Castles in the Air

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Corbett, Judy. Castles in the Air: the Restoration Adventures of Two Young Optimists and a Crumbling Old Mansion. London: Ebury Press, 2004.

Reason read: So. I was a little too ambitious with the June book list; as some of you might remember my reading appetite was bigger than what I could digest. Originally, Castles in the Air was on my June list in honor of the month my Knight in Shining Armor and I got engaged. We were in Loveland, Colorado and stayed at this fantastic B&B called Castle Marne. Get it? Castles in the Air & Castle Marne? Well, since I didn’t get around to reading Corbett’s book I was almost forced to move it to June 2016’s list…until I remembered I had another month I could celebrate castles in. September. The month Kisa and I got married. It’s a stretch and clearly not as straightforward as June, but it works.

Castles in the Air may not have the most original book title (think Don McLean) but it is a delightful read. Judy and her then boyfriend, Peter bought the Gwydir Castle in Wales and what follows is their adventure to restore it to its former glory. At first the going is a bit rough (“chainsaw gardening” says it all) but with the help of a band of misfit artisans the couple is able to piece together some semblance of Gwydir’s old glory…hauntings and peacocks included.

As an aside, I loved the language. Torch, jumper, chilblains & jackdaws all brought back memories of my adventures with an Irishman.

I didn’t find a plethora of lines to like, but there was this one: “Not a drop passed his lips the whole evening, but plenty passed our lips, and Michael’s tongue got looser and looser as if he was taking it out for a walk on a long piece of string” (pgs 198 – 199).

Author fact: Gwydir Castle has its own website (of course it does) and according to the site Judy and Peter still own it and run it as a B&B. More castle information: it’s open the the public April – October from 10am – 4pm, Saturdays and Mondays excluded.

Book trivia: Pictures are included (in color!) but they are only on the inside covers. Peter has a few illustrations as well.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “So We/I Bough/Built a House In…” (p 92).

Inflating a Dog

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Kraft, Eric. Inflating a Dog: the Story of Ella’s Lunch Launch. New York: Picador Press, 2002.

Reason read: in honor of Kraft’s birthday I started the “series” in February. It is now September and I have reached the final book on my list.

For Inflating a Dog we jump back in time to Peter Leroy’s childhood. His mother, desperately wanting to invent something or be in some kind of business for herself, buys a decrepit clam boat so she can start a floating “elegant excursions” cruise. The only problem is this, the boat leaks. Peter must secretly bail out the boat every evening to keep the old clam boat (and his mother’s dreams) afloat. But Inflating a Dog is also about Peter coming of age and lusting after Patti, his partner in crime.
True to Kraft’s sense of humor, nothing is as it seems. Men walk chickens on leashes and women can sell sandwiches with pastel breads.

Quotes I liked, “Do you want anything? She asked. At thirteen? I wanted everything” (p 20) and “If you are taking notes, jot this down: never buy a boat while you are under the beguiling influence of moonlight” (p 77).

Author fact: at the time of publication Kraft lived with his wife in New York City.

Book trivia: like many of the other Kraft books this one includes photographs and illustrations.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in two different chapters, “Eric Kraft: Too Good to Miss” (p 141) of course, and “Sons and Mothers” (p 160 & 161). As an aside, the index misses the 2nd mention of Inflating a Dog on page 161.

Smoothies for Runners Book

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Andersen, Lars. The Smoothies for Runners Book. Atlanta: Nordic Standard Publishing, 2012.

I am super glad I didn’t pay a lot for this book (okay, I got it for free). Where do I begin? First of all, it’s supposed to be an e-book. Right in the very beginning, the “How to Use This Book” section it talks about “clickable Table of Content.” Not with print you can’t.

I was also disappointed with the contradictory nutrition information. Andersen writes, “sugar comes in many forms…fruit juices should be consumed in post-run smoothies only” and yet three different pre-run smoothies feature fruit juices (apple, orange and pineapple). Another editing issue was the misinformation about a smoothie on page 49. Andersen talks about the importance of peanut butter as a protein but the smoothie (in the “green” section) doesn’t include peanut butter.
The organization of the recipes is a little wonky. While the smoothies are in three different categories: carbohydrate, multivitamin and green, the pre and post run smoothies are jumbled together. It would have been great to have further organization of all the pre-run smoothies grouped together before the post-run smoothies.
Last complaint – all the recipes come with a black and white photo of the smoothie. That tells me nothing. I’m wondering if the e-book version was in color?

Because Andersen mentioned his other books twice I got the feeling Smoothies for Runners was just a vehicle for promoting his other work. This one just felt cheap.

There are only 36 smoothies in the book and I’ve tried a handful. The “apple, grape, apple juice and honey” smoothie was refreshing but I don’t think it energized my 13 mile run any more than a Gu.

The Book Lust Mistakes

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I have (so far) spent ten years with Book Lust and over that course of time I found numerous oddities. I don’t know what made me do it, but here is a list of all the errors or weird things I discovered:

Within the Table of Contents:

  1. The chapter “Eric Kraft: Too Good To Miss” (p 140) is completely missing from the TOC.

Within the text:

  1. The title Moving On does not include an author (page 203). Larry McMurtry’s name doesn’t appear on the page at all.

Within the Index (these are the book, short story and poem titles not included in the index but are mentioned in Book Lust somewhere):

  1. “Ado”
  2. Alice, Let’s Eat
  3. American Practical Navigator
  4. American Fried
  5. The Achieve Of, the Mastery Of, the Thing
  6. “At the Rialto”
  7. “Blind Heron”
  8. “Blue Garden”
  9. Bonny’s Boy
  10. Burn Marks
  11. Bonobo: the Forgotten Ape
  12. “By a Swimming Pool…”
  13. A Bridge Too Far
  14. “Brown Wasps”
  15. Caged Owl
  16. Caddie Woodlawn
  17. Choose Your Own Adventure
  18. A Child’s Life
  19. The Citadel
  20. Casket and the Sword
  21. Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s
  22. “Corn-pone Opinions”
  23. Collected Fictions
  24. Cruddy
  25. Crazy Creek
  26. “Days of Pie and Coffee”
  27. “Devil Baby at Hull House”
  28. “Crack Up”
  29. “Dear Derrida”
  30. Dog Next Door
  31. Dream Gold
  32. “Drug Store in Winter”
  33. End and the Beginning
  34. “Ethics of Living Jim Crow”
  35. Ethel and Ernest
  36. Eva Luna
  37. “Exorcist of Notre-Dame”
  38. Freedom at Midnight
  39. Fredericksburg to Meridan
  40. “Forgetfulness”
  41. “Funeral II”
  42. “Golden Retrievals”
  43. “Golden Angel Pancake House”
  44. Ginger Pie
  45. Good Times are Killing Me
  46. Green Eyes
  47. “Goodbye, Place I Lived Nearly 23 Years”
  48. Hitty
  49. “House of Blue Light”
  50. In Between Sheets
  51. In the Gloaming
  52. “Introduction to Poetry”
  53. Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer
  54. Jew of New York
  55. Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid…
  56. Kid From Tomkinsville
  57. “Law of Acceleration”
  58. Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  59. “Letters from a Birmingham Jail”
  60. Little White Horse
  61. M16
  62. Maus
  63. Maus II
  64. Moffats
  65. Minnow on the Say
  66. Old Yeller
  67. Only Bread, Only Light
  68. Now Read This
  69. Now Read This II
  70. Pendragon Cycle
  71. Red River to Appomattox
  72. Saturdays
  73. Sea is Blue
  74. “Sex Ex Machina”
  75. Second Common Reader
  76. “Stickeen”
  77. “Strip Poker”
  78. Terre des Hommes
  79. Third Helpings
  80. “Tortures”
  81. “Try to Praise the Mutilated World”
  82. “True Love”
  83. Tumbling
  84. War Babies
  85. “Two Tramps in Mud Time”
  86. Wait for Marcy
  87. Ulysseys
  88. Wetware
  89. Wheels Within Wheels
  90. “Workshop”
  91. Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

Within the Index (these are the authors not included in the index):

  1. Lynda Barry
  2. Eleanor Cameron
  3. A.J. Cronin
  4. Gardener Dozois
  5. Kristin Waterford Duisberg (note: last name was missing – indexed under Kristin Waterford)
  6. Eleanor Estes
  7. Rachel Field
  8. Robert Frost
  9. Phoebe Gloeckner
  10. Slavomir Rawicz
  11. Keith Robertson
  12. Art Spiegelman

Pagination errors in index:

  1. Asimov, Isaac
  2. The Brothers K
  3. Death Comes for the Archbishop
  4. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
  5. Paul Eddy
  6. Educating Esme
  7. Grand Sophy
  8. Robert Heinlein
  9. The Hobbit
  10. I Don’t Know How She Does It
  11. In the Fall
  12. Inflating a Dog
  13. Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
  14. Kazuo Ishiguro
  15. Lord of the Rings
  16. Alice McDermott
  17. Moo
  18. Larry McMurtry
  19. Midnight’s Children
  20. Alice Munro
  21. Pride and Prejudice
  22. Remains of the Day
  23. Salman Rushdie
  24. That Eye, the Sky
  25. The Trial
  26. Timbuktu
  27. Vietnam
  28. Winter’s Heart
  29. Dean Young

Title Errors:

  1. Shockwave Runner should be Shockwave Rider
  2. The Eye, That Sky should be That Eye, the Sky
  3. Too Late Boyhood Blues should be Too Late American Boyhood Blues
  4. Twelve Days of Christmas should be Hillary Knight’s Twelve Days of Christmas

Interesting omission: The name of the series has been indexed but not the individual titles within the series. The only reason why I bring this up is because Pearl does list the individual titles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

  1. The Pendragon Cycle:
    1. Taliesin
    2. Merlin
    3. Arthur
    4. Pendragon
    5. Grail
  2. The Complete Sherlock Holmes:
    1. A Study in Scarlet
    2. Sign of Four
    3. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
    4. Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
    5. Return of Sherlock Holmes
    6. Hound of the Baskervilles
    7. Valley of Fear
    8. Last Bow
    9. Case Book of Sherlock Holmes
  3. Irish R.M.:
    1. Some Experiences of an Irish R.M.
    2. Further Experiences of an Irish R.M.
    3. In Mr. Knox’s Country
  4. Sea of Fertility:
    1. Spring Snow
    2. Runaway Horses
    3. Temple of Dawn
    4. Decay of the Angel

Interesting oversight in reverse. This time the individual titles are indexed but not the name of the series:

  1. The Years of Lyndon Johnson

Of course, this is not a comprehensive list. I am not done with Book Lust (not in the least) so there is a possibility other mistakes will crop up. I just felt like posting this now. If there are any additions in the future I will be sure to mark them.

Runner’s World Cookbook

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Golub, Joanna Sayago and Deena Kastor. Runner’s World Cookbook: 150 Ultimate Recipes for Fueling Up and Slimming Down – While Enjoying Every Bite. Rodale Books, 2013.

Can I tell you how much I loved this cookbook? When it was due back at the owning library I didn’t want to give it up! It took everything I had not to renew it again and again. Everything about the book was gorgeous, from the food to the photography. This is one book I am definitely going to buy for myself had to buy for myself.

As someone who is starting to take running a little more seriously (as in serious enough to train for something longer than a 13.1 miler), I needed a little help with the other parts of (ahem) training. Stuff like strength training and yoga was the start (and oh so helpful), but I needed even more than that and that’s where nutrition came in. I had heard a great deal about the Runner’s World cookbook thanks to magazines like Running for Women. Finally, I borrowed it from a library and was not disappointed. The recipes are yummy and I have lost 12 pounds. So get out there and eat!

Late September Dogs

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I’m posting this a day early, just to get it out of the way! Three months to go and then I’m done with this big list format. Fall is upon us (because some of us are back in school) and I’m not ready for the term to begin again. As I look at the book list I am really surprised October has only three books. I’m betting that will change! Current month of books is in bold:

  1. Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  2. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
  3. By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
  4. Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
  5. Maus by Art Spiegelman
  6. Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
  7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
  8. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  10. Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
  11. A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
  12. Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
  13. Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
  14. Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
  15. Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
  16. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
  17. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
  18. In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
  19. The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  20. Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
  21. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
  22. Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
  23. Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
  24. Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
  25. Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
  26. Good Life by Ben Bradlee
  27. Underworld by Don DeLillo
  28. Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
  29. Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
  30. Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
  31. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
  32. Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
  33. Polish Officer by Alan Furst – (AB)
  34. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
  35. Walden by Henry David Throreau
  36. Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft
  37. Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – (ER)
  38. Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle
  39. Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
  40. Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe
  41. Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose
  42. Broom of the System by David Wallace
  43. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
  44. Little Follies by Eric Kraft
  45. Literary Murder by Batya Gur
  46. Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
  47. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  48. Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery
  49. Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (AB)
  50. Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson
  51. Royal Flash by George Fraser
  52. Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur
  53. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  54. ADDED: Castle in the Backyard by Betsy Draine (EB)
  55. Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  56. Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft
  57. Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren (ER)
  58. Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur
  59. Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser
  60. Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma
  61. Petra: lost city by Christian Auge
  62. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
  63. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  64. Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser
  65. What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft
  66. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
  67. Ruby by Cynthia Bond (ER)
  68. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  69. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  70. Murder Duet by Batya Gur
  71. Flashman in the Great Game – George MacDonald Fraser
  72. At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft
  73. Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme
  74. New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc
  75. Grifters by Jim Thompson
  76. Snow Angels by James Thompson (AB)
  77. So Many Roads: the life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne (ER/AB)
  78. Short story: Drinking with the Cook by Laura Furman
  79. Short Story: Hagalund by Laura Furman
  80. Lone Pilgrim by Laurie Colwin
  81. Not so Short story: The Last of Mr. Norris by Christopher Isherwood
  82. short story: Jack Landers is My Friend by Daniel Stolar
  83. short story: Marriage Lessons by Daniel Stolar
  84. Light in August by William Faulkner
  85. Not so Short story: Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
  86. A Comedy & A Tragedy by Travis Hugh Culley (ER)
  87. Feed Zone by Biju Thomas
  88. Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft
  89. Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser
  90. Possession by AS Byatt (DNS)
  91. In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan by John DeFrancis
  92. Faster! by James Gleick (AB)
  93. Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
  94. ADDED: Families and Survivors by Alice Adams
  95. Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft
  96. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett
  97. Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser
  98. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett
  99. SWAPPED: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving instead of Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (needed a Canadian audio)
  100. ADDED: Petty by Warren Zanes (ER)
  101. Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
  102. SWAPPED: Homicide by David Simon instead of Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  103. Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
  104. Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
  105. Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
  106. Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
  107. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
  108. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
  109. Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)

DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review; DNS = Did Not Start; EB = Electronic book

Families & Survivors

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Adams, Alice. Families & Survivors. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1975.

Reason read: Alice Adams was born in the month of August. Yes, a completely boring reason to read Adams. I know.

This is the story of Louise from 1941 to 1971. We first meet Louise as a precocious teenager poolside with her best friend, Kate. As her story moves languidly through the years we watch Louise get married, have a child, have affairs, struggle with self-image and artistry and of course, grow older. Along the way we see both sides of wealth, both sides of ambition, both sides of a Southern versus Yankee culture.
Something to get used to – Adams includes a lot of parenthetic information. I found it to be a little distracting at first. And oddly enough, for the first ten years the perspective is third person about Louise then there is a switch to first person Maude, Louise’s daughter. Coming to that point was like unexpectedly hitting a speed bump in the center of town.

As an aside, another thing I was distracted by was the number of times Adams mentions the out-of-date shape of Louise’s pool.

Book trivia: Families and Survivors is Nancy Pearl’s favorite book from Adams. I found an interesting enough book but I can’t say it was my favorite. All in all I thought it was a book about growing older from the perspective of different couples. Once they all got divorced and remarried I found the characters little confusing to keep track of.

Author fact: Families and Survivors was, and still is, Adams’s first novel.

BookLust Twist: from the very first chapter in Book Lust, “A…My Name is Alice” (p 1). As an aside, because of the show Major Crimes, whenever I hear the name “Alice” I think of Rusty’s quest to find a Jane Doe they called Alice.

Flashman’s Lady

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Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman’s Lady. New York: Penguin, 1988.

Reason read: to continue the series started in April in honor of Fraser’s birth month.

If you are keeping track we are now ten years into the biography of Harry Flashman. This is the sixth packet of papers and introduces events between 1842 – 1845 which were previously missing in earlier manuscripts. Like an earlier packet, this installment was edited by Flashman’s sister-in-law, Grizel de Rothschild and includes journal entries from Fashman’s wife Elspeth. I think it’s hysterical that Grizel cleaned up his “rough” language but left in his exploits with other women (because Flashman always gets his girl, whether she be an African queen or his own lovely wife). And speaking of Elspeth, Flashman has to turn his attention to her (more than normal) when she is kidnapped by a pirate who wants her for himself. Along the way (by way of Madagascar), Flashman is held captive by the ruthless Queen Ranavalona and forced to be her love slave (but of course).

Laugh out loud lines (warning: they are both a little crude): “…her udders were almost in her soup” (p 51) and “For a moment I wondered if having his love-muscle shot off had affected his brain…” (p 144).

Author fact: at the time of publication Fraser was living on the Isle of Man.

Book trivia: the footnotes are not as annoying this time around and there is a great deal of attention paid to the game of cricket.

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

Game of Kings

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Dunnett, Dorothy. The Game of Kings.New York: Random house, 1997.

Reason read: Dunnett’s birth month is in August. How boring of a reason is that?

16th century Edinburgh, Scotland (1547). The Game of Kings sets the stage for the subsequent five additional volumes in the Lymond series. Master Francis Crawford of Lymond is the anti-hero with “elastic morals.” He is smart, funny, sarcastic and knows how to steal, kill, and charm. I’m sure he’s handsome, too. That is, if you like blondes. Dunnett refers to Lymond’s golden or yellow head quite frequently. Crawford has a chip on his shoulder. His reputation is shot and everyone is after him, friend and foe alike. He’s a scapegoat with a band of misfits (some not to be trusted) who traverse the countryside trying to clear his name. There are enough characters and subplots to make your head spin, but stick with Lymond! He’ll cheer you up.
If you read Game of Kings make sure you pick up the Vintage publication. Dunnett wrote her own foreword and confesses that the text has been “freshened.” Having not read other versions I have no idea what has been “freshened.”

Best lines, “You are not being badgered; you are being invaded” (p 21). See, Francis Crawford of Lymond has a sense of humor! More great lines, “My brilliant devil, my imitation queen, my past, my future, my hope of heaven and my knowledge of hell” (p 237), “There’s nothing to stop you from associating with my servants if you want to, but I’d prefer not to have the younger ones reduced to a state of crapulence for your purposes” (p 397), and “Open your mouth too far and someone will fill it with rubbish” (p 502).

Author fact: Dunnett also wrote the House of Niccolo series (also on my list).

Book trivia: The Game of Kings is “First in the legendary Lymond Chronicles” according to the front cover. Additionally, The Game of Kings is a self-contained novel and doesn’t leave the reader hanging.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Digging Up the Past Through Fiction” (p 80).

In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan

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DeFrances, John. In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.

Reason read: DeFrancis was born in the month of August – read in his honor.

When I first cracked open In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan I thought DeFrancis was thumbing his nose at his readers. The first chapter of In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan is called “You can’t Do That Anymore” Here, DeFrances spends time listing all of the routes he was able to travel back in 1935 that are now closed to present-day (in 1993) travelers. But, that’s not bragging – it’s the simple truth. As it was, retracing the steps of Genghis Khan was not a simple affair, even back then. Just getting camels at that time of year (May) proved to be difficult because in the summer months the camels were traditionally “retired” and put to pasture to fatten up. When the travelers were presented with only female camels their journey was further slowed as females need to rest more often, get later starts in the day and their loads had to be much lighter than males. Typical women!

This was a fun read. Besides the fragility of female camels I also learned that lamas teach and can marry while monks don’t teach and shouldn’t marry (most do). There is very little about Genghis Khan, per se, until they reach Etsina.

As an aside: I am also reading a book about things in society “speeding up” for the sake of wanting everything faster. In In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan I learned that lamas of Tibet and Mongolia devised a way of speeding up their orisons by using prayer wheels of varying sizes. They could spin them in order to have the text read faster.

One last comment – I was shaken to read about the “voluntary” human trafficking that went on. Families would sell their children (by the pound) for labor and even prostitution in order to survive.

The best lines, “…ignorance of the past also impedes understanding of the human landscape” (p 7), “I had to admit it was a matter of historical record that Genghis Khan had conquered China without the benefit of Band-Aids” (p 96), “Rhubarb, however served, even in pies that others found delicious, always seemed to me not fit for consumption by humans and, I would now add, by animals as well” (p 185), and one more, “In recalling my early travels it is fascinating to see how often a minor jigsaw piece of the past acquires greater significance when fitted into a new mosaic of the present” (p 228).

Book trivia: In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan is filled with wonderful illustrations by Myra Taketa who is,  as DeFrances describes, a “multitalented secretary.”

Author fact: at the time of publication DeFrances was working on a “ground-breaking alphabetically based computerized Chinese-English dictionary” (p 285). He had since passed away. I don’t know if the dictionary was ever completed. I’ll have to look that up.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “In the Footsteps Of…” (p 102).

Faster!

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Gleick, James. Faster: the Acceleration of Just About Everything. Read by John McDonough. Prince Frederick MD: Recorded Books, 2000.

Reason read: Gleick’s birth month is in August.

Funny. Funny. Funny. From the moment Gleick started talking about fast-working medication for a yeast infection (because only slackers have time for one of those) I knew I would be in for a fun ride. He may go on and on about a topic (the impatience one feels one when the elevator doors do not close fast enough, for example) but his points are valid. It’s as if he is holding up a huge mirror and asking us to really look at how we behave when impatience or boredom sets in. Exactly how long does it take before YOU push the “door close” button in an elevator? It’s an interesting test.

And when Gleick says “the acceleration of just about everything” he means everything.
A cool element to Faster! is that each chapter is independent of each other and therefore do not need to be read in order. But, something to be aware of – the subject material is a little dated. If he thinks the conveniences of microwaves, television remote controls and synchronized watches are indications of our need-it-now society,what does he now think of what the 21st century has been up to with our texting, smart phones, Twitter accounts and 65 mph toll booths (because who needs to stop driving incessantly on those long road trips?). He mentions computer watches (a la Dick Tracy). Funny how Apple just released their version this past year. Gleick moves on to talk about computer chips embedded in the human body, and why not? We are already comfortable with metal piercing our bodies in the oh so most interesting of places. Why not a computer chip? Gleick brings up photography and the need to see our pictures within the hour. How about the ability to take a picture and share it with the world within seconds ala Instagram and FB? There are so many examples of our world getting faster. What about the need for speed for athletic competition? Doping. Amphetamines. And speaking of drugs, what’s that saying about liquor being quicker? It was interesting to think of hard liquor coming about because wine was too slow for the desired reaction to consumption. The list goes on. This was a great eye-opening read & I would love to know what Gleick would say about our need for speed these days.

Favorite line, “Language was not invented for improving the quality of introspection” (p 269).
Author fact: Of course James Gleick has a website.

Book trivia: John McDonough does a fabulous job with the narration. He made me laugh.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the obvious chapter called “Science Books (For The Interested But Apprehensive Layperson)” (p 212).

Leaving Small’s Hotel

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Kraft, Eric. Leaving Small’s Hotel: Ella’s Lunch Box Launch.

Reason read: to continue the series started in February in honor of Kraft’s birth month.

I have to get this off my chest. The inside flap of Leaving Small’s Hotel implies that Kraft’s other works (with the exception of Herb ‘n’ Lorna) are not popular and therefore are not worth reading. The negative spin made me sad.

Leaving Small’s Hotel is really fifty stories Peter Leroy reads to his hotel guests (one per night) leading up to his fiftieth birthday. These stories are supposed to be his memoirs but true to Leroy fashion they are a mix of the truth and imagination; how things were and how Leroy thought they could have, or should have been. The guests, who Leroy calls “inmates,” love them. The subplot for Leaving Small’s Hotel is the state of disrepair and debt Small’s Hotel is in. Peter and his wife, Albertine, are losing money on a daily basis on the money pit. The roof leaks, the boiler keeps breaking, the washing machines shred clothes in addition to cleaning them. They can’t catch a break and even when they decide to sell they can’t find a suitable buyer.
Be prepared if you are reading Kraft’s books sequentially – there are a few reoccurring themes: clamming, the threat of nuclear war, aliens, and inventions. Oh, and sex with older women.

Author fact: Book trivia: BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Eric Kraft: Too Good To Miss” (p 141).

Feed Zone

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Thomas, Biju and Allen Lim. The Feed Zone Cookbook: Fast and Flavorful Food for Athletes. Boulder: Velo, 2011.

Confessional: I bought this book sight unseen because I had the credit with Amazon. I don’t regret it!

This is a gorgeous cookbook. I like its unique shape (8″x 6.5″) and feel (nubbly hardcover without a dust jacket). The photography is sublime and speaking of “lime,” the lime green ribbon bookmark is cool, too. But, these are all superficial reasons to love a cookbook. Let’s get to the meat of the matter (pun totally intended).
Even though the title insists this is food for “athletes” there is a little bias towards cycling. No. There is a large bias towards cycling. The language is more about riding and less about generic non-specific-sport tough workouts. Never mind that. The fact it is geared towards riding is a small detail that only I would harp on or maybe even notice. I just happen to like books that refer and cater to runners…
In truth, the recipes translate for any individual participating in an activity that burns many, many calories. And speaking of calories, this is not a weight-loss, get-thin cookbook. Calories are communicated as “energy units” and are unapologetically abundant. They didn’t skimp on the fat or carbs in an effort to slim an athlete down but instead, calories are pumped up to keep an athlete active & to avoid the bonk. Even in cycling there is the dreaded bonk. And – just in case you start to gain weight using this cookbook and get all upset there is a disclaimer right up front that states portion sizes are larger than normal. You’ve been warned.
Another truth to be prepared for is the tendency towards rice-based dishes. Born in the Philipines, Allan Lim honors his culture with many rice-cooker dishes. Most of the hand-held recipes have a sushi rice base. My advice is to experiment with different varieties of rice if a specific kind isn’t necessary. For many of the dishes a sticky rice is called for to hold the finished product together.

In truth, I have barely started to cook from this cookbook. I might have to write another review after I’ve cooked my way through it.

August Ambitions

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As each month passes I get more and more excited about ditching this Big List format. I really cannot wait to return to the old way of doing things. Current month of books is in bold:

  1. Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  2. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
  3. By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
  4. Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
  5. Maus by Art Spiegelman
  6. Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
  7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
  8. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  10. Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
  11. A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
  12. Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
  13. Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
  14. Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
  15. Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
  16. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
  17. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
  18. In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
  19. The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  20. Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
  21. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
  22. Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
  23. Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
  24. Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
  25. Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
  26. Good Life by Ben Bradlee
  27. Underworld by Don DeLillo
  28. Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
  29. Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
  30. Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
  31. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
  32. Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
  33. Polish Officer by Alan Furst – (AB)
  34. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
  35. Walden by Henry David Throreau
  36. Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft
  37. Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – (ER)
  38. Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle
  39. Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
  40. Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe
  41. Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose
  42. Broom of the System by David Wallace
  43. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
  44. Little Follies by Eric Kraft
  45. Literary Murder by Batya Gur
  46. Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
  47. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  48. Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery
  49. Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (AB)
  50. Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson
  51. Royal Flash by George Fraser
  52. Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur
  53. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  54. ADDED: Castle in the Backyard by Betsy Draine (EB)
  55. Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  56. Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft
  57. Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren (ER)
  58. Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur
  59. Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser
  60. Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma
  61. Petra: lost city by Christian Auge
  62. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
  63. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  64. Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser
  65. What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft
  66. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
  67. Ruby by Cynthia Bond (ER)
  68. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  69. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  70. Murder Duet by Batya Gur
  71. Flashman in the Great Game – George MacDonald Fraser
  72. At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft
  73. Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme
  74. New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc
  75. Grifters by Jim Thompson
  76. Snow Angels by James Thompson (AB)
  77. So Many Roads: the life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne (ER/AB)
  78. Short story: Drinking with the Cook by Laura Furman
  79. Short Story: Hagalund by Laura Furman
  80. ADDED: Lone Pilgrim by Laurie Colwin
  81. Not so Short story: The Last of Mr. Norris by Christopher Isherwood
  82. ADDED: short story: Jack Landers is My Friend by Daniel Stolar
  83. ADDED: short story: Marriage Lessons by Daniel Stolar
  84. ADDED: Light in August by William Faulkner
  85. Not so Short story: Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
  86. ADDED: A Comedy & A Tragedy by Travis Hugh Culley (ER)
  87. ADDED: Feed Zone by Biju Thomas
  88. Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft
  89. Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser
  90. Possession by AS Byatt
  91. In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan by John DeFrancis
  92. SWAPPED: What Just Happened for Faster! by James Gleick (AB)
    (I needed an audio and WJH didn’t come in disc form but Faster! did. So be it.)
  93. Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
  94. Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft (Sep/Feb)
  95. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett (Sep)
  96. Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser (Sep)
  97. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett (Sep)
  98. Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Sep – this is a reread)
  99. Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Sep)
  100. Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sep)
  101. Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
  102. Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
  103. Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
  104. Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
  105. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
  106. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
  107. Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)

DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review; DNS = Did Not Start; EB = Electronic book

Sixty Stories

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Barthelme, Donald. Sixty Stories. New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1981.

Reason read: Barthelme died July 23, 1989 of throat cancer. This is read in his honor.

I wanted to review this book by writing one sentence about each short story (60 sentences in all), but I have to confess this: I wasn’t sure what some of the stories were even about. I am glad I found other “I’m so confused” reviews. It’s nice to know I wasn’t the only one lost from time to time. I’m like the sober party-goer who doesn’t get the drunk joke that everyone else is cracking up about. Even the writing structure was strange. Sometimes a story wouldn’t have paragraphs. Other times the story was without punctuation. Or. Or! Or, something like this – the word butter written 97 times. Most of the time it was people acting oddly like writing letters to their lover’s therapist or living in the church of their denomination or killing 6,000 dogs after buying Galveston, Texas. Some stories were profound especially when they centered on the human condition. Others were just plain strange and I couldn’t wrap my brain around his motive or meaning.

Lines I liked but didn’t understand, “But stealing books is metaphysically different from stealing like money” (p 13), “Strangling the moon is wrong” (p 99), and “The bad zombies banged the Bishop’s car with a dead cow, at night” (p 351).

Book trivia: Sixty Stories even has illustrations. That’s how chock full of weirdness it is.

Author fact: Barthelme wrote novels and books for children in addition to short stories.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “All in the Family” (p). Brothers Donald and Frederick were both writers.