Monday, February 8, 2010

Books By Theme: Love on the Page

 


by Sharihar Mandanipour

Beautiful black-haired Sara and fiercely proud Dara fall in love in the dusty stacks of the library, where they pass secret messages to each other encoded in the pages of their favorite books. But Iran’s Campaign Against Social Corruption forbids their being alone together. Defying the state and their disapproving parents, they meet in secret amid the bustling streets, Internet cafés, and lush private gardens of Tehran.
Yet writing freely of Sara and Dara’s encounters, their desires, would put Shahriar in as much peril as his lovers. Thus we read not just the scenes Shahriar has written but also the sentences and words he’s crossed out or merely imagined, knowing they can never be published.


My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead
by Jeffrey Eugenides

It is perhaps only in reading a love story (or in writing one) that we can simultaneously partake of the ecstasy and agony of being in love without paying a crippling emotional price. I offer this book, then, as a cure for lovesickness and an antidote to adultery. Read these love stories in the safety of your single bed. Let everybody else suffer."—Jeffrey Eugenides, from the introduction to My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead
 
All proceeds from My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead will go directly to fund the free youth writing programs offered by 826 Chicago. 826 Chicago is part of the network of seven writing centers across the United States affiliated with 826 National, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

Valentines
by Olaf Olafsson

The stories in Valentines capture the most candid moments between lovers, husbands and wives, parents and children, when truths and true feelings surge to the surface and everything changes. A wife realizes her closest confidante is much more than that. A father tries to make his new lover into the image of his late wife. A husband, a wife, a child, a boating accident: no harm done . . . or is there? Olaf Olafsson's fans will recognize the perfect restraint and precision—and quick wit—with which he explores these dark epiphanies, when the heart is suddenly laid bare, whether by love or betrayal, disenchantment or the shock of loss. Valentines is a powerful work of fiction from one of our most gifted and subtle international writers at work today.

What are your favorite books about love?



~ For more themed book lists, check out Listless by One Librarian's Book Reviews and Listed by Once Upon a Bookshelf ~

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Sunday, February 7, 2010

The Monstrosity Gazette: A weekly smattering of all things literary...

Bookish Quote of the Day:

"Anti-war books are as likely to stop war as anti-glacier books are to stop glaciers."

-Kurt Vonnegut


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Today in Literary History...

On this day in 1601, Shakespeare's Richard II was presented at the Globe playhouse, a performance especially arranged by those hoping to overthrow Queen Elizabeth the following day. Followers of the Earl of Essex hoped the story of king-killing might stir up support; overcoming the actors' objections that it would not be a good draw, they paid forty shillings to have it staged. If the Saturday afternoon performance was poorly-attended, the Sunday morning rebellion was worse. . . .

For more literary history, visit Today in Literature.


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Literary Pic of the Day:

 
"A Novel Reader" by Van Gogh

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Book on my Radar: 

Remarkable Creatures
by Tracy Chevalier
Dutton, 2010
320 pages

Summary in a Sentence:

Nineteenth-century fossil hunter Mary Anning and spinster Elizabeth Philpot form a friendship based on their interest in science, and, when Mary's work is put into question by individuals who believe it goes against their religious beliefs and men in her field try to take credit for it, Elizabeth's loyalty to Mary becomes invaluable to her.

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For Your Viewing Pleasure:

Librarians doing 'Thriller'...




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Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood

The Ghost Writer
by John Harwood
Mariner Books, 2005
384 pages
Literary Mystery/Gothic Suspense
Library Copy

Summary in a Sentence (or two):

Haunted by his mother's mysterious death, timid, solitary Gerard Freeman lives for two things: his elusive pen pal and the secret manuscript that his mother gave her life to protect. Suspecting that something within that manuscript holds the key to his mother's refusal to return to her childhood home, Gerard sets out to unveil the mystery shrouding his family.

My Thoughts:

You know that book you have to carry with you and read as you walk around your house, bumping your shins on coffee tables? That book you can't tear your eyes away from while eating so you accidentally dump lasagna down your chin, and you don't really care? The Ghost Writer is that kind of book. I read incessantly, stopping only for work, sleep, and any other sort of thing that gets in the way of finishing a great book.

All the elements are here: This book is a creepily Gothic, cozily Victorian story within a story, including one of the most frightening scenes ever to take place in a library. It all begins when Gerard finds a ghost story written by his grandmother Viola while snooping through his mother's room. Interspersed throughout Gerard's narrative set in present time are Viola's short stories, which I found to be my favorite part of the book.

Then, I reached the ending. I won't write anything spoiler-ish here for those of you who haven't read the book, because I think you will enjoy it immensely. I just don't think Harwood quite knew how to finish the dang thing. Regardless, I can't wait to read Harwood's next one, The Seance.

~ Read for the Bibliophilic Books Challenge ~

Also Recommended:
Other reviews:
CymLowell
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    Friday, February 5, 2010

    Library in the News - Censorship Watch

    As a future librarian, I keep my ear to the ground about what's going on in libraries both in the US and the world at large. Here's an article that came to my attention earlier today about a case of censorship in a school library:

    A popular young adult book in the Theisen Middle School Library in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is being challenged as inappropriate. Ann Wentworth issued a formal complaint with the school district, objecting to “sexual content too mature for 11- to 14-years-olds” in the book One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones. The complaint lists some examples of the inappropriate content from the book, including references to “losing your virginity,” condoms, and a stepmother being called a “controlling bitch.”...
    Source: Fond du Lac (Wis.) Reporter, Jan. 29


    To all my school librarians out there, do you currently have a selection policy in place just in case a book in your library is challenged? To all my readers, have you ever challenged a book in your child's library? What are your thoughts on this?


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