There have been a number of books about the surreal uncertainty of time, death, the infinite, etc. and all of them capture my imagination. It is is interesting how they are similarly sci-fi and completely romantic.
Jitterbug Perfume
The Passion Dream Book
The Time Traveler's Wife
Girlfriend in a Coma
The History of Danish Dreams
Replay
What else am I forgetting?
Stories about people who keep finding each other over time and space.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Hey smarty pants
"A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people."
-Will Rogers, American comedian, humorist
-Will Rogers, American comedian, humorist
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Libraries all over Canada thrive in Internet age
By Shannon Proudfoot and Mary Frances Hill, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, July 21, 2008
VANCOUVER - Business is booming at Canada's major public libraries, which credit everything from the high price of buying books to social networking, vampires and a new social acceptance for frothy best-sellers. "People say libraries are dying because of the Internet," said Beth Barlow, chief librarian at Surrey Public Library."But we're finding a lot of growth in people who get library cards, and a continual growth in the circulation of our materials."
Surrey's growth in library membership has seen a 15-per-cent jump in the number of people getting new library cards from 2005 to 2007. Toronto boasts the busiest public library system per capita in the world, with 1.2 million cardholders and 28.9 million items in 40 languages circulating each year. In Edmonton, 385 people are on the waiting list for Fearless Fourteen, the newest offering from romance-turned-crime writer Janet Evanovich. Halifax public libraries have 240 readers on a waiting list for Kathy Reichs' newest forensic mystery, which won't even be published until the end of the summer. In Surrey, Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn, a vampire novel written for young adults that is still on order, has 220 members on its waiting list.
The story is a little different in Vancouver, where libraries are still hurting from the three-month-long civic workers' strike last summer. While 2006 saw 10 million items circulated across the system, the strike saw many readers defect to suburban branches, particularly Burnaby, said Corinne Durston, director of youth services and community relations for the Vancouver Public Library. However, Vancouver library administrators are looking to the future: a new library is planned in a community centre complex at One Kingsway, the Kensington branch will be moving to the King Edward Village complex in September, and a Hillcrest branch is scheduled to open within two years near in the Riley Park area.
The VPL sees a foot-traffic count of about seven million people a year and the system's annual budget of $4.5 million "stretches across lots of interests," said Durston. "We're finding there's a lot of attention on political books related to the U.S. election. Cherie Blair's autobiography and books about the Clintons are hugely popular," she added. Kaiser said books used to be viewed as a highbrow literary pursuit that obliged readers to seek out hidden gems and choke down ponderous classics even if they didn't enjoy them. "People want to read what Oprah recommends, they want to read what [is] on bestseller lists, they want to read what TV shows and celebrities promote," he said.
Barlow sees the same trend in Surrey."I would say that libraries are trying to reach everyone in our population in a different way. While an academic might find a good literary novel to read, they might also enjoy the latest murder mystery." The importance of showing off a library's wares has started to influence renovations and placed more emphasis on space for promotion and special displays, said Susan Caron, acting director of collections management for the Toronto Public Library. "The ideal library would look like a bookstore because that is the best way to merchandise books," Caron said.
Olivia Anderson, branch head of the Bruce Hutchison and Central Saanich branch libraries in Victoria believes the ups and downs of book prices and the Canadian dollar affect library circulation, but Caron thinks people are either buyers or borrowers. "Some people only buy books, some people only use the library and then there's that middle ground where depending on what they're buying or what they're reading or how fast they want it, they'll buy them," she said.
In Surrey, library membership growth is up with the population, "but it does have a lot to do with the economy," said Barlow. "When people aren't doing as well [financially], they tend to think, 'There's a library, I don't have to buy that CD. Maybe I'll just listen to it first.' Or they say, 'We can't go to a show tonight, but the library has some DVDs.'"
Published: Monday, July 21, 2008
VANCOUVER - Business is booming at Canada's major public libraries, which credit everything from the high price of buying books to social networking, vampires and a new social acceptance for frothy best-sellers. "People say libraries are dying because of the Internet," said Beth Barlow, chief librarian at Surrey Public Library."But we're finding a lot of growth in people who get library cards, and a continual growth in the circulation of our materials."
Surrey's growth in library membership has seen a 15-per-cent jump in the number of people getting new library cards from 2005 to 2007. Toronto boasts the busiest public library system per capita in the world, with 1.2 million cardholders and 28.9 million items in 40 languages circulating each year. In Edmonton, 385 people are on the waiting list for Fearless Fourteen, the newest offering from romance-turned-crime writer Janet Evanovich. Halifax public libraries have 240 readers on a waiting list for Kathy Reichs' newest forensic mystery, which won't even be published until the end of the summer. In Surrey, Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn, a vampire novel written for young adults that is still on order, has 220 members on its waiting list.
The story is a little different in Vancouver, where libraries are still hurting from the three-month-long civic workers' strike last summer. While 2006 saw 10 million items circulated across the system, the strike saw many readers defect to suburban branches, particularly Burnaby, said Corinne Durston, director of youth services and community relations for the Vancouver Public Library. However, Vancouver library administrators are looking to the future: a new library is planned in a community centre complex at One Kingsway, the Kensington branch will be moving to the King Edward Village complex in September, and a Hillcrest branch is scheduled to open within two years near in the Riley Park area.
The VPL sees a foot-traffic count of about seven million people a year and the system's annual budget of $4.5 million "stretches across lots of interests," said Durston. "We're finding there's a lot of attention on political books related to the U.S. election. Cherie Blair's autobiography and books about the Clintons are hugely popular," she added. Kaiser said books used to be viewed as a highbrow literary pursuit that obliged readers to seek out hidden gems and choke down ponderous classics even if they didn't enjoy them. "People want to read what Oprah recommends, they want to read what [is] on bestseller lists, they want to read what TV shows and celebrities promote," he said.
Barlow sees the same trend in Surrey."I would say that libraries are trying to reach everyone in our population in a different way. While an academic might find a good literary novel to read, they might also enjoy the latest murder mystery." The importance of showing off a library's wares has started to influence renovations and placed more emphasis on space for promotion and special displays, said Susan Caron, acting director of collections management for the Toronto Public Library. "The ideal library would look like a bookstore because that is the best way to merchandise books," Caron said.
Olivia Anderson, branch head of the Bruce Hutchison and Central Saanich branch libraries in Victoria believes the ups and downs of book prices and the Canadian dollar affect library circulation, but Caron thinks people are either buyers or borrowers. "Some people only buy books, some people only use the library and then there's that middle ground where depending on what they're buying or what they're reading or how fast they want it, they'll buy them," she said.
In Surrey, library membership growth is up with the population, "but it does have a lot to do with the economy," said Barlow. "When people aren't doing as well [financially], they tend to think, 'There's a library, I don't have to buy that CD. Maybe I'll just listen to it first.' Or they say, 'We can't go to a show tonight, but the library has some DVDs.'"
Monday, July 21, 2008
All these books and two chocolate malts
Right now I am reading "The Prince of the Marshes and other occupational hazards of a year in Iraq" by Rory Stewart. I think Rory Stewart is my celebrity/literary crush. The last crushes of this variety were David James Duncan and Tom Robbins. He is young, energetic, pragmatic, funny, and dead-focused on improving conditions for the local Marsh community without getting sidelined by red tape, protocol or machismo.
I have a geeky tendency to naturally tie together every book I have read in a weird "six degrees" sort of way. For example, prior to "The Prince of the Marshes" I was on a weird Civil War/Reconstruction/western expansion kick. Donald McCaig's writing of the American West and moments leading up to the Battle of Little Big Horn, descriptions of how the US government managed the stolen American West painfully foreshadows the Mideast wheeling and dealing. Tim Egan's "The Good Rain" about history and resources in the PNW similarly documents the ongoing plunder.
I can do some more dot-connecting between the last six months of books, but I would benefit from a pencil and paper to draw a visualthesaurus.com thought-mapping graphic.
Here is the book list (Feb-July 2008):
The Gun Thief
The Alchemist
Spook Country
The Pale of Settlement
The Ghost Map
The Emperor's Children
Her Last Death
The Road
The Inheritance of Loss
The Road to Wellville
The Yiddush Policeman's Union
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Rhett Butler's People
Jacob's ladder
Caravans
Gentleman of the Road (a.k.a. Jews with Swords)
The Good Rain
Canaan
Unaccustomed Earth
I have a geeky tendency to naturally tie together every book I have read in a weird "six degrees" sort of way. For example, prior to "The Prince of the Marshes" I was on a weird Civil War/Reconstruction/western expansion kick. Donald McCaig's writing of the American West and moments leading up to the Battle of Little Big Horn, descriptions of how the US government managed the stolen American West painfully foreshadows the Mideast wheeling and dealing. Tim Egan's "The Good Rain" about history and resources in the PNW similarly documents the ongoing plunder.
I can do some more dot-connecting between the last six months of books, but I would benefit from a pencil and paper to draw a visualthesaurus.com thought-mapping graphic.
Here is the book list (Feb-July 2008):
The Gun Thief
The Alchemist
Spook Country
The Pale of Settlement
The Ghost Map
The Emperor's Children
Her Last Death
The Road
The Inheritance of Loss
The Road to Wellville
The Yiddush Policeman's Union
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Rhett Butler's People
Jacob's ladder
Caravans
Gentleman of the Road (a.k.a. Jews with Swords)
The Good Rain
Canaan
Unaccustomed Earth
Sunday, February 24, 2008
choose your own books
Books read since October 29, 2007:
The Glass Castle*
The Almost Moon
The World Without Us
The Air We Breathe
After Hours
Run
The Zookeeper's Wife
Animal Vegetable Miracle
The Joys of Motherhood*
The Quiet Girl
The Gum Thief
The Alchemist*
*Books read for my book group.
Not the best series I have read. Highlights include The Zookeeper's Wife and Animal Vegetable Miracle. Notably three books on the list (Zookeeper, World Without Us, Air We Breathe) reference an old-growth, primeval forest located on the Polish-Belorus border: Bialoieza.
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