Poetry: Lucky

Lucky

All this time,
the life you were
supposed to live
has been rising around you
like the walls of a house
designed with warm
harmonious lines.

As if you had actually
planned it that way.

As if you had
stacked up bricks
at random,
and built by mistake
a lucky star.

by Kirsten Dierking 

From Northern Oracle. © Spout Press, 2007.  
Courtesy of The Writer's Almanac. (Listen Online)

Book Inquiry: Do you Recommend Books, Share Books?

A few days ago, my girl Valerie asked me if I had heard about/read/owned a few books.

And my response was:

What are you looking for, my pretty?

To be fair, many of them I had read, owned, and would recommend. For example, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Everything I Never Told You are two I am thrilled to recommend. I've heard good things about Room, but I just cannot safely approach it. I started Wild, but I couldn't get too far because it hit too close to home. I enjoyed the perspective of Americanah, but I gave away my copy a week before Valerie mentioned it.

So, I grabbed the handful of Jodi Picoult novels I had been collecting for her, tossed in a few others I really wanted to share with her (including one I had purchased an extra copy of, just in case), and high-tailed it over to her place before she could change her mind.

Oh, and on the top of the stack was the copy of Room from my library. I truly hope Valerie reads Room right away, for my sake. To be fair, I have had the book since the days of Borders because it was so well-received by the reading community. I worry that it may be hard to read for the mother of two small children. I'm the grandmother of four small children and I didn't have the courage. I had strangers offer me encouragement, and I still wasn't brave enough. Let's hope Valerie's courage will buoy my reading of that well-received book.

To be fair, I am a dangerous person to ask about a book. As soon as my friend Melanie uttered the phrase "looking for a good book," I was off to the races.

This would have accommodated
the Children's Classics delivery. Part one.

She got books. Her sons got books. I'm sure there were a couple in there for the dogs. I included classics, new releases, and a variety of genres.

I gave her so many books, she brought them back in stages. I had forgotten which books I shared with her. However, her rule was, "If it didn't belong to me or the boys, it must be Chris'." (For the record, she was right.)

When Melanie ventured into the world of audiobooks, I was at a loss. I knew nothing about them: how to listen to them, how to buy them, where to buy them, how to share them, how to find recommendations and ratings, and how to give them as gifts.

Oh, don't worry, I figured it out in no time, and Melanie has been subject to unsolicited audiobooks from time to time. (I warn her beforehand in case she needs to wave me off the carrier deck.)

This has renewed my interest in book hunting. As a book lover and avid, er, collector, I like to peruse every new and used resource I can find. Alas, lately the quest has bored me. My collection is so ample that if I don't currently own it, I've read it and given it away. Now, however, the hunt is not only for a book or two I might enjoy, but for others and their reading interests.

When someone asks for a recommendation, or wonders aloud if you have or can recommend a book, how do you respond? Are you enthusiastic, or do you approach the topic with caution? Do you keep extras of some books around so you can hand them out as needed? (Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that...)

How Facebook Works: Hide, Unfollow, Stay Friends

Facebook is the social media people love to hate these days: you love your sister's photos of her vacation to the Poconos, but you hate the Puppy Bowl videos that clog your feed.

So, how do you stop seeing stuff in your feed that you don't want to see but still stay friends with, say, Mom or Karen or Uncle Phil? 

Facebook has given users the magic arrow to control the news feed. 

To the right of the friend's name is a V-shaped arrow. If you click on it, you see a drop-down menu:

If the post was originated by the friend, you will have the these options:

If you don't like what you see, hide the post.

If you never like what you see from that person, unfollow that person. They will be none the wiser. 

Now, what happens if someone shares something originally published by another source, and you don't like it? Again, use the magic arrow:

Now, you have more choices:

Check out that a third option: hide all from that third party. Rest assured, no more unwanted Puppy Bowl videos will litter your feed.

Now, you could try viewing only the information you want (such as the photos from your sister's vacation). You also could unfriend those whose feeds disturb or upset you.

If, however, you do not wish to exercise those options, consider controlling your feed using the tools Facebook has provided. It's quick and easy, and taking that action may make your Facebook experience more pleasant.

Women's March: MILCK and the unofficial anthem, 'Quiet'

“Quiet”
Written by MILCK and AG
Produced by AG

put on your face
know your place
shut up and smile
don’t spread your legs
I could do that

But no one knows me no one ever will
if I don’t say something, if I just lie still
Would I be that monster, scare them all away
If I let the-em hear what I have to say

I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
A one woman riot, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

I can’t keep quiet
For anyone
Anymore

Cuz no one knows me no one ever will
if I don’t say something, take that dry blue pill
they may see that monster, they may run away
But I have to do this, do it anyway
I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
I can’t keep quiet, no oh oh oh oh oh oh
A one woman riot, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh I can’t keep quiet

Let it out Let it out
Let it out now
There’ll be someone who understands 
Let it out Let it out
Let it out now
Must be someone who’ll understand 
Let it out Let it out
Let it out now
There’ll be someone who understands
Let it out Let it out
Let it out now

I can’t keep quiet

The song has a story. Read it here, and visit the website #ICANTKEEPQUIET.


Listen to women from around the nation who sang this song together for the first time at the Women's March in Washington, DC. 

And here they were on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. 

What can't you keep quiet about? Be the voice of that, proudly. 

Book Fast: Is it Possible? (Well, for Me, Anyway!)

I love books. I adore cheap books. Free books make me giddy.

This summarizes my 2016 buying frenzy. With more than a little help from online vendors, I found dozens of inexpensive e-books and low-cost audiobooks to load on my Kindle.

And that's just my electronics. We won't go into detail about the treasure trove of print books that is Goodwill and other second-hand bookstores, and various new-book bookstores.

I subscribe to three different email services advertising cheap e-books. (Maybe four. Possibly five.) Book Bub and I are close friends. I haunt Amazon's Kindle e-book Web pages. Goodreads and I correspond regularly. Riffle? Book Riot, with and without Liberty Hardy? Electric Literature? I am so hardcore, I've started following Pinterest and Instagram accounts of various book resources.

To top it all off, I just discovered a website that calls its service the "Rotten Tomatoes of books." (Book Marks, I shall hold you to your word.)

My Kindle is so full, I don't know where to begin. (I'd tell you how many books are on there, but I don't want to count that high, then subtract expired library books. Lazy? Nah, man: survival.)

So, without further ado, let me say: Hi, my name is Chris and I am a book, ahem, collector.

Don't get me wrong: I am thrilled, for the most part, by the e-books I have purchased. Some of them duplicate print books in my library. A few free ones may not be my exact cuppa, but don't mind a (cheap or free) gamble: how else would I have discovered my surprising attraction of murder mysteries? I also have lots of books to share with friends, as Kindle permits.

However, I have a literal library (a 10 x12 bookshelf-lined room of print books), and now my Kindle is equally loaded. Some days, the weight of these unread books is too heavy to carry.

So I have made a decision: I am stemming the flow of purchased books into the house for the next three months.

I have done this before with great success. After a book purchase fast, I have emerged reinvigorated and focused on choosing the right book, rather than a book.

I have been testing the waters for the past month, reserving at my library the books I want to read. I can spend hours "shopping" Overdrive's e-book and audiobook inventory. Oh, I also can "shop" my brick and mortar library, and even stop by various nearby branches for additional options. Books purchased for a buck or two at a "friends of the library" sale are easy to hand over to the next reader, stranger or friend.

Earlier this week, before I clicked "purchase" on a writing "prompt" book, I paused. I reviewed the table of contents and didn't get as excited as I thought I would — so I made a decision: rather than pay to play, I opened my public library's catalogue. There it was, the exact same book, this time in print. I promptly reserved the book and closed the Amazon browser tab.

Oh, Amazon has nothing to worry about: I also signed up for Kindle Daily Deals email. One would think that might be dangerous, but I assure you: receiving the list of sale books allows me to consider purchasing a finite number of books, rather than tempting me with suggestions, recommendations, and access to my wish list. I did this with Audible, and my impulse purchases have decreased to a trickle.

I will continue to use Amazon, Audible, Goodreads, Book Riot, Book Bub, Lit Hub, and other resources to discover what's on the shelves, and to find out what my fellow readers are consuming. Fewer choices can make me a better consumer.

How do you control your purchases? More importantly, does it work?

Coda: I have not been purchase-free since making this pledge. In my defense, the library would not have had The Hillbilly Elegy in time for my book club discussion, and it was on sale at the bookstore. Plus, I had to go get a weekly calendar booklet anyway. 

How's that for rationalization?

Poetry Wednesday: Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit

Southern trees bear strange fruit,

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

By Billie Holiday and Abel Meeropol 

Courtesy History is a Weapon

Bonus:

Billie Holiday perform this poem

Annie Lennox perform this poem

7 Favorite Books of 2016: The Year in Review

2016 was a great year for reading. I consumed 80 books in three different formats, a personal best this century. 

To be fair, a handful were children's books, but Goodreads assures me the average length of books on my "read" shelf in 2016 was 298 pages, so I rest easy with my total (thanks, Joe Hill!).  

My Exceptional Reading Year included an inordinate (for me) number of re-reads: six books. For the most part, I credit this to catching up on original or first books before launching any sequel or companion books. However, Good Omens was re-read via Audible just for fun — and it remains one of the funniest books I have read.

Audiobooks changed my reading habits: one-fifth of the books I read this year were audiobooks, and three of those were re-reads. This format gives me an opportunity to read while I run or work out in the gym. I listened to Caitlin Moran read her immensely funny memoir, and I discovered Juliet Stevenson reading Sense and Sensibility. Audiobooks are not always the best format; I kept getting lost during The God of Small Things, and David Sedaris' essays waxed a bit too long for a listen. 

Additionally, I was surprised to discover that nearly one quarter of the books I read were on my Kindle. I own most of those in print, but I found the Kindle version more convenient; my bedside lighting is not stellar, and I have limited nightstand space. 

(Full disclosure: I recently purchased new furniture in part due to the nightstand size; however, my cats aren't keen on sharing their nightstand space with each other, let alone books that can be oh so fun to rearrange. As a result, I read my books on Kindle — and occasionally on audio — for the convenience of my cats. Do not judge my indulgences, and I shall afford you the same courtesy.)

Here are seven of my favorite books I read this year, in no particular order.

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe — I began this book because of the narrator and finished it because it was a beautiful read. I have never been in the mind of a teenage boy, and Benjamin Alire Sáenz was a wonderful guide. There is no Big Reveal at the end of the book, but the truth still feels large, and it was gorgeously wrought.
• The Year of Yes — Shonda Rimes is an amazing person, and very wise. She hit her stride after the commencement speech and never slowed down. Would I call it a memoir, a self-help book, a feminist book, a humor read? Yes.
• The Cure for Dreaming — Cat Winters writes good books, so I recommend them all. However, this one I read in late October, and its examination of early 20th century suffrage was revolutionary.  
• The Underground Railroad — Imagine... no, don't imagine the world Colson Whitehead brought to life in his novel. Read it. It will change your perception of antebellum America. 
• Life After Life and A God in Ruins — Must be read in this order. I reviewed the first book a few years ago. Together, they command readers to re-think what life is, their own and others.
• The Invisible Library — I am a sucker for library and librarian stories, and this is a good one. I recently reviewed this book, which is the first of a trilogy. I can't wait to start the second volume. (The third book will be released in the U.S. on January 20.) Find out more about this trilogy on the author's website.

What books did I read in 2016 I would I not recommend?

• The Museum of Extraordinary Things — Weird, disappointing, and hard to follow.
• The Bookseller — The premise was intriguing, but the resolution was unsatisfying. Read my review here.
• Everything We Keep — The story stretched out so long before the second act that the resolution was singularly unsatisfying. The story coda, which attempted to bring the story full-circle, was awful.
• Big Magic — A self-help book that did not provide any new or interesting information. (Full disclosure: I avoided reading the author's chart-topping memoir, and I really disliked the movie.)

Thankfully, most of the less-than-stellar books were library loans.

Here is the complete list of books read in 2016. Most of them are good reads, so I hope you find a few to add to your nightstand (or e-reader, or listening device). I have indicated the format of each book (e-book 📲 , print book 📖 , or audio 🎧 ) and whether they were borrowed from the library (via nerd face 🤓 ).

1. Passage 📲 🤓
2. Bear Counts 📲
3. Ish 📲
4. The Roll-Away Pumpkin 📲
5. The Deep and Snowy Wood 📲
6. Plum Spooky 📖 🤓
7. Octopuppy 📲
8. Between the Plums 📲 🤓
9. 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People 📲 🤓
10. The Year of Yes 🎧 🤓
11. Thirteen Chairs 📲
12. Commonwealth 📖
13. The Invisible Library 📲
14. Good Omens 🎧
15. Thin Mint Memories 📲
16. The Forgetting Time (½) 📲 🤓
17. Lamb 🎧
18. The Cure for Dreaming 📖 🤓
19. A Mew to a Kill 📲
20. Sense and Sensibility 🎧 🤓
21. Fates and Furies 📲 🤓
22. Summer House With Pool 📲
23. Between the World and Me 🎧 🤓
24. Ghostly Echoes 📲
25. Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls 🎧 🤓
26. The Underground Railroad 📖
27. The Uninvited 📲
28. Who Goes There? (The Thing) 📲
29. Big Magic 📖 🤓
30. Dorothy Parker Drank Here 📖
31. A Spirited Tail 📲
32. The Goodbyes 📖
33. Secondhand Souls 🎧 🤓
34. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 🎧 🤓
35. Everything We Keep 📲
36. If Books Could Kill 📖 🤓
37. The Bookseller 📲
38. Unlikely Friendships 📲 🤓
39. Homicide in Hardcover 📖 🤓
40. Ghostly Paws 📲
41. The Sleeper and the Spindle 📖 🤓
42. The Body Reader 📲
43. Blackout 📖 🤓
44. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl 📲 🤓
45. Vacations From Hell 📖 🤓
46. 168 Hours 📖
47. Farewell, Dorothy Parker 📖
48. When Breath Becomes Air 📖
49. In the Heights 📖
50. Crenshaw 📲
51. How Do You Sleep 📲
52. In the Shadow of Blackbirds 📲 🤓
53. NOS4A2 🎧 🤓
54. The Humans (play) 📖
55. Random Harvest 📲
56. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? 📲
57. Vader’s Little Princess 📲
58. Darth Vader and Son 📲
59. Darth Vader and Friends 📲
60. Good Night, Darth Vader 📲
61. Americanah 📲 🤓
62. Winter of the World  🎧 🤓
63. A God in Ruins 📲 🤓
64. Rip Van Winkle 🎧 🤓
65. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 🎧 🤓
66. The Fall of Giants 🎧 🤓
67. Life After Life 📲 🤓
68. How to be a Woman 🎧
69. Twenty Yawns 📲
70. True Grit 🎧 🤓
71. It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs 📲 🤓
72. The Museum of Extraordinary Things  📲 🤓
73. The Luckiest Girl Alive 📖
74. Grandma Drove the Snowplow 📲
75. The Map 📲
76. Beastly Bones 📲
77. Impossible Things 📖
78. Girl Waits With Gun 📲
79. Library of Souls 📖
80. Emerald Green 📲

What did you read in 2016? Anything you can recommend? Do tell!