The Library Ladder

The Winner!

2008-05-30T07:36:00.002-04:00

Drum roll..............................

SUSAN from Bloggin' 'Bout Books is the randomly chosen winner! She will receive my gently used copy of Late Nights on Air for her reading pleasure.

To Nat and Les who also put their names into the draw, please stay tuned because I plan on doing a few more draws over the summer. The rest of you are welcome to stay tuned too!

:)

The Tenth Gift - Jane Johnson - 5 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5

2008-05-27T07:40:00.003-04:00

(Possible spoilers.)

This is a captivating story that spans 400 years. Mystery, pirates, romance, embroidery, strains of the supernatural, history and adventure – this book really has everything and goes at a wonderful pace; I could barely put it down. I’ll be first in line to read Ms. Johnson’s next book, I can tell you.

Julia Lovat is given a seventeenth-century embroidery pattern book with margins full of faint writing. The writing turns out to be the story of Cat who was kidnapped from the Cornish coast by North African pirates with the intention of selling her as a slave. Prior to reading this story I was unaware of the fascinating historical fact that ‘the Barbary corsair raids on the south coasts of England, which took place intermittently over the course of more than two hundred years during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries…’ (p.387)

After I finished the book I realized that I hadn’t stopped to make any notes for quotes! Yes, it was very captivating indeed! I did love the first line of the book which follows.

p.3

‘There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they have never happened before, like larks that have been singing the same five notes for thousands of year.’

I was lucky enough to have been invited to interview the author of The Tenth Gift, Jane Johnson. She was kind enough to answer my questions via email. She is an interesting, talented woman and I’d like to once again offer my thanks to her for writing such an entertaining novel and for taking the time to reply to my questions.

1. How long did it take to write this novel? Did you have trouble finishing the book and leaving Julia and Cat behind?

I started it in 2004, and finally delivered it in 2007, so I lived it for three years, and really immersed myself in it, so yes, it was hard to leave the characters behind. Though a relief, too, to be truthful: when I started out it seemed the most immense and difficult task and I was very, very relieved to have completed it to some degree of satisfaction.

2. Did the writing process flow smoothly for you? Could you explain your process?

Hmm, not sure 'process' is something I have! I don't really have a disciplined routine, partly because I'm juggling so many things at once and many of them can get in the way of the writing. I'm not a quick writer, though: generally I will aim for 1000-2000 words a day, but if they don't come, they don't come, and it certainly doesn't happen every day. I keep a notebook, and I often find new material comes easier if I write longhand outside somewhere, especially in wide open spaces or by the sea, as if my imagination needs a lot of space in which to roam. Then I'll type the draft into the laptop and edit as I go.

3. I noticed a bit of a supernatural strain throughout with the sad attic and Annie Badcock. I wondered if you plan to next write a novel which explores this theme more fully. I want to know more about Annie!

Yes, it's really a well-disguised ghost story! I do enjoy a touch of the supernatural and magical -- for me they enliven a book, and the next novel certainly involves these themes. But not Annie, nor indeed Cornwall, I'm afraid. In fact, Annie is based on a local character in my village, so I think I'd better leave well alone!

4. Do you consider yourself to be a spiritual and/or religious person? Whether or not you do, do you think it had an impact on the story itself?

Not in any serious or organised way. I indulge in a bit of magical thinking and superstition from time to time (I blame my mother and Cornish ancestors); and I've had one or two strange experiences in my life which raise the question of there being things we simply don't understand, patterns of life that catch us in their toils. And yes, certainly, these things influence the story and how it's told.

5. Do you keep a journal and record story ideas? Will we see more of Julia and Cat in a future novel?

I keep all sorts of notebooks and scraps of paper and computer files, but as ever, not in any organised way. A lot of them just stay in my head, and emerge when they join together, like story molecules! No more plans for Julia and Cat, though: I like to think I've set them free to live their own lives now.

6. I like to re-read books and I wondered if you do the same and whether or not you have a particular favourite?

Yes: I have a very unretentive memory, so after a few years I can quite happily revisit a favourite book and find new things in it, especially with heavily textured, rich books like those by Mary Renault; or classics like Thomas Hardy.

7. Is there a much loved quote you could share that speaks to your thoughts and feelings about life?

I don't go in much for aphorisms or pearls of wisdom (if I knew them I'd forget them!). But I do like, and try to follow, some of the 14th Dalai Lama's wise words:

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

Spend some time alone every day.

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

Be gentle with the earth.

Once a year, go somewhere you've never been before.

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

(Especially the last one!)
Jane

Thanks very much to Random House Canada for this one.

Late Nights on Air - Elizabeth Hay - 4 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5

2008-05-26T07:41:00.003-04:00

Sorry this review is so long in coming and I really hope you enjoyed Elizabeth’s guest post about her current journey in Yellowknife.

(Possible spoilers.)

This novel was the 2007 Giller Prize winner. The story begins in 1975 in Yellowknife. The inside cover describes the book as ‘a story of misguided love, shifting loyalties, and hard-won self-discoveries.’

I sympathised most with the character of Gwen. She is someone who is searching for herself; someone who is slowly building her self-esteem. She comes to Yellowknife and discovers her voice in more ways than one.

Something I really enjoyed was that the characters in the story were well read and full of passion for the politics of the day. Bookish references are sprinkled liberally throughout. Proust, Tennyson, etc. – made me want to read even more. I wrote so many references for quotes that this post could become very long if I let it. I’ll try to restrain myself, leaving you with just the following quote and if you make it all the way to the end I’ll have a surprise for you.

p. 162

“In the coming months, Gwen formed an image of the North as an open page in a book of wonders illustrated and illuminated with rare animals and subtle plants. The North was the tropics made simple and cool. A rather more knowable place, since it held on to all traces of passage, to every weathered bone and fire-cracked rock. One scientist talked about the length of time it took anything to decay in the artic air, on the one hand, and to grow, on the other, since food supplies were limited, summer was short, reproduction rates were meager. In some parts of the North an arctic char didn’t produce ripe eggs until it was twelve years old, and even after that it spawned only every second or third year. A world, where if you were a child and the world was a plate, then the plate would be huge and have lots of space between a few select foods. She had been that very sort of child, wanting everything kept separate, and not a lot of different things at once, or much of any one thing at all.

Thank you to McClelland and Stewart and Random House Canada for this book.

I’d like to hold a draw and send you Late Nights on Air so that you can be transported to the magical and expansive Canadian North like I was. If you’re interested, please leave a comment and I will draw a name at the end of the week. Good Luck!

Late Nights On Air

2008-05-15T08:17:00.003-04:00

A little while ago I was asked to be part of a blog tour being written by the author of Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay. I've recently finished the book and will post my review early next week but first, please enjoy Ms. Hay's post from the far north.

May 14, Yellowknife

The old insomnia kept me company last night. It almost always does after an evening event – over-stimulation, too much talk, too much smiling, not enough to eat. At one a.m. I was reading with tremendous sadness the obituary of Arthur Kroeger, a marvelous civil servant, who died at 75 of kidney cancer. His excellent history-memoir of his Mennonite family, Hard Passage, I read last year. I put down the newspaper and slept for a few hours. At four-thirty I was awake again and Yellowknife was already saturated with light. A chorus of sleddog-barking went up from Joliffe Island in Yellowknife Bay. Half an hour later, a great quacking of ducks overhead. Then croaks from a raven. Then gulls. It is wonderful to be back here in this month of sounds of all kinds.

We flew from Whitehorse several days ago on First Air, a northern airline kind enough to provide its travelers with a box lunch. I’m traveling with my husband, and this portion of our trip is very much work and pleasure. In the last few days I’ve given a reading at the library, visited two classrooms to speak to English Lit and Northern Studies students, been interviewed up and down and inside out. Mark, who works for Oxfam, has also been doing interviews, talks, school visits.

Last night was the main event for me, an evening organized and conducted with great care and imagination by NorthWords Writers Festival and CBC North to celebrate Late Nights on Air as a book inspired by Yellowknife. Bruce Valpy read from his play about John Hornby, Patrick Scott from his book of stories of the Berger Inquiry, I read a Yellowknife section from early in the novel, then several of us formed a panel to reminisce about radio in the 1970s. I had the enormous pleasure of reconnecting with George Tuccaro, the sportscaster and personality, and Bob Carr, the technician, both of whom I knew well from the moment I started out in 1974.

The little radio station where I began is now a Subway sandwich shop. A reporter took me into it and said, “Now what would have been going on over there where that guy is slicing meat?” I would guess that where the guy is now slicing meat we used to have our little announcer-operator office, too small to have more than three or four desks.

Memory is a mug’s game, of course, constantly creating fictions that have their own truth.

Today we have lunch with the mayor, then visit an activity centre for seniors. This last should be relaxing, the elderly being far easier to satisfy than classrooms of teenagers.

The before and after of Yellowknife; our overnight on the Yellowknife River; our visits with old friends – all of this I will write about tomorrow.

updating

2008-05-02T12:47:00.002-04:00

are you out there lurking? are you bookish in some manner or another? please say hi. I want to make sure my links are up to date.

:)

The Dream World - Alison Pick - 4 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5

2008-05-01T07:40:00.003-04:00

This is a beautiful collection of poems from a widely published and award winning Canadian poet. As you know, I never attempt to analyse poetry as I often don’t understand it fully but I can clearly tell you that I enjoyed these poems. I chose the following as my favourite as it tugged hardest at my heart.

p. 4

Full Moon: Reading “The Lost Letters of Heloise and Abelard”

A portal. A circular door to forever,
rebirth – a hole to crawl through
leaving failure behind. Call the place we land in
heaven, although it’s dark: the moon does not shine
without the sun. The two-faced sky
sees both sides, its single eye
trained on absence: words not said,
the back of a mirror, the stars’ mirror-image
held on the sea. We paddle through
our own reflections, moon above, a watery
gate. The shape of you, the shape
of me. That infinite distance to cross.

Thanks to McClelland & Stewart for this one.

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy - 5 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5

2008-04-25T07:57:00.003-04:00

Five Library Ladder Rungs! Not because I enjoyed the book. In fact, it is possibly the most disturbing story I’ve ever read – even more so then The Road by the same author. It took me a really long time to compose my thoughts so that I could write a review but I find myself struggling with this all the same.

In many ways I’m not sure I understood this book but it is written so that I could see, feel, smell and almost touch the events described. They aren’t events I’d ever want to experience; magnificent language describing indescribable violence. I find it wonderful to live in innocence of such horror.

Briefly, Blood Meridian takes place in southwestern America during the infancy of its westward expansion. During the 1850s, along the Texas-Mexico border, we follow the Kid. The back cover blurb states that the Kid stumbles into a nightmarish world and it certainly is. I’m not ashamed to admit that directly after I finished this Blood Meridian I read a historical romance of the bodice ripper type so that I could get a good dose of sappy and happy.

I’m going to include two quotes that illustrate the wonderful language contained within this story.

p. 47

“That night they rode through a region electric and wild where strange shapes of soft blue fires ran over the metal of the horses’ trappings and the wagonwheels rolled in hoops of fire and little shapes of pale blue light came to perch in the ears of the horses and in the beards of the men. All night sheetlightning quaked sourceless to the west beyond the midnight thunderheads, making a bluish day of the distant desert, the mountains on the sudden skyline stark and black and livid like a land of some other order out there whose true geology was not stone but fear. The thunder moved up from the southwest and lightning lit the desert all about them, blue and barren, great clanging reaches ordered out of the absolute night like some demon kingdom summoned up or changeling land that come the day would leave them neither trace nor smoke nor ruin more than any troubling dream.”

p. 229

“He steadied the animal’s head to show it but it jerked loose and slung the broken ear about so that blood sprayed the riders. Horseblood or any blood a tremor ran that perilous architecture and the ponies stood rigid and quivering in the reddened sunrise and the desert under them hummed like a snaredrum. The tensile properties of this ungratified truce were abused to the utmost of their enduring when the judge stood slightly in the saddle and raised his arm and spoke out a greeting beyond them.”

Esau - Philip Kerr - 5 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5

2008-04-18T07:40:00.002-04:00

I quite liked this novel. Esau is described as a novel of scientific, suspense, adventure and revelation. Perhaps what we could call a true thriller. Secret Agencies, deception, political tensions and scientific mysteries are contained in this story – the sort that is hard to put down when you really should be turning out your light and trying to fall asleep as you have to get up the next morning at 5am for work.

Evolution and the possible discovery of the missing link lead a small group on a journey to the highest peaks of the earth. What if during human evolution a select group of early humanoids were cut off from the rest of world and developed along a different path. Would you tell the world or let them live in their peaceful innocence? I'm pretty sure I'd tell you guys but that's it.

This book really made me want to read all about paleoanthropology. I think a story like this also makes one question their morals and spiritual values. A good book club read I suspect.

p. 185 – 186

‘The swami sighed wearily.

“He who has understanding is careful and ever pure, reaches the end of the journey from which he never returns. But it is natural to search as you do. From where do we come? By what power do we live? Where do we find rest? Beyond senses are their objects and beyond these is the mind and beyond that is pure reason. To know the answers to these questions however is not always a source of much comfort and satisfaction for beyond reason is the spirit in Man.” ‘

It is raining today - a lot.

2008-04-11T12:05:00.001-04:00

Rain

I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can't do a handstand
--I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said
--I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.

Shel Silverstein

Science Fiction

2008-03-18T18:42:00.003-04:00

Another creative mind gone.

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible."

- Arthur C. Clarke

Wikipedia has a comprehensive article about him here.

Blood Meridian

2008-03-14T14:09:00.002-04:00

I just started reading Blood Meridian. Has anyone else read this? This author, Cormac McCarthy, also wrote The Road which is a wonderfully well written book.

I've made my way past 'the kid' meeting the hermit but already the level of violence is making me squirm. This is not an easy read and I don't think it will get any better. There are so many themes and references to things real and mythical that I feel almost lost already.

Thoughts?

Compulsion - Jonathan Kellerman - 4 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5

2008-03-13T12:06:00.003-04:00

(Possible spoilers.)

I've read hardly anything since the beginning of the year as you can see from my paltry 'books read' list in my sidebar. I haven't even been very inspired to write any reviews. (bad book blogger) I do feel like this book picked me up out of a slump!

I read this quickly and was very involved in it. No other books distracted me once I got started. I almost missed my stop on the bus ride home last night!

I think I've probably read other Kellerman novels but none that I can specifically remember. I'll probably have to remedy that situation now. More books to add to the TBR Mountain.

Compulsion is the latest in Jonathan Kellerman's 'Alex Delaware' series. Dr. Delaware, I gather, has a background in child psycology and does a bit of profiling for the LAPD. His good friend Milo Sturgis is a homicide detective investigating cold cases. (This all seems very familiar to me so I really do think I've read somthing else in this series.) They inadvertantly find a series of cold cases via two current murders and their investigation takes them all throughout LA, into other California locals as well as New York.

The killer is very creepy. The murders make no sense. I was extremely surprised by the ending which was very satisfying hence the 4 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5.

I'd like to thank Random House Canada for this book.

Dewey

2008-03-07T12:02:00.003-05:00

Thought you might be interested in this, especially my American readers.

Nope. 2 Library Ladder Rungs out of 5

2008-03-04T12:33:00.005-05:00

I tried. I really tried. I was gifted this book and read so many wonderful blogger reviews. Then I heard that the movie was coming out so I began it feverishly. That lasted about an hour and then I put it down.

Then I picked up, put it down, repeat, etc. I believe I reached page 267 or something like that. I gifted it onto someone who I think will really enjoy it. I'm not going to see the movie.

I won't tell you about the book as you've probably read it and enjoyed it. I'm glad. I thought the writing style was excellent so even though I didn't finish it, I decided to give it a rating. 2 Library Ladder Rungs.

I think the author has wonderful talent but the story was so long winded for me that I just could not get into it. I feel sorry about that because the idea of the story appeals. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood.

It has gone to a new home. I think it will be much loved. I'm glad about that.

Good Advice

2008-02-29T07:18:00.002-05:00

Good advice from a smart fellow. I really need to get his books.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T10:38:00.001-05:00

"A Friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

MWAH!

2008-02-06T07:38:00.000-05:00

This awesome blogger awarded me a MWAH!! Very exciting for me! Here's what it's all about.

This is a quote from the original smoocheree:
"So, the point (and I do have one) to this post is motivated by my desire to hand some of that love and kindness back around to those who have been so very, very, very good to me in this bloggy world. My hope is that those who receive this award will pass it on to those who have been very, very, very good to them as well. It's a big kiss, of the chaste platonic kind, from me to you with the underlying 'thanks' message implied. I really do appreciate your support and your friendship and yes, your comments. ... Mwah!"

Isn't that nice? In my book, you all deserve a big MWAH! but I thought I'd highlight the following bloggers:

1. A Guy's Moleskine Notebook
2. Between The Covers
3. Frequency of Silence
4. I'll Have My Cake and Eat Yours Too
5. Orpheus Sings The Guitar Electric

Thank you to everyone who stops by and to everyone who had such great book suggestions in my last post, thank you very much!

The Black Death

2008-01-30T11:50:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the dramatic title.

I was just wondering if I could ask you to give me book recommendations for fiction (modern fiction or 'classic' literature) set during the plague years. The setting doesn't necessarily have to be medieval Europe. I know there has been quite a few of you reading Kristin Lavransdatter in recent months so I've added that to the list I'm compiling. I've also added The Canterbury Tales.

I'm also interested in any recommendations for alternate history fiction. What if type questions are always interesting to explore. Time travel sorts of stories have always been of interest to me as well. What if certain people were sent back in time and altered history? Etc.

This is so sad!!!

2008-01-29T12:13:00.000-05:00

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/01/29/book-store.html

I thought the brutal bare link was appropriate. I'm as guilty as the next person I suppose since I have that horrid addicition to Amazon.ca.

Dear Agatha

2008-01-14T09:29:00.000-05:00

Dear Agatha,

Where did you find the inspiration for so many lovely mysteries?

Yours truly,

The Library Ladder

I was given a large box of books over the holidays by a wonderful aunt! A box full of Agatha Christie mysteries!! I'm so excited to get started on them! My plan is to read one or two a month. I'll keep you updated.

Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks to all who delurked! It is so nice to meet new book bloggers!

UPDATE: I might be crazy - ok, I am. I started a blog to record my Agatha progress. Still need to update it with some fancy Agatha links but the address is www.theagathaproject.blogspot.com
I blame it on Emily - I had been thinking about it but she helped me realize the dream. hehe

Happy New Year and a Fresh Start!

2008-01-11T11:52:00.000-05:00

I want to thank you all for your kind comments on my last post. Christmas was actually really nice with a lot of stories shared and giggles abounding. Surprisingly I didn't do as much reading as I thought I would. I did however spend lots of time with family and friends which was just the balm my soul needed.

I also decided to make some blogging changes. I won't be running 'Our Coffee Rings' anymore as I found I wasn't even keeping up with the discussions and sometimes not even the reading! Thank you to all who supported that blog and participated in reading and/or discussions. I truly wish we could have met in person.

You'll see that I've cleaned up (and will continue to clean up and update) my links bar and that my participation in other reading groups and reading challenges has significantly dropped. There are so many wonderful reading opportunities out there and I applaud everyone involved in them but my lack of internet at home (I'm finding this good and bad) really hinders my ongoing involvement and participation in posting and in discussions. I have found my reading mojo in the last week though and this feels so good.

Apparently it is International Delurking Week (or so I've noticed as I've lurked around the blogging community) so why not comment and let me know you're out there! Do you have a blog and better yet, do you have a book blog?

I was reading cbc.ca online yesterday and came across this really interesting article. I've joined and believe me it is so fun to explore everything here! I may have to actually write some story ending myself!

Anyway, Happy New Year and may your lives abound with books this year.

Christmas Reading

2007-12-19T15:35:00.001-05:00

I've been having a difficult time with Christmas this year. My grandfather died on Christmas Eve last year and those sorts of firsts are difficult I've discovered. I'll be back in the New Year with what I hope is a refreshed state of mind after a good lot of reading a snowball fight or two.

I wish you each a very Merry Christmas and if you don't celebrate I still wish you joy.

Sharp Edges

2007-11-16T09:04:00.000-05:00

Anyone having a gander at my side bar will have noticed a fun visual blog I've linked to. Today's post is particularily book related. Anyway, I got a giggle out of it.

I'll be back next week with some book reviews and a challenge I'm going to host. Have a nice weekend filled with lots of reading if you can manage it!

Another Beautiful Poem in Honour of the upcoming Rememberance Day

2007-11-09T07:27:00.000-05:00

In Flanders Fields - John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

Poetic Thursday - November 8, 2007

2007-11-08T07:15:00.000-05:00

November is an depressing sort of month in my opinion. Wind, rain and cold batter me. The leaves have fallen and been swept away. I leave for work and it is dark. I come home from work and it is dark. I think the following poem fits the mood.

November - Walter de la Mare

There is wind where the rose was,
Cold rain where sweet grass was,
And clouds like sheep
Stream o'er the steep
Grey skies where the lark was.
Nought warm where your hand was,
Nought gold where your hair was,
But phantom, forlorn,
Beneath the thorn,
Your ghost where your face was.
Cold wind where your voice was,
Tears, tears where my heart was,
And ever with me,
Child, ever with me,
Silence where hope was.