Meh: Netherland by Joseph O'Neill

I finally finished Netherland by Joseph O'Neill this week.

I say finally because reading this book was agony for me. Really. I had to force myself to keep reading. Every page. All the way to the end.

I was told it got better.

It didn't get better.

Meh.

I've tried and tried to figure it out. I know I have read fifty reviews of this book and every one was a rave.

What am I missing?

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever read a book you felt indifferent about, a book everyone else was raving about?

Photo Credit: Яick Harris

A Perfect World, If the World Were Run By Book Nerds

As I was driving home from WalMart, I saw a bumper sticker on the van ahead of me. What? Did it say Deer Park Books? Could it be an advertisement for a bookstore? And on the bumper of a vehicle?

No, of course, it said Deer Park Loons, an advertisement for a sports team for whom one of the younger occupants of the car apparently played.

Ah, but this kicked off my brain's gears and sprockets. If only...if only books were such an important part of the world that people had bumper stickers about them....

In my perfect world, it wouldn't be the president's wife who was a librarian; it would be the president.

People would be so busy reading that they would not have time to commit crimes. Police stations and jails and prisons would all be converted into libraries.

People would get tattoos of their favorite books.

A statue to our town's most famous author, Bill Crider, a person who can create brilliant dialogue and clever characters, would be erected in place of the statue to our town's most famous athlete, Nolan Ryan, a nice person who apparently was very good at throwing things.

Every workplace would have a thirty minute paid reading time during the work day.

People would go on vacation to spots with great bookstores.

Conversations around the water cooler would center on the latest and best books.

Harper and Hemingway would become common names for new babies.

Fun weekend events would be to go to book festivals and author signings.

As people became more and more well read, they would decide to ban all wars. Instead, they would have worldwide book discussion groups. When a conflict would arise, people would meet together and decide on a book to read and discuss instead of fighting.

Ahhh, my perfect world.

Climbing Back into My Cage

Don't get me wrong. I love my cage. It's enormous. I can do all the things I love in the cage, reading, singing, playing guitar, my puppets, even cooking.

But it is still a cage.

There is nothing like flying free.

I have been flying free this summer.

My favorite parts: Vacation. Beautiful. Utah. Wow. Reading two chapter books in Spanish. I feel so proud. Web 2.0 class online. Lots of new out there. My writing class. Still trying to process all I learned. Going to Galveston, twice. Fun. Walking at the track every day. Free therapy for body and brain. And, gee whiz, reading every day, all day sometimes. Happy day!

I opened the door of my library last week and Houdini, the old blue parakeet, was out of his cage. My library is big, enormous really, with very tall ceilings. But what was Houdini doing? Sitting there, on top of his cage. He'd been out a while and he was ready to have me put him back in his cage. He was ready to get back in there, with his parakeet buds and his food and water and his toys.

Funny?

Here are some of the books I've read this summer: Columbine. Home. The Lonely American. The Thing Around Your Neck. Still Alice. Hana's Suitcase.

Bleak, all.

It was only after I started reading the essays in Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction that I realized how dark my reading has been this summer. I read essays on a school shooting, alcoholic parents, a mother who didn't want her child...dark, dark, dark.

Does everything good have to be sad?

Here, then, is my question: What can I read that is good, really really good, well written, with sparkling purposeful characters leading generous lives? Ideas?

I'm not asking for recommendations for throwaway novels, summer reads. I'm seeking books that are Must-Reads.

Are they out there? Any thoughts?

Not sappy happy. Literate happy.

I've thought and thought and I've come up with almost nothing. Tom Sawyer. Anne of Green Gables, maybe.

Anything else?

Library Addicti...excuse me...Habits Meme

Library Habits Meme:

(1) If you don’t frequent your local library, why not?

I frequent. Frequently.


(2) If you do visit the library, how often do you go?

Daily, at times.


(3) Do you have a favorite section that you always head to first, or do you just randomly peruse the shelves?

The checkout desk. I'm picking up books I'd placed on hold.

I always love to look through New Books, too.


(4) How many books are you allowed to check out at one time? Do you take advantage of this?

No limit. I wouldn't say I take advantage of this, but I've been known to bring my little red wagon along with me.

I've heard talk the powers that be are considering setting a limit due to a "certain patron." No names, please.


(5) How long are you allowed to have the books checked out?

Two lovely weeks.


(6) How many times are you allowed to renew your check-outs, if at all?

Two times for a total of six weeks.


(7) What do you love best about your particular library?

Beautiful mural on front. The books. And the books.


(8) What is one thing you wish your library did differently?

Open a coffee shop. Then I would never have to leave.


(9) Do you request your books via an online catalogue, or through the librarian at your branch?

Online.


10) Have you ever chosen a book on impulse (from the online catalogue OR the shelves) and had it turn out to be totally amazing? If so, what book was it, and why did you love it?

Often. I remember Material World. I didn't want to turn it back in.


Wait...you didn't ask my favorite question....How many library cards do I have? Let's see....my county, of course...two neighboring counties...and five city libraries...How many is that? Well, let's just say that I have more library cards than credit cards and leave it at that.

Happiness Study

I joined a happiness study this week.

Three times a day, I get a message on my iPhone.

I click to the website. I answer about five questions. How am I feeling right now? Am I alone or with others? Am I interacting? What am I doing? Do I have to do what I'm doing? Do I want to do what I am doing?

Almost every time I get buzzed, I am reading. I read in the morning. I read in the afternoon. I read in the evening. And reading always makes me happy.

Will I be distorting the results? Will the scientists conclude that people are reading more than ever before? Will they announce that reading is one of the keys to happiness? :-)

Goodreads

I wanted to see all the books I've read in one place. So I did it. It took me most of the weekend, but I posted all the book reviews I've written and rated all the books I've read at Goodreads.

I'm debnance there, too.

Do I need another social networking tool for books?

I like how Goodreads meshes with Facebook and Twitter. I like how I can see what others are reading and see what they thought of what they read.

I like being able to see patterns in my reading. I like being able to search for reviews from others.

Here's what I have found after posting reviews and ratings at Goodreads. Since 2003, when I first starting reviewing (almost) every book I read, I have read 1187 books.

Wait a minute. I've read and reviewed 1187 books. That is a lot of books. An average of 200 a year. Wow.

Other intriguing patterns...I've read a lot of books about traveling and books about doctors and books about challenges and books about books. Lots of fiction, but almost as many nonfiction books.

Join me at Goodreads. I'm debnance. Join me at Bookcrossing. I'm debnance there, too. Follow me here at readerbuzz. Look for me at Facebook. I'm Debbie Nance. Twitter? debnance. Let's talk books.

Racing Across America

I didn't do it on purpose, but this week I read the way I like best. Everything I read fit a theme. I finally finished Blue Highways. A blog post led me to Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. And then Lois on the Loose came in at the library for me.

Three trips across America (Lois actually traversed the entire North and South American continents.) Three different time periods (Travels with Charley was 1961; Blue Highways was 1981; and Lois was just couple of years ago.) Three different takes on the world.

For all three, there were times when the modern world has taken over our natural world to the detriment of the natural world. I was surprised to hear Steinbeck bemoaning the pollution he saw during his travels; I'd thought this was a more recent phenomenon.

I liked best the people the travelers met during their journeys. Who could forget the cranky woman who decided to ride her motorcycle with Lois for part of her trip? That lady whined about everything. And the brilliant philosophers the author of BH met? (I wonder why he met so many brilliant people....just the luck of the draw?) Steinbeck, oddly, never met someone who recognized him. I find that astonishing.

I had some great travels this week, with nary a sunburn or mosquito bite or scary bear. You want smooth traveling? Head for the library and rummage through the 900's.

"I'm Not a Blogger"

Photo by andyp uk

I didn't think I was.

I only set up this blog because I had to. For a class.

I never thought I'd post over 200 times this year. I never thought I'd read other people's blogs. I never ever thought I'd start following other people's blogs. I never dreamed I'd browse through blogs while I drank my coffee every morning.

I was wrong. I am a blogger. I love blogging. I love to read other people's blogs. I love to comment. I love Sunday Salon. I love to see what other people are reading. I love to see what other people are doing in their libraries. I love to see how people are using technology in schools.

It's hopeless. I'm addicted.

Unread Books

An idea I got from The Toddled Dredge (via K for Kat). Here’s what she said:

“So here today I present to you an Unread Books Challenge. Give me the list or take a picture of all the books you have stacked on your bedside table, hidden under the bed or standing in your shelf – the books you have not read, but keep meaning to. The books that begin to weigh on your mind. The books that make you cover your ears in conversation and say, ‘No! Don’t give me another book to read! I can’t finish the ones I have!’ “

First of all, I've never in my life forbidden anyone to give me another book to read. I do not foresee that ever happening.

Second, if I listed all the books I have to read...if I even tried to list all the books under my bed...I'd be doing more than Booking Through Thursday...try Booking Through Christmas.

But...I COULD take a photo. All I needed to do was...ugh...dragggg these enormous...piles...of booooooks...from under the bed...whew!

Here's the scary thing: I am actually reading every single one of these books. Some, I'm just a page in. Some, I'm hip deep. Some, I can see the finish line.

Just please don't ask me to count these. And these are just the ones under the bed. I haven't even included the six shelves of books, double stacked, in the other room....