Celebrating...

Everyone is celebrating New Year's Eve tonight, but I am also celebrating the one year anniversary of this blog. I went from writing about everything (movies, restaurants, music) to narrowing my focus to my true passion -- books and reading. I began that journey before I actually decided to do it, with two blog entries based on an assignment for a library science class I was taking. For that assignment, each student had to keep a bibliography of everything they read that semester.

Our professor gave us minimums we had to meet, and most people struggled to read that number of books. I, on the other hand, read far and above that number. In the end, I didn't write up every single book I read; it just got to be too much. But I also enjoyed some of that writing about books and reading, and I realized I would probably get much more enjoyment out of having a blog that was based on books rather than continuing the blog I was currently doing (which was all over the place and about many different things). Also, I began to write much more frequently after I felt a purpose behind my blogging. Now, I often can't wait to finish a book, simply so I can write about it on this blog!

I've increased my blog entries per month from one or two, to four or five, to now nine or ten. Hopefully, 2010 will see good things continue to happen, more literature to read, and much book discussion.


Some of my favorite reading quotes to ring in the New Year, and to celebrate one year and counting:

• ""Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -- Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird
• "When I got [my] library card, that was when my life began." -- Rita Mae Brown, author of the Mrs. Murphy cat mystery series
• "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." -- Emilie Buchwald
• "I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter." -- T. S. Eliot, poet of the American modernist movement
• "Read, read, read." -- William Faulkner, author of classic novels such as The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying
• "When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes." -- Erasmus, Catholic priest and theological writer
• "All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse, and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was." -- Ernest Hemingway, American writer and journalist
• "For books are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men lived and worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives." -- Amy Lowell, American poet
• "No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting." -- Lady M. W. Montague, English writer
• "I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." -- Anna Quindlen, Newsweek contributor and author of novels such as Black and Blue and Blessings
• "The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself." -- Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States of America
• "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though." -- J. D. Salinger, from The Catcher in the Rye

'Viola in Reel Life' is a Young Adult Hit for Novelist Adriana Trigiani

You know it's been a good book when you find yourself marking passages that just seem to speak to you. It was that way with Adriana Trigiani's latest novel, Viola in Reel Life. Although the book is Trigiani's first foray into the young adult literary world, she either had some good YA editors or a good head for what should be included in a young adult story because this book is an excellent example of the genre.

Viola, the main character, is 14-almost-15 (as she describes herself) and far from her native Brooklyn. Her documentary-making parents have gone on assignment to Afghanistan to film a piece on Afghan women, and Viola is forced to attend a year at the Prefect Academy for Girls. PA is a boarding school in South Bend Indiana, and to Viola it might as well be Timbuktu. She is a fish out of water without her best friends, her family, and her home setting. Viola's one passion is filming, and through her camera she begins to understand her new world and to fit into it.

Trigiani hits the nail on the head with her eye for adolescent fashion ("I go to my dresser and pull out a pair of cigarette jeans, a Bob Marley t-shirt, a sky-blue bandanna folded thick around my neck, and my jean jacket, because it's cold in here. I jump into my clothes, slip into my yellow patent leather flats, and grab my backpack" (47).), and manages to seem technologically up-to-date (Viola does a lot of IM-ing and text messaging) without going overboard and ruining the storyline or character development. Viola and her roommates show a fair amount of teen angst -- over homesickness, boys, family problems, and fitting in -- but each tear seems appropriate rather than overly dramatic. Trigiana knows teenage girls, but somehow gets her reader (in this case, a 28-year-old female -- not a teen) to find empathy in the characters and not annoyance.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the book are the slightly skewed ideas of the young female characters, especially their views on boy-girl relationships. Viola gives her (and her roommates') opinion on a boy she meets at a neighboring school:

It's like some miracle. I didn't see this (a real boyfriend) happening to me for years. I thought most boys were dorks (can provide a list) or unrealistic reaches (Tag Nachmanoff) or strictly pals (Andrew Bozelli) but Jared Spencer doesn't fit on any of those lists. He's cute, he's smart, and he's into the exact same things I am. The current status of Jared and me (us) gives me a warm feeling -- like I belong somewhere -- even though I only have one night of talking, one full moon, and three kisses to go on. The rest I'm filling in from instant messages, pictures, and emails. I'm getting to know him, but as far as our quad is concerned, it's already a done deal -- I officially have a boyfriend. (184)

Trigiani's attention to the teenage, female voice is uncanny. Viola and her friends sound like real teenage girls riding on a bus beside you or walking in front of you at the mall. In another Jared-filled paragraph, Viola matter-of-factly explains that "as of December 9, 2009, I'm in a holding pattern of four kisses, one hand-holding, one date, one cookie, and one book. The IMs and texts are at, like, a record-breaking number at this point" (205). She goes on to clarify that while all of this is "perfectly great" (205), she's also learned "with the guidance of Suzanne [her 14-year-old roommate], to never count on much when it comes to boys, because then you will not be disappointed. So far, that's become the backbone of my romantic philosophy" (205).

Adriana Trigiani has had much success as a novelist, following a television-writing career in which she wrote for hits such as The Cosby Show and A Different World. I own every book she's ever written, including the beloved Big Stone Gap series, Lucia, Lucia, Rococo, Queen of the Big Time, and the Valentine series (the second in that series will be published in February 2010).

In order to give full disclosure, I must admit that I have met Trigiani and may possibly be slightly persuaded to like her novels due to her wonderful personality and good taste... I met the author at the Southern Festival of Books in 2005 when it was in Memphis, rather than Nashville. As I stood to ask Trigiani a question (couldn't tell you if I tried what it was about), she interrupted me with screams for the audience to turn around and look at me. As they did, she screeched, "Oh my GOSH!! Doesn't she look EXACTLY like Cate Blanchett?? Look at her!!" This was a huge compliment, and also embarrassing -- my face turned ten shades of red -- but has endeared her to me forever. At the meet-and-greet, there was talk of a movie being made based on the Big Stone Gap books; my mother told Trigiani that I would be much cheaper to play the role than the actual Cate Blanchett... To her credit, Trigiani laughed and didn't say anything mean. So -- great author, and great person. (And truthfully, I would like the books regardless of some years-old compliment the author paid me!)

Hear a discussion of the author discussing the novel:

'The Northern Clemency' is Worth the 600 Page Read

Philip Hensher's The Northern Clemency was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, as well as an Amazon.com Best of the Month in November 2008. Despite meeting high acclaim in some circles, the novel also has garnered much criticism for its length (600 pages), its focus on everyday goings-on (i.e., its dullness), its lack of proper attention to serious topics (some felt it took a flippant tone when describing the 1984 miner's strike), and its somewhat disappointing ending.

This was a book which I was excited to begin reading some odd months ago after reading reviews on Amazon.com, then a book which I stopped reading after 200+ pages due to its seeming indirection. However, it has been a book which I continued thinking about for the months between my initial reading and this week, when I finished it. The characters came alive for me on some level, which made me wonder what happened to them by the novel's end, and which proved to be the reason I picked up the novel again.

I am a fast reader, able to read a book in only a day or two when I have the time and am driven by its plot. The Northern Clemency foiled all my attempts at quick reading. Hensher writes in a dense prose which I was unable to read any faster than 20-30 pages in an hour. If I tried to scan some places which were slow-moving and overly-descriptive, I found myself floundering in the novel without a grasp on the events or characters. In the end, I gave myself over to reading each word, each detail with precision, and for this I was rewarded with a truly pleasurable reading experience. For this novel, with all its plot length (as I mentioned above, the novel spans 600 pages and twenty years), is actually nothing more than a focus on character.

Hensher can be applauded for writing a novel about everyday life in northern England; he also addresses important social and political issues in English life; there are plot twists and turns which create interest and move the story along (a lot happens to people in a twenty-year period of life). However, his greatest accomplishment in The Northern Clemency is his unbelievable attention to character development, which is especially interesting given the twenty year span we are able to watch them grow and mature through.

The Northern Clemency is ultimately the story of two families: the Glovers (native to the town of Sheffield, England) and the Sellers (who move there from London in 1974). Hensher paints a portrait of the individual members in each family (parents and two children for the Sellers -- parents and three children for the Glovers). Readers learn almost everything about these families, from their admirable qualities to their embarrassing, sometimes life-changing mistakes. Hensher also does a decent job at examining the dynamic within a family. We have all wondered how a son or daughter developed into the person they are, given that they came from their particular parents. How often we are surprised with the way one or another child turns out, and Hensher proves this true in The Northern Clemency. Each character is truly that -- a character, complete with moments of tenderness and admirability and, conversely, with times that will turn your stomach with their selfishness and even malice.

It's difficult to say more without giving key plot points away -- in general, you can expect infidelities, family spats, medical emergencies, falling in love, political actions, and moves to exotic locales. In addition, there are creepy sides to some characters, things you recognize as being not-quite-right, things which manifest themselves in every family, no matter the quality of genes or parental guidance that the children receive.

The Northern Clemency is worth the days and days (or weeks and weeks) it make take to read it, for various reasons, but ultimately because it is enjoyable to do so.

Christmas Books 2009

After blogging about my Christmas wish list for books, I thought I might let you know what I actually received. I'm very excited about them all! Here they are in no particular order:

• Eli the Good by Silas House: I heard House read from his latest novel back in October at the Southern Festival of Books. I was very upset at the time that the Festival had sold out of the book before I reached the purchasing tent. Now I can finally read what I'm sure will be a masterpiece to add to his already-impressive list. It is the story of a young boy who comes of age during the country's bicentennial in 1976, and it marks the first novel in which House has ventured into new territory and away from the Kentucky clan around which all his other novels are centered. Although marketed as a young adult novel, House stated at the Southern Festival of Books that he never intended it as such and that he feels it is a novel for all ages.
• The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten: I can't wait to try the recipes in this, the first of Ina Garten's cookbooks. Based primarily on recipes available at her Barefoot Contessa gourmet market in the Hamptons, the recipes included have also been featured on her Food Network cooking show of the same name.
• Bookmarks Magazine: This is an old favorite of mine, which for some reason I from time to time decide is unnecessary. I always miss it in the years I don't renew (or ask for a renewal as a gift). Internet reading is wonderful, but there is something to be said for sitting down to browse a magazine devoted entirely to books and reading. I always walk away from a session with the magazine with a long list of books to read, books to buy, and movies to watch based on books.
• Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani: To be honest, I haven't read an in-depth synopsis or review of this novel. I've read all Trigiani's books, and I have no doubt that I will love this one as much as all the rest. This truly is a young adult novel, but one that I feel will work for me as an adult, also. So far I've read 55 pages in, and Brooklyn-raised Viola is miserable but trying in her new Indiana boarding school.
• Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties: An Entertaining Life (with Recipes) by Julia Reed: I'm already more than halfway finished with this book which I received just a couple of days ago. However, it is primarily recipes with scattered bits of introductory stories leading into them (so I haven't read THAT much in the past day or two). Reed is hilarious and knows her (southern) food. I can't wait to try her recipes, either, especially since they are a bit less sophisticated than Garten's, and include large quantities of items such as homemade mayonnaise and Ritz crackers.
• A Dibrell Cookbook: This is probably the best cookbook item I received, because it is one of those homemade conglomerations in which ladies of the community donate copies of their very best dishes to be included in the book. Bound in plastic rings, it boasts dozens of recipes which I'm sure will become go-to items for weeknight dinners, potlucks, and desserts. This goes along with a surprising number of similar cookbooks from everywhere from St. Louis, Missouri to Clarksville, Tennessee (and many from my hometown of McMinnville).
  

'The Stranger Beside Me' Provides Bone-Chilling Account of Friendship With a Serial Killer

As I am prone to reading nightmare-inducing books, usually before bedtime, I picked up Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me several months ago at a local Goodwill. I think I had recently watched a television special about Ted Bundy and Rule's book, so finding it on the shelves at Goodwill so soon after seemed like a sign that I should read it. It lived up to its promise -- "terrifying," "gripping," and "explosive" were all words used on the book cover, and it was all three.

In the early 1970s, Ann Rule was a former policewoman working as a true-crime writer. In addition to penning magazine articles about interesting crimes, Rule also often worked closely with local police departments in the Seattle, Washington, area on written reports involving current cases. When Ted Bundy began his killing spree, Rule was both working with him at a crisis call center in Seattle and working on the case with area detectives. Of course, at the time, she had no idea the killer who she and police were chasing was also her friend and colleague Ted. Rule was beginning research for the book as she discussed work and her personal life with Bundy in the cubicle with her during their late-night shift at the crisis call center.

As time went by, the politically-connected Bundy (he managed the Seattle office for Nelson Rockefeller's 1968 presidential campaign, attended the Republican National Convention that year in Miami, and later worked closely with Washington Gov. Daniel J. Evans) grew closer to Ann Rule and other influential people in Seattle. When he became a suspect in the serial murders of several young coeds in 1973 and 1974, Rule and others denied the possibility that their comrade could be involved.

The Stranger Beside Me is therefore not only a true-crime thriller, but also a personal account of one woman who could honestly say, "I never saw it coming. He was such a good friend." Rule describes the man she knew as being politically conservative, sensitive to the needs of others, and calm in times of crisis. Rule describes his behavior with an elderly couple he lived with for several years as son-like; Bundy often fixed things around their house, tended to the couple's garden, and even returned in the years after he had moved to complete tasks they could not.

Rule continues her account of her relationship with Ted Bundy well into the investigation and prosecution of him for crimes she is not convinced he committed. Until the book's end Rule keeps readers guessing as to whether or not she believes Bundy is guilty of the heinous crimes of which he has been accused.

Published in 1980, Rule wrote The Stranger Beside Me just after the last murder trials were completed. Much happened in the following years which readers of the book will have to catch up on through Wikipedia or some other such information site. However, The Stranger Beside Me is a worthy read for its striking, and truly behind-the-scenes, portrayal of a serial killer in all forms of self -- the cold, calculating murderer; the ambitious worker; and the caring friend.

Nothing is 'Perfection' in Julie Metz's Widowhood -- Or in Her Marriage, For That Matter

Julie Metz's memoir Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal proves the old adage true: outsiders never know the ins and outs of a relationship. After reading Perfection, it seems that the inverse is also true -- even those partners in the relationship often know little about it.

When Julie Metz's husband passed away in his early forties, she initially went through the normal stages of grief: denial, anger, depression. In the midst of her trying to rebuild her life, develop new relationships, and be a mother to her young daughter, Metz learns that her beloved husband lived a double life. As fictional character Kathryn Lyons did in Anita Shreve's The Pilot's Wife, Metz slowly begins to unravel the pieces of her life with her husband. The notable difference, of course, is that Lyons never lived, while Metz lived through the reality of such betrayal.

Metz learns that her husband had not one, but several, extramarital affairs. The impact of this realization on her grieving process is irreversible. Metz develops an anger for her husband that goes far beyond normal angry grief for a loved one who has, in a sense, abandoned those left behind. Rather, Metz can barely stand to be in the room with her husband's ashes, she forbids his mistress's daughter to play with her own daughter, and she begins a spiral into an obsessive need to know details of his infidelities.

Theirs was not a marriage of perfection, despite some outsiders' views of it as such. However, the depths of the issues which existed within their marriage flabbergast even Julie Metz, one of two partners within the marriage relationship. Slowly, with the help of her true friends and her family, Metz begins to lead a life of her own for the first time in her adulthood. Perfection proves that we humans never truly know each other's intricacies, but remains hopeful that honesty between us will ultimately prevail.

Perfection debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in June 2009, prompting an interview with Metz in which she revealed some of the few secrets kept under wraps in the book. However, beware of reading the article prior to reading the book, as it contains spoilers.

Book-ish Christmas List

What, you might ask, would a bookworm want for Christmas? The answer, of course, is a book! As Christmas is one week away, I thought I would share my "wish list" from Amazon.com. You might want to add one of these picks to your own list for buying or reading yourself!

• A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg
• The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond
• The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten
• The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
• Eli the Good by Silas House
• Food Network Magazine
  
• Brava, Valentine: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani
• Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani
• Bookmarks
• Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
• Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster
• The Spellmans Strike Again: A Novel by Lisa Lutz
• A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories) by Charlaine Harris
• South of Broad by Pat Conroy
• Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties: An Entertaining Life (with Recipes) by Julia Reed
• The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story by Julia Reed
• U is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone Mystery) by Sue Grafton

You'll notice there are some... er... trends, shall we say. Mysteries, southern lit, foodie books, magazines about food, magazines about books... You get the picture.

'Duplicate Keys' Locks Down Friendship and Murder

Halfway through Jane Smiley's Duplicate Keys I could not WAIT to finish reading so that I could share my thoughts through writing about it. Now that I am finished, I'm sadly disappointed to say the ending wasn't quite as good as the middle. However, my sights were set high -- since Smiley's A Thousand Acres (one of my favorite books, read long before the movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer & Jessica Lange was ever filmed), she hasn't managed to write anything I liked as much as that novel. This was one good in its own right, though, and very different from her other novels. I believe that is a sign of an excellent author -- each novel standing alone in its particular glory, glowing with its separate merit.

Published in 1984, Duplicate Keys is what I would call a literary mystery. There is a definite murder mystery plot, but rather than being written in typical James Patterson-style, page-turner fashion, Smiley writes this mystery as she would any other novel.

Character development is pivotal -- it is the story of six friends who move to New York City together from the Midwest. Two of the friends are found murdered in a communal apartment at the beginning of the story, and the novel spends its time examining those friends who are left. What are their reactions, how do they deal with their grief, and what might their motives be for committing the crime themselves? Written in third person, Smiley focuses her attention on city librarian Alice, one of the six original friends.

Alice finds the two murder victims when she visits the apartment to water plants for a friend who is away. In the subsequent chapters, Smiley shares with readers Alice's impressions of everyone from Detective Honey (the investigator in the murders) to Henry (a man she meets outside the apartment the day of the murders) to each still-living friend. It is through her eyes that the plot thickens and the mystery grow only more mysterious. Was it their rock musician lifestyle which caused the murders, or a more personal vendetta against them?

In spite of what I found to be a somewhat weak ending, Smiley still charms throughout the novel. Alice is truly likeable, as are other various and sundry characters. Smiley provides an in-depth examination of friendship in general, particularly those friends who one grows up knowing. "Friendship after all was a paltry thing, the bumping together of two round objects" (248), she writes at one point. I loved her description of a night spent together among friends and the way conversation develops:

This is how they would go on, Alice was tempted to think, certainly for the rest of the evening and maybe for years, maintaining separate residences, perhaps, but living as close together as a pair of shoes. Soon, sometime in the next ten minutes, the night's conversation would take root. First, two or three topics would be begun and discarded as boring or worn out. This would happen automatically, a result of the cake or the newspaper open on the floor or the view of a neighbor passing across the street. Inevitably, though, something would take root, and grow and branch and exfoliate into a whole evening's talk. (231-232)

Although not your typical bestselling mystery novel, Smiley manages to create something more than just that. The book cover shares a piece of the NYT Book Review on the novel: "A first-rate cliffhanger... This may be the anatomy of a murder, but... more compelling is the anatomy of friendship, betrayal and the bittersweet smell of near success." I agree on all accounts.

Abandoned Reads

I'm trying. I'm really, really trying. But nothing on my bookshelf or in my library bag is catching my attention. I'm trying to read the following (all are open to mark my page at various places around the house -- bedside table, coffee table, arm of the couch, shelves in the bathroom, floor by the bed, etc) books, but having no luck with any of them. I wish sometimes you could scan a book with your fingertips and just KNOW you're going to enjoy it. Think of all the money and time going to the library you would save!

"Abandoned Books" photo courtesy of www.rightreading.com

Here's my current abandoned list:

• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver -- I've tried so hard to like this book. I've checked it out at the library, bought it, sold it back to a used bookstore, and checked it out again. I never get further than the sixth or seventh page. It begins being told in third-person present which, to be honest, is just awful to read. "She sits," "they walk," and "he goes" are just difficult for me to wrap my mind around. Give me some past tense, please!
• Flies on the Butter by Denise Hildreth -- I read her first novel (or tried to read it, I should say) Savannah from Savannah, and it was terrible. I'm not opposed to Christian fiction, but if you're going to write it, please write it well. And you aren't doing yourself any favors by disguising it as a regular novel sans evangalism. Hildreth obviously got a new cover designer prior to this book coming out (I know, I know -- you can't judge a book by its cover. Except that you usually CAN.), because it looks really good from the outside. Inside, same old shallow characters and predictable plot.
• The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notaro -- I thought I had found the next Jen Lancaster in my life. I was wrong. Jen, when will your next book come out?!? Notaro is not the funny, crude humorist/memoirist I am used to.
• Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen -- I think I'm actually going to like and finish reading this one. So far it's fair, but most books are slow in the beginning. Nguyen's story of her family's escape from Vietnam and rough start in America is growing on me. Plus (bonus!), it sounds like it might also be about food... (The first chapter is titled "Pringles".)
  

A Different Italian Perspective in 'The Reluctant Tuscan'

Phil Doran wrote for award-winning sitcoms such as Sanford and Son, Who's the Boss?, The Wonder Years, The Bob Newhart Show, and All in the Family. A few years ago, after all of his showbiz fame had begun to fade, his wife visited Tuscany in order to spend time sculpting. While there, she bought a house. After the initial shock wore off, Doran traveled there to visit and see their new abode.

The home required extensive renovations in order for the couple to move in -- along the way they discover that rather than being a few hundred years old, it is actually probably more like a thousand years old. Although Doran is somewhat... well... (you guessed it!) reluctant to make a permanent move from their Brentwood, California, mansion, he eventually gives in (somewhat, anyway) and they begin the long, drawn out process of fixing up a house in Italy.

The Reluctant Tuscan: How I Discovered My Inner Italian began as an article Doran proposed to write for the Los Angeles Times about the things he despised in Italy. I believe the name was something like, "Ten Things I Hate About Italy." Unlike most writers who wax poetic about the beautiful countryside, food, and architecture, the Hollywood-driven Doran finds little to like. To a modern American, life in Italy is not all creature comforts and internet browsing. The Dorans initially have no heat, no hot water, little electricity ("Italy," he writes, "has its own system of guaranteeing no one uses too much power. As soon as you plug in more than three things, all the lights in your neighborhood go out and all your neighbors start screaming at you" (244). Doran is comedic in his portrayal of himself, his wife, and the friends they make in the small village of Cambione.

However, as his time in Italy progresses, there comes a change in Doran's perspective. While there are still minor and not-so-minor irritations (insurance companies that won't pay up after a car accident, neighbors stopping by in the middle of the night, goats given as housewarming presents), Italy and its slow ways begin to grow on Doran. In the end, he writes:

I have come to believe that the Italians should rule the world. Not that they'd want to. After all, they did it once, and despite their best efforts to civilize us, it still ended up in the hands of the barbarians. And then, what about the Renaissance? Just how many times do they have to show us? . . . . I found myself wondering why my compulsion to be back in L.A., working in show business, had mysteriously vanished. . . . Living in cambione had certainly changed me. The irony of it was, when you broke down the name of the town you got cambiare, "to change," and -one (OH-nay), the suffix Italians use to say "big." That's right: Big Change. (304-305

Throughout his time in Italy, Doran periodically emailed his agent about projects he had tried to pitch prior to leaving California. Doran came to be somewhat of a travel agent for his Hollywood agent and other friends in L.A. He would often recommend hotels, sites to see, and restaurants before they trips to Italy for pleasure or business. In the end, his agent passed on all Doran's Hollywood ideas, but urged him to write a book about his new life. Doran chose to do so, and the result is this memoir.

Read an excerpt here and then pick up a copy for yourself to make a funny and unique trip to Italy.

Learning About the Birds & the Bees in 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life'

The Kingsolver-Hopp family left their home in Arizona to do something few other modern American families have tried: they went on a mission to feed themselves for a year on things grown entirely on their own farm or things they could access locally. They moved across the country to Virginia in order to embark on this adventure.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is the story of that year, told from the perspective of bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver. Her husband, a biologist, provides articles of interest on topics relating to particular sections of the book. Her daughter also provides a teenager's perspective in her essays included throughout the book, as well as recipes for the seasonal goodies they grow and harvest.

The Kingsolver-Hopps had long been aware of what they ate; they stopped eating beef bred on so-called factory farms almost a decade before their journey to Virginia. She states in the book that in their hometown of Tucson, Arizona, this basically meant becoming vegetarians. They spent vacations and breaks on their farm in Virginia prior to their permanent move. At some point or another, they decided the Arizona desert was not the place to try your hand at food independence. Thus, their move cross-country.

Even though I have lately become a nonfiction reader, I usually stick to memoirs both sad and funny. This is neither, and reads almost more as a series of magazine articles devoted to organic farming -- nothing I would normally be interested in. But maybe because of my own growing interest in eating "better" (whatever that may mean), maybe my own childhood spent on a beef cattle farm, maybe because my brother and sister-in-law are now living as missionaries in Africa with a focus on teaching native Africans skills of sustainable living. I'm not sure which if these (or maybe all of them) contributed to my continued interest in the book, but interest was certainly there. It took me the better part of a week to get through it; there was a plot, albeit a small one -- the story of how this new life affected this family.

But most interesting to me was how and why they did it. Kingsolver includes long passages on everything from "harvesting" turkeys (yes, this is exactly what it sounds like) to planting tomatoes. On their website, they have even included an updated index organized by topic so that others can use the book as a reference guide for farming. Also plentiful in the book are Kingsolver's reasonings for their lifestyle change. Fossil fuels are depleted each time we bite into an avocado from Mexico or a pineapple grown in South America. Rather than spending money on items that show up on our grocery store shelf (strawberries in January, you might ask yourself?) oddly out of place, Kingsolver challenges her family -- and later her readers -- to give that money instead to local farmers at produce stands, at farmer's markets, and at the actual farms.

I can't force you to change your ways... I, for one, happen to LIKE coffee imported from exotic locations. But Animal, Vegetable, Miracle has given me pause. I hope that it will influence me to make different choices -- and that I will at least take advantage of our local farmer's market during peak months rather than running into the closest Kroger for "fresh" corn. Kingsolver's book is interesting, if nothing else. Despite what might seem like preaching, she doesn't. She simply lays her thoughts out there for everyone to read, and lives her life as an example.

She also includes clever insights into the world of gardening and farming, one of the best being her concept of the "vegetannual", a plant created to explain the seasons of vegetables and fruit. The picture above bears the inscription: "Picture a single imaginary plant, bearing throughout the season all the different vegetables we harvest... we'll call it a vegetannual."

'Gone' Provides Driving Entertainment

I can't say Lisa Gardner's suspense novel Gone will ever be an addition to the literary canon. It did, however, provide me with hours of entertainment as I drove during the past week. I drive an average of 10-15 hours per week for work, and in the car, I need something to do! While reading as I'm driving isn't a viable option, listening to books IS an option -- one that I don't take advantage of as much as I should. I think you get a few really bad audio books (gratingly annoying voices, English accents reading southern novels, etc.), and you stop trying for a while. Then you are browsing in the book store or library, and one catches your eye.

That's what happened with this novel. I put it in the CD player in my car, and a very pleasant female voice began reading Gone. I can't concentrate on "deep" lit while I'm behind the wheel -- I need something action-driven but fairly light in topic so that it keeps my attention, yet allows me to concentrate on my first priority (arriving safely at my destination).

Gone fit the bill. Gardner is a talented plot writer, and she creates characters you end up rooting for, character flaws and all.

Gone is the story of Rainie Conner, a former Sheriff's deputy who has come to a crucial point in her life. Her alcoholism has come back to haunt her in full force, and her husband -- ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy -- has walked out on their marriage. Rainie goes missing one night soon after their separation, and all of the law enforcement agencies around begin a search for her. To make matters more intense, Rainie has been volunteering as an advocate for a foster child, and young Dougie disappears soon after she does.

With plot twists and turns, Gardner creates a growing sense of suspense which will leave you guessing what happened and who is involved.

Read Chapter One for yourself and get hooked into the mystery.

Apparently Gone is the fifth in a series of Gardner books centered around Rainie Conner at various stages of life, as well as her husband and his daughter. I would usually recommend reading books about a specific character in order; however, this book does work as a stand-alone if you read it first by accident (as I did!). Darn... Now I'll have to go back and read them all in order -- my little touch of OCD won't let me NOT do it!