lit*chick

Cover Me: So Cute I Can't Stand It - New BabyLit Titles

(images taken from illustrator Jennifer Adams website)

I present to you Little Miss Bronte and Little Master Carroll- available March 1st. I can hardly wait! Don't you wonder what other classics are going to get the BabyLit treatment?

As it happens, I just finished reading the Jane Eyre inspired tribute book (like a tribute band) The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesay and started Alice, I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin about the real life Alice who inspired the story.

Cover Me is an irregular soon to be regular series highlighting the wonderful world of cover art.

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Update: 24 Classics, Nashville, & Somethin' New

In true lit*chick fashion, I am running late. I blame February. It was too short this year. I need a leap year. Seriously though, if you are behind reading Sayers' The Nine Tailors don't fret. I'm giving myself through the end of March (possibly into April at this rate) to finish. Any thoughts so far?

It is my intention to post my thoughts about Steinbeck soon, the hubs is reading it. I cannot get over how a book from 1962 can be so timely, but the nature of man does not change. I have finished Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and see how it has influenced gothic mysteries (particularly my favorite - Kate Morton). If you are waiting for a classics suggestion, this is a good one to start.  The next classic will be G K Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday. Technically this is the second March pick but since I'm such a slacker you can read at will...I'm just starting it.

As for April - let's go with Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe to start. I'll have to check with my advisors on what would be a good 2nd pick. ;)

Instead of being the orderly blogger who schedules posts when absence approaches, I guiltily hid from my laptop for a month while our life snowballed ahead. There was a fantastic trip to Nashville where we hung out with dear friends and enjoyed glorious weather. It was not a touristy trip (whew) but we managed a visit to the famed Pancake Pantry. I was thinking, how good can a pancake be, I mean I make good pancakes, right? Shame on me. These were hands down the best pancakes I've ever had - light & fluffy & yummy & now I'm ruined. I got to walk around downtown Franklin, drive through Music Mile and visit Carnton Plantation (Widow of the South by Robert Hicks was based on the true story of this house). Here are some of my humble efforts to capture the trip.

all 5 big boys got these chocolate chip pancakes

no we aren't in Greece - this is Centennial Park with a replica of the Parthenon that serves as an art museum

historic Franklin - I think this is a square (not a circle)

a cool mix of old and new - the newly renovated theatre on Main Street

there was a path in their neighborhood to the Harpeth River - it was hard to believe it reached flood levels last spring

Carnton Plantation - the Battle of Franklin (compared in scale to Gettysburg) was fought on this property and the house was used as a Confederate Hospital.

 
Music Mile- stuck in the middles a row of old buildings that almost looks like a movie set plopped right in the middle of a city.

I don't have any other pictures that don't have all the kids, so here is E ready for spring and some 10pin.

Finally, I will be trying something a little new around here. A series I'm calling 3 for Thursday - three short and sweet reviews each week. It'll keep things moving (for all of us) and from your feedback I suspect you'll like it better this way. I already have 3 weeks worth of reviews ready to go. Look for it to start tomorrow.

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Classic no. 2: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, trans. by Lydia Davis, 384 pages

If you are still reading it... THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE,so PLEASE COME BACK :)

Most of you have heard references to Emma Bovary, but maybe unprepared for such a train wreck of a character. She could easily be found in any modern suburb - shallow, selfish, discontented, looking for love in all the wrong places, bad mom, bad wife, shopping addicted,  take your pick - her cup runneth over. I spent the first third of the book disgusted by her and the last two thirds unable to look away. Some of you may remember I mentioned a discussion with my BFF Miji about it (and my attitude toward Emma specifically), and she said "you think it's like Anna Karenina, but it isn't really". (I was pretty hard on Anna K. also.) And she was absolutely right. Because along the way,other layers were revealed apart from her flaws - her weaknesses, she was taken advantage of, her priest spurned her cries for help, and her husband was a doofus, nice guy but a doofus all the same. Just when you think she is a hateful character, she attempts to right herself by going to her priest.  No help there, he's a befuddled twit and you see a little bit of her spirit die. Following this, vulnerable Emma is preyed upon by a Valmont-esque neighbor, getting swept off her feet with a broom full of lies.

There is Flaubert's famous wit - the moment of seduction is punctuated with announcements from the Agricultural Fair in the background. Perfect comic timing - hard to master on film, almost impossible on paper - with back and forth pronouncements of love amidst cattle calls. These instances of lightness and irony make reading about poor Emma bearable.

Onto the gifts of Lydia Davis: it seems to me, having now read a few translated titles, that the art of good translation is rooted in a desire to capture the essence of the original. For this reader, Davis' translation "feels" French. If you told me I was now miraculously reading in the original langauge, I would believe you. It feels that authentic. I found this fascinating interview/article from the NY Times: Knee Deep in 'Bovary' and my respect for her grew larger still. And my desire to read both her short story collection and her translation of Swann's Way is effectively hatched. You have to love a woman who defies convention in her own writing, yet has a compulsion to get the classics right.

There was a blog conversation about Madame Bovary a few months back that I bookmarked knowing I would one day want to follow along: here, here, and here and here. Just in case you are interested too...they go much deeper than I am capable of. And I remain glad I read this book in ignorance.

So assuming you have read it - do you find Emma sympathetic, weak, recognizable, fill-in-the-blank? And so continues my curiousity...can you, yes you, like a book where you dislike the main character? or with an unreliable narrator? I'm finding more and more that I do and it surprises me.

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The Week Ending 1/31

• The dudes were home from school 3 straight days, thanks to a freak snowstorm. Our school is in an area that regularly loses power, last year we thought we would be moving closer, but this fragile mama cannot bear to lose power that often. The hubs was caught in what is now being referred to as "the worst rush hour in history" around these parts - which if you are familiar with our traffic issues is a quite a feat. It took him 6 hours and 10 minutes to get home on Wednesday night, normally a 45 minute drive.  We are thankful he chose to drive the mama truck and that he arrived home safe, tired but safe. Did I mention the kids were home for 5 straight days (including the weekend)?

 

• Being homebound means drinking a lot of coffee, reading a lot of books (mostly to Evie who has an obsession with A Very Hungry Caterpillar) and catching up on lotsa blogs. Here are a couple I am currently getting lost in : Baked Bree and A Holy Experience . Real food and spiritual food.

 

• In what may be considered wishful thinking since we are entering February, I ordered some spring clothing. I've settled on a uniform of sorts...t shirts, bermuda shorts & capris, mixed with colorful cardigans, shoes & jewelry. I am attempting to take Jamie Lee Curtis' closet cleaning advice...pretend you are packing for a 2 week trip, then get rid of the rest. And I'm already making excuses like, should I pack for 4 different trips since we have all the seasons?  I can rationalize just about anything.

 

• To add one more project to the mix, I'm going to attempt to make bread, specifically using the method in Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day. This is a holdover from a 2010 goal that never took flight, due to lack of skills with dough, killing of yeast, and lack of equipment. I think I'm ready now, mostly because our weekly bread intake is getting pricey. And I'd like to master something useful. I promise to take pictures.

 

• I received an Amazon gift card and with it, heaps of indecision. Isn't it funny how I'll say to myself "I'll get that with a gift card or If only I had money for books..." and now that I do I'm crippled by choice.  My cart is looking much different than I anticipated. But I'm on hold for now while I sort it out...does anyone else experience gift card freeze?

 

• If you are reading along with the classics, how is it going?  Have you started/finished either My Antonia or Madame Bovary? Are you waiting for February? I'm really anxious to talk about Madame B.  - she's a saucy one. And it's interesting to think about how scandalous this book was when it was originally published (1856).

 

• In an effort to be a small step ahead, I have begun Steinbeck's The Winter of our Discontent...the 2nd February pick is will probably be Doroty Sayers' mystery The Nine Tailors. If you have strong feelings about it, or any feeling at all, or are waiting to jump in for a specific title, just say so.

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Classic no. 1: My Antonia by Willa Cather

"'I didn't arrange or rearrange. I simply wrote down what of herself and myself and other people Antonia's name recalls to me. I suppose it hasn't any form. It hasn't any title either.'" - pg. 6

So begins the story of Bohemian imigrant Antonia Shimerda, told by her neighbor and childhood friend Jim Burden. It is through telling his own story that Jim reveals details and observations about Antonia - from their first encounter upon arrival on the Nebraska prairie,through their teens, until their reunion as adults.   Surrounded by eccentric characters, including the unforgiving land, Antonia is admirable for her work ethic and maintaining a spirit of playfulness despite the desolation.

First published in 1918, My Antonia is considered part of the modernist literature movement. I have quite a few modernists on my reading list this year including Steinbeck, Faulkner, Sherwood Anderson, and Hemingway. Who knew? (Besides Jill I mean)

Rather than try to have some kind of formal bookclub discussion, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on My Antonia or Willa Cather and her writing or other work as it relates. Also feel free to cite any passage you find particularly meaningful.

There is much to discuss here - whether it be the narrator (who is it?), the setting as character, or Cather herself.I did not expect a kind of love story. And I didn't expect it to be so readable. I am still haunted by the story of the wolves chasing the wedding party. And I love Jim's nostalgic tone, perhaps because I live with a nostalgic type too.

Enjoy your weekend.

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Update on 24 Classics in 2011

   
how cool is this? vintage 24 sign from donkee house on etsy

A great big thank you to everyone participating in the discussion over the past couple days. I'm having so much fun already. This is not a closed challenge in any way so hop on in there while we swap out a few titles and hash out the details. Please forgive late night/early morning ramblings, but I wanted to address a few questions.

As you can see to the right, I have put most of the choices into a list for easier reference. They are not in any order since the schedule is fairly fluid, but I will add a note to each with the month we plan to read it as it goes.

I have decided, for the very simple reason it contains the word winter in the title, that John Steinbeck's The Winter of our Discontent will be one of the February reads.  Hopefully that gives you a bit of time to prepare if you are reading along. As for the 2nd Feb book....any you'd like to read sooner vs later?

Also, my intention is to have a regular weekly post checking progress and open for discussion. For example, next Friday (the 14th)  will be all about My Antonia. I will leave it at the top through the weekend so you can drop in whenever. Obviously you do not need to be finished in a rigid every 2 weeks kind of way but this will serve to hold me accountable and give us a few progress markers. It will also be a place to entertain talk of what may be the next pick - and who knows what else since I tend to get sidetracked easily.  This may have to be tweaked along the way, but I think it's a good start. What do you think? Is there a better way to do this part?

Finally I want to encourage you to set yourself up for success here. Whatever that means for you. For me it means planning fun reads for when it gets too intense and I need something a little lighter. From other book bloggers on Twitter, I found this White House Chef mystery series by Julie Hyzy. You know how I love foodie mysteries!

 

 

 

 

2011 Reading Plan: Back to the Basics - 24 Classics

  (photo from Amazon, Penguin Hardcover Collection)

 How did I arrive here?  Well, the number of classics on my To-Be-Read (TBR) list is not in danger of shrinking if I allow them to linger there another year. Toward the middle of 2010 , I experienced some burnout - my review schedule was entirely too full. I over committed and agreed to review books I wouldn't ordinarily read, much less want to write about. The lack of freedom to post off topic left me frustrated. I imagine most book bloggers at some point have to deal with how to balance the books so to speak - but my answer is go Back to Basics. Reading what I want, when I want, and getting sidetracked looking at pretty non bookish things. One trend from last year was incorporating authors into novels: The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott , What Alice Knew (Henry James and family), and Alice I Have Been(Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll) . My super challenging, yet oh so rewarding experience with Anna Karenina last fall gave me some needed confidence in tackling hard books. And sealing the deal - The Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse was my finale read of 2010. It was a marvelous tale of two serious book lovers and their journey to open a shop that only carries "good novels". The whole concept brings up so many questions that it begs for a discussion for another time, but I found the notion intriguing, especially considering what was already bouncing around in my head.

The order remains pretty loose because I don't thrive in a heavily structured reading environment. Also if you, dear reader, are determined to read Lonesome Dove while vacationing in out West this summer- I'll pick it up then too. The pace is set at 2 per month to leave room for other deliberate reading choices or to allow for a month when tackling an 800 pager.  Compare this to your list and see if any match up - I would love to coordinate if possible.  Many of these titles I either already have, are free or $1 on Kindle, or super easy to acquire via library or used book store. We can even trade them...

The Back to Basics list:

• My Antonia - Willa Cather
• The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
• Middlemarch, Silas Marner, Daniel  Deronda - George Eliot (3 books)
• Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne
• The Nine Tailors - Dorothy Sayers
• Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
• Villette - Charlotte Bronte
• Faulkner - I'm open to suggestions here
• Our Mutual Friend OR Dombey & Son OR Little Dorrit  - Charles Dickens
• The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
• Brideshead Revisited OR A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
• My Man Jeeves - PG Wodehouse
• The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
• Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson
• The Minister's Wooing - Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (newly trans. by Lydia Davis)
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass
• The Man Who Was Thursday - GK Chesterton
• The Winter of Our Discontent - John Steinbeck
• The Leavenworth Case - Anne Katherine Green
• The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy
  
• Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
• The Beautiful and Damned - F Scott Fitzgerald
• Kristin Lavransdatter - Sigrid Unset (1000+ pages yikes!)
  
• Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry
• Night - Elie Wiesel
• Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
  
• also considering Henry James and Anthony Trollope titles
  

Bravo to you if counted and see the list has more than 24 titles. Three reasons - 1. I love making lists   2. I already read one (My Antonia) , and began two others last year (i'll probably have to reread a bit, but still I don't want you to call me cheater cheater pumpkin eater as Owen likes to say) and 3. I worry I may not be able to finish a couple (due to timing or boredom or both) so I padded it. And yes, some of these titles may seem a bit obscure, but I have read a few classics in my day - mostly the obvious ones (Austens, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gatsby, etc.) And if I get really desperate, I can always watch the movies, wink wink.

As a heads up, I'm planning to read Madame Bovary next.  If anyone wants my copy of My Antonia, I'll be happy to give it to you, just leave your request in the comments section.

If you'd like to see a comprehensive list of classics lookie here - Penguin Classics Backlist.

I'd love to see your classics list or your self-made reading plan for 2011. And if you are considering playing along (because this is supposed to be enjoyable) please share your thoughts! There is no hurry, feel free to let it simmer for a few days. I have had the benefit of thinking about it for a few months. Just check in from time to time and maybe you'll catch a spark.

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Happy Birthday Jane Austen List

Today is Miss Austen's 223rd Birthday - which coincides nicely with a list of related items for the Austen fan in your life.

    A  Darcy Christmas - A collection of 3 short stories/novellas revolving around Darcy & Elizabeth by popular Austen fiction authors. This was a fun imagining of holidays with the Darcys, including a take on A Christmas Carol.  From what I recall it would make a fine gift for a high schooler as it isn't racy like some of the others in the genre.

Etsy is full of Austen inspired art & housewares:

One of my faves, Brookish is on holiday. But she has fun mugs & such with quotes from P&P.

This is brilliant - Poster Text has prints using the words from your favorite classics as the background with a silhouette imposed overtop. Love it.

This one is Pride & Prejudice, but there are more.

And there are cute coasters from Green Chair Press - in a variety of colors.

Then there are bookends from  Two Stray Cats:   and this I have showed you before, my new favorite artist, Janet Hill Studio:

and if you'll forgive the shameless plug - The Paper Pear would be happy to make you a custom silhouette of any shape using any Austen title. I'll even work in your favorite quote if possible. :)

Finally, our good friends at  Sourcebooks, the world’s leading publisher of Jane Austen fiction, is offering a unique deal to readers who want to celebrate Jane by reading special editions of all six of Austen’s beloved novels in a 21^st century format.

Special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park will be available for free. These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.

In addition to the Jane Austen classics, readers can also enjoy these bestselling Austen-inspired novels. The following bestselling e-books will be free on December 16th and 17th in honor of her birthday:

Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken

The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown

The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins

The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview

Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan

Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

 Available wherever eBooks are sold. (This morning there were some glitches I understand which is why they have extended the freebies through tomorrow!)

Enjoy the day and download some free stuff!

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Me vs Anna Karenina

I am committed to finishing Anna K for bookclub on Monday night. I have been working towards this goal for the last two months. I have several hundred pages remaining. This book may just break me. Or not.

Never before have I read ten pages and it felt like a hundred. Rarely do I fall asleep while reading. In the time since I started Anna K I have finished 8 books.  Ever since giving myself permission to not finish books, I have not struggled in this way. From a discipline perspective, I think it is good to have to work hard at reading. I am not in the habit of challenging myself, particularly in this area, so I shall forge ahead.

Tonight I am preparing to do battle.  Hopefully after soccer and cleaning the garage I will have the strength to fight through the seemingly endless barage of words. Because I am finding little gems - small passages or lines that take my breath away. And I know it will be deeply satisfying to finish and discuss it. But as of right now Anna Karenina faintly glows from my bedside table, daring me to continue. She is a saucy one.

Have you read Anna K?  Do you regularly challenge yourself to read hard books? What was the last book  you fought through?

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Happy 75th Birthday Penguin Books!

  "It is quite clear that the time has come to wake up to the fact that people want books, that they want good books, and that they are willing, even anxious, to buy them if they are presented to them in a straightforward, intelligent manner at a cheap price."

— Allen Lane, founder 

What a visionary! Since 1935, Penguin Books has not only revolutionized paperback publishing - they have done it in style.

Known for their exquisite cover art and graphic design as well as award winning titles like Death of a Salesman, Gravity's Rainbow, Angle of Repose, and Disgrace, Penguin is around to stay. Quite a feat in the crazy world of publishing. Join me in wishing them a sincere Happy Birthday and a wish for continued success.

Most recently, I have begun to stock Evie's library with a Penguin hardcover classic  -  Jane Eyre. And I plan to add to her library with one of these beautifully bound titles each year on her birthday.  Some daughters have hope chests, mine has a bookshelf.

Now it is my pleasure, through the kindness of Penguin, to offer you one of two titles in celebration! You may choose:

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - one of my absolute favorites

OR

  The Short Novels of John Steinbeck - I chose this for the gorgeous cover and because I have a fondness for Steinbeck carrying over from a college course where I read all his novels (except that King Arthur one that I didn't know existed until a couple years ago)

Leave me a comment by midnight this Sunday, August 1st with your preference. And don't forget to visit the Penguin 75th Anniversary site. If you get a  chance- go visit that cute little Mini Cooper!

The End.