Reader's Digest - 2010 books 7-10

I've done a lot of reading since I last updated my reading (b)log, so I thought I'd do a quick catch up.

I blew through books 2 and 3 in the Alexander McCall Smith No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. Books 2 and 3, entitled Tears of the Giraffe, and Morality for Beautiful Girls, respectively, were the laid back but well-written reads I expected them to be. The only issue I have with this series, and most series, to be honest, is the need to repeat certain language and points in every book. This feature of the series novel reminds me of the television drama, where you are forced to see the 'Last time on____' bit in the beginning. The repetition gets a bit old, but I understand that it is somewhat needed in order to inform and hook readers who may be picking up a series in the middle. My annoyance with this, however, it minimal, and in no way discourages me from continuing to read these books - they're a nice compliment to more challenging reads.

My big read the last month was Age of Wonder, by Richard Holmes.

I took my time with this book because it was chocked full of information, and wonderful footnotes. Age of Wonder chronicles the period of Romantic scientific discovery, spanning from Joseph Banks's explorations of Tahiti, to the first human flight in balloons, to the revolutionizing of astronomy by the Herschels and their vastly improved telescopes, all the way on to Davy changing (almost inventing) the role of the career scientist with his activities in chemistry research. The book's timeline is roughly bound together by tying the careers of several prominent European (though mainly UK) scientists to the life and work of Banks with the Royal Society from the late 18th to early 19th century. This fascinating read sets the stage for readers to conduct further readings into the influences of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries by illustrating how the Romantic generation prepared the world to the further scientific revolutions to come.
What struck me most about this book was how rapidly the world was turned upside down by things we now take for granted: flight, harnessing electricity, the discovery of fundamental elements and the dispelling of the idea of 4 essential elemental forces in the world, toying with concepts of human energy/soul/reanimation. This petri dish of inquiring minds not only brought forth the Darwins, it also created the Shelleys and their Frankensteins. Scientific concepts we now take for granted were once exciting, bold, and, very often, the subject of much fear. This is an accessible (though a bit long) read for the lay; not at all full of jargon. I definitely would recommend.

The final book I finished for this installment was Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan. I can't say I formed a definite opinion of this book. It was engaging enough that I blew through it in a day, but I can't say if I liked or disliked it. It was just a decent quick read. The premise is the telling of a series of events that took place in the rural south in post World War Two America from various different characters' view points. This was a well-written piece, but sadly a bit predictable, considering the subject matter. I went in expecting to be shocked and a little depressed, and it did happen, despite the author's attempt to make some of the ending a bit more positive.

Now, on to the next!

Overheard in the Library

This phone call just occurred behind me in the computer lab:

Him: Hey sweetheart
Him: What's that? You want to kiss me?
(me getting ready to crack down on some phone nookie)
Him: You went Poo Poo!? In the Potty!?
Him: OOOOh that's great! That's the best news I've heard all day!

---
Totally cute and funny at the same time.

Book 6 - The Good Soldiers - David Finkel

I chose this book for my library's book discussion group because there is a heavy military focus among the club's members, and because the book had been getting great reviews. This was pretty far outside the scope of my normal interests, so I appreciated the challenge of expanding my reading repertoire. The Good Soldiers does a wonderful job of profiling the soldiers in a very impartial, but at the same time analytical way - not taking any sort of stance (hard to do in war writing, especially in a controversial war such as Iraq), but also not flinching away from hard truths.

This book is at times uplifting, punishing, informative, and infuriating, either individually as you read the different episodes, or as the overall vibe that you get when reflecting on the work as a whole. I think that everyone should give it a try; one thing it really drove home is how little Americans know about what is going on in Iraq. It's rather disturbing how the war in Iraq has become a very silent and almost invisible conflict due to a very sad lack of news coverage - this book puts things into perspective and acts very effectively as a wake up call. What is seen on TV aren't stats and events - they are human lives and futures. Have a read - reacquaint yourself with what is going on with our troops and the people they have been sent to fight, assist, and try to understand (no small task, as we've seen). Regardless of your thoughts on the war, this book is a very informative read.

Small Change

I guess March needs to be the month of small changes rather than sweeping reform. I already know what I should be doing, now I need to tweak my lifestyle to the point where I am actually doing those things. It seems silly, and a little sad, that I need to make more of an effort to get out of my desk chair during my work day, but it's now more than obvious how bad my sedentary profession is on my long-term health goals. So now it's stairs whenever possible - and yes that means going four floors, not just the one floor trips - and visiting people's offices rather than calling them. It means getting off my bus a stop early to go an extra couple blocks.

This month also means really keeping an eye on balancing what I eat. For the longest time I've been aware that I don't really eat horrendous things, but I need to do better eating a good balance of the healthy things I tend to seek out. This also means committing to introducing more protein in my diet. I have cut out the caffeine, and really have shit for energy - now that my body isn't getting 'energy' from false sources like sugar and caffeine, I need to be more conscious of what I'm doing to get the fuel I need.

Finally, as one big step, I have committed to three races for this year (so far, we'll see): two shorties and one long. First up is the Mother's Day Breast Cancer Network of Strength event with Karen, Andrew, and Dan. Donations are most welcome, for this and my other fund raising event, the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon. I'll be running as part of Team PAWS to raise money and awareness for Chicago's homeless dog and cat populations. The non-get-your-credit-card-out race that I'm doing, with Dan, is the Warrior Dash, which sounds like all kinds of fun.

So, for now it's stand at attention, and get those nightly (at least when there isn't hockey) fitness runs in to take off the 'I'm lazy' weight I put on since my last half marathon. After that, it'll be time to start training for real.

How incredibly cute

is my new niece?


Apparently her daddy stinks :D

2010 Books 3, 4, and 5 - Vacation Reads

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
I took a gamble on this book because it got great reviews; I read as little as possible about the plot because I like surprises. I am glad I took the chance, because this read pushed me into territory I would not have chosen for myself had I known all the details. I don't want to give away too much about what makes this book really unique, but Mitchell really proves himself to be a very creative and versatile scribe. There were times when I would begin a new chapter and would find the change in tone so jarring that I was tempted to skip over passages, but I found that any distaste that I felt for style was overcome by the compelling plot. This one is a definitely plus.

44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith
I picked this one up due to the popularity of this author and his various series. 44 Scotland Street sweeps you up into a world of mini plots, somewhat interrelated, that remind me of a literary version of Seinfeld. While this wouldn't be my first choice in reading material, it really scratched my itch for a lightweight beach read from a genre other than vampire fiction. It wasn't the best thing I've read, but it wasn't so bad that I would cross off the possibility of picking up the next book in this particular series.


The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
Same motivation for reading this one as I had for 44 Scotland Street - I wanted to see what the buzz was all about. I found this to be a much more enjoyable read than 44, and have actually picked up the second book in the series to continue on. I like the very vivid sensual information about the towns, countryside, and individuals involved in the stories. While this is a book about a detective, it doesn't follow the usual pattern of suspense, violence, sex, and action. That may sound boring, but I find the style of this book a relief from the cliche - it's full of sentiment, humor, and the gentle pride and wisdom of its main players, while at the same time keeping the reader engaged in figuring out the individual cases.

Of the three books read on my trip, I think I have definitely been inspired to read more of David Mitchell's work, and McCall Smith's further detective series installments.

Saba

Back

Returned safely from a great trip to Saba. Went directly to the hospital to see my brand new niece, who decided early yesterday that she'd had enough of the womb and wanted to arrive over a month early. She looks wonderful and seems to be in good health - it's going to take some time to wrap my head around being an aunt, but I know I'm going to enjoy the process. For those keeping baby stats - Lucille Rose is 5lbs 3oz - not sure what her length is, but I do know she has some crazy long fingers! I know there will be pictures up in here soon enough - I was kicking myself during the visit for leaving my camera packed in the car with our carry-ons.

Now to grab a power nap so I can actually feel human while trying to visit people later tonight.

2010 Book 2 - West with the Night - Beryl Markham

Where was Beryl Markham when I was growing up? As a young tomboy, I looked up to Katherine Hepburn for her ballzy though feminine ways, and always wondered why there weren't more women around who were like her, and, as an extension, like me (or at least the way I saw myself).

I was given West with the Night by a coworker, who thought I would enjoy the work - apparently he recommends it to just about everyone he knows. After finishing the piece, I can see why. Markham's prose flows smoothly over her accounts of her less-than-conventional upbringing in East Africa; she makes boar hunts, horse training, campfire congresses, and solo flights over uncharted swamps that could be smelled from a thousand feet become poetic. From her words, you can tell that Markham's relationship with Africa was a love affair - each anecdote was brought as vividly into my mind as the memories must have been in her own when she set them to paper.

From here, I am paying forward the favor done for me by my coworker by advising anyone and everyone to read this book. When you're done, I am fairly sure you will do exactly what I did, and seek out more information about the lively individuals she acted as biographer for in miniature, and the cities and towns she praised or condemned.

Book number two for the year has also been a big thumbs up - I hope the trend continues.

2010 Book 1 - Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Some people are doing 365 photos for 2010 - well, I missed the boat on that one. Instead, I think I will make an effort to log the books I read this year, and to explain, briefly, why I did or did not like them.

Zeitoun is the true story of what happened to one man of Syrian origins in New Orleans after Katrina. My first impression, sad to say, was judging the book by its cover. I have to admit that even before I heard the favorable reviews, I was drawn to the art work and texture of the book's cover. Zeitoun is a lovely hardcover edition (not sure how the softcover will come out) graced by very attractive, almost wood block printing stylized artwork.

Moving on past the aesthetics, one is introduced to the protagonist, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, an American citizen who was born and raised on the island town of Jableh, Syria. Zeitoun, as he is known about New Orleans, is an industrious entrepreneur who owns and operates his own painting and contracting company with his American-born wife, Kathy; together the couple have four children. As the narrative progresses, you get to know the Zeitoun family as a close-knit one, bound together by love, faith, and hard work.

Dave Eggers's writing captures the growing tension, and the wavering between skepticism and fear the Zeitoun family must have felt in the hours leading up to the evacuation and arrival of Katrina. When the time to decide came, Kathy departed from New Orleans with the children and the dog, while her husband remained to care for the couple's various rental and commercial properties. Description of the storm itself is patchy and disinterested - a reflection of the reality that Zeitoun's area was not severely impacted by the storm itself, but by the aftermath of the levees breaking. In reality, Zeitoun slept through most of the main event. What follows the departure of Katrina is a description of a surreal waterworld of abandoned pets, abandoned homes, abandoned humans, and, occasionally, the abandonment of all sense of humanity.

I don't want to spoil the rest, but I will put this book in my 'yes' pile, and encourage my friends to read on.

White Out

The title is self-explanatory I guess. Today we have heavy heavy snows falling in the city, making everything lovely, and everyone slow. My commute was akin to trying to run on a sandy beach, with my incredibly heavy snow boots on, and the 3+ inches of snow to slog through. Amazingly enough, I managed to beat the bus on the mile walk to the el stop; the people of Chicago were more diligent in their sidewalk shoveling than the plows were in clearing the surface roads, so apparently I had an easier time than the motorists.
As a result of the city's slowdown, things are quiet in the library today, which plays a bit part in why I am blogging. With some hope, I may be able to catch up on my 'to do' list here if things remain calm - hopefully in writing this, I haven't managed to jinx myself.

2009 - it was the best of times, it was the blurst of times...

Seems everyone is doing their year-end wrap up right now; the really ambitious are writing up their last decade, but my memory is too shot to attempt anything that grand. If all goes well, I may be able to accurately sum up the last 12 months without forgetting anything major, but if I do and you catch it, you probably know me and my life well enough to realize I'm lucky to remember what little I do. So, without further ado, 2009:
January

• According to my google calender, I certified for the last time with unemployment on the 30th of December, 2008. I had been unemployed for almost five months.
• 1/6 I started working as a graduate assistant at The HistoryMakers three days a week; that was enough to get me off the dole.
• Hit up tourneys in Detroit and Las Vegas.

February

• Pond hockey in WI - nothing much else to report.

March

• Went to Washington D.C. on alternative spring break and got to work at The National Anthropological Archives & Human Studies Film Archives at the Smithsonian. Thought for a little while that I was going to wind up working there for the summer, but funding eventually fell through.

April

• Tournament outside of Toronto.

May

• Graduated with my Masters in Library and Information Sciences, with an emphasis on archives administration, and a certification in rare books and special collections.
• Entered the 'real world' - according to those around me, I hadn't already been there.

June

• At some point became full time at The HistoryMakers, and gained the title Assistant Archivist.

July

• Bleh

August

• Inlaws took us on an awesome vacation on which we hit up Norway by boat, and then drove around Germany.

September

• Bought a home in Bridgeport and moved in. Still in the process of making it ours, but it's a labor of love.
• Got to sail on a sailboat from Waukegan to Chicago overnight, something I'd always wanted to do.

October

• Got a call out of the blue from a place I had applied for a job at back when I was still unemployed. This eventually turned into a job offer, which I gladly accepted.
• Went on a trip with Claudia to Vietnam and Cambodia.

November

• Started working at the Union League Club of Chicago as the head of the library, with the potential to also take over the archives when time and funds permit.
• Went from hourly grunt to salaried master of my own domain.

December

• Finally got to ride the CTA Holiday Train.
• Settled in for my long winter's nap.

Vietnam and Cambodia - abbreviation of an abbreviated trip

Before the year is over, I'd like to make good on my promise a couple posts ago to put up some photos from the trip I took to Vietnam and Cambodia in Oct/Nov. Though we were only gone a mere eleven days, we packed so much in to our time that it felt double that (in a good way). I know for certain that I would love to return some day to give these two beautiful countries the attention they deserve, but for now I'll have to remember the little taste test that we had.


Saigon/HCM City, Vietnam

Amazing little bread critters in a shop we ducked in to to avoid the rain. I really wish we had bought some, but we only stopped for a couple seconds.

Some of the Party artwork

How just about every family gets around town - all on one scooter. There are helmet laws, but interestingly enough, they didn't seem to apply to children.

Claudia gets groomed.

Golden Temple Villa and Street Shots - Siem Reap, Cambodia


We did manage to get some relaxing in

There were loads of venues for that

"Welcome Drink"

My market friend. This kid could locate just about everything.

In control.

Temple Complexes Around Siem Reap

Day 1 - Bike Ride to Angkor Wat

Just like the cathedrals in Europe, these holy sites are still in use by the local religious folk. Each of the sites we went to still had many active Buddhist shrines.


The friezes were amazing - there are many non-close-up shots in the album, linked above.



It was wonderful to see that Angkor Wat was very much in use by the local people, and not one of those world heritage sites that have imposed high entrance fees that are prohibitive to the average non-tourist. We had to buy a three-day pass, but from what I saw, they only checked the obvious foreigners for these.


Some boys who insisted on giving us a tour of the local cemetery. I believe they were associated with the Children's hospital nearby.


Day 2 - Bike Ride to Angkor Thom

The ladies

The other ladies - they were all over the place.

I turned the corner and was taking a picture of the doorway when he walked into the frame. I literally gasped.

One of the many massive faces overlooking the site.

Active Buddhist shrine within Angkor Thom.

Pretty red stranger

I can't even do justice to the sounds and smells that surrounded us on our ride. I can come close to what it sounded like - every silly, exaggerated jungle soundtrack from a Tarzan movie. Seriously, it's pretty dead on. As for the smells, nothing can really capture that. Think of a mixture of burning aromatic wood and leaves; jasmine and other musky flowers; cinnamon; incense; damp earth; and heat.

Day 3 - TukTuk to Ta Prohm

In real life

These trees just oozed over the carved stones, like melted candle sticks.

The lichens all over the place were vibrant with color

None of these pictures really show the scale of these trees and buildings. I could fit comfortably between these roots, with a couple friends.

This old dude came up to me and started talking to me in very broken English, and for the life of me I couldn't get what he was saying. I could have sworn he was asking me if I wanted to see the dinosaur. Finally I just told Claudia to come with me while I saw what he was all eager to show us, and he pointed to this.

Well what do you know? A dinosaur. Can't even begin to figure what else it could be. So random. The old man was also covered with scores of tiny prison-like tattoos, the meanings of which I can only guess at, considering Cambodia's dark past. I don't doubt he saw some violent days in his lifetime.

It almost looks like the scaffolding is holding up this bad boy.

Walking out looked like something out of an Indiana Jones film.

Night in Siem Reap and the Water Festival

When the TukTuk got us back to Siem Reap, we decided to walk around because it was our last night, and we wanted to see more of the town. We hit the market one more time.


and then went on to the Water Festival, which was getting all revved up by the river.

There were loads of street vendors, noisy Cambodian pop music, and illuminated boats in the water.


People gathered around to watch the canoe races. I took loads of pics of the boats, but they mostly turned out crummy.

all of them were crewed by rowdy local youth and looked like a load of fun.


The night ended with a massive fireworks display

and the children placing offerings in the river of candy, candles, and flowers on rafts.

I wish I were a better low light photographer, but at least I managed to take some!

Halong Bay Cruise



Books and beers - librarian on vacation

why yes, those are carrots and peppers masterfully carved into flowers


and a tomato phoenix




Floating venders

And essentially the only shot I got of Hanoi

I wish I had had time to take more, but we were really only in the city proper for a handful of hours.