Old Books, Rare Friends did so well when published, fans of the book asked for more. Bookends is meant to be a more personal and in-depth look at the friendship between these two extraordinary women. I believe it is a perfect complement for the first book but would not stand well on its own (where as Old Books, Rare Friends does). While it covers a lot of the same ground from the first book, it is not repetitive. Both books alternate between the two different points of view of each women. So if in the first book, a trip to Europe was told from the point of view of Rostenberg, in Bookends Stern would share her impressions of the same event. They both discuss the romantic relationships they experienced in their youth and also expound on why they chose not to marry. There is a chapter dedicated to the dogs who served as their faithful companions throughout their lives and the difficulty they experienced in realizing the time had come to stop having a canine family member. There is a beautiful chapter dedicated to their mothers and the close relationships they both experienced with them. Two chapters address the changing world they live in and the process of aging in such a world. I could relate to their lamenting the onslaught of intimidating new technology. But I felt the deepest sadness as they outlined all the ways in which the rare book world has changed and in many ways left them behind. They were in no way found to be irrelevant or disrespected but the inevitable change of the times left them questioning and unsure about their place in a world they loved so much. I do recommend reading Bookends. I did not find it to be overkill...as a matter of fact, I still wanted to know more about these two ladies and after consulting the internet was saddened to find that they had both passed away recently (Rostenberg in 2005 and Stern in 2007). Their legacy continues to live on in a musical based on the two booksellers as well as a proposed documentary that I will be on the lookout for.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
We have a winner!
Using random.org, the winner of The Shiniest Jewel is Patty!
Congratulations!
I'll be hosting more giveaways throughout the year.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
This book came out just before Christmas and there was a lot of hype about it being fabulous, so I was desperate to read it. My friend Jo over at Crafting and Allotmenting kindly lent it to me and I devoured it very quickly.
Many of my overseas readers probably won't have a clue who this lady is, but over here she is a much loved British icon. Dawn French is part of one of our most longest serving comedy duo's French and Saunders who have been making people laugh for 30 years now. Jennifer Saunders had a hit programme with Absolutely Fabulous, which I think was aired in Americ
a.
a. Dawn has also had a very successful acting career, her most famous role being Geraldine Granger in the Vicar of Dibley, which is one of those comfort TV programmes that you can watch over and over again, a bit like Friends, Frasier and even Only Fools and Horses.
Dawn is also married to another very famous comedian, Lenny Henry, who figured quite heavily in my childhood viewing in the late, great Tiswas. Find me a 30+ British person who never watched Tiswas on a Saturday morning whilst gr
owing up, and I will throw custard pie at them! Only joking!
Dawn's autobiography was as good as people said it was. It had me laughing so much, that my settee would not stop shaking and my husband refused to sit next me. She comes across as a warm, lovely,kindhearted person, who you would just love to know and have as your best buddy.
She has written the book in the form of a series of letters to different people who are important to her. A lot are addressed to her father who committed suicide when she was nineteen. She also writes a lot to Fatty, who is her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, who isn't large at all.
I loved this book completely, I loved reading about their obsession with getting Madonna on their show for the last 30 years, always being turned down. I loved reading about their Comedy Strip days which were a big part of my television viewing whilst growing up. I loved that they wanted her in Mama Mia, but her singing was beyond awful!
I hav included some pictures. The top one shows Dawn with her husband Lenny. The next one show Dawn as Geraldine Granger and the third is a picture of her with her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders.
If you are looking for a warm, light hearted read, I would definitely recommend this book.
Dawn is also married to another very famous comedian, Lenny Henry, who figured quite heavily in my childhood viewing in the late, great Tiswas. Find me a 30+ British person who never watched Tiswas on a Saturday morning whilst gr
owing up, and I will throw custard pie at them! Only joking!Dawn's autobiography was as good as people said it was. It had me laughing so much, that my settee would not stop shaking and my husband refused to sit next me. She comes across as a warm, lovely,kindhearted person, who you would just love to know and have as your best buddy.
She has written the book in the form of a series of letters to different people who are important to her. A lot are addressed to her father who committed suicide when she was nineteen. She also writes a lot to Fatty, who is her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, who isn't large at all.
I loved this book completely, I loved reading about their obsession with getting Madonna on their show for the last 30 years, always being turned down. I loved reading about their Comedy Strip days which were a big part of my television viewing whilst growing up. I loved that they wanted her in Mama Mia, but her singing was beyond awful!
I hav included some pictures. The top one shows Dawn with her husband Lenny. The next one show Dawn as Geraldine Granger and the third is a picture of her with her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders.
If you are looking for a warm, light hearted read, I would definitely recommend this book.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Our first book giveaway!
The Shiniest Jewel: A Family Love Story (2008)Marian Henley
176 pages
Received from Library Thing Early Reviewers.
I can't say enough good things about this touching, beautiful memoir. At 49, Marian Henley realizes that though she may not ever marry her longtime boyfriend, Rick, she wants to be a mother. The Shiniest Jewel details her journey to adopt her son William from Russia. Told in graphic novel format, this thought-provoking memoir made me realize how much some mothers go through to do adopt. I know it will be on my top 10 books of 2009.
As a way of saying thank you for joining this challenge, I decided to host a giveaway for all of you participating this year. To enter your name in the drawing, please leave a comment letting me know you want it. I'll randomly draw a name next Saturday.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
A River of Words
Written by Jen Bryant (July 2008)Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
34 pages
2008 Cybils nominee for best poetry
A River of Words tells of the poet William Carlos Williams' life from childhood until he's an adult. Bryant shows the reader where Williams grew up, how he fell in love with poetry, and where his inspiration from his poems came from.
This is a book for all ages. I read it to my oldest son and he loved hearing about Williams going after what he wanted, becoming a busy doctor, who still found the time to do what he loved: write poetry. The book was so nice we read it over again once we finished it the first time.
This is a book for all ages. I read it to my oldest son and he loved hearing about Williams going after what he wanted, becoming a busy doctor, who still found the time to do what he loved: write poetry. The book was so nice we read it over again once we finished it the first time.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Finished 2008 "In Their Shoes" Reading Challenge
Thanks to Vasilly from 1330V for hosting "In Their Shoes" reading challenge. In this challenge, we read memoirs, autobiographies and biographies. I read seven books for this challenge in 2008!My Selections
1) Cross Creek - Marjorie Rawlings (review)
2) Marley and Me - John Grogan (review)
3) Ecology of a Cracker Childhood - Janisse Ray (review)
4) Resistance: A Woman's Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France by Agnes Humbert (review)
5) The Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art - Joyce Carol Oates (review)
6) Negotiating With The Dead - Margaret Atwood (review)
7) An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination - Elizabeth McCracken (review)
Favorite: An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken (hands down!)
A great challenge from a great blogger friend - thanks, V!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
by Diane Ackerman
I have posted my thoughts about this book - which I loved - on my book blog. It was my eighth - and final - book for this challenge in 2008. I look forward to some limited participation in this challenge in 2009. Thanks, Vasilly!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer
Published in 2007. 413 pages.
Reading Escape, the memoir of a former polygamist wife in the FLDS Church - the cult formerly led by Warren Jeffs - is a bit like driving past a bad car accident on the freeway: one isn't sure that she really wants to see what happened but she can't help staring anyway.
A compelling read - I read nearly the whole thing in one day - Jessop's account illustrates the evil of a religion that teaches that women and children are a man's property and that discourages education and individual thought. The book could have used some better editing, as it sometimes rambles and repeats itself, but it's worth a look. Escape was a Salt Lake County Library's Reader's Choice pick for the second half of 2008.
(Cross-posted from my book blog.)
Reading Escape, the memoir of a former polygamist wife in the FLDS Church - the cult formerly led by Warren Jeffs - is a bit like driving past a bad car accident on the freeway: one isn't sure that she really wants to see what happened but she can't help staring anyway.
A compelling read - I read nearly the whole thing in one day - Jessop's account illustrates the evil of a religion that teaches that women and children are a man's property and that discourages education and individual thought. The book could have used some better editing, as it sometimes rambles and repeats itself, but it's worth a look. Escape was a Salt Lake County Library's Reader's Choice pick for the second half of 2008.
(Cross-posted from my book blog.)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott
Published in 2007. 257 pages.
I read Anne Lamott's previous compilations of personal essays on faith - Traveling Mercies and Plan B - in 2006. (I posted some thoughts here.) I liked Grace (Eventually) about as well as Plan B but not as well as Traveling Mercies.
What I love most about Lamott's writing is that her spirituality is so "real." She takes her everyday struggles - with things like body image and her teenage son and "forgivishness" - and finds God in them. She shares her vulnerabilities with us, her readers, and we are strengthened as we realize that we, too, can receive God's grace.
Here are a few of my favorite passages:
(Cross-posted from my book blog.)
I read Anne Lamott's previous compilations of personal essays on faith - Traveling Mercies and Plan B - in 2006. (I posted some thoughts here.) I liked Grace (Eventually) about as well as Plan B but not as well as Traveling Mercies.
What I love most about Lamott's writing is that her spirituality is so "real." She takes her everyday struggles - with things like body image and her teenage son and "forgivishness" - and finds God in them. She shares her vulnerabilities with us, her readers, and we are strengthened as we realize that we, too, can receive God's grace.
Here are a few of my favorite passages:
Sometimes grace works like water wings when you feel you are sinking. [page 50]
When Jesus was asked about beauty, he pointed to nature, to the lilies of the field. Behold them, he said, and behold is a special word: it means to look upon something amazing or unexpected. Behold! It is an exhortation, not a whiny demand, like when you're talking to your child - "Behold me when I'm talking to you, sinner!" Jesus is saying that every moment you are freely given the opportunity to see through a different pair of glasses. "Behold the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, and yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." But that's only the minor chord. The major one follows, in his anti-anxiety discourse - which is the soul of this passage - that all striving after greater beauty and importance, and greater greatness, is foolishness. It is untimately like trying to catch the wind. Lilies do not need to do anything to make themselves more glorious or cherished. Jesus is saying that we have much to learn from them about giving up striving. He's not saying that in "Get over it" way, as your mother or your last, horrible husband did. Instead he's heartbroken, as when you know an anorexic girl who's starving to death, as if in some kind of demonic possession. He's saying that we could be aware of, filled with, and saved by the presence of holy beauty, rather than worship golden calves. [pages 79-80]
The best way to change the world is to change your mind, which often requires feeding yourself. It makes for biochemical peace. It's almost like a prayer: to be needy, to eat, to taste, to be filled, building up instead of tearing down. You find energy to do something you hadn't expected to do, maybe even one of the holiest things: to go outside and stand under the stars, or to go for a walk in the morning, or in such hard times, both. [pages 252-253]
(Cross-posted from my book blog.)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The Story Of A Soul
... I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realised that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay. It is just the same in the world of souls - which is the garden of Jesus. He has created the great saints who are like the lilies and the roses, but He has created much lesser saints and they must be content to be the daisies or the violets which rejoice His eyes whenever He glances down. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be. (p.20)
I believe that if a little flower could speak, it would tell very simply and fully all that God had done for it. It would not say that it was ungraceful and had no scent, that the sun had spoilt its freshness, or that a storm had snapped its stem - not when it knew the exact opposite was true. The flower who is now going to tell her story rejoices at having to relate all the kindnesses freely done her by Jesus. She is well aware that there was nothing about her to attract His attention, and that it is His mercy alone which has created whatever there is good in her. It was He who ensured that she began to grow in a most pure and holy soil, and it was He who saw to it that eight fair lilies came before her. His love made Him want to keep His little flower safe from the tainted breezes of the world, and so she had scarcely begun to unfold her petals before He transplanted her on to the mountain of Carmel. (p.21)
The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux: The Story Of A Soul translated by John Beevers is a very inspiration book that tells of the short life of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower. Marie Francoise Therese Martin was born in 1873 in Alencon, France. At the young age of fifteen she became a Carmelite nun. In 1897 she died at the age of twenty four. On May 17, 1925 she was canonised by Pius XI and became known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
However, The Story Of A Soul tells more about her devotion and insight to Jesus than it does about her life. The first half of the book describes her childhood and family, the calling to her vocation, and the beginning years of her life at Carmel. Then the book takes a turn and becomes more of a spiritual writing. St. Therese shares her faith and devotion to Jesus through the life lessons that she learned during her short life. I found this part of the book extremely inspirational. She uses scripture, life examples, and her thoughts and feelings when expressing these insights. And her humbleness and honesty are very refreshing.
I was watered by His tears and Precious Blood and His adorable Face was my radiant sun. (p.93)
John Beevers' introduction is informative and helps fill in the gaps of information. St. Therese's easy style of writing is enjoyable and moving. I highly recommend The Autobiography Of Saint Therese of Lisieux: The Story Of A Soul to others who like to read spiritual books or books of faith.
I believe that if a little flower could speak, it would tell very simply and fully all that God had done for it. It would not say that it was ungraceful and had no scent, that the sun had spoilt its freshness, or that a storm had snapped its stem - not when it knew the exact opposite was true. The flower who is now going to tell her story rejoices at having to relate all the kindnesses freely done her by Jesus. She is well aware that there was nothing about her to attract His attention, and that it is His mercy alone which has created whatever there is good in her. It was He who ensured that she began to grow in a most pure and holy soil, and it was He who saw to it that eight fair lilies came before her. His love made Him want to keep His little flower safe from the tainted breezes of the world, and so she had scarcely begun to unfold her petals before He transplanted her on to the mountain of Carmel. (p.21)
The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux: The Story Of A Soul translated by John Beevers is a very inspiration book that tells of the short life of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower. Marie Francoise Therese Martin was born in 1873 in Alencon, France. At the young age of fifteen she became a Carmelite nun. In 1897 she died at the age of twenty four. On May 17, 1925 she was canonised by Pius XI and became known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
However, The Story Of A Soul tells more about her devotion and insight to Jesus than it does about her life. The first half of the book describes her childhood and family, the calling to her vocation, and the beginning years of her life at Carmel. Then the book takes a turn and becomes more of a spiritual writing. St. Therese shares her faith and devotion to Jesus through the life lessons that she learned during her short life. I found this part of the book extremely inspirational. She uses scripture, life examples, and her thoughts and feelings when expressing these insights. And her humbleness and honesty are very refreshing.
I was watered by His tears and Precious Blood and His adorable Face was my radiant sun. (p.93)
John Beevers' introduction is informative and helps fill in the gaps of information. St. Therese's easy style of writing is enjoyable and moving. I highly recommend The Autobiography Of Saint Therese of Lisieux: The Story Of A Soul to others who like to read spiritual books or books of faith.
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