Bookstore Fail

And Speaking of Shelving . . .

People often bemoan the way libraries discard old books - throwing them in a dumpster to make space for new materials.  Not-Tom, a U.K. "design studio based in London specializing in exhibition and furniture design". Found another solution. A book book shelf.

Not Tom Photograph

The Language of Flowers (2011)

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Being aware that professional reviewers are not as enthralled with Vanessa Diffenbaugh's debut novel The Language of Flowers as readers are, I had to see what the fuss was about. And it is not a perfect book. More allegorical than gritty reality, we meet Victoria as she is being emancipated from the unattractive world of foster care. She makes terrible choices and is terrified that she is not worthy of love. But she was taught about flowers and their meanings and that provides the enchantment that will ultimately free her.

Victoria's story is told in alternating chapters describing her relationship with Elizabeth, who taught her about flowers, and her current life as she tries to make her way in the world.

The back of the book includes a dictionary of the meanings of flowers and that whole concept brought back from Victorian times is absolutely enchanting. And apparently the author is publishing a second volume that is simply about 'floriography'.

It is frustrating later in the book, when Victoria continues to make 'bad' decisions which seem unnecessary. And there is some repetition the author felt would create a frantic need for those decisions but I didn't always buy it and sometimes found Victoria very annoying. There's also a bit of 'then a miracle' happened feel, which is why I use the term allegorical. Some have said 'fairy tale' and that works too.

Read it anyway. The professional reviewers are probably right in whatever it is they are saying, but Vanessa Diffenbaugh has struck a cord with her readers and brings us a story we haven't heard before.

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Awesome News from the Library

Carnegie Branch, Jackson, Michigan

The Jackson District Library just announced that they and approximately 11,000 libraries have joined with Amazon to allow users to check out books using their Kindle device, which will include JDL's eBook Collection.

A library card, Amazon account and a device with the free Kindle application is necessary to use the service. If you live in Jackson County and don't have a library card, you can apply for one at any of 13 branch locations.

In addition to free downloadable eBooks, the library provides audiobooks and music to Mac and PCs, as well as mobile devices such as a SmartPhone or MP3 player.

The library offers one-on-one question-and-answer sessions with its eBook experts. For more information, visit www.myjdl.com, or call 788-4087, ext. 234 or call Joyce Betz at 788-4099, ext. 260.

On Wendy Wasserstein

I was reading the September 12, 2011 issue of The New Yorker when I came across a piece about a new book about playwright Wendy Wasserstein. The writer called the book Wendy and the Lost Boys by Julie Salamon 'excellent' and 'heart-wrenching'. But what really struck me was his introduction.

Wendy Wasserstein was the kind of woman many women didn't feel comfortable befriending, especially since she was what they feared being themselves: overweight, single, and a fag hag.

That really brought me up short. When I had a MySpace page, I listed Wendy as the person I would most like to meet even though she passed away of cancer in 2006. Guess that let's me know my place in the world!

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 2005)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Several months ago I was privileged to see a young man perform a cutting from this book for a Forensic competition and I was deeply moved. Curious, I decided to get the book from the library and read it as my way of participating in the memorials for the ten year anniversary of 9/11.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell, a precocious amateur physicist, is trying to uncover clues about his father's death on September 11.

Emotionally, I found it incredibly difficult to read. This is a book you experience. You truly must enter the world created by the author. On reflection I wonder how it could possibly be recorded since so much of the extra material in the book is visual. But there it is in Amazon available on CD and issued by Recorded Books, who I have trusted in the past. Still I think this book has to be read.

One thing I loved was the scattering of the phrases 'extremely loud' and 'incredibly close' throughout the story.

There were moments that touched me. There were moments of love. There were moments of confusion. There were moments of depression. There were moments of horror. And there were moments of hope and humanity. More than anything there is a reminder that perhaps we put too much faith in a future that can disappear in an instant.



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Diffenbaugh Gets a Big Bouquet

More news on The Language of Flowers today. Now there's a movie planned! Click on the link to read more
Diffenbaugh Gets a Big Bouquet

And Now For Something Completely Different. . .

"An anonymous sculptor has been leaving gorgeous carved-book sculptures in Scotland's libraries, along with little notes of encouragement. Some are left out in the open; others are hidden away and may have sat a long time before being discovered." Read more HERE.

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS (2011)

The critics may not be excited but the readers must be. Articles and mentions of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's debut novel The Language of Flowers are sprouting up everywhere. So I requested it from my friendly local library and it is sitting in a short stack next to my reading chair.

As it turns out, the language of flowers, which is also sometimes referred to as 'floriography' was quite important during the Victorian era. Messages could be sent expressing feelings without words. Diffenbaugh's novel weaves past and present to tell the story of a young woman forgotten in the foster care system trying to make her way forward in a difficult world. I must say I am looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about.

Hunger Games News 9/12/11

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss

It's a wrap for Hunger Games, which just finished filming in the Asheville, North Carolina area. Now comes hours of editing to create the final product for all the fans waiting with baited breath to see if the vision of the movie matches their experience of the book closely enough. Already it has been said that there ARE changes but a reporter who has been tweeting from the set said that folks will probably like them. We shall see.

Louise Penny and Stephanie Pintoff (September 10, 2011)

Schuler's Bookstore in Okemos

I promise to have more to say about this later.

20 Cool Home Library Design Ideas

20 Cool Home Library Design Ideas

I love these designs! No Kindles or Nooks need apply.

Jacobson's: I Miss it So!

For all of you who loved and shopped Jacobson's, here is good news. Jacobson's: I Miss It So!: The Story of a Michigan Fashion Institution is due out September 23, 2011. Author Bruce Allen Kopytek interviewed many staff who remember when there was no place better to be. 

"Join department store historian Bruce Allen Kopytek in this return to the elegance of Jacobson's, a beloved Michigan institution for well over one hundred years. Reenter the marvelous stores and meet the personalities who transformed Jacobson's from its humble Reed City origins to a staple of sophistication throughout the region and in Florida. The brainchild of a retail genius, this deluxe specialty store gave customers a peerless social, shopping and dining destination. Experience anew the refined beauty of its Williamsburg-style Grosse Pointe store, the chic designer world of its Birmingham ensemble or the charm and allure of its original Florida branch in Sarasota revealing along the way, secrets that made Jake's the dazzling store it was and why it remains so profoundly missed by anyone who entered through its solid wooden doors."

An Interesting Quote

David Tennant regards ‘Yorick’ in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet

"Anyway, the fascinating thing was that I read in National Geographic that there are far more people alive now than have died in all of human history. In other words, if everyone wanted to play Hamlet at once, they couldn't because there aren't enough skulls!" (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer)