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With its catchy title and well-designed cover, how could you not pick up this book?
I had been eagerly anticipating Elna Baker’s memoir, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, so when my number came up at the library I ran over to claim the book from the holds shelf.
I was introduced to Baker via the Moth and This American Life podcasts where I heard her tell hilarious stories about her family and selling trendy dolls to overprivileged kids at FAO Schwarz. She has a warm, down-to-earth persona and she is skilled at captivating an audience and spinning a good yarn.
Her memoir chronicles a period of time in her twenties as a young Mormon woman living in NYC who is searching for herself, and love, in the big city. The book covers a wide range of subjects from losing a significant amount of weight (80 pounds!) to working menial jobs to make ends meet to trying to find “the one”.
I had high hopes for this book and was left disappointed. While I recognize that a coming-of-age tale will have its share of obsessing about boys and appearances, I felt that it focused too much on these topics and, when it did, it fell flat and became boring and self-indulgent. Baker is at her best when she tells stories that we can all relate to; being part of a family, the banalities of work and trying to reconcile nagging doubts about her beliefs and faith.
There is no denying that Baker is a talented storyteller when she has a story to tell. I look forward to picking up her work in the future as she grows as a writer and collects more life experiences to share with her readers.
It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone and it’s time for the annual compilation of books of I read over the last year.
Overall, I read fewer books than in years past. I think some of the decreased consumption can be attributed to going to bed at 7:30 pm every night for a three month stretch during the fall.
Some mothers told me their reading plummeted when they had children. Others say that they read more books during baby’s first year, once they mastered the art of simultaneously nursing and reading, than they had for a long time. I’m not sure what 2010 will bring but for now I’m enjoying reading again now that I’m not so early to bed.
And without further ado:
Hotel World – Ali Smith
The Alchemy of Loss – Abigail Carter
Away – Amy Bloom
Lush Life – Richard Price
An Arsonist’s Guide to Homes in New England – Brock Clarke
A Novel About My Wife – Emily Perkins
The Accidental – Ali Smith
Dear American Airlines – Jonathan Miles
A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle
An American Wife – Curtis Sittenfield
The Soloist – Stephen Lopez
Where We Have to Go – Lauren Kirshner
Handmade Nation – Faythe Levine and Cortney Heimerl
Arthur & George – Julian Barnes
Case Histories – Kate Atkinson
A Homemade Life – Molly Wizenberg
Bird by Bird – Anne Lammot
A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway
Jules & Jim – Henri Pierre Roche
The Almost Archer Sisters – Lisa Gabriele
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
The Thing Around Your Neck – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Perfection – Julie Metz
To Hell With All That – Caitlin Flanagan
On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan
Gourmet Rhapsody – Muriel Barbery
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name – Vindela Vida
Holding Still for As Long As Possible – Zoe Whittall
The Incident Report – Martha Baillie
Bear With Me – Diane Flack
The Boy in the Moon – Ian Brown
Small Beneath the Sky - Lorna Crozier
33 books
21 fiction and 12 non-fiction
7 Canadian
0 from the list of 1,000 books to read before you die
Trousseau – trous·seau, n. [French, from Old French, diminutive of trousse, bundle. ] The possessions, such as clothing and linens, that a bride assembles for her marriage.
As a modern girl, the idea of a trousseau didn’t cross my mind as I prepared for our wedding. What could a couple of 30-somethings who already shared a home possibly need as they embarked on married life? The answer is simple – books.
Our friends and family surprised us with a literary trousseau. They made trips to their favourite bookstores, ordered titles online and took books from their own bookshelves to give to us. Many of them wrote inscriptions about why the book was important to them and why they wanted to share it with us. We got kids’ books, plays, self-help books, fiction, autobiographies, inaugural addresses, non-fiction and cookbooks. Truly one of the most amazing gifts I’ve ever received.
our literary trousseau
Books in our trousseau
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Persig
Imagining Anne: The Island Scrapbooks of L.M. Montgomery - Elizabeth Rollins Epperly
The Peace Book - Todd Parr
Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott
A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway
Madeline – Ludwig Bemelmans
A Light in the Attic - Shel Silverstein
The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffengger
Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
Inaugural Address- Barack Obama
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes - Eleanor Coerr
Owls in the Family- Farley Mowat
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Happily Ever After - Jack Canfield
Green Grass Running Water - Thomas King
The Breadwinner - Deborah Ellis
Golf in the Kingdom - Michael Murphy
A Christmas Cup of Tea - Tom Hegg
In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan
Alice, Let’s Eat - Calvin Trillin
Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
Choose Them Wisely - Mike Dooley
The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
The Best of Oscar Wilde - Oscar Wilde
I Love You Through and Through - Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
The Paper Bag Princess - Robert Munsch
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs - Jon Scieszka
Love You Forever - Robert Munsch
Oh, the Places You’ll Go - Dr. Suess
An Almanac of Words at Play - Willard R. Espy
Jamie’s Food Revolution - Jamie Oliver
The Pleasures of the Damned - Charles Bukowski
The Colour - Rose Tremain
Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
The Law of Dreams - Peter Behrens
The Big Blue Book of Beginner Books - Dr. Suess
Gasc’s French Dictionary - Bell
The Ultimate Alphabet - Mike Wilks
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie - Laura Joffe Numeroff
Everyday Gourmet Grilling - Ted Reader
Just in time to capitalize on another wave of Obamamania comes Thanks, and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids’ Letter to President Obama courtesty of the kids from 826 Valencia. There are some gems in the heartfelt letters that these American children wrote to the President-Elect following his big win in November.
“I really hope you put America back together. No pressure though.”
— Sheenie Shannon Yip, age 13, Seattle
“Could you help my family to get housecleaning jobs? I hope you will be a great president. If I were president, I would help all nations, even Hawaii. President Obama, I think you could help the world.” — Chad Timsing, age 9, Los Angeles
If I were president, I would tell people to not talk too much. It wastes time. I’d also say to war: no more, no more, no more!
— Catherine Galvan, age 6, Chicago
Last year I kept a list of books I’d read over the year as an experiment to see where my reading hours went. It was an interesting exercise so I did it again this year.
My Canadian reading went way down and there was a suprising surge of books by Brits including three of my favourites from the year: When We Were Bad, 26A and Gods Behaving Badly.
Without further adieu, here is the list:
Late Nights on Air - Elizabeth Hay*
The Architechts Are Here - Michael Winter
When We Were Bad – Charlotte Mendelson*
Disappearing Moon Cafe – Sky Lee
What We All Long For - Dionne Brand
Consolation – Michael Redhill
Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living – Carrie Tiffany
Grace, Eventually – Anne Lammot*
Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen*
Altared – Colleen Curran
Don’t Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World’s Greatest Chefs – Ed. K. Whiterspoon
Divisadero – Michael Ondaatje
Cake or Death – Heather Mallick
One Perfect Day – Rebecca Mead
The Emperor’s Children – Claire Messud
Alice Water & Chez Panisse – Thomas McNamee*
My Life in France - Julia Child*
What is the What? – Dave Eggers
East of Eden – John Steinbeck*
Offbeat Bride – Ariel Meadows Stalling
Soucouyant – David Chariandy
The Post-Birthday World – Lionel Shriver
The Book of Other People – ed. Zadie Smith
The Country Life – Rachel Cusk
Austenland - Shannon Hale
The Have-Nots – Katherina Hucker
Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanada Ngozi Adichie*
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Michael Chabon
Balzac & the Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie & Ina Rilke
The Laments – George Hagen
Gods Behaving Badly – Marie Phillips*
Lying in Weight - Trish Gara
The Other Bolelyn Girl – Phillipa Gregory
The Ten-Year Nap – Meg Wolitzer
26A – Diana Evans*
Nikolski – Nicolas Dickner
Maynard & Jennica – Rudolph Delson
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Woo – Junot Diaz
The Girl in Saskatoon – Sharon Butala
A Short History of Anxiety (Yours & Mine) - Patricia Pearson
Sammy’s House – Kristin Gore
The Road Home – Rose Tremain*
The Chris Farley Show – Tom Farley
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts – Gabor Mate
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Vernon God Little – DBC Pierre
46 books read
33 fiction and 13 non-fiction books
11 Canadian books
1 book from the list of 1000 books to read before you die.
I may not blog every day, but I do read every day.
Long weekend = long border line-ups. After almost two hours in an idling car on Friday morning, we cleared the border and sped into Washington state, land of horn honkers and flower lovers. Our first order of business upon arriving in Seattle was lunch and we scored big time at the Steelhead Diner. Named one of Seattle’s best new restaurants, the Steelhead focuses on using sustainable ingredients in its unpretentious dishes. Food is simple, but well-prepared and presented, and the diner is located in the heart of Pike Place Market. I left feeling very happy with my order of the diner house salad.
The first stop post-lunch was the Elliot Bay bookstore where I picked up The Have-Nots by Katharina Hacker. Later in the evening we went to a Town Hall hosted by Elliot Bay bookstore to hear Samantha Power talk about her new book Chasing the Flame. Power is an amazing speaker, intellectual, and author. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Le Pichet for a nightcap and continued discussing her lecture and general brilliance.
On Saturday morning we hopped on the ferry to Bainbridge Island for Easter brunch at Cafe Nola. Andrew couldn’t resist the caramel pecan challah french toast and who could blame him? After breakfast, we meandered around the village where I discovered Grace & Company Paperie. In addition to the usual suspects, they sold several letterpress lines that were new to me including Smudge Ink from Boston.
Back on the mainland we went for a long walk through Myrtle Edwards Park that ended with a snack at Piroshky Pirokshy. I wanted to casually slip my last name into conversation to see if I would get preferential treatment but Andrew wouldn’t allow it. No fun.
On Saturday evening we went for dinner at Monsoon, which bills itself as Pacific Northwest meets traditional Vietnamese. This was a much-anticipated meal as Andrew and I had tried to dine at this restaurant on one of our first dates back in 2003, but couldn’t find the restaurant. It was worth the wait. I started with a fresh roll made with mint, tofu, shitake mushrooms and peanut sauce followed by a main of diver scallops, ginger, and squash. Andrew kept with his “I heart Washington pork” theme and had the crispy imperial rolls with berkshire pork, shrimp and glass noodles and chao tom (grilled ground shrimp and pork on sugar cane) pictured below. Fresh, flavourful, fantastic.
The Easter bunny didn’t find us at the Ace Hotel so we stopped at Theo Chocolate on our way out of the city and bought fair-trade, organic hazelnut crunch and vanilla chocolate bars. If it’s good enough for Oprah, it’s good enough for us.
Have you read a banned book? I bet you have. Find out by looking at this list of books and magazines that have been challenged in Canada recently.
SFU Library is celebrating this year’s Freedom to Read week (February 24 – March 3) with a display of banned books, readings from banned and challenged books, and the creation and distribution of buttons with slogans like “There’s something in my library to offend everyone” and “The worst part of censorship is XXXXXXX.”
I had lots of fun making this interactive banner that asks library patrons to place a mark beside the challenged titles that they have read. SFU isn’t renowned for high participation and spirit levels so I was blown away to see all the notches on the poster.
Freadom rocks. 
Last year I was extremely dismayed to discover that I have only read 43 of the 1000 books to read before you die. I always have a book or two on the go so why is my score so low? To answer this question I set out on a year-long experiment to document my book consumption. The goal wasn’t to skew my reading choices, only to record them.
The results are in!
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer
Travelling Mercies – Anne Lammot
This is My Country What’s Yours? – Noah Richler
The Library at Night - Alberto Manguel
Alligator – Lisa Moore
The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri
The Life of Margaret Laurence – James King
A Jest of God – Margaret Laurence
Julie & Julia – Julie Powell
Sugar Bush – Jenn Farrell
The History of Love – Nicole Krauss
Summer of My Amazing Luck – Miriam Toews
Good in Bed – Jennifer Weins
Me Talk Pretty – David Sedaris
Straight Up and Dirty – Stephanie Klein
The Ethical Gourmet – Jay Weinstein
Wonder When You’ll Miss Me – Amanda Davis
Through the Children’s Gate – Adam Gopnik
The Whole World Over – Julia Glass
My Wedding Dress – edited by Susan Whelehan
The End of the Alphabet – C.S. Richardson
Absurdistan – Gary Shteyngart
Special Topics in Calamity Physics – Marisha Pessl
Nobody’s Mother – edited by Lynn Van Luven
Misconceptions – Naomi Wolf
The 100 Mile Diet – Alisa Smith & J.B. McKinnon
Custodian of Paradise – Wayne Johnston
The Uses of Enchantment – Heidi Julavits
The Ladies’ Lending Library – Janice Kulyk Keefer
Missing Sarah – Maggie De Vries
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Barbara Kingsolver
The Best Food Writing of 2006 - edited by Holly Hughes
JPod – Douglas Coupland
About Alice – Calvin Trillin
Brick Lane – Monica Ali
Man and Boy – Tony Parsons
between, Georgia – Joshilyn Jackson
Gods in Alabama – Joshilyn Jackson
Antonement – Ian McEwan
The Discomfort Zone – Jonathan Franzen
Falling Man - Don DeLillo
Town House – Tish Cohen
The United States of Arugula – David Kamp
A Taxonomy of Barnacles – Galt Niederhoffer
Bread Alone – Judith Ryan Hendricks
Before I Wake – Robert J. Wiersema
Lullabies for Little Criminals – Heather O’Neill
Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? – Anita Rau Badami
The Convictions of Leonard McKinley – Brendan McLeod
Behind The Scenes at the Museum – Kate Atkinson
The Bitch in the House – edited by Cathi Hanauer
Cooking with Fernet Branca – James Hamilton Patterson
The Good Life – Jay McInnery
Bitter Chocolate – Carol Off
In summary:
54 books
34 fiction and 20 non-fiction books
20 Canadian books
1 book from the list of 1000 books to read before you die
Matt Bai, a journalist for the New York Times Magazine went in search for a new argument to define the Democratic Party in the United States but all he ended up finding was a series of internal arguments between donors, activists and politicians. All of which, seemed to miss the fundamental problem in Bai’s eyes; the Democratic Party no longer stands for something or has a central, progressive argument for the future of the country.
Bai’s journey is outlined in his new book The Agrument; Billionairs, Bloggers, and he Battle to Remake Democratic Politics. This book was similar to Paul Well’s Right Side Up: the Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper’s New Conservatism about the rise of the Conservative Party in Canada. The Argument doesn’t explicitly put forward any themes or lessons for the reader to take away but does a wonderful job of outlining the key events and personalities that have shaped the Democratic Party in recent years. From the rise of MoveOn.org and DailyKos, to the experiment of the Democracy Alliance to the fall of Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primary.
Bai seems to come away disappointed with the progress that has been made. The fantastically wealthy donors are focused on “progressive infrastructure” such as think tanks and media message centres while the bloggers and activists are focused on the tactics of electing progressive candidates, such as Ned Lamont. All are focused on raising money, lots of money. None seem focused on articulating a central progressive argument for the party.
