Author Neil Gaiman on Audio Books

Just in case you missed his piece on NPR this morning, here's a link to Neil Gaiman's endorsement of audio books. Bravo, NG! In it, he mentions Good Omens, a title he wrote with Terry Pratchett, and a book I love! Great blend two very talented writers.

Reading as a social act

I've long thought of reading as an action of the individual.

I am struck, however, by how often people who read seek connection with others based on or because of their reading choices. I've not discovered the study that confirms this, but I'm betting that most folks get their next book via informal, personal recommendations. Aren't we all desperate to talk about the book that kept us up past midnight? And equally anxious to hear about those that kept our friends awake?

Reading book reviews -- something I spend a fair amount of time enjoying in my librarian day job -- is a great way to discover new titles and authors. Getting the same information via a personal recommendation, however, seems much more powerful.

In fact there are folks in my life -- and you know who you are -- that I depend upon for a good title or new author. D will have an excellent non-fiction title my politically responsible brain will enjoy. M will have the wonderful book by a voice I need to hear. W will point me to smart and funny fiction. I'm pleased to admit that the latest addition to these go-to readers is a college sophomore. Evidence that you can teach an old dog new tricks. 

I'm also quite happy to admit that recommendations are almost always not new books, but only new-to-me. While my book-lover vanity might be injured, it quickly recovers when I find out the author of my latest favorite has been busy writing a whole pile of books I'll likely enjoy. How nice of them.

Getting a good book recommendation is a gift. Never hesitate to talk about or invite others to talk about  books, no matter what the genre or reading level. It feels good and it is good.

And don't forget to keep me the loop as well.

The "To Read" list

Books friends and I are telling each other we must both read:

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale
anything by Ann Patchett
War Trash by Ha Jin
Brother, I'm Dying Edwidge Dandicat
Extremely Loud and Incredible Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol Hwan
The Last War by Ana Menendez

Talking about books with friends...

Here's a running list of the authors whose names have come up in a conversation with friends and wine  about literature we've loved. In no particular order:

Hunter S. Thompson
Russell Banks
Herman Melville
Junot Diaz
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Kate Chopin
Sherman Alexie
Christopher Moore
Stephen Crane
Raymond Carver
Flannery O'Connor
Tom Robbins
Alan Watts
Nikolai Gogol
Harper Lee
Truman Capote
William Faulkner
Ernest Hemingway
Malcolm Lowry
Ha Jin
Ambrose Bierce
Carson McCullers
Eudora Welty
Natalie Sarraute
Fyodor Dostoyevesky
Stephen King
Stephenie Meyer
Bram Stoker
Anne Rice
Vladimir Nabokov
Alexander Fuller
Mark Haddon
Annie Prouix
Annie Dillard
Wendell Berry
Terry Pratchett
Neil Gaiman
Annie Lamott
David Sedaris
Elizabeth Gilbert
Jay McInerney
Seth Kanter
Aravind Adiga
Zadie Smith

An Interview with Author Claire Swedberg

Books by Claire E. Swedberg:

Work Commando 311/I: American Paratroopers Become Forced Laborers for the Nazis

In Enemy Hands: Personal Accounts of Those Taken Prisoner in World War II 

Three Years with the 92nd Illinois: The Civil War Diary of John M. King

Upcoming:

In the Valley of Mystic Light

Claire Swedberg, author of three books of non-fiction, and I have been friends since our teenagers were two. Fortunately, she and her family are spending the Thanksgiving holiday with us and I've managed to charm her into a blog - interview. My questions and her answers appear below.

LJV: Your books, although non-fiction, are highly readable. Did writing these books with a narrative structure make it more or less difficult?

CES: I can't imagine telling these non-fictional accounts any way other than in a narrative in which a reader could easily forget that he or she is reading a "history book" and become completely immersed in one cohesive story with all the twists and turns you might expect in fiction. Each of the books is based on the personal accounts of individuals who played a part in historical events. With that in mind, I have focused on letting their personal stories represent a more universal experience that any reader can identify with.

LJV: Can you make an argument for non-fiction as pleasure reading?

CES: Some of the most engrossing books I have read have been non-fiction, but I can't imagine a world without fiction. The world is simply too interesting not to let it tell the story the way it really happened, but also leave room for those who have their own story to tell.

LJV: What's your next book?

CES: I am in the last phases of a book describing the birth and development of the art scene in Skagit Valley, Washington (where I currently live), in partnership with Rita Hupy, widow of Art Hupy who founded the Museum of Northwest Art.  The book follows the lives of members of the "Northwest School" through much of the 20th century to the present, but also tells the story of a community that is sustained by fisherman and farmers and their relationship with the arts.  I've discovered through this process that art, and the practical tasks of living off the earth, are closely entertwined.  Some of the artists and writers included in the story are "Big Four" members Guy Anderson, Morris Graves and Mark Tobey, as well as Tom Robbins and an impressive potpourri of current artists.

LJV: I understand you've undertaken your first novel. How's it going?

CES: Fiction writing has taken a backseat to the non-fiction for much of my career but I love the freedom related to creating my own characters, my own stories, and doing with that what I choose. What power!

LJV: Any advice you can offer to some one who is considering writing a book?

CES: I get this question a lot. Many writers would like to skip the most important phase of writing a book -- making it truly a great piece of work -- and would prefer to move directly into the seemingly more glamourous world of agents and publishers. I recommend spending a lot of alone time with just yourself and your book -- love what you're writing and, when you've finished, love what you wrote. Think it's good enough? Read through it one more time, read it outloud to yourself, add details you know you won't publish, just to know your characters even more intimately.  After that, when it is so much a part of you that you dream about your story at night and find yourself bringing it up at cocktail parties in minute detail -- that is the point when you can begin the process of seeking an agent or publisher who loves it as much as you do.

My blog moved!

Hey it just took off! Probably went to sniff the butts of other blogs. Not to worry, I found it again, gave it a sound reprimand, a little snap on the snout and have it firmly affixed to its new address. If you were an earlier follower, please rejoin. (I promise this won't happen again.) I've reposted all earlier posts and will add back the links to reading lists, etc. over the next day or two. Off to buy a leash...

The Writer's Almanac

If you love getting a small dose of poetry daily, with a bit of history or literary biography on the side, consider subscribing to The Writer's Almanac. A very brief message containing the like arrives in my Inbox nightly and awaits my free moment the following day. I can read the message or listen to Garrison Keillor's melodic voice read it for me.