What I've Been Reading....

Not enough. Although never enough is  probably the status quo with me. Still, I'll try to provide some highlights from my summer.

Entering Hades: The Double Life of a Serial Killer by John Leake

My secret brain candy is true crime and this one came recommended to me by my Page-A-Day Book Lover's Calendar -- an eclectic but excellent source of titles. This is the true story of Jack Unterweger, a murderer who becomes the pet of the Austrian literati upon his release from prison only to begin again. He even poses as a journalist and visits the police to investigate his own crime spree! A good example of truth is stranger than fiction.

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

There's little I enjoy more than a bit of Pratchett. The perfect anecdote to heavy-duty literature and haunting crime. Pratchett makes me laugh in every paragraph. Pratchett's witch trio Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax and Agnes Nitt are the central champions of the story of Lancre, a town poised to be taken over by modern vampires -- ghouls that have trained themselves to be impervious to garlic, holy water and sunlight.

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Am I really listing two vampire novels? Guess so. Moore and Pratchett's titles are more spoofs of vampire novels, however. Moore's is certainly adult humor all the way and not something the prudish will enjoy. Still this love story set in San Francisco is hilarious. My personal favorite along with his other vampire tale, You Suck.

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

My vanity insists I include some serious literature on this list and can I say that revisiting Greene's novel of the Catholic oppression in Mexico last century is musical and remarkable. This title, to me, is reminiscent of Steinbeck in that seemingly simple incidents and dialog suggest powerful and thought provoking philosophical discussion.

In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck

I can't remember how this title came across my radar, but whoever put it there included the observation s/he deemed it Steinbeck's best. Steinbeck's best? And I didn't even know about it. Well glad I rectified that. I love Grapes of Wrath -- so much that I can still make an argument for including it on a high school curriculum. That said, here's the first title I'd consider substituting in lieu of Grapes. Here, Steinbeck tells the story of labor unrest from the organizer's perspective which allows him to cut to the chase in much of what he considers from the working man's point of view in Grapes. Surely less epic in scope, but Steinbeck is a magician at hiding big ideas behind spare dialog and events. 

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

The only regret I have about Joyce is that reading him in short spurts -- which is usually all life permits me -- does not afford his language the attention it deserves. Flocks of good writers can compose music out of words, but Joyce, I think, is among the few that manages a symphony. Putting the lyrical qualities aside, Portrait is also a coming-of-age story everyone should read.

Gone too long...

Not only have a few great books re-inspired me to get my blog going again, but a few great conversations about books, too! Addressing the latter first, my first great conversation was my school's second annual ReCreate Reading Day -- a day in which everyone at school participates in small reading discussion groups. Anecdotal information and post-ReCreate Reading survey results confirm a resounding success! Highlights include a Skype session with author Dave Cullen (Columbine) and approximately 60 students. Our head of school came by to tell me that is was excellent. When the bell rang to end the session, no one moved. Surely, the ultimate teen-endorsement of a reading experience. My only regret was that I missed it because I was facilitating a discussion on Lev Grossman's The Magicians -- hardly a hardship since the kids loved this book as much as I did and it was so wonderful talking about it. Conversation quickly got to discussion of ethics of leadership and morality of power and such. Also, the kids tell me Grossman has a sequel due out summer 2011. Let's hope it's on time!

The second conversation about books happened just yesterday in my school library's reading club -- which we call the Non-Required Reading Reading Club. The basis is that we don't require reading of anything in particular. Students just come in and talk about whatever they've read lately. It's a small group, but wonderful. A student shared his recent discovery of C. S. Lewis' Space Trilogy. I'll come clean and admit I didn't even know about this, but have already ordered copies for my library. He was put on to it by one of our Latin teachers. Another student is part way through Neal Stephenson's Anathem. I gave this a shot last year and found it tough going. But another student had read it with a Physics teacher in our ReCreate Reading program last year. I was mostly proud to be sitting in a room with two people who successfully tackled this title. Anyway, conversation got on to the relationship between science and science fiction, if the literary cannon will include fantasy in the future -- since it dominates not only our fiction but many forms of contemporary entertainment these days -- and whether or not the Apollo 11 mission was the peak of scientific human endeavor. We all tend to leave these meetings feeling like there's so much more reading to do. But agree that if ever comes a time when there isn't will be the truly unhappy hour...

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

When I mention to folks that I just finished and loved Zeitoun by Dave Eggers I get a consistent response: "You mean you haven't read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius?" or "Isn't he the guy who wrote What is the What?"

Okay, yes, I have not read those books -- an omission I will rectify promptly -- but I did I mention that I just finished and loved Zeitoun? What an amazing story! Tragedy has a way of precipitating powerful writing and Katrina was no exception. Egger's Zeitoun recounts not the natural disaster but the ensuing human disaster that unfolded in the days immediately followed the levees' demise. Not to be missed!

Marcus Zusak

Just polished off Zusak's I am the Messenger. I really have no clue why this is considered a YA book. Surely it has appeal to teens, but -- much like his previous title, The Book Thief -- its appeal is clearly universal. The story of Ed Kennedy, a young man who becomes an unlikely delivery man of various forms of happiness, is engaging and magical. Ed, the book's narrator, has an intangible appeal that makes him strangely loveable and I was routing for him and his goofy friends immediately. Zusak manages to consider some pretty hefty subjects in a book that moves along at a nice clip and is a light read. Inspite of this, it's just as hypnotic as The Book Thief, which really swallowed me whole for the duration. While very different, both are excellent books for any age.

Libba Bray's "Going Bovine"

Just finished listening to Libba Bray's Going Bovine and just need to know what all the fuss is about? Bovine won lots of recognition, but I must be missing something. Seemed disconnected and predictable and confusing all at the same time. Loved much of the dialogue and Bray's clearly a talented YA author, but I was left wishing for much more.

For some reason this book makes me think either I -- or Bray -- or the critics -- have missed the teenage mark on our assessment of a good Young Adult title. I know there are books I think are just not terribly great that really speak to teens (Sacher's Holes comes to mind) and vice versa. And there are plenty of books I love that fall completely flat with teens.

As a reader and reviewer of YA titles, I'm always conscious of this. How much of my adult brain do I need to temporarily excuse to get a good fix on the value of a book written for teens? Or do good books transcend age parameters?

One of my favorite teen readers and students came in the library looking for a recommendation the other day. Actually we share many of the same favorites but couldn't have been farther apart on our recent assessment of Anna Jarzab's All UnquietThings. She loved it; I couldn't wait to finish it off. Anyway, as we started perusing the shelves she said, "Pick out something you really hated, Mrs. Vaughan." We laughed and I gave her Justine Larbalestier's Liar which I told I half liked and half didn't like.

I wonder what she'll think of Going Bovine?

My latest reads and listens...

It's been longer than I'd like so, probably a good time to review some of the things I've read or heard lately. Let's see...

I partook a bit of Raymond Chandler for the first time ever -- heard Elliot Gould read The Big Sleep. While the entire style seems dated, it's quite clear Chandler was a master. I understand now why Chandler fans are so faithful. Clearly he launched an entire genre and style. I don't always like having the image of an actor in my mind while I hear a character voice -- as I think it can take over the imaginative nature of a storyline too much. But Gould made an excellent Marlowe!

Just finished reading Grann's Lost City of Z in which he recounts Fawcett's fateful search for El Dorado in the Amazon in 1925 -- and parallels the journey with one of his own. Usually I eat books like this alive -- and did with this one after a slow start. It called to mind a book I read recently about the Gardner museum theft (The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser) in the 1990s. Much like the Fawcett mystery, the unsolved theft of several very valuable paintings has taken on almost mythic status and fostered the creation of dozens of obsessive amateur detectives. The Gardner phenomenon has taken a modern-day version of the Fawcett trail with, I understand online networks of information sharers exchanging ideas and clues.

Might be interesting to read about how an incident seems to pass over into the kind of viral sleuthing behavior that each of these seemed to have spawned. Surely there are lots of unsolved mysteries and crimes that might capture the public's attention? Why have these done so and the the amazing extent that they have? Is there something about the perceived attainability of answers?

Either way, Z was a great read and it makes me want to go back and revisit Peter Fleming's Brazilian Adventure. Grann mentions Fleming's book and his attempt to track down Fawcett in the 20s, although I seem to recall Fleming -- that would brother of Ian -- using the rescue idea as little more than pretense for a great adventure.

Best Teen Books for Adults.

My friend Andrew passed on this wonderful link from Flavorwire. Since I became a young adult librarian, I'm convinced that YA lit is the most under recognized genre out there. So much for everyone to enjoy in spite of -- or because of -- its intended audience. I was so charged to see the Vizzini title on the list. Can you hear me hollering, "Yes!" I have to say, I think King Dork should be here too, though. Still -- a great place to start if you'd like to tap into Young Adult Literature.