as his scientific observations during the five-year HMS Beagle voyage.  I also enjoyed how Simons used a travelogue to provide an accessible introduction to Darwin before he became the gray, bearded guy we now picture.

Note:  Darwin didn’t publish On the Origin of Species until he was 50 years old.

David can beat Goliath by substituting effort for ability—and substituting effort for ability turns out to be a winning formula for underdogs in all walks of life.

Source: Malcolm Gladwell article

by John Steinbeck

For the quality of owning freezes you forever into “I,” and cuts you off forever from the “we.”

pg. 206

‘What I Want for You — and Every Child in America’ By President-elect Barack Obama
Publication Date: 01/14/2009 Parade Magazine

Next Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them.

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you’ve both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn’t make up for all the time we’ve been apart. I know how much I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I’d make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn’t seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better—and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you’ve had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

I haven’t been able to finish any books lately, because to be honest I’ve been obsessed with Obama, especially after the election.  I’ve just been reading and reading about his campaign.

The Candidate | The New Yorker | by William Finnegan May 31, 2004

The Fresh Face | TIME | by Joe Klein October 16, 2006

Can Barack Obama catch Hillary Clinton | The New Yorker November 26, 2007

The Choice: The New YorkerJanuary 28, 2008

On the Court and on the Trail, One Aide Looms Over Obama May 5, 2008

The Hardest Vote | The New Yorker | by George Packer October 13, 2008

How Obama Won | The New Yorker | by Ryan Lizza November 17, 2008

The Joshua Generation NOVEMBER 17, 2008

How He Did It | Newsweek | Secrets of the 2008 Campaign Published online Nov 5, 2008 From the magazine issue dated Nov 17, 2008
Comment: this is a really great seven part series about both campaigns

The ‘O’ in Obama | NYTimes.com November 20, 2008

Barack Obama on Flickr – Best Of

by Elizabeth Hardwick

It took me months to read this book that I found in the Friends of the Library bookstore.  I was immediately drawn to it, but I would only read a few pages in bed before going to sleep.  So it had a disconnected feeling, because I wouldn’t necessarily remember exactly what I read.  And in the end it turned to be the perfect way to read such a book that was full of impressions and reflections on a life.  It sometimes read like a journal, sometimes like an essay, sometimes like a sketch.

Quotes from The Dip by Seth Godin

The next time you catch yourself being average when you feel like quitting, realize that you have only two good choices:  Quit or be exceptional.  Average is for losers.

Average feels safe, but it’s not.  It’s invisible.  It’s the last choice–the path of least resistance.  The temptation to be average is just another kind of quitting…the kind to be avoided.  You deserve better than average. 

‘Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment.

If you are trying to succeed in a job or a relationship or at a task, you’re either moving forward, falling behind, or standing still.  There are only three choices.

by Stewart O’Nan

Currently reading…

by C.E. Spaulding and Jackie Spaulding

I love this book.  It’s now hard to find.  The library I frequent has four copies though. My partner found it in the library and checked it out for me.  Published in 1979 by Rodale Press, it addresses how to care for baby animals from kids (goats, that is) to monkeys in simple, easy-to-understand language.  It also has the most adorable illustration.  See sample below and click to enlarge.  It shows how to use a sock to help a duckling heal a hurt wing.  Cute.

by Per Petterson

It’s about a man in his sixties reflecting on the events of one summer when he was fifteen.  The author captures really well the slowness, the thickness of the air and heat of a summer day.  He also hints and slowly builds up to violence acts yet to come.  You read in anticipation of what will come.  And when it does come, it doesn’t seem so shocking.  It’s as if he had prepared you for it.  What I mean by violence is varied–from a shooting, to a kiss, to an abandonment.  A good summer or winter read.

by Madeleine L’Engle

As you can see I was on a Madeleine L’Engle kick – focused on her Crosswicks Journals. I read these two slowly one after the other, so the details have blended. However, I preferred a Circle of Quiet from 1972. There was a good portion on what makes a good relationship and the position of children in a family. I have to admit that my view was tainted by an article about the author from the New Yorker in 2004.  It said that their marriage wasn’t so great and most of the situations were fictionalized accounts.  That’s unfortunate.  I shouldn’t have read the article.  It was too negative.  Anyway, Circle of Quiet is still a good read andn Two-Part Invention from 1988 is incredibly sad because it covers the decline of her husband’s health.  Note:  I skipped the third Crosswicks Journal called the Irrational Season altogether.  It was too religious for my tastes and talking about Christmas during a hot July didn’t fit.

by Pico Iyer

I would confuse Pico Iyer with V.S. Naipaul.  Never again.  Pico Iyer is a thoughtful writer and he had access to the 14th Dalai Lama, because of a relationship his father formed with the lama years ago.  This is the right book to offer some further insight into the Dalai Lama’s appeal and personality especially in the present day.  Recommended.

by Patrick Dennis

I saw the movie with Rosalind Russell when I was a tween and I loved it.  I wanted an easy book to ready while I traveled to NYC and I thought this one would be a good page-turner without it being one of those typical airport reads like from Nora Roberts.  Auntie Mame does hold up really well.  Only a few references are obscure, but the locale–mainly NYC–put me in the mood for my destination.  It was fun, but without being silly.  And I liked how the main character got exasperated with his aunt, but all the while continuing to love her and vice versa.

by Jimmy Carter

After I heard an interview with Jimmy Carter, I decided to read this book, because I wanted to know more about the kind of woman who goes to India with the Peace Corps when she was 70 years old.  It was a quick read and I learned just as much about him as his mother Lillian.

by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

I wanted an easy read for a beach-based vacation and this book was on the shelf of the Friends of the Library bookstore.  I had heard about it after the DaVinci Code frenzy.  While it has a similar premise–an old manuscript with modern consequences, it is set mostly at Princeton University among a set of undergrad friends.  It’s interesting and engaging enough, but I wouldn’t make it a must-read.  

I found a series of book reviews called “Fine Lines” from jezebel.com:

The Friday feature in which we give a sentimental, sometimes-critical, far more wrinkled look at the children’s and YA books we loved in our youth.

The choices take me way back, since I’ve read most of what she reviews.  Pure nostalgia.  See them here.

by Barack Obama

I decided to read this book before the whole election cycle heated up, or before I really started paying attention to it.  Besides, I wanted to find out about Barack Obama in his words before he even had a clue about running for the Senate or US presidency.  I liked his honesty about his teenage years–the confusion, the anger, the frustrations.

by Peter C. Brown

I couldn’t resist this book once I read it was set in Minnesota and Alaska.  It’s basically a love story set, but not horribly sappy or typical.  I like books about strong, independent women in a wild and adventurous setting.  In this case, it covers the gold rush in Nome in 1900.

by Madeleine L’Engle

I found this at a book sale. Although it’s book two of L’Engles Crosswick Journals, I read it anyway, because it deals with her ailing mother and a reflection on her mother and family and what it means to take care of a sick mother and the emotional toll of it. It’s not bleak. It’s just full of honesty and an appreciation of family and friends. I took my time reading this, because I didn’t want to reach the end.