Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Top Ten Authors that Deserve More Recognition


In no particular order...
Wallace Stegner
Truman Capote
Carol Shields
William Steig
V. S. Naipaul
James Thurber
Louis Sachar
Marilynne Robinson
Chaim Potok
Anne Tyler

Who are authors you see as neglected?

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Eating Snails at McDonald's

I'm reading an amazing book.
(Good. I see you streaming in.
Lots of you.
You want to know what I'm reading
that is so amazing, right?)

It's a book of poetry.
(Well, that did it.
 Cleared the room with one word.)

Wait. Stop. Give me one more minute of your time.
(Thank you for stopping,
even if you are standing at the open door.)

The book is called Crossing State Lines: An American Renga.
A renga is an old Japanese poetic form.
You know haiku?
A renga is similar to a haiku,
only it is done collaboratively.
(Are you still there? One more minute.)

This book is a collaborative effort of fifty-four of
America's greatest living poets.
Everybody is here...Robert Pinsky...Billy Collins...
Adrienne Rich...Edward Hirsch...David Lehman...Rita Dove...
(If you've waited this long, let me reward you with a taste.)

"We're not them,"
the man at Verizon
Help Desk says.

"Okay," I say, "who is 'them'?"
"There is no 'them,'" he says.

Epiphany. A sign
outside Prince Realty:
Need Help? Inquire Within.

All the dry stiff Christmas trees
tip to trunk along the curb.

(So what do you think? she asks, a little too eagerly.
Like it?
If you are rubbing your head in confusion,
read it one more time.

Remember: Poetry isn't a McDonald's hamburger.

If you liked this little part,
just imagine a whole book of it.
And all of it linked together.
And written by some brilliant poets.

If you've left the room
or if you've stayed, but you are still rubbing your head,
that's okay, too.
Just promise me you'll try a bite or two of poetry
on another day.

Think of poetry like snails.
You've got to take it in small nibbles.
And you ain't gonna hear anyone say it tastes like chicken.
Stop thinking that you are eating snails;
just enjoy the incredible taste.)

Thank you to publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux for sharing this advanced reader copy with me.



Other books read and reviewed this week, all fabulous reads as well:




If you'd like to learn more about Sunday Salon, click here.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Blog Hop: Everybody Loves a Mystery

Book Blogger Hop

The writing prompt from this week's Book Blogger Hop:
"If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…
which one would it be and why?"


No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
I love the main character,
Mma Precious Ramotswe.
The series takes place in Botswana in Africa.
Mma Ramotswe decides to become her country's first lady detective.
Mma Ramotswe treats everyone she meets with respect.
She treats herself with respect;
she is a large woman, but she thinks of herself as
"a woman of traditional build."

I'd love to live in Botswana
and solve mysteries with Mma Ramotswe.

Here's a little audio clip from the latest book in the series,
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies.

How about you? What series or book
would you like to be a part of?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Top Ten Bookish Peeves


peeve   a source of annoyance or irritation

I have a lot of bookish peeves.

1. People who never read books.
2. People who must read books in order.
3. People who must finish every book they start.
4. People who sigh and say,
"I wish I could read as many books as you.
I just don't have time."
5. Books that have a great cover and go downhill from there.
6. Books that are made from movies.
7. Predictable plots in books.
8. Books with the Problem of the Month.
9. YA books that are sooo serious.
(Is life really that horrible at fourteen?)
10. And finally (and please forgive me if I step on toes) Vampire Books.

What are your bookish peeves?
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Lent and Sacrificing Books



LENT

It's Lent and time to think about making a sacrifice for God.

A book friend decided to give up buying books during this time. Pretty big sacrifice.

One of my friends actually suggested that I might give up...gulp...reading! As if that were possible...as if I could stop breathing....

And, honestly, would God really want me to sacrifice books?


OTHER MATTERS

In other matters, I'm reading a lovely book today. It's And I Shall Have Some Peace There. I wish it had arrived last Saturday instead of yesterday so that I could have been reading it all this week during spring break. Author Margaret Roach leaves her big job as editorial director at Martha Stewart Living for real living in the country. Very relaxing read.

And it's time to start planning for Dewey's 24-Hour-Read-a-thon. It will be the weekend of April 9th.

I'm still reading the two books I planned to read during spring break, George Dohrman's Play Their Hearts Out and Joyce Carol Oates' A Widow's Story. Dohrman's book, a look into youth basketball, was sad and Oates' book, the story of the devastating loss of her husband, was sad. I finally set both down; when my azaleas start to bloom, it is hard to read sad books and when my azaleas bloom and my pear tree buds out, it is impossible.

Friday, March 18, 2011

The Book You Must Read Before You Die


Welcome to the Literary Blog Hop hosted by The Blue Bookcase!

The writing prompt for this week's blog hop is:

What one literary work must you read before you die?

I've always been a Bucket List kind of gal.

When I was eight, I decided to start with the A's
and read every book in the children's fiction section
of our small public library.
I didn't get very far before I realized that some books are
more worthy of being read than others.

Another life-changing moment came
the first time I visited the library at University of Houston.
I was a senior in high school
working on a paper for my Western Thought class on Kafka.
Perhaps because I looked so lost,
but for some reason a librarian walked me through the stacks
in this enormous library.
"Here," she said, finally, pointing to a shelf of books,
"are Kafka's original works in German. And here,"
she said, pointing to another shelf,
"are translations. And here,"
she said, this time pointing to a whole set of shelves,
"are commentary on Kafka in English and other languages."

It finally hit me: I could not read it all.

That was a terrible thought.

To take my mind off it,
I've chosen to focus on spending my time
reading the good books.

So, I don't know the answer to the question.
I suppose that's why I asked it.
Please tell me.
What one literary work must we read before we die?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Ten Books With Characters I'd Want as Family Members


"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy one is unhappy in its own way."

Here are some happy families
I met in books along the way:

Little Women


The Penderwicks


Swallows and Amazons


Half Magic


The Saturdays


Wrinkle in Time


Little House on the Prairie


Cheaper by the Dozen


Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry


All-of-a-Kind Family


101 Dalmatians


My Family and Other Animals


Finn Family Moomintroll

Dick and Jane: Fun With Our Family


The Story of the Von Trapp Family Singers


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

New York, New York!

Manhattan Bridge by Scott Hudson

I'm going to New York City in July.

(Wait a minute.  You can't say that without
an exclamation point. Let's try again.)

I'm going to New York City in July!

(Much better.)

When I went to France last summer,
half the fun was anticipation.
Half the anticipation was
reading French books,
watching French movies, and
listening to French music.

My morning Google alerts this morning
Rob Silverman had fantastic suggestions,
including A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,
Catcher in the Rye, and Bonfire of the Vanities.

I want to start reading New York books,
watching New York movies, and
listening to New York music.

So, my question to you,
what do you suggest?

Signs of Times Square in HDR
Signs of Times Square in HDR by iamNigelMorris

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

God Isn't Finish(ed)

Top Ten Dynamic Duos

Rivalries this time,
(as opposed to my earlier list of happy duos)
strictly from kiddie lit today....
(and if you haven't read these,
no matter what your age,
go to the library TODAY and read them....)

Sam-I-Am and Green Eggs and Ham
A classic rivalry.

Shark and Train
What do you think?
Shark? Or Train?


Dinosaur and Bedtime
All parents know who we hope will win.

Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy
This is a fake rivalry,
as they do not appear in the same book.
Both are pink and both are fancy.
But who is the pinkest? The fanciest?


Pigeon and the Bus Driver


Toughness and a Miniature Poodle


 The Grinch and Christmas


Tadpole and Caterpillar
A love match for the ages.
Well, for a season.


Miss Nelson and Her Class


Mayhem and Beauty






Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.