The End of the World as We Know It (Apparently)

March 13, 2012: Encyclopaedia Britannica, the mother of all alphabetized knowledge, will be putting its 244-year-old print business out to pasture effective immediately.

The august encyclopedia publisher’s 32-volume 2010 edition was the last of its kind. (From the New York Times)

I've Been Found Out

Forgetfulness

The name of the author is the first to go followed obediently by the title, the plot, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of, as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones. Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag, and even now as you memorize the order of the planets, something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay. Whatever it is you are struggling to remember, it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen. It has floated away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. No wonder you rise in the middle of the night to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war. No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted out of a love poem that you used to know by heart. Billy Collins

Penguin Holds Twitter Book Discussions

I stumbled on this because I follow Eleanor Brown on Twitter. Last night she was participating in an online book discussion of her book The Weird Sisters, which I read and like last year. This piqued my interest when I noticed on Facebook that Deborah Harkness was posting that her book A Discovery of Witches would be next month's selection. My review of that title was not very kind and I seem to be in the minority. It crossed my mind to re-read the book so I can participate on April 4th at 8 PM EST. What a clever way to be able to interact with the author of a book you love. Click HERE to read more.

An Update on Things I Really Don't Want to Know

Today I was skimming the new AARP (Feb/Mar 2012) Magazine and was struck by how much was interesting to me considering that I'm not THAT old (whatever THAT means). Then I happened on the article on trends called 50 Going on 15 - Why the best new fiction for adults is written for teens.

I have often said that I think YA (Young Adult) Literature is better written and plotted. In general, the shorter the book, the more carefully it has to be crafted. Maybe the increase in readership for teen titles comes, at least in part, from my complaint of the other day. In this literature, explicit sex and overly descriptive violence gives way to the importance of the storytelling . "Sales of books for children, teens, and young adults rose by 12 percent from 2008 through 2010. (Sales of adult fiction, meanwhile, rose only 3.5 percent.)"

Although YA/teen lit will likely deal with problems of that age group and many have a science fiction vibe, this has never lessened my enjoyment. Think: Hunger Games series, for example, a great apocalyptic story.  What have you read?

An Amazing Discovery of Fairytales

Spinning a yarn … King Golden Hair, one of the newly-discovered fairytales. Illustration: Barbara Stefan

"A whole new world of magic animals, brave young princes and evil witches has come to light with the discovery of 500 new fairytales, which were locked away in an archive in Regensburg, Germany for over 150 years. The tales are part of a collection of myths, legends and fairytales, gathered by the local historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810–1886) in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz at about the same time as the Grimm brothers were collecting the fairytales that have since charmed adults and children around the world."

Read more about this fascinating discovery HERE.

Things I Really Don't Want to Know

In the February 17, 2012 edition of my bible, Entertainment Weekly (EW), I read the review of Once Upon a Secret by Mimi Alford. The book is a memoir about how she was seduced by a famous and powerful man, a secret she has carried with her all her life.

It's not that I don't feel great compassion for what happened to her. It is just that I hate to see all my idols and role models exposed as being not only human but thinking of themselves as entitled to the point of disregarding the sanctity of another human being.

Several pages later there is a review of Full Service, a sordid Hollywood tale, by Scotty Bowers in which he tells all about the famous people with whom he interacted facilitating and sometimes participating in their varying sexual appetites.

Am I alone in not wanting to know these things?

I remember as he got older that my father was no longer interested in current literature, which had become  too sexual and descriptively violent for his tastes. At that point he began collecting and re-reading the likes of  Zane Grey and Raphael Sabatini, stories from his childhood and earlier years. He wanted to read wonderful tales. He wanted to read about brave heroes. Perhaps my reaction is a similar one as I grow older.

Tana French Has a New Book Coming Out!

A random tweet from book guru Nancy Pearl, alerted me to the fact that Tana French's fourth book will be coming out July 24, 2012.

Back when I was still working I received boxes of ARC (Advanced Reading Copies) supplied to librarians, reviewers and other book professionals to fuel interest in worthy new titles. As much as I love retirement, I do miss having access to ARCs. It was a wonderful source of discovery and how I came to read In the Woods (2007).

Once hooked, I sought out The Likeness (2008) and Faithful Place (2010) finding the craftsmanship met my standards for literate mysteries, my declared preference in reading.

So thank you, Nancy Pearl, for bringing Broken Harbor (2012) to my attention.