The Sunday Salon: Gleaned from the Saturday Review

Feb8

I try to go through the reviews posted at the Saturday Review each week and make note of the books that I might want to read myself. Here are the results of that endeavor:

A Passion for Books by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan. Recommended by FatalisFortuna. I love books about books, too.

I am encouraged to read Beloved by Toni Morrison, a book that I have had on my TBR list for a long time, by Krakovianka’s review. Perhaps Black History Month would be a good month to take the plunge.

There Is No Me WIthout You by Melissa Fay Greene. Recommended by Jane at Much Ado. I’ve been working for a long time on a booklist of books about or set in Africa, at least one book that gives a picture of the history and/or ambience of each country on the continent. Maybe I should post the incomplete list here on Semicolon sometime and ask for help. Oh, this one is nonfiction set in Ethiopia.

Change of Heart by Jodi Piccoult. Recommended at the 3Rs. I’ve read one or two books by Ms. Piccoult, and I think I might like this one.

Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker. Recommended by Julie at Deliciously Clean Reads. Set in Montana, this novel is the Depression era story of a girl growing up and seeing her home through new eyes.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Recommended at The Book Lady’s Blog. With such a glowing recommendation, I can’t resist.

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunee. Recommended by My Friend Amy. A memoir of a an abandoned Korean child, adopted by American parents, who as an adult searches for her roots and for a sense of belonging.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Recommended at Educating Petunia. Ms. Petunia makes this one sound irresistible, too.

As usual, I found way too many books to add to my reading list, but I’ll just have to enjoy adding them, looking forward to them, and eventually reading them.

Dickensian Birthday Celebration

Feb7

Happy Birthday, Mr. Dickens!

Born on this date in 1812, Mr. Dickens has been delighting readers for over 150 years.

Dickens Novels I’ve Read: David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations, Our Mutual Friend

DIckens Novels I Have Yet to Enjoy: Hard Times, Dombey and Son, Bleak House, The Old Curiosity Shop, Barnaby Rudge, Martin Chuzzlewit, Little Dorrit, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Favorite Dickens Hero: Pip, Great Expectations

Favorite Dickens Villain(ess): Madame Defarge, Tale of Two Cities

Favorite Tragic Scene: Mr. Peggotty searching for Littel Em’ly (Is that a scene or an episode?)

Favorite Comic Character: Mr. Micawber, David Copperfield

Favorite Comic Scene: Miss Betsy Trotter chasing the donkeys out of her yard, David Copperfield

Strangest Dickens Christmas Story We’ve Read: “The Poor Relation’s Story”

Best Dickens Novel I’ve Read: A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield is a close second.

Dickens-related posts at Semicolon:

LOST Reading Project: Our Mutual Friend by Charles DIckens.

Scrooge Goes to Church

Dickens Pro and Con on his Birthday.

Quotes and Links

Born February 7th

Charles Dickens by Jane Smiley

A Little More Dickens

Other DIckens-related links:
Mere Comments on Dickens’ Christianity.

A DIckens Filmography at Internet Film Database.

George Orwell: Essay on Charles DIckens.

Edgar Allan Poe Meets Charles Dickens.

An entire blog devoted to Mr. DIckens and his work: DIckensblog by Gina Dalfonzo.

And finally, here’s a re-post of my own Dickens Quiz. Can you match the quotation with the Dickens novel that it comes from?

1. “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

2. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”

3. “I would rather, I declare, have been a pig-faced lady, than be exposed to such a life as this!”

4. “It’s over and can’t be helped, and that’s one consolation as they always says in Turkey, ven they cuts the wrong man’s head off.”

5. “If the law supposes that,’ said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, “the law is a ass–a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience–by experience.”

6. “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!”

7. “We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one.”

8. “It is a sensation not experienced by many mortals,” said he, “to be looking into a churchyard on a wild windy night, and to feel that I no more hold a place among the living than these dead do, and even to know that I lie buried somewhere else, as they lie buried here. Nothing uses me to it. A spirit that was once a man could hardly feel stranger or lonelier, going unrecognized among mankind, than I feel.”

(HINT: these come from the eight DIckens novels that I have read. Which is from which?)

Solvent States Bail Out the Spendthrifts

Feb6

I live in Texas. We do a lot of things backwards here in Texas, and I could be critical if I wanted. However we do two things right:

1. The state legislature is required to balance the state’s budget and spend no more than it takes in in taxes and other revenue.
2. We only allow the state legislature to meet every two years.

(I won’t say much about about number two; I’ll just let you think about how nice it would be, if you live somewhere else, to only have to worry about what the state legislature might do next, every two years.)

In the so-called Stimulus Package that is now moving sluggishly but surely, like a juggernaut of an oil spill, through the Senate, there is a provision for 79 billion dollars in monies for a “State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but what I think this government-speak title means is that those of us who live in states that have a balanced budget will be sending money, lots of money, to states that spend money like it’s water to save them from dying of thirst. Only they’re not dying, just in debt. And I don’t particularly feel obligated to pay California’s debts.

This 79 billion is only one of many boondoggles spending sprees disguised as economic stimulus that are in the bill that is about to make through Congress if we don’t do something to stop it. I’ll be highlighting several more in the next few days. Why? What hath this to do with books?

Well, I won’t be able to buy any books or much of anything else, I fear. I’ll be too busy paying for an economic stimulus that didn’t stimulate anything but more spending and more debt that we, as a nation, can’t afford. You don’t get out of a economic depression by spending money that you don’t have!

For more information on Congress spending like a drunken sailor, see The Corner, 50 De-Stimulating Facts.

7 Quick Takes Friday

Feb6

1

Laughing is good for you. I got my laughs last Friday from Violet at Promptings and this list of verbal exchanges that are said to be taken from actual legal transcripts.
Here’s a sample:

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it?

2

Mr. Walker has a Weight Loss Stimulus Plan. It involves eating more in order to ummmm, lose weight? Well, the way he explains it it’ll work just as well as that Other Stimulus Plan.

3

Life at Walmart by Charles Platt at BoingBoing “Of course, I was not well paid, but Wal-Mart is hardly unique in paying a low hourly rate to entry-level retail staff. The answer to this problem seems elusive to Barbara Ehrenreich, yet is obvious to any teenager who enrolls in a vocational institute. In a labor market, employees are valued partly according to their abilities. To earn a higher hourly rate, you need to acquire some relevant skills.”

Why is this concept so difficult for people to grasp? I would even go so far as to say that if you work hard at a low-paying job and gain some experience and prove your dependability, yu will likely, in most well-run companies, become more valuable to your employer and thereby be paid more, even if you don’t go to school or some training institute to get “relevant skills.” I’ve seen it happen again and again. A friend’s son is working at a local grocery store. He started out as a bagger. He is now training, in store, to be a customer service manager. He’s twenty years old and has a very few hours of college credit to his name. However, he is dependable, teachable, and pleasant to be around. These qualities can, with time, get you a decent job at a decent wage.

4

Check out JellyTelly, Phil Vischer’s new project (VeggieTales).

5

From School Library Journal:

Blair Lent, the Caldecott winning illustrator of many books based on East European, Asian, and African folklore, including the popular Tikki, Tikki, Tembo (Holt, 1968), died on January 27 in Medford, MA. He was 79.

Prior to winning the 1973 Caldecott Medal for The Funny Little Woman (Dutton, 1972) by Arlene Mosel, Lent had three Caldecott Honor Books: The Wave (1965) by Margaret Hodges); Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky: An African Folktale (1969, both Houghton) by Elphinstone Dayell; and The Angry Moon (Atlantic, 1971)

Tikki Tikki Tembo is one of my favorite picture books. I call my youngest Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo when I’m feeling particularly fond of her, just like the Mother in the book.

6

Sarah at Reading the Past writes about some upcoming historical fiction titles, including a new book set during the Great Depression by Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society co-author Annie Barrows. I just finished reading Guernsey . . ., and I must say I liked it very much just like everyone else.

7

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith is being made into an HBO mini-series. Thanks for the information, Mindy.

Click on the icon at the top of this post for more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

LOST Rehash: The Little Prince

Feb4

SPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERS

Jin’s back! We knew he couldn’t really be dead. Is anyone really, truly, without a doubt, never to revived, dead as a doornail, dead on this island? Boone, Shannon, Locke’s dad Cooper, all those Dharma people and redshirt Losties, Ana Lucia and Libby, Mr. Eko, Charlie? I suppose they’re dead, but if we’re going to rewind Island time, why couldn’t we rewind to before they died and start again there? And if we did, would it change anything?

“Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the country’s done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.”

And yet Marley’s ghost returns. And yet Jin’s near-dead body washes up on shore in another time and place. And I think John Locke is Hamlet. Hamlet’s been talking to his father’s ghost when that confused and indecisive Danish prince complains:

The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!

Of course, Locke is the prince, the anointed one, who’s supposed to set the island right in time and space. But whereas Hamlet was supposed to accomplish his father’s revenge, Locke has another mission: to bring back the wandering Losties who have left the fold and become lost in their lies and deceit.

I’m sure the title of this episode mostly refers to Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s fantasy, Le petit prince. Interesting that the book was originally written in French, and Danielle’s French contingent shows up on the beach in this episode. Also, Aaron’s sort of in the middle of everything (a little child shall lead them?), and I suppose he’s also the “little prince” of the title. I don’t really understand why Aaron is so very important, but he’s another “special” child, isn’t he?

Speaking of special children, why was it OK for Walt and Michael to leave the island, but not for Jack, Kate, Sun, Hurley, Sayid and Aaron? What’s Walt doing these days anyway? Growing up, I reckon.

What’s going on between Ben and Sayid? Sayid was working for Ben, but now Sayid doesn’t trust Ben and wants to save Hurley from Ben’s influence and machinations. It’s almost as if Ben has some kind of control thingie implanted in Sayid; Sayid’s eyes go dead as soon as Ben enters the picture. Maybe it’s similar to the kind of control he planted in Sawyer (or didn’t plant in Sawyer). Something weird is going on there.

Everyone in Jumping Around Island Time is starting to hemorrhage. Except for Locke, Sawyer, and Faraday. Maybe Charlotte and Miles were on the island as children? And Juliet’s been there longer than Sawyer and Locke. Why are only the Losties jumping around in time and not Danielle’s French people or the Canoe People or Richard’s people or the Dharma people? Who are the Canoe People, anyway? Am I forgetting something?

I’m sure I’m forgetting lots of things.

Best lines go to Sawyer as usual: “Thank you, God!” “I take that back!”
And, Sawyer to Juliet: “Yeah, time travel’s a b—!”

Worst attempt at being profound: Locke says, “I needed that pain to get where I am now.” But the question is: where is he now, and is it such a great place (or time)? I still don’t like Locke, never have, probably never will.

Worst love quadrangle: Jack still loves Kate. Sawyer loves Kate, too. Kate still doesn’t know whether she’s with Jack or Sawyer. Juliet always gets stuck with the leftovers. But Sawyer’s unstuck in time with Juliet, not Kate. And Kate says she’s “always been with you, Jack.” If you can’t be with the one you want, love the one you’re with?

If you’re down and confused
And you don’t remember who you’re talkin’ to
Concentration slip away
Cause your baby is so far away.
Well, there’s a rose in a fisted glove
And the eagle flies with the dove
And if you can’t be with the one you love
Love the one you’re with
Love the one you’re with

Not suggesting those lyrics as guidance for life, just drawing connections. Leave your connections and links at the Lost Books Challenge blog.

Till next week . . .

Holey Moley: It’s a Math Crisis!

Feb4

Total population of the United States: 305, 748, 186

Nancy Pelosi: “Every month that we do not have an economic stimulus package, 500 million Americans lose their jobs.”

She meant 500,000. Question: Can we use the same math and decrease the economic stimulus package by the same order of magnitude, since Ms. Pelosi thought the problem was 1000 times as bad as it it may be? Divide 1 trillion by 1000, and we’ve at least reduced the boondoggle to 1 billion. It’s still a travesty, but better math.

(NOTE to readers: Check my math. It’s not my best subject either.)

Stimulating Taxes

Feb4

The Anchoress has a 1-2-3 Stimulus Bill, an easy three-step program to stimulate the economy. I think she has a great idea, and I have a plan to help with step three on her list: make people who don’t pay their taxes pay them.

It looks as if there might be a lot of these people, people who owe forty thousand or one hundred fifty thousand dollars in taxes. The IRS doesn’t have time or manpower to audit everyone who might owe that amount of money or more. What we need is self-audit. And we’ve happened onto a way to get rich people to ‘fess up and pay their back taxes: appoint them to a position in the Obama administration that requires confirmation by the US Senate. Now, President Obama can’t appoint everyone who make more than a million dollars to a position within the administration any more than the IRS can audit all those millionaires. However, he can threaten/promise. I suggest he make a statement something like this:

“I believe that if you’ve made a million or more dollars that you know something. You’re doing something right. And I want that kind of expertise in my administration. So, I’m going to be looking at a list of millionaires for positions in my new administration. And I want a bipartisan group working for me, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or neither or even if you haven’t voted in years. If you had a million dollars in income in any year in the past five years, I’m looking at you. Uncle Sam wants you to serve. HOWEVER, you must have paid all your taxes. If you have any unpaid taxes, please pay them now, voluntarily, so that I can consider you as a part of my team.”

All those millionaires would be scrambling to pay their taxes just like Daschle. The US treasury would start filling up, and if we also did steps one and two of The Anchoress’s plan, everyone would at least have a good time for a while. Which is more than I can say for the stimulus package that’s in Congress now.

KidLitosphere Central

Feb3

Take a look at this new initiative if you’re at all interested in children’s books, reading, and libraries.

This thing that Melissa Wiley dubbed the “KidLitosphere” has become a valuable resource that celebrates fiction and nonfiction, poetry and prose, authors and illustrators, writing and reading. Bloggers cover everything from picture books to young adult titles, writing process to publishing success, personal news to national events.

KidLitosphere Central strives to provide an avenue to good books and useful literary resources; to support authors and publishers by connecting them with readers and book reviewers; and to continue the growth of the society of bloggers in children’s and young adult literature.

Bookmark it now.

Reading Through Texas

Feb1

I’m working on an assigned booklist, readers if you will, for a class that will be taught to sixth graders next year in our homeschool co-op. The class is supposed to incorporate literature and Texas history. So, I’ve been reading books about Texas: historical fiction, biographies, memoirs, short stories, nonfiction, poetry if I can find any. So far I have the following books that I’ve already read and evaluated to some extent:

We Asked for Nothing: The Remarkable Journey of Cabeza de Vaca (Great Explorers) by Stuart Waldman. Mikaya Press, 2003. I haven’t actually looked at this book yet. I’d like to have something on the list about early explorers and something about the Native Americans who lived in Texas, but I’m having trouble finding good, recommended titles to evaluate on either of those subjects. Any suggestions?

The Boy in the Alamo by Margaret Cousins. Fiction set in the Alamo, 1836. Corona Publishing, 1983. Ms. Cousins very much presents the Texans’ side and the traditional account of the Alamo story through the eyes of her fictional hero, twelve year old Billy Campbell. Billy runs away from home and follows his older brother Buck who has joined Davy Crockett’s Tennessee Volunteers. Sherry Garland’s account (see below) is more nuanced and therefore more thought-provoking, but Ms. Cousins’ story gives the basic traditional outlines of the story of the Alamo as the Texians experienced it and may be more appropriate as an introduction for sixth graders.

In the Shadow of the Alamo by Sherry Garland. Gulliver Books, 2001. This book is different because it’s told from the perspective of a Mexican boy, Lorenzo, who’s conscripted into Santa Anna’s army and forced to fight the Tejanos at the Alamo and at San Jacinto. It may be a little too graphic and mature for some sixth graders.

Inside the Alamo by Jim Murphy. If the fictional accounts are too hard to find in sufficient quantities (The Boy in the Alamo) or too advanced for our sixth graders (In the Shadow of the Alamo), I may go with this nonfiction book by award-winning author JIm Murphy.

Make Way for Sam Houston by Jean Fritz. Putnam, 1998. Biography of famous Texan general, president, and governor Sam Houston.

Come Juneteenth by Ann Rinaldi. Slavery in Texas during and after the Civil War. Harcourt 2007. I read this book a long time ago. Is it too mature for sixth graders?

Wait for Me, Watch for Me, Eula Bee by Patricia Beatty. Fiction set in West Texas, 1860’s. William Morrow and Company, 1978. I also read this one a long time ago, but I remember it as exciting with some good things to discuss about family loyalty and cultural engagement.

Cowboys of the Wild West by Russell Freedman. Nonfiction, late 1800’s. Clarion Books 1995. I have this one on my shelf, lots of pictures, a good break from fiction for those who prefer their information in a nonfiction format.

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Texas frontier, 1860’s. Harper Classics, 2001. Old Yeller. Classic. Natch.

Search for the Shadowman by Joan Lowery Nixon. Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1996. Set in contemporary times, this story would be a good introduction to a family history/genealogy unit since it tells about a boy who researches his own family history and discovers facts that may be better kept secret. There are a few holes in the plot, and some of the information on how to use computers to research genealogy are a little dated, but most kids probably won’t notice. The historical part is set in c.1876-1888, so I put it here is the list to keep to chronological order.

The Texas Rangers by Will Henry. Landmark book/out of print. I haven’t seen this one either, and it may be too difficult to get copies for all our students. But I would like to have something about the Texas Rangers.

Galveston’s Summer of the Storm by Julie Lake. Fiction set during Galveston Hurricane of 1900. TCU Press, 2003. I reviewed this book a couple of years ago, and I liked it very much. I said then: “Lots of historical detail, information about sailing ships and steam trains, and book characters that make the history come to life all make this book an excellent choice for middle grade (3-6) readers and classrooms.” Unless someone else knows of a better book on the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, this one will be on the list.

Mooonshiner’s Gold by John R. Erickson. Fiction set in Texas Panhandle, 1926. Viking 2001. Great action-packed adventure with engaging characters and a lot of history sneaking in through the back door. John Erickson is known for his Hank the Cowdog series, but this stand-alone adventure is just a good as the Hank books and should be just the right reading level for most sixth graders.

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. I’m hesitant to include this one even though I loved it. It does have some seriously evil villains, and the Native American mythical elements may bother some people in our (very conservative) co-op. I think it would have to be introduced to the class with care and enthusiasm. But it’s such a good book! Semicolon review here.

Holes by Louis Sachar. Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1998. I think this one might be a good book to end the year. It’s set in a sort of mythical, contemporary Texas, and it ought to be fun for the kids to talk about the plot and the characters in relation to their own lives and experiences.

Any help, comments, suggestions, you can give, I will appreciate. I know there’s lots more fiction set in and around the Alamo. Which one is the best? I don’t have anything set during the Civil War except for Come Juneteenth, which may be too mature for sixth graders. Nor is there anything set during the Dust Bowl era, the Great Depression, or World War II and the latter half of the twentieth century.

Also, most of the books feature a male protagonist. Any girl-y books about Texas that you all can recommend? Poetry? Short story collections?