Reading = Loving

Remember when I said I joined a book club at school? Did I say that here? Well, I joined a book club of coworkers. And the book we're reading this month is The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma (2012) about a girl and her father. When she was 9, they made a promise to read out loud together every night for 100 days straight. Nine years later, the streak broke when Alice left for college.

I did not choose this book, and to be honest, the first 40 pages are pretty corny. Alice was a precocious 9-year old. But that being said, I LOVED the last paragraph of her introduction. I hope you love it, too. It reads as follows:

"This book is about the quilt of our lives, and all the patches - some tattered, some vibrant - woven together by the books we read. This book is about remembering what you were reading when your sister moved away. but also remembering what that last hug felt like. This book is about remembering the words on the pages, but never forgetting whose head was on your shoulder while you read them. This book is about growth, and change, and fear, and hope, and triumph, and yes, books. It is about all of those things, because reading never is, and never can be, just about the characters and the plots. 

Reading to someone is an act of love. This book is, above all else, a love story." 

What I Did Last Weekend

Things I did last weekend:

• watched 6 year olds play soccer
• reunited with my cousin Eileen. She's great!
• had breakfast at Trio's in Dupont Circle, a regular on the family circuit
• helped Dave as he cooked a feast  
• got caught in a downpour while running around the capitol
• went on a late-night drive with my brothers and Dave around the city, tradition!
• voted absentee
• rekindled my love for a good library friend in a corner booth one night
• went to Eastern Market many a time
• became increasingly overwhelmed by the idea of ever having children…how do you all do it? 
• visited Kramerbooks and bought a new book!

Kramerbooks is, as my brothers would say, my jam. This tiny bookstore is open almost around the clock and is located just off of Dupont Circle in D.C. Yeah, it's packed and hard to maneuver. And yes, the books are overpriced. But I love it. I just do. Kramerbooks always seems to lie between where I am and where I'm going making it the perfect spot for a short visit (or maybe it's just that we're always going to Trio's, a restaurant down the block, to stuff ourselves with eggs and toast). Somehow I end up swinging through every time I'm in town even if its for just a quick hello. And I thought I'd actually buy something this time (living large!). So I did. Which of the following did I choose:

The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote,  1958

I LOVE reading about the Civil War. Is it just me or do you love it, too? I took a class as an undergrad called "The American Civil War", and it goes down as one of my all time favorite courses along with "The Rise and Fall of the British Empire", "American Urban History", "American Military History", and who could forget "19th Century British Literature" (my English gem!). And while we're on the topic, I'll never regret majoring in history. Sure, I remember about 10 facts from these classes, but I also remember being so fascinated with the subject matter, staying up late reading for class and ENJOYING it and actually wanting to go to class, wanting to be like my professors, wanting to know more. And that respect for knowledge and love of learning is something from those days of which I need to remind myself.

ANYWAY, back to the Civil War. In that course, we read mostly primary texts. But this trilogy of nonfiction has sat on a shelf in the back of my mind. That shelf is entitled the "one day" shelf or the "must read to get smarter" shelf (do you have those shelves?). And I want to know about the Civil War, really know about it, as in the players and the landscapes and the battles and the politics. And then I want those books on my shelf so when I've forgotten all I read (which will happen down the line just as it did after my class 5 or 6 years ago), I can always go back to them and remind myself. I think this thoroughly researched, vetted, and respected comprehensive tome can do that for me. 

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk, 1998

Way back when, I studied abroad in central Europe (Budapest, to be exact). While there, I embarked on a literary journey because I was really getting into reading heavy things, and I had some great friends who were smarter than I and pushed me towards solid titles. One of them was Snow by Orhan Pamuk. And you know what? I never finished that book...maybe got about halfway through. But I have a lot of respect for Mr. Pamuk as I should because the man is a Nobel laureate. He's Turkish and has a unique voice to someone like me who reads primarily American or British literature. From my limited experience, his writing seems meaty and difficult. Yes, you know I believe in brain candy, but sometimes I feel like all I read is fluff. I want to read something that is both challenging and contemporary and fictional. Snow was that for me. And I gave it up. This reader needs to be pushed again. I need to read things that aren't always comfortable, titles that are semi-obscure. And then, I need to tell YOU about it so you can read it, too!

The Round House by Louise Erdrich, 2012

Remember when I said Dave was a good sport?

This book keeps popping up on my radar, and boy does it sound good. I'm mostly intrigued with the setting: an Ojibwe (that's the way Erdrich writes it, but is it Ojibway? Hmmm) reservation in North Dakota. Unique settings always perk my ears up. And this one has it, don't you think? Besides that, I know little. I think the story is told from a teenage boy's point-of-view. His mother is raped and beaten within an inch of her life, and the boy and his friends head off to find the perpetrator. It has received some pretty solid reviews. One major problem with buying this book: it is only available in hardcover. I usually reserve those purchases for only those titles I MUST buy.

So who's the winner?

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk came out on top and is now staring lovingly at me from my night stand…along with about 11 other books. My bad. I'll let you know how it is!

P.S. Like my socks?

Fall break in D.C.

This evening I am descending on our nation's capitol to visit my kin: brothers, sister-in-law, and nieces who will maybe be two feet taller than when I last saw them in June. My Dad and stepmom will be out of town…in China!

I can't wait.

Dave is coming, too. We fly in on different flights on different days. What a good sport!

While there, I'll put This is How You Lose Her in my brother Matt's hands. I'll scour my sister-in-law Virginia's impressive collection of magazines. And I'll try, in vain, to read 18 books  of my own but only read 20 pages of one. But maybe I'll read my nieces 18 picture books before they go to bed. I'll check some out of my library, some of my favorite picture books, stuff them in a carry on, and smuggle them east. Traveling with library books is usually taboo in my mind, but, as they say, there are exceptions to every rule.

The agenda also includes hounding Matt for his latest reads. Matt fulfills the older brother role of finding off-beat books and music with panace. Remember who introduced me to Junot Diaz? He's the kind of brother who buys you Cat Power for Christmas and The Wind Up Girl for your birthday. And then he inadvertently makes you feel like the most run-of-the-mill, boring 20-something out there whose idea of unique is Zadie Smith and Indigo Girls. Well. What can I say? We like what we like. I expect him to toss me a few paperbacks. Matt's pretty good at finding great fiction, and he is my go-to when I need that fiction most. After all, great fiction is, I believe, where most readers are born.

So off to D.C. I go! Until we meet again (in 4 days) Indianapolis! I'm out.