Citizen Beta

LOVE THIS

It looked like rain this morning. I had to grab a jacket before leaving the house. Now it is warm, sunny and breezy; this might qualify for wind anywhere else but at the tail end of the windy season (i.e. May) this day seems downright pleasant. The backyard swing is calling to me. But stepping foot in the backyard would force me to acknowledge the vast amount of work waiting for me out there. Instead I think I’ll keep hiding here in the office, listening to my kids destroy the house while getting along splendidly. It is open window weather, or, just about. As long as the wind isn’t too bad you can throw open the windows to the fresh air and warmth and to the hum of spring, the chorus of birds and bugs and neighbors walking by.

I am on vacation. According to the calendar at any rate. This is week two of my two week semester break but it has been filled so far with stomach virus (two of the four of us), sleepless nights due to neighbors party, aforementioned stomach virus, bad dreams (mine and others), a very messy house, no time or energy to exercise, and a knitting project gone horribly awry. And, I actually did have to go to work today to get ready for classes beginning on Monday…But, I have also spent time with friends eating and chatting and randomly perusing antique shops. A and I, the healthy ones of the bunch, snuck out yesterday and managed to make a great adventure of a pet store, a fabric store and a funky grocery store. It is about the small things, folks.

Summer semester begins on Monday and my daughter’s school year ends on Friday. We have no vacation overlap. Just as I am gearing up to learn names, wrestle with copy machines and door codes, make sure I have work clothes clean each day, re-write lectures, grade and grade some more, she is winding down and getting ready to celebrate the end of kindergarten (bittersweet!) and getting used to saying “first-grader.” She also just finished her first year of religious school (those who know me are always surprised that I send the kids to religious school and that we attend the occasional Shabbat service…it was not something I was in the habit of as an adult but my oldest has a deep religious streak and when given the choice she picked religious school over gymnastics and everything else except soccer.).

For a number of reasons she is not attending summer camp this year though she did the last two. She would’ve been the oldest kid at the synagogue’s camp and it didn’t seem worth the expense this year. She is attending a week long dance camp with a friend but most of the season will be spent much less scheduled. Playdates galore, trips the museum and botanic gardens, swimming and hiking. She is teaching herself to read and write in Hebrew (told you—religious streak) and I imagine a great deal of energy will go towards that in the coming months. I am excited for her; the meaning of summer, or, should I say the reality of summer, changes so much as we grow up. We have to work, we have to go to the grocery store, we have to schlep our kids around. I would love to spend my summer the way I did as a teenager (except for the summer school part) just lounging in the sun with a book, sitting around with friends, walking along the river or driving up to the mountains. Time in the sun with my kids will be good, too. And, of course, good books.

Lately I have been reading a lot of YA (hey! I read what they pay me to read). It is good but it’s not satisfying any deep bookwormish itches…What are you reading? What do you recommend? I did just finish The Lemon Tree which was so good but as non-fiction it didn’t totally draw me in to the story and abandon me there! I have four books on their way to me about women in ancient Israel, etc for a mini-class I am teaching and so really want to get some good fiction in before I have to plow through those.

What are you planning on reading this summer?

Here is some of the work I have been doing (besides that whole other job I have).

The new Barnaby Grimes book

Falling In by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Stolen and an interview with author Lucy Christopher

Many months ago my mother lent me a thick paperback copy of Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy. I am a fast reader, very fast in fact, but this book took me a long time to read. Sometimes it felt like a chore. And the funny thing is, this book is very good. Written in the early 1920’s it is the story of a young man named Clyde Griffiths who kills his pregnant ex-girlfriend (though she believes he plans on marrying her) in order to be with a rich and beautiful girl who probably has no intention of actually marrying him. The copy I have ran 856 pages and a lot of sounded like this:

“So, by virtue of such mental prestidigitation and tergiversation, inspired and and animated as it was by his desire for Sondra, his inability to face the facts in connection with Roberta, he achieved the much-coveted privilege of again seeing her, over one week-end at least, an in such a setting as never before in his life had he been privileged to witness.” Yep..I actually read about 12 or 15 other books while I was reading this one. I already feel a little lonely without it.

But as plodding as the book sometimes is linguistically, the story is so compelling it is hard to walk away from. There was an introduction that I read before I began the novel so I knew about the murder and Clyde ending up on death row (though I didn’t know his fate). The third part of the book, which picks up right after the murder and is about the man-hunt, investigation and trial, is awesome. It moves at brisker pace with clearer language and finally after so many hundreds of pages introduces some new characters. This book was based on a true crime and is the basis for the Elizabeth Taylor movie, “A Place in the Sun,” which I really want to watch now!

In other news: Spring is in full force here, complete with the seasonal winds we deal with around here. But the bluster is tempered with the fact that the garden is in and the hens are laying a lot and I am winding up this term. I get a few weeks off and then will be ready to greet a whole new bunch of students (and hopefully see some old students in different classes). School is out in a month for L, too and instead of rushing about all summer or doing a summer camp we will be relaxing and seeing where our fancy takes us. I may put her in a week long science camp as she really wants to do one but it will depend on time and money and otherwise we have lots of adventures and projects planned.

Speaking of projects. Check out this little “ballerina cat” I knit for a 3 year old birthday present. I was finishing it up minutes before the party so it has no arms, no ballet slippers but my girls loved it so I hoped the birthday girl would too. Plus, it used up a bit of this blue and green yarn I had around. Right now I am knitting a sweater that is taking me almost as long as the Dreiser book (and it is actually a sweater vest—no sleeves!) and learning to knit cables on a dish cloth pattern.

Below are some recent reviews and here is a link to an interesting conversation about unschooling.  I don’t think it would work for us and I have many serious questions about it though I have thought a lot about more traditional homeschooling. What do you think?

REVIEWS:

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously by Adrienne Martini

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book One, The Mysterious Howling by MaryRose Wood

Exodus and Emancipation by Kenneth Chelst (page 16)

Right now I am striving for a nice balance of quality and quantity.  This time last year I was freelancing for more publications but making less money and stressing about pitching ideas.  I am now focusing on two publications mainly and getting paid more (and as these are generally book reviews, author interview and an occasional piece of straight-forward journalism I have no ideas to pitch: I only have to say yea or nay to the assignments).

I am only teaching two classes but feel like I am devoting a good amount of energy to each and thus the semester is going well.  So well in fact it is almost done. 

All this allows me plenty of time for my most recent obsessions: knitting, baking bread, and knitting.

Here are some links to recent work and some photos of recent projects.  What are you keeping busy with as the lion days of March give way to the lambs? 

Devotion: A Memoir by Dani Shapiro

Ghosts and Lightning by Trevor Byrne 

The American Girl by Monika Fagerholm

The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley

Dear Dumb Diary #9: That’s What Friends Aren’t For  and interview with author Jim Benton

Encyclopedia Mythologica: Gods and Heroes by Sabuda and Reinhart

I found this review  of my review…

Also, found this reference to one of my reviews.

Here is a review of The Midnight Charter that I don’t think I linked to before.

And here is an interview I did with the author, David Whitney.

I am lucky to manage a post a month lately so here is February’s right on the first!  Don’t get too excited, it is just a bunch of links to a bunch of reviews.  More soon on books I am reading but not reviewing and also some author interviews…perhaps in March.

Shades of Grey—the first in a new trilogy by Jasper Fforde 

The Lonely Hearts Club–a teen novel for teen fans of the Beatles or something along those lines

Green–a sweet chapter book about leprechauns and the (half) humans who love them

I have been writing a lot lately for one local publication that sends work my way but it is of pretty limited interest.  But, here on page 7 is a review/article that may be worth reading for somebody out there and on page 2 there is an article that mentions a lecture mini-course thing I am doing later this month.  In other words, if you have always wanted to pay to hear me talk now is your chance (and for the record, I didn’t take a few classes in Jewish History, it was essentially, though not officially, my grad degree).   

I didn’t get my picks for best books of the year in over at Bookreporter in time so thought I would share with you my favorites.  These are not all new books, but the best ones I’ve read (that I remember) this year.  Some are new and some are just new to me.  

Fiction:

The Likeness…I think I liked this one better than In The Woods, which I liked a lot.  French has such a great writing style, blends genres well and has really compelling characters. Plus, it is creepy and I like creepy tales.  

The Master and Margarita…Okay, I admit I didn’t really understand much of what was happening in this novel but it was so much fun and so vividly described.  I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when I was done with it, too!

Oh Pure and Radiant Heart…As I have written before I really liked How the Dead Dream but I feel this novel was a bit better; the characters were interesting and well developed and the narrative at once super funny and quite thoughtful.  I especially appreciated how Millet played with history, morality and religion as themes. 

The Glister…Another creepy one with a strong moral (but not preachy) undertone.   This short novel is atmospheric and scary and the ending was so strange I had to read it a couple of times just to make sense of it.  Very powerful. 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog…This book is just so smart and literary and meaty and enjoyable.  Again there are well-developed characters and a compelling story line.  I really can’t say how wonderful this book is! 

Non-Fiction:

Wild Swans…I don’t know too much about modern Chinese history and this book taught me a lot (and scared the shit out of me).  It is a memoir but packs in so much history and culture and it is quite fascinating.

Abigail Adams…A really awesome examination of Adams and early American culture.  Adams was rebellious and headstrong, intelligent and crafty and this book told her story without the dryness typical of historical biographies.

When Everything Changed…An eye-opening look at the last few decades of women’s lives in the United States focusing on politics, law, journalism and the work place as well as the racial and gender equality movements.

Your turn!  What were your favorite reads of 2009??     

There are many kinds of bookworms. Those who stick to the genre they love, those who read everything and anything only to forget the book as soon as they finish the last page, those who chose books based on what others may think, those who read to escape, those who get everything from the library and those who buy everything new in hardcover, those who re-read the same books obsessively, those who understand literature to be a high art and those seeking mere entertainment…

I am an eclectic bookworm. I read pretty much anything, prefer “literary” novels and non-fiction but have a soft-soft for horror and crime/mystery novels if they are either really entertaining or written well. I have a large collection of books many of which are hardcover but really love time spent at used bookstores looking for treasures. I have a few books I re-read every now and then. Books are my favorite form of escapism.

I think I am known as a bookworm and friends often borrow books. I have to say this sometimes makes me uneasy: I like knowing where my books are at all times! I have tried recently to loosen up on this. For example a friend in Texas has had a copy of a book of mine for close to a year and I totally forgot until she reminded me.

The flip side of lending books is being lent books. Right now I have a huge stack of books people have lent me and I am trying to power through them out of respect—I feel like because I want mine back quickly (not that I would ever admit that!) I want to return the ones I borrow quickly. But, with reading books for work, for reviews, and those of my own choosing, the stack remains high. It is interesting to see what books people think I would like:

My mom lent me “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser. Friends have recently lent me “Her Fearful Symmetry” by Audrey Niffenegger, “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band” by the members of Motley Crue, “Lord of Light” by Roger Zelazny, and “Sunday Wife” by Cassandra King. A student lent me “Pope Joan” by Donna Cross which I actually read a few years ago but didn’t realize until I was about 30 or so pages in this time. A cousin lent me the whole Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.

There are many kinds of bookworms; what kind are you?

Oh hey there!  I have been gone so long even the spammers have forgotten about me.  Are you still there?

Tell me about what you are reading.  Or eating.  Or whatever.

It is suddenly tomato soup weather here and that is lovely and I am actually making some sort of Israeli couscous, curry, apple, jicama, garlic concotion…yummy–I hope.

Here’s what I have been reading:

The new Margaret Atwood

An interesting (and scary) memoir 

A kid’s book about fairy godmothers

Neil Gaiman’s cool take on Norse myth

Some stuff in here (page 20 for short review and page 3 for something a tad more journalistic)

Review of The Last Bridge

and The Story Sisters   and  Hot House Flower and Nine Plants of Desire   and  Sideshow  and Skellig (10th Anniversary Edition and The Night Counter.

My whole lunch just fell on the floor. A whole bowl of oily, cheesy pasta that I had been waiting for all morning. It was warmed up, with a fork stuck in it. I had a cold glass of tea and was heading in the other room…I guess I put it down for one moment and SPLAT! Hungry as I was I didn’t want to have to cook anything and as anxious as I was for my gooey, high caloric feast I didn’t even consider the salad right there ready to go in the fridge. I opened a can of tuna and threw a croissant next to it. Lunch.

As I was reaching for the can of tuna I was thinking about Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. I had finally managed to get the horrors of that book out of my mind when D when ahead and read it. Now I am back to grocery shopping post-apocalypse style. The canned goods seem like a better and better idea. I figure, if the bomb was dropped today, we’d have a month, maybe two of good eating and after that, well…unfortunately we don’t live in a region where fruits and berries grow wild. In fact, most of the wild-things here are a bit too prickly for easy consumption.

Is it morbid to think about this? Morbidly fun! We always have some fruit and veggies in the fruit bowl (as of now three apples, three avocados, a small eggplant, some garlic, a cucumber) and also right now the garden is in full swing (a cauliflower, tons of squash, a pumpkin or two, some bird-pecked broccoli, lots of tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, an eggplant in flower but with no eggplant yet and lots of herbs that are more or less tasty). Hmm…fresh food would go quick. And, that is only assuming the garden survived the catastrophe and wasn’t all radioactive and shit. I am not sure how I want to imagine electricity and fresh water…say we have some of each. Stuff in the fridge and freezer need to go next I guess: yogurt, milk, cheese, half an onion, baby carrots, tortillas, frozen corn, some frozen fruit, spaghetti sauce… We happened to have a ton of spaghetti now, bought in bulk and also soy milk in those wax-cardboard cartons. We also have some cake mix—Party! The pantry yields carbs and a tiny bit of protein in the form of nuts and seeds. Otherwise we have cereal, pirate booty, ritz crackers, boxed mac and cheese, dry beans and pasta, rice…but my stash of end-times cans are in there, too: two cans of soup, four of so cans of a variety of beans, two tiny cans of mushrooms (gag) and maybe a can of condensed milk.

My ace in the whole are the chickens…eggs for a while and then this vegetarian starts cooking birds!

Overall, chances of survival: slim to none.

Bummer.

How would you fare?

What books do you imagine applied to your own life? Sometimes I read books set in glorious houses and I imagine wandering the halls and living in the rooms. I am a geek that way.

(Thanks to Kara who challenged me to get bloggy again obviously not realizing that I have very little to say these days….to the corner!!)

A couple times in recent years I have entered writing contests.  A few were for one of our weekly alternative papers and a few were hosted by blogs I like.  Earlier this month was a contest at Try Harder and guess what?  I won, that’s what!  The challenge was to take a certain line and write a story, or take a picture, or write a comic or whatever, with that line as the starting point.  As you’ll see I took a literalist approach.

Anyhoo, I am stoked to have won and so thanks to Carrie, a friendly commentor around these parts, for letting me play.

Police End Funereal Striptease Act

I often don’t like to write about books unless I am being paid these days. Sometimes I forget about non-review books as soon as I put them down, not because they are forgettable but because there is no imperative to remember them. I read and hopefully enjoyed them and that is the end of that. I have read some books lately that were good: I liked Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon even though I had to put it down for a while to get some other reading done and lost momentum, liking it less after the break. I also liked A.J. Jacobs The Year of Living Biblically  which is so funny and interesting though I think he floundered a bit at the end. Beyond Belief by Elaine Pagels was another recent good read. This one I read to use for work and found a lot of nice and clear ways of looking at the early Christian community and the path to biblical canonization.

Today I finished Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet and loved it. I think I am officially a big Lydia Millet fan now. For the online bookclub we read How The Dead Dream which I thought was great. While several of us read it only a few joined in the discussion (we are working on ways to make the club more dynamic) which is too bad because there were some fantastic ideas in there. I had actually picked up Oh Pure and Radiant Heart at a used bookstore looking for the club selection and put it aside until last week. To go by the cover blurb it is about Oppenheimer, Fermi and Szilard, three of the physicists instrumental in producing the nuclear weapons used against Japan in WWII. In this novel, when the first bomb is tested, at the Trinity site in New Mexico, the three men are somehow bodily transported to the year 2004. Yet, their original lives continued on their historic trajectories: they all lived, worked, died, etc as their biographies tell us, yet somehow here they were in the future (our now) as well. As tricky as this sounds, Millet handles it easily and it is really just the vehicle for her exploration of the role of science, morality, humanity, belonging, religion, ecology, personal, national and social responsibility and much more. Wow!

Millet’s style is so interesting to me and a bit hard to describe. Her writing is brisk and clear, yet evocative and poetic. Her characters are human and flawed but often very sympathetic. Plus, the book is quite funny in parts. As the three physicists venture out in to the world, accompanied by a Santa Fe couple, Ben and Ann, they develop a following of believers who want to assist them in their mission to speak out against nuclear weapons and in favor of world peace. Of course, the mission gets muddied and the followers turn into fanatics, the physicists must deal with all of it on top of the existential problems of being who they are and when (they all read about their own lives and deaths, their work and legacies in the books they scour throughout the story). There are trips to Japan, to the Marshall Islands, there is plenty of science, history and politics peppering the story. In short, this was a dense but readable, original and unconventional story.

Other recent reads (reviewed by yours truly elsewhere):

Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman  

Coop by Michael Perry 

And some YA/kids fiction:

Barnaby Grimes (book 2) Return of the Emerald Skull by Stewart and Riddell 

The Silver Door by Holly Lisle

And a bonus, just for you…article on making mazes with kids…you may have to leaf through the May/June issue to find it.

I am lazy, so lazy.  I want to write, I do…but I am finding it hard striking the letters on the keyboard.  I spent four days in southwestern New Mexico lazing in the sun, drinking cold beer, gawking at natural wonders, cuddling my kids, reading and watching silly television shows.  I have just 6 days left before the new terms starts and much yet to do to prepare.  So, for now, indulge me in a link-fest of recent reviews and perhaps share with me what you are doing/reading/cooking and eating (again I solicit your fave hot-weather recipes)….

Unlikely Disciple—non-fiction by Kevin Roose who went undercover at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.

Columbine—really great examination of the Columbine massacre by journalist Dave Cullens.

Don’t Cry—short stories from the always interesting Mary Gaitskill

Sima’s Undergarments for Women—a solid debut novel by Ilana Stanger-Ross

Annie’s Ghosts—another really good one by a journalist: Steve Luxenberg

Our second bookclub selection was chosen by Mandy.  Here is what she has to say about Loving Frank:

When I started this book I had no idea who Mamah Borthwick Cheney was- obviously Frank Lloyd Wright I knew, but only because I have taught about Falling Water in the past. I really enjoyed this book- from the very beginning I was intrigued by Mamah- her choices, her profession, the world in which she lived that seems so different and so similar to our own.
I was torn between being appalled that she would leave her children and being impressed that she was brave enough to do what made her happy. It made me wonder if there was anything- anyone- in the world that would make me even consider leaving my child. I also thought about how incredibly monotonous and mind-numbing domestic responsibilities can be- especially for a woman who had professional goals so clearly ahead of her time. I struggle with this balance in my own life all the time- sometimes it seems like if I have to clean another bathroom, fight again with Cori about eating, or fold another load of laundry I am going to go over the edge, and ANY respite from those kind of tasks is hugely attractive!!

At the start of the book Edwin tells Mamah that happiness is something that takes practice- that if you act happy eventually you will be. What do you think of that? I have a hard time with it, personally. I tend to be more proactive- if you are not happy then change something so you are- that has always been my approach. But what happens when you run out of things to change? Can you just pretend? Can you really just decide to be happy?

I was also amazed by the pubic scandal the affair caused- how different would that situation be now? It seems like today people leave their husbands and wives all the time- especially famous people- the covers of people magazine tell the story of celebrity affairs and breakups everyday. Do you think Mamah’s reaction to all the publicity was overreaction? What about the double standard- she was so villianized by the press, while FLW was let off more easily, it seems.

I also thought a lot about why Mamah stayed with Frank, even after he proved to be so pathetic about money. Why did she do this? Do you think she was a strong character overall or a weak one? One of the reasons I liked her so much is that she was both, just like most of us.

So…. Those are my initial thoughts. I have lots more to say, and I want to hear from all of you, so let’s hear what you thought soon….
Mandy

Claiming busy is the worst excuse, I know, so I won’t bother to say it.

Here is what I have been up to (and don’t forget: I am going to keep bullying you to comment on the discussion of the Lydia Millet book).

Article on chickens and children (page 6)

Review of The Tricking of Freya

Review of The Glister

Review of Amberville

I just finished Eat, Pray, Love which is one of those books that everyone reads and everyone hates but everyone still reads it. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. I thought the first third, where Gilbert travels to Italy and sortof gets her bearings after her brutal divorce was good. I found her story funny and relatable. But, her soujourn in India, meh. I was not entertained nor enlightened by her mystical yogic experiences, her dreams of her guru, etc etc etc. When she left India for Bali I perked up again but the end was so predictable and dull and who cares about her Brazilian lover? Not I. I hate to say it but she was more likable, as a narrator, when she was depressed, lonely and neurotic than when she was God-loving and sexually active.

A friend has suggested I check out something by Janet Frame: any suggestions?

Now, I must take my current book (more on it soon, surely) and sit in the sun: it may be that spring is here.

I heard Lydia Millet taking about her book, How The Dead Dream on “To The Best Of Our Knowledge” one of my favorite radio shows. I was driving and dangerously began looking for a scrap of paper and a pen so I could write down the title…I found a receipt and a blue crayon and accidentally wrote Linda.

When Mandy and I started thinking about putting together an online book club this book came to mind. I remembered some details from the radio show and thought it sounded like a book with a lot of ideas to explore (ecology and civilization, isolation and love, etc) and so here we are.

I will admit that the first chapter was hard for me. I really like the way Millet structures her sentences but it took me a while to get into the rhythm if things. Plus, T. is hard to like and, especially in the first chapter, hard to understand. But, the opening of the second chapter, with the death of the coyote, then this book really started to draw me in. I thought that whole coyote episode was so interesting and compelling and I kept coming back to it mentally as I moved on with T.’s story. I thought the ending (which I am hesitant to discuss until I know everyone has finished the book) mirrored this scene perfectly.

For me, Millet really captures, in such a poetic and strange and sad and sometimes very creepy way a sense of isolation that comes with, at least in this story, the current state of society. An isolation from nature, from each other, from self. T. and his parents all demonstrate this and it damages them in various ways. The other characters demonstrate it to lesser degrees (I often felt these minor characters—not sure if they are minor really but you know what I mean— were “types” and so it was harder to get a handle on their motivations). And the animals….of course, the animals!

I found T.’s empathy with the animals fascinating; he creates feelings for them based on his own experiences and sometimes it makes such sense and sometimes I read him as so hopelessly off the mark—so disturbed by his own emotional isolation— that he was incapable of really even seeing these animals for what they were. Are you angry with him for selfishly trying to “experience” these animals or heartbroken for him? He had the means to make a real difference for some of the animals and habitats he obsessed over but either choses not to or is incapable of even framing the problem in those terms.  The vision of humankind’s relationship to other animals is pretty bleak in this story and one of the characters I found myself caring about was the (unnamed) dog that T. adopts…

Overall I think this is a great book: a dark and solid story with so much of importance swirling around in it, written in a strong and unique voice.

Your turn. What did you think? What kind of guy is T.? What do we take from his journey? Are we doomed to ruin the world until there is nothing but solitary examples left of each species who eventually die in a lonely and altered landscape? Who are the dead here and, whether in the Pancake House or not, how do they dream?

Just four days until the launch of the online book club (do we need a clever name?  a mascot? a slogan?).

We are reading How The Dead Dream by Lydia Millet.  Send me your thoughts on the book and then start checking back here on the 24th to get into the discussion.  If you haven’t finished the book by then, that is fine, you should still join us!

If you need the email address to submit your response to, please leave a comment on this post and Mandy or I will be in touch with you soon.  

The next book will be announced soon, as well.

I have a big blood blister on my toe. This disgusting indignity is the price I pay for finally getting some exercise. I have never been a jock, or even someone who likes standing for more than fifteen minutes at a time, but I am now in the worst shape of my life and I don’t like it. In the past few years I have taken yoga but nothing aerobic and just eating healthy, which I do, is not enough. My mental image of myself doesn’t include a head dwarfed by saddlebags. And so to Nia. This dance-type exercise class has loud-ish music and lots of martial arts kicks. The class I attended had just three other attendees and a wall of mirrors. It was humbling to say the least but not the agony I anticipated. My toe hurts and my muscles are sore but pleasantly so and so I am committed to stick with this a while. My goal is to just feel a bit better physically by the end of March.

I am slightly more accomplished at mental exercise (note I said slightly) and to that end have been reading (and writing) up a storm. First I have to just say that though I love to get paid to write, today I was reminded why sometimes just getting the book is enough when an advanced copy of Elie Wiesel’s latest novel arrived in the mail…

Recent reads include For The Thrill Of It by Simon Baatz about the Leopold and Loeb case. I knew next to nothing about this real life murder case before reading this book. I knew those guys were super creepy which Baatz confirmed. I was left wanting to dig a little deeper into the psyches of Leopold and Loeb but still think this was a really interesting and well-written book.

I just finished Murial Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog which I really loved. It is the story of a fifty-something concierge in Paris named Renee. Though she is incredibly intelligent she hides it behind her role in the building and secretly reads philosophy and Russian novels and watches artsy Japanese films. A new tenet in the building and a suicidal 12 year old girl bring her out of hiding so to speak. She is the hedgehog: prickly and unkempt on the outside but truly elegant and wise. This is a lovely and thoughtful book.

Another creepy one was In The Woods by Tana French which is about a murder in a small Irish town and the detective assigned to the case who witnessed the murder of his friends in the same town as a boy. Very fun and readable and more literary than it sounds though toward the end it started to unravel for me…I felt the author started to go in too many directions and the ending was both surprising and frustrating.

Hmmm….what else? How about some reviews?

Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun

Voluntary Madness by Norah Vincent

Sunny Holiday  (kids book) by Colleen Murtagh Paratore

We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes (kids book) by Patrick Jennings

And scroll down to page six here for a review of the really good book The Jewish Body by Melvin Konner (or you could stay on the front page to read my brilliant bit of journalism there).

One last writerly bit to share. I have been published on glossy pages for the first time (I am really excited about that!) with an interview with Amy Shearn in “Albuquerque The Magazine.”

And lastly, if you are going to do the online book club there are about two weeks left: discussion begins on February 24^th. I have my copy of the book—do you??