Do One Thing Different

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O’Hanlon, Bill. Do One Thing Different. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1999.

Confessional: I didn’t read this book word for word, cover to cover. To say that I browsed is inaccurate. To say that I skimmed might be closer to the truth.

I like the idea of doing one thing differently. Pick a habit, any habit and you can change it according to Dr. Bill. In the very first chapter his advice is simple: identify a pattern you would like to change. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant the offending routine. Once you have identified the pattern, scrutinize it. Analyze it within an inch of its life. Be observant and get to know every detail of what you do and just how you do it. Then, change one thing. Just one little thing. It could be how you put on your socks or how you hold a toothbrush, if that is part of the offending pattern. Just change one thing related to the pattern and you will have broken the cycle. Seems simple enough, right? Or how about this approach? Connect something negative to the offending action. Say you want to stop picking your nose (note: NOT an actual example of O’Hanlon’s). Okay, so back to the nose picking. For every time you pick you nose you must an equally abhorred task, like cleaning the hair out of the shower trap. If you hate dredging up slimy, stringy, soap-scummed hair THAT much, you will stop picking your nose. O’Hanlon’s techniques and examples of these techniques actually working are far more interesting than my description. You just have to read the book.

Up, Into the Singing Mountain

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Llewellyn, Richard. Up, into the Singing Mountain. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1960.

Reason read: to continue the series incorrectly started in December (in honor of December being the best time to visit Patagonia).

Up, into the Singing Mountain takes up where How Green Was My Valley left off. Huw Morgan leaves his tiny village in Wales for a Welsh community in the Patagonian region of Argentina. Singing starts with the same imagery as Valley in that Huw is bundling a little blue cloth. I’m not sure why that sticks out in my mind, but it does. Part of the reason why Huw leaves his community in the valley is his inappropriate love for his brother’s widow. As a child living in her house (to keep her company), no one thought of any impropriety. However, as Huw grows older and his feelings for Bron become more apparent, it was now time to leave.
Huw finds work as a cabinetmaker and builds a reputation on his artistry and skill. Unfortunately, the rumor mill also finds Huw in his new Patagonian community. This time he is tied unfavorably to a widow he has rented a room from, all the  while being in love with a girl several towns over. His inability to defend himself only creates more problems and new tensions. But that is nothing compared to the threats to the community at large posed by a weakened dam and torrential rains. Add rebellious Indios and you have an adventure.

Like the last book I am finding tons and tons to quote: “Strange that a word or a look at the proper moment will change the whole cage we live in, and the places of all those perched” (p 11-12), “It takes a long, long time to lose the poison of towns” (p 20), and “To have a breath of air from the mouths of much” (p 24). I’ll stop there.

As an aside, one of my favorite teas is yerba mate. It was cool to learn where it comes from.

Author fact: after reading the Wiki page on Richard Llewellyn I was shocked to learn some of the things he claimed all his life weren’t exactly true (like where he was born).

Book trivia: not a spoiler alert, but there are some pretty violent scenes in Up, Into the Mountain. I was actually quite shocked by the violence of Lal’s father.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called simply, “Patagonia” (p 174).

Do One Green Thing

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Pennybacker, Mindy. Do One Green Thing: Saving the Earth Through Simple, Everyday Choices. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010.

Reason read: curiosity.

I first became interested in the “Do One Thing” philosophy when I bought my sister a Do One Thing That Scares You book for Christmas. Okay. Confessional: I just sent the book to her yesterday and it’s not really a gift; it’s a tough love, shake-out-your life kind of poke.

Do One Green Thing is one of those books you don’t read from cover to cover and return to the library…even though that’s exactly what I did. It is meant to be referred to time and time again. It’s meant to be written in, dog-earred and memorized. Because I borrowed a library book I took notes on what “one” green thing I plan to do.

Do One Green Thing is smart. It centers of four areas of your personal life and how you can do that one green thing in regards to them:

  1. What you eat and drink
  2. Where you live
  3. How you take care of yourself
  4. How you get around (transportation)

From there the chapters are broken down into specific sections:

  1. The one green thing you can do and your options
  2. Questions one might have about the green thing
  3. The science behind why the green thing is a good thing

As you might expect, giving up drinking bottled water is the very first green thing mentioned. In giving up bottled water you have a choice, drinking tap water or filtering your own. But, isn’t bottled water safer than tap or even filtered water? There’s that question I mentioned, by the way.  Followed by the science of why giving up bottled water is a good thing. In my own life, I reuse a travel mug for coffee and I have a stainless steel water bottle. One green thing, check!

In addition to the specific sections there are other tidbits like url addresses for more information and fun illustrations. Pennybacker also includes some of her favorite “green” things like water-saving shower supplies and facial moisturizers.

Do One Nice Thing

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Tenzer, Debbie. Do One Nice Thing: Little Things You Can Do to Make the World a Lot Nicer. New York: Crown Publishers, 2009.

Because this was written in 2009 I was skeptical about how many “nice” things I could still do. I was worried many of Tenzer’s suggestions were tied to events long past (like Hurricane Katrina) or websites now defunct. Despite my misgivings, I browsed Do One Nice Thing for easily accomplished and simple suggestions. Here’s what I jotted down after a five minute browse: Hershey kisses, Eden Elementary Family Resource Center, FreeCycle, parking meters and KidFlicks. Here’s what I found out: a Google search for the Eden Elementary Family Resource Center takes me to the Inez Elementary School page. On that page there is a “Family Resource”tab linking to a page created in 2011 and not updated with any information since. No clear way to offer help or to do “one nice thing.” Both FreeCycle and KidFlicks seem to be alive and well. But, my favorites are randomly giving out Hershey’s kisses (ask my staff, I already do) and putting another quarter in someone’s about to expire parking meter. That last one is getting hard to do as more and more places are going to a ticket-on-the-dash system.

In short, there is a mix of easy/simple ways to be nice. You just have to look for them and be inspired!

Flashman and the Tiger

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Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman and the Tiger.

Reason read: to FINISH the series started in April in honor of Fraser’s birth month finally, right?). While the series might be ending for me there is one more book I will read in honor of GMF but it wasn’t written by him: Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes. Fraser took the bully character from School Days and created the Flashman series. Clever.

The premise for Flashman and the Tiger is simple…sort of: This set of papers is actually made up of three different time frames with three different titles: “Road to Charing Cross” (1878 – 1883-1884), “Subtleties of Baccarat” (1890-1891) and “Flashman and the Tiger (1879 & 1894). This is the first time in the Flashman papers that there has been a change in pattern. Each of these sections is only a minor episode in Flashman’s career. In “Road to Charing Cross” Flashman has found himself, once again, in an adventure he didn’t count on. He goes to France for President “Sam” Grant, who can’t speak french. The plot thickens when he agrees to help a Times reporter by the name of Blowitz. Blowitz wants to be the first to scoop the story of the amendment of the San Stefano Treaty. For the history bluffs: Flashman is one of the first to ride the famed Orient Express, only he isn’t impressed. He prefers the steamship.
In “Subtleties of Baccarat” the Prince of Wales is accused of cheating at baccarat, a French card game. Flashy is caught in the middle when a group of five men ask that he confront the cheater for an explanation.
In “Flashman and the Tiger” confronts Tiger Jack, someone he met earlier (1879). At this point the year is 1894 and Flashy is now 72 years old. Tiger Jack is not out to get our man Harry directly. Instead, he is looking to ruin Flashman through the ruination of Flashman’s teenage granddaughter. For the history buffs in the crowd, Oscar Wilde makes an appearance at the end.

New to the series: Fraser presents the reader with Flashy’s vitae so far. It’s a nice recap of everything that has happened in the previous nine books.

Typical Flashy lines: “I’d come to France to skulk and fornicate in peace, not to travel; on the other hand, I’d never visited Vienna, which in those days was reckoned first among all the other capitals of Europe for immoral high jinks, and a day and a night of luxurious seclusion with Her Highness should make for an amusing journey” (p 58), and “So we talked cricket while waiting for the attempted murder of the Austrian Emperor” (p 133). One more: “You think twice about committing murder when you’re over seventy” (p 295). I would think so!

Author fact: George MacDonald Fraser died three years after the publication of Flashman on the March. Had he lived, I am quite sure Flashman would be in many more adventures.

Book trivia: This is the 10th book in the Flashman series and the last one I will read for the challenge. The series continues with Flashman on the March.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “George MacDonald Fraser: Too Good To Miss” (p 93).

Bless Me, Ultima

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Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me Ultima. Read by Robert Ramirez. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 2004.
Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1999.

Reason read: New Mexico became a state in January. I read this as an e-book and listened to it on audio at the same time.

This is the story of Antonio Juan Marez y Luna and his relationship with a shaman/witch called Ultima. It is also the story of the young boy’s call to religion. Ultima’s role in the story is to open Antonio’s eyes to the world around him. While she is a physical presence in his life, she also comes to him in dreams. When we first meet “Tony” he has just starting school and learning to read, but already his young life has been filled with hard knocks life-knowledge. His brothers are away fighting in World War II. Closer to home, he has witnessed the retaliation murder of a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and he has seen Ultima’s magic first hand. The real coming-of-age comes when the priesthood starts calling to Tony in the third grade. It was at this time that a dying man asks Tony to hear his confession. Tony’s brothers come home, shell-shocked and weary. Heavy stuff for a kid!
There is a lot of imagery, myth and magic throughout Bless Me, Ultima. Ultima’s spirit animal is the owl and Tony can hear it in times of danger. It even comes to him in dreams to warn him of the future. When citizens of the community accuse Ultima of being evil (because she has healed people in inexplicable ways) it is the owl that diffuses the situation.
When I first started reading Bless Me, Ultima I thought this would be a book for kids or young adults, but the inclusion of violence and prostitution has since made me think otherwise.

Line I liked: “The man they hunted had slipped away from human understanding” (p 23).

Author fact: Anaya says in his introduction that parts of Bless Me, Ultima are autobiographical. It was his first novel so that’s pretty typical, I would think.

Book trivia: Bless Me, Ultima is the first book in a trilogy and, because of the language and sexual situations, is on the list for the most challenged books in the United States. Go figure.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter simply called “New Mexico” (p 167).

 

 

Pale Fire

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Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1992.

Reason read: Nabokov’s wife, Vera, was born in January. This was read in her honor as it was dedicated to her.

Pale Fire is a parody and a commentary wrapped in suspense. There are two central characters, poet John Francis Shade and self-appointed editor of Shade, Charles Kinbote. Right away there is a foreboding air about Kinbote. Something about him doesn’t seem right. He asserts only one line is missing from the poem, the last one – line 1000. How does he know this after being Shade’s neighbor for only five months (from February 5th, 1959 to July 21, 1959)? He admits that twenty years earlier he tried to translate Shade. The word tried implies he was unsuccessful. Why was that? When Kinbote first moved next door he wasn’t invited into the Shade household. He was reduced to spying through the hedges and trees; an “orgy of spying” he admits (p 68).
But, the poem nor Kinbote’s relationship are the real focus of Pale Fire. Kinbote’s commentary allows him to tell a fantastic story of an assassin from the fictional land of Zembla set out to kill a fictional king. I agreed with New York Times critic George Cloyne in that Pale Fire can’t be read straight through with any satisfaction. It’s a tale to be dipped into from time to time. Despite it being only 289 pages long it took me forever to finish.

As an aside, I had to laugh when Kinbote was talking about the instructional notes he was finding all around his rental cottage. The houses on Monhegan have similar notes, especially if the owners are particular about the rules of their house!

Quote I liked (but confused me): “There is a very loud amusement park right in front of my present lodgings” (p 9). Literally or does that mean something else?
Another quote I liked, “A thousand years ago five minutes were Equal to forty ounces of fine sand” (p 28 Canto 1, line 120).

Book trivia: The footnote to the introduction warns that reading the introduction before the text would ruin the story. I took the advice to heart and read the introduction last.

Author fact: in 1919 Nabokov and his family were forced into exile. Just like the king of Zembla.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “100 Good Reads, Decade by Decade: 1960s” (p 178) and from the chapter “The Postmodern Condition” (p 190). Also, in Book Lust To Go in the chapter “Cavorting Through the Caribbean” (p 53), although it doesn’t make sense. It is worth noting Pale Fire has nothing to do with the Caribbean and shouldn’t have been included in this chapter.

Origami 365

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Yaguchi, Taro and Masao Donahue. Origami 365. New York: Race Point, 2014.

Reason read: interesting to learn more about Origami

If you are looking for a comprehensive but short book on Origami, Taro Yaguchi’s Origami 365 is a great place to start. The contents of Origami 365 seem a little more “adult” in that Yaguchi includes a brief history of Origami, the popularity of the art of paper folding today and even the types of paper one could use for different projects. Probably the most interesting aspect to Origami 365 is the Kyu System, a progression of skill levels while mastering certain techniques. You learn a series of fold techniques (like book, blintz and waterbomb) before moving onto actual objects. It is worth it to learn every fold so that one can create turtles, peacocks and frogs to name a few.

One Life, One Legacy

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Spencer, Justin. One Life, One Legacy. Concord: One Life Publishing, 2014.

Never mind that this isn’t published by some big, well known publisher. In the grand scheme of things it probably wouldn’t have gotten very far in that world anyway.
I first came across Justin Spencer after watching him and his buddies put on a percussion act in Las Vegas. You got to “meet the drummers” after the show. Yes, please! It was one of those interactive gigs; something you would see on America’s Got Talent. In fact they were on that very show and as a performing act, they were good. All of them.

I bought Justin’s book because I thought a) he mentioned something about proceeds going to a charity fighting bullying or something like that and b) I really didn’t need another pair of souvenir drumsticks. One Life, One Legacy turned out to be a pretty cool purchase. It’s not overly flowery prose. Spencer won’t be winning any literary prizes anytime soon. It’s not overly long or complicated. You could read it in a day without a dictionary by your side. What it is is this: thought-provoking. Once I turned a blind eye to the typo or two (the first one being on page xvii) I was able to concentrate on sentences that stuck. Words like, “scorch the Earth” (p xxv) and “smell the honesty” (p 6) made me think about pursuits and endeavors. I can’t say that I followed Spencer’s advice to the letter or that I committed his meganodes to memory, but I certainly had as much fun reading his book as I did catching his Vegas show.

Paper Gifts

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Sanderson, Jennifer and Jessica Moon. Paper Gifts. Minnesota: Arcturus Publishing, 2015.

Reason read: interesting in learning more about the Japanese art of folding paper.

This was originally designed for children in grades 4-6 but as someone new to Origami, I found it very useful in its simplicity. You essentially learn how to fold six different “gifts” such as a treat holder or bookmark. While I didn’t actually make any of the gifts, I could tell the directions were very straightforward and easy to follow. The color photographs and glossary were a big help.
If I had tried to fold anything, it would have been the gift box.

…Why I Run…

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Inman, Matthew (aka the Oatmeal). The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2014.

Reason read: because I’m still stuck on running books even though I’m officially done being psycho.

I cannot, cannot, cannot stress how frigging funny this comic* is. I found it while searching for something completely (and I do mean completely different), but sooo happy I found it. In a nutshell, it’s the illustrated running biography of Matthew Inman, better known by his comic name, the Oatmeal. But, he’s not your typical athlete. When he runs he’s chased by a “fat cherub” he calls the Blerch (the little voice in your head that convinces you you’re better off sleeping in late or eating cake or both, maybe even at the same time?). And speaking of cake, Inman is not immune to food addiction. He runs so that he can eat “like a fast moving dumpster” (p 18). His words not mine. See what I mean? Funny. There’s more: slaying kraken, being vain, running from Giant Sparrow Bees in the mountains of Japan, tips on running a marathon; there are even race stickers. And much more. I kid you not. Maybe it’s because I am a runner (kinda sorta maybe) but I had more laugh-out-loud moments than I knew what to do with.

As a postscript, I had this quote of Inman’s taped to my treadmill for the longest time (long before I even knew of the Oatmeal or his book): “The Blerch is a horrible anthropomorphized white blob, a monster made of mayonnaise and hatred…” Why did I have this taped to my treadmill? Because everyone has a Blerch.

*I can’t call it a “graphic novel” because it’s not fiction, but it’s not your typical comic book either. You just have to read ti to see what I mean.

December Missed

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Woops! December left us without me writing about the reading. Not sure how that happened (other than to say “life”), but anyway – here’s what was accomplished for December:

  • Beth Shaw’s Yoga Fit by Beth Shaw (an Early Review book for LibraryThing)
  • Cod by Mark Kurlansky
  • Flashman and the Angel of the Lord by George MacDonald Fraser
  • How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
  • The Man Who Was Taller Than God by Harold Adams
  • Ringed Castle by Dorothy Dunnett

Here’s a belated look at January 2016 (already started, as you will see):

  1. Flashman and the Tiger by George MacDonald Fraser (the LAST book in the series on my list)
  2. Always a Body to Trade by K.C. Constantine (already read in honor of January being National Mystery month. Read this in a day)
  3. Blue Light by Walter Mosley (already read in honor of Mosley’s birth month. Another quick read)
  4. Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett (the LAST book in the Lymond Series). It bears noting I am also consulting The Prophecies by Nostradamus (translated by Richard Sieburth) while reading Checkmate.
  5. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (an audio book in honor of New Mexico becoming a state in January)
  6. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (in honor of Nabokov’s wife, Vera. Pale Fire is dedicated to her and her birthday is in January)
  7. Up, into the Singing Mountain by Richard Llewellyn (to continue the series started last month).

I have been chosen to review a book about the photography of Dickey Chapelle but since it hasn’t arrived yet I can’t put it on the list. I was also chosen to review Liar by Rob Roberge, but I don’t expect that one until February.

On a personal note: December ended with writing to 12 complete strangers. I am really hoping one or two of them become pen pals.

Blue Light

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Mosley, Walter. Blue Light. New York: Warner Books, 1998.

Reason read: Mosley was born in January. I am reading this stand-alone in his honor.

Be forewarned: the first 15 pages of Blue Light are intense. Mosley is merely setting the scene and gathering characters for the center of the plot, but he does it with the finesse of swinging a two by four and guess what, reader? You’re the one getting hit. People start dying in droves and Mosley doesn’t hold anything in the way of sex or violence back. It’s a hell of a way to start a story. But, wait. There’s more. As the story progresses things go from intense to insane. Be prepared for a lot of violence and weird sex. What exactly is the story about? I’m not really sure. It’s San Francisco, California in the mid 1960s. There is the weird blue light and a cult of people who have been affected (infected?) with it. The main character is Chance, a suicidal grad student who becomes a half blue light after he gets half involved with Orde, the cult’s leader, prophet and former scam artist. Things get really strange when Juan Thrombone enters the picture and goes to war with Grey Redstar, also known as the Gray Man, in a forest of redwoods.
Like I said, I don’t know what to make of Blue Light. I read it in four days. Not because I was enthralled with the story (too much violence for my taste), but because the story moved so quickly I barely could keep up. I found myself breathless at the end but still asking myself, “what was that?”

Quotes that either explain the book or not: “Grey Redstar, The Gray Man, the reaper of lost light” (p 194) and “Each sparkle of light entered my mind, humming, a forgotten tune that my heart tried to beat for” (p 262).

Book trivia: this is science fiction…a departure from other Mosley mysteries.

Author fact: Mosley wrote at least eight other books that are on my challenge list.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Walter Mosley: Too Good To Miss” (p 168).

Always a Body to Trade

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Constantine, K.C. Always a Body to Trade. Boston: David R. Godine Publisher, 1983.

Reason read: January is national mystery month.

Someone has killed a nameless woman. Brutally shot her right in the face. It’s up to Chief of Police Mario Balzic to solve her murder only he has two problems: not much to go on in the way of clues, witnesses or suspects and a new mayor who is a little too eager, a little too young and more than a little too green to understand how crimes are solved. He wants this case put to bed yesterday.
The title of the book comes from the idea that in the ways of crime there is one rule: always have a body to trade; meaning there is an accomplice on who to rat if you get caught.

My only “issue” with Always a Body… was that I found it hard to believe the some of the things Balzic would say and do as being professional. I can’t see the chief of police readily admitting to a deputy warden that he had been drinking the night before and probably too much so. Another huge red flag was the fact that Balzic never followed up on leads. He always took them at face value…which made the ending completely predictable.

Like most mysteries, Always a Body… was laden with characters. I tracked 31 people before I gave up.

Author fact: According the back flap of Always a Body To Trade Constantine “belongs to the world Mario Balzic works in.”

Book trivia: Here is another irksome thing: Always a Body to Trade is part of a series. It’s actually the 6th book and the very first book, The Rocksburg Railroad Murders, is on my list. I’ve read them out of order…again.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love A Mystery” (p 121)

How Green Was My Valley

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Llewellyn, Richard. How Green Was My Valley. New York: RosettaBooks LLC, 2013.

Reason read: December is the best time to visit Patagonia. Not so sure about Wales. Which leads me to my confessional: Patagonia is featured in the sequels (Up in the Singing Mountains and Down Where the Moon Was Small), but NOT in How Green Was My Valley. So, I’m sorta reading this one for the wrong reason…which means I’ll be reading the sequels for the wrong reasons as well. Regardless of how I got to this book, on with the review:

Richard Llewellyn has an amazing voice. There were so many passages I wanted to quote because they were all just so beautifully written. How Green Was My Valley is told from the first person perspective of Huw Morgan, looking back on his childhood in a small mining town in Wales. Huw comes from a large family of his parents, five brothers and three sisters. They live in an isolated valley in a community governed by the ways of God and the land. As Huw grows older and heads off to school he learns about the uglier side of growing up, like being bullied for being the new kid. After the first day of school Huw’s father and brothers teach him how to fight. [As an aside: this surprised me. Growing up with five older brothers, surely Huw would encounter a scuffle or two? It seems so unlikely that the siblings would never fight among themselves.] But, it was the harder lessons Huw learned that were more difficult to swallow: the poverty and starvation during the leaner months, what happens when desire gets out of hand and leads to rape and murder, and the death of a family member.

There were many, many lines I liked, but I’ll share just a few: “There is a funny thing in you when you know trouble is being made and waiting for you, in a little time to come” (p 211), and “Pain is a good cleanser of the mind and therefore of the sight” (p 341),

As an aside, the Welsh way of speaking reminded me of Yoda. Guess it’s all the Star Wars brewhaha going on right now.

Author fact: Llewellyn’s full name is Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd. Phew. One of his many occupations was coal miner.

Book trivia: How Green Was My Valley won the National Book Award and was made into a movie.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in two different chapters, “Patagonia” (p 174) and “Wales Welcomes You” (p 248).