Goodbye, Mr. Chips

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Hilton, James. Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Charleston: Acra Foundation, 2013.

Reason read: National Education Week is in November.

When one thinks of Goodbye, Mr. Chips I am sure they are transported back to movies like Dead Poet’s Society and Mr. Holland’s Opus, two movies very similar in nature to Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Mr. Chips, the much loved teacher and sometime acting Head of Brookfield was devoted to his students and loved teaching them with a passion. Even when the boarding school tried to get him to retire they were unsuccessful. How do you rid yourself of pillar of the institution?

My favorite Mr. Chips quote: “In my mind you never grow up at all” (p 42). I chose this line because of Natalie Merchant (it’s her birthday). In the song How You’ve Grown she sings, “in my mind you’re frozen as the child you will never be again”. She and Mr. Chips share the longing that those they care for should remain forever innocent.

As an aside, I am always leery of reading boarding school stories. I guess I am too afraid of making comparisons to my own experiences having attended one.

Author fact: Hilton also wrote Hollywood screenplays.

Book trivia: Goodbye, Mr. Chips is so popular it has been made into two different movies and one television show.

BookLust Twist: this book was mentioned three times by Nancy Pearl. First, in Book Lust in the chapters called “100 Good Reads, Decade By Decade (1930s)” (p 176) and “Teachers and Teaching Tales” (p 230), and again in More Book Lust in the chapter called “Nevil Shute: Too Good To Miss” (p 198). Obviously, Goodbye, Mr. Chips was not written by Nevil Shute so it doesn’t really belong in the chapter.

We Interrupt Myself & Moi

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Can I talk about books and running at the same time? I just have to. In the August batch of the Early Review program for LibraryThing I “won” a book called The Boy Who Runs by John Brant. I was pretty excited to read it because as you may have guessed from my other ramblings besides books I’m pretty excited about running. [Reading about running is probably the next best thing to running.] Notice I said I was pretty excited to read it. Past tense. Was. It would have been all well and good if I had actually received the book. Because I haven’t. Not yet. Bummer.

Fast forward to this week. Another message on LibraryThing. “Congratulations, you have won Yoga for Athletes by Ryanne Cunningham.” Another Early Review book! Under normal circumstances I would be beside myself with joy. Besides being excited about books and and being excited about running I am pretty excited about yoga for athletes. [I’ll give you an example: I won Yoga for Runners by Christine Felstead in 2014 and I STILL use it as a bible for routines both before and after runs. I not only read and reread her book, I went on to buy not one but two of her yoga videos. I became a huge fan all because of LibraryThing and the Early Review program.] But, getting back to my original rant. Notice I said would be beside myself with joy. Would be. I’m not beside myself with joy because in the past 12 months I haven’t received three books (four if you count Dorothea’s book that I can’t seem to get ER to acknowledge). Given that track record there is a chance Cunningham’s book won’t make it to me. Bummer. It’s not LT’s fault. I know once I’ve “won” a book it’s up to the publisher to get it to me.
The good news is Cunningham’s book is slated to be published this coming Tuesday. I’ll wait a month and borrow it from my local library.

 

Code of the Extraordinary Mind

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Lakhiani, Vishen. The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: Ten Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life & Succeed on Your Own Terms. New York: Rodale, 2016.

Reason read: I learned about it from a running magazine, so you know I just had to read it.

From just the introduction Code of the Extraordinary Mind is intriguing. Lakhiani shares that he was born “…with a mind that loved learning how to hack life…” (p xvi). His book gives the reader permission to dare to question perception as well as reality. This may be considered a self-help book but I also consider it part memoir. Lakhiani shares a bit of himself through the book. He is not shy about unveiling past personal failures or triumphs. I found his methods of parenting enlightening, and even though I don’t have children I want others to apply his techniques! Is that rude of me to say? Seriously, when he asks his child what do you love about yourself or what are you grateful for, my heart melted.

Quotes that grabbed me: “It’s time to uninstall what isn’t working” (p 32) and “Our definition of what is normal is nothing more than what is programmed into us” (p 56). I would add to this last quote by saying I believe our definition of normal is also defined by commonality. If everyone had three heads the idea of just one would be foreign. You believe what you know.

My only pet peeve. I am not a fan of repetitiveness and I found Lakhiani mentioning MindValley (his company) too often. It began to sound like a sales pitch after awhile, especially when he promised “more information” on that site.

Author fact: Not only does Lakhiani have his own website, he actually has three. Look ’em up.

Book trivia: Lakhiani includes “napkin” drawings. Kinda cool.

 

The Ape and the Sushi Master

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de Waal, Frans. The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist. New York: Basic Books, 2001.

Reason read: October is gorilla month.

Frans de Waal believes in the possibility that animals have culture. In the beginning of his book he spends some time talking about how we, as humans, apply human emotion to animals. He uses the example of Binti Jua, the ape at the Chicago zoo who “saved” and protected the little boy back in 1996. He couldn’t comment on the incident at the Cincinnati zoo when Harambe was shot dead for fear of purposefully drowning a child. What would he have said about that? As an aside, I admit I am guilty of applying emotion to animal behavior. When my cat Cassidy went missing I swore her “brother” missed her. Do I know that for fact? No. But, he did act strangely for the duration of her absence so I would like to think he did.
But, back to the point. Do animals have cultural instinct that they follow? Do they learn by copying others? Is habit passed down from one generation to another?

My only pet peeve? I felt as if part of The Ape and the Sushi Master was a plug for Bonobo: the Forgotten Ape, another book written by de Waal. He spent a great deal of time in Ape/Sushi referring back to the sexuality of bonobos discussed in Bonobo. As they say, sex sells so I have to wonder how many people looked up this other book after reading Ape.

Lines to grab my attention: “As someone who occasionally forgets where he has parked an item as large and as significant as his car, I am impressed by these peanut-brained birds” (p 58).

Author fact: At the time of publication, Frans de Waal was a professor at Emory University.

Book trivia: The Ape and the Sushi Master has great illustrations as well as photographs.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Our Primates, Ourselves” (p ). As an aside, I think Pearl took the chapter title, “Our Primates, Ourselves” straight from a Ape and the Sushi Master quote. Early on de Waal says his book is “about how we see animals, how we see ourselves, and the nature of culture” (p 6).

Know Your November

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I am trying to move into this month without cracking up or breaking down. I’ve lost the run temporarily and even a small interruption sets me back. You know it is with a mental stability that isn’t quite that solid. I don’t want to say anything more than that.

Here are the books. Nonfiction first:

  • Living Poor:  a Peace Corps Chronicle by Moritz Thomsen – in honor of the month Ecuador’s civil war for independence ended.
  • Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn – (AB) in honor of the holidays and how much they can stress you out. I’m reading this and listening to it on audio.
  • The Fifties by David Halberstam – in honor of finishing what I said I would.
  • Baby Doctor by Perri Klass – in honor of National Health Month.

Fiction:

  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton –  in honor of National Education Week. This should take me a lunch break to read.
  • Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – in honor of Gaiman’s birth month.
  • Advise and Consent by Allen Drury – in honor of November being an election month (and is it ever!).

Series Books:

  • Then There Were Five by Elizabeth Enright – (EAB = electronic audio book) to continue the series started in September in honor of Enright’s birth month.
  • A Toast To Tomorrow by Manning Coles – to continue the series started in October in honor of Octoberfest.
  • Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Colin Cotterill – to END the series started in May in honor of Rocket Day.

Books and Spooks

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If you have been keeping up with me, myself and moi then you know we love Halloween. Odd. Odd because we can’t watch Walking Dead or go to Fright Fest without peeing our pants. What I love about Halloween is the potential for witchcraft, darkness & something intangibly spooky, if that makes sense. I love mysteries and there is no greater mystery than death. Right? Jack-o-Laterns glowing on doorsteps. Ominous crows watching silently from the trees. Candlelight shadows wavering on the wall. Cemeteries shrouded in the fog…I love it all.
In other news, I bailed for the first time ever on a half marathon but made it home-home to put up a ceiling for my mother. And speaking of Monhegan, we almost got caught in Hurricane Matthew! Somehow we managed to get out just in time.
Having said all that, unrelatedly here are the books:

  • The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright – to continue the series started last month in honor of Enright’s birth month. Took me two days to read.
  • Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill – to continue the series started last May in honor of Rocket Day. Took me two days to read.
  • Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau – in honor of magical realism month. Took me the entire month and I still didn’t finish it.
  • A Blessing on the Moon by Joseph Skibell – an audio book in honor of Halloween (this was my favorite story).
  • Drink to Yesterday by Manning Coles – in honor of Octoberfest in Germany. Another really short book.
  • The Ape and the Sushi Master by Frans de Waal – in honor of Gorilla month being in October.
  • The Aeneid by Virgil – in honor of Poetry month (celebrated in Great Britain).
  • Hush by Jacqueline Woodsen – an audio book in honor of kids. This was only three discs long.

For fun:

  • The Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani because I saw it in a running magazine.

For LibraryThing: nada

Hush

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Woodson, Jacqueline. Hush. Read by Sisi Aisha Johnson. New York: Recorded Books, 2002.

Reason read: October is Teenage Hero Month somewhere in the world. This is a book best for teens.

Hush began with a question in Jacqueline Woodson’s head. After hearing about a story about someone entering the witness protection program she asked herself what if that happened to me? She began to imagine how someone’s entire world would be turned upside down. And what if what that someone was a pubescent child with a best friend, a family and school? Someone just barely starting to find her own identity? Meet Evie Thomas. She was born to a policeman father and a school teacher mother and with her sister started her young life in Denver, Colorado. Her name used to be Toswia Green. She had a best friend. She had a nice house to live in. She used to have security in every sense of the word. Now all of that is gone. She has to start all over with friends, with school, with a new (and tiny) apartment, with her family and herself. Evie has no idea who she is anymore.

Book trivia: Hush is appropriate for children aged 11 and up. Confessional: I was getting pretty annoyed with Evie when she kept mentioning all the material things she used to have in her old life. Gone was the spacious house and nice clothes. Her mother even became a Jehovah’s Witness so they ceased to celebrate holidays. Gone were the presents and festivities. As an adult, I understand the gravity of the situation, but had to remind myself as a child, these changes would be hard to take.

Author fact: Woodson has a website here.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Teenagers” (p 24).

Drink to Yesterday

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Coles, Manning. Drink to Yesterday. Boulder: Rue Lyons Press, 1940.

Drink to Yesterday is based on the life of Cyril Henry Coles. Like his character, Michael Kingston (given name)/William Saunders (alias when he signed up in the military)/Dirk Brandt (spy name), Coles lied about his age and enlisted at 16 in the British army during World War I. His actions remind me a lot of my father. He too, left home and joined the service at 16.
William Saunders proves to be invaluable to the Foreign Intelligence Office when his fluency in conversational German is discovered. He goes on to have some harrowing and exciting experiences with his mentor, Tommy Hambledon. As Dirk Brandt, Saunders spends so much time behind enemy lines that he develops an entirely dual life for himself. After the war is over he has a hard time separating the two. His relationship with two separate women is heartbreaking. The end of Drink to Yesterday leaves the door open for its sequel, Toast to Tomorrow.

Reason read: Germany plays a big part in this story & October is Oktoberfest.

Quote that caught my eye, “Bill soon acquired the knack of moving quietly since it is wonderful how quickly you can learn when your life depends on it” (p 43).

Author fact: Cyril Coles was the youngest member of the Foreign Intelligence Office.

Book trivia: Drink to Yesterday opens with a list of cast of characters, much like a script for a play.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Intriguing Novels” (p 124).

Aeneid

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Virgil. The Aeneid. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1992.

Reason read: Great Britain celebrates poetry in the month of October. Virgil’s birth month is in October as well.

This is another one of those stories that has been reviewed a thousand and one, maybe two, times in this year alone. What could I possibly add that hasn’t already been said? Nothing! But, here are my observations: The Aeneid is a true adventure – a look towards the future and the promises made. There are twelve books in the epic poem. The first six cover Aeneas and his wanderings after surviving the Trojan war. The second half of the poem are the Trojan War.
And having said that, Aeneas reminds me of Dorothy Dunnett’s character, Francis, from the Lymond series. He is that deeply flawed hero that everyone loves. Much like how Gregory Maguire chose to tell the story of the wicked witch of the west, Virgil tells the other side of the Trojan War story. Instead of following Odysseus, we focus on Aeneas, the defeated Trojan.

All the usual suspects are there: Neptune, Venus, Achilles, Cupid, Pygmalion, Juno, Dido…

Quote I liked, “I sing of warfare and a man at war” (p 4 – the opening line). What promise that line brings!

Author fact: The Aeneid was the last thing Virgil was working on before his death.

Book trivia: The first edit of The Aeneid happens on the anniversary of my father’s passing, September 21st.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Poetry: a Novel Idea” (p 186).

texaco

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Chamoisseau, Patrick. Texaco. New York: Pantheon Books, 1997.

Reason read: October is the month for magical realism.

Disclaimer: I usually have a hard time with magical realism and I had already tried to read this book once before.

This sweeping saga traces one hundred and fifty years of Martinique history. Mostly told from the point of view of Marie-Sophie Laborieux, the daughter of a former slave, texaco is the story of a shantytown of the same name besieged from every angle. From within, the society is wrathful and distrusting. From without everyone is a stranger. The language is mystical but I found my mind wandering as a result.
As I mentioned earlier, I tried reading this once before and failed. No different this time around.

Lines I liked, “The answers to this question were so abundant that the real truth forever slipped through our fingers” (p 10) and “It didn’t take them two centuries to decide what to do” (p 55).

Author Fact: Chamoisseau also wrote Chronicle of the Seven Sorrows which is on my list.

Book Trivia: Texaco is a Prix Goncourt winner.

BookLust Twist: from two places. First, in Book Lust in the chapter called, “Magical Realism” (p 148) and second, in More Book Lust in the chapter called, “The Contradictory Caribbean: Pleasure and Pain” (p 56).

Blessing on the Moon

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Skibell, Joseph. A Blessing on the Moon. Read by Allen Rickman. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2010.

Reason read: Halloween is a-coming and this is scary in a tickle your funny bone kind of way.

This is a startling Holocaust story. Right from the beginning the language grips you and grips you hard. Chaim Skibelski, a 60 year old Polish man, is shot along with hundreds of fellow Jews. He has been left to bleed out in a stinking heap. Murder doesn’t turn out to be very peaceful for Chaim. As a ghost-like entity caught between Life and The World to Come, he is condemned to roam with his former rabbi-turned-talking-crow, Rebbe. Together they are in an alternate afterlife trying to find purpose. That is the burning question. Why were they left behind? When Skibelski returns to his small Polish village he finds it overrun with non-Jews. They have moved into his house dragging their prejudices behind them.
Dear readers beware: while Skibell’s writing sometimes evokes magical imagery, the time frame is dark and tragic so definitely expect violence, destruction and decay. It is at once gory and gorgeous. The worms crawl in. The worms crawl out. Skibelski continuously bleeds from the bullet holes. His face is half missing. Corpses and his family and friends rot and stink and fall apart like a zombie movie. While listening to this on cd I was taken aback when Skibelski started to bleed from his anus. Fear not, dear readers. You get used to it. You will even learn to laugh at it.
In all honesty, I could see this as a Tim Burton film. There is sex and even humor amid the putrid. One of my favorite scenes was when Skibelski comes across a decapitated German soldier trying to kill him again. Yes, you read that right. Skibelski kicks the soldier’s head down a hill all the while arguing with the soldier about why he doesn’t need to die again. The dialogue is to die for (pun totally intended).

Author fact: Skibell has his own website here.

Book trivia: The audio version is read by Allen Rickman and he does a fabulous job. His comedic timing is perfect and I loved the voice of the crow.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter obviously called “Magical Realism” (p 148).

The Saturdays

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Enright, Elizabeth. The Melendy Family: the Saturdays. New York: Rhinehart and Company, Inc., 1941.

Reason read: to continue the series started in honor of Enright’s birth month (September). As mentioned before, I read them a little out of order. I should have started with The Saturdays.

This is such a cute book! Four siblings are bored, bored, bored on a Saturday. While they all receive an allowance, it’s not enough for them to each do something every weekend. They decide to form the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club. Every Saturday they pool their allowances and one Melendy child gets to spend the entire day doing something adventurous of his or her choosing. Ten and half year old Randy goes to the museum to look at art and meets Mrs. Oliphant on the first Saturday. Twelve year old Rush goes to the opera and finds a dog (who he names Isaac, get it?) on the second Saturday. Mona, the only teenager in the bunch, gets her hair cut. Even young Oliver at six years old sneaks to the circus when it is his turn.
One of the best thing about Enright’s books is that she introduces me to a world I will never meet (unless someone really does invent a time machine that works): the 1950s. Because of her writing I learned about Lucrezia Borgia, Jules Clairon, Jane Cowl, and Katharine Cornell. My only panic was when Enright had Rush feed chocolate to his dog. I was taught to think chocolate is poison for a dog!

Quotes, “Fast, with her feet churning and her arms reaching until she had left the knowledge of her advancing age far behind” (p 169).

Author fact: Enright illustrated all of the Melendy books & they are really, really cute!

Book trivia: The Melendy Family is comprised of three of the quartet. Spiderweb for Two hadn’t been published yet.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Boys and Girls (p 21).

Which Side Are You On?: Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015

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Harger, Elaine. Which Side Are You On? Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990 – 2015. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2016.

Full disclosure: I am a librarian so I read this with some bias. Also, as a librarian I took my time with this one.

Librarians do not view the world as unbiased, politically neutral robots. Some might expect we would or even should. But, we don’t. We find the facts, examine the evidence, chose a side and stick to our guns come hell or high water. It’s what we do. Elaine Harger has identified seven different debates to illustrate the inner workings of the governance of the American Library Association Council:

  1. Debating “the Speaker”
  2. Anti-apartheid boycotts
  3. Censorship
  4. Relationships with outside sponsors/corporations
  5. “”
  6. Privacy
  7. Climate change

Confessional: this book made me:

  • Borrow Which Side Are You On? The story of a song by George Ella Lyon because I leanred of the song from Natalie Merchant.
  • Look up The Speaker on YouTube (Harger includes a link)

Reason read: an Early Review book from LibraryThing.

Author fact: Like Nancy Pearl, Elaine Harger is a Seattle, Washington based librarian.

Book trivia: each chapter is punctuated by a really cool collage created by the author.

Merry Misogynist

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Cotterill, Colin. The Merry Misogynist. New York: SoHo Press, 2009.

Reason read: to continue the series started in May for Laos Rocket Day.

To bring everyone up to speed: The year is 1978 and Dr. Siri Paiboun is 73, soon to be 74. He has married 66 year old Madame Daeng, a noodle shop owner. When we first connect with Siri and Daeng they are trying to outsmart the Department of Housing. The overbearing department is after Siri for living with Madame Daeng instead of in his own, government issued house. His own home is filled to the gills with wayward characters, a puppet master, a widow with two kids, two supposedly reformed prostitutes, a supposedly nonpracticing monk, a blind beggar and his granddaughter and let’s not forget the two twin babies Siri offered to look after from the last book, Curse of the Pogo Stick . But, that’s the least of Siri’s problems. A serial killer prowls the neighborhood, looking for his 6th wife to kill. He has connections to Vientiane which makes him a problem. Siri can’t resist playing wannabe detective.
All of the usual suspects are back (including Siri’s dead dog, Saloop!). Nurse Dtui helps Siri play detective in an effort to find missing Crazy Man Rajid and catch the serial killer.

One of the best parts of The Merry Misogynist was getting to know Madame Daeng better. She and Siri are meant for one another. She shares his sense of humor and wit. He has definitely met his match in this woman!

Lines I liked, “His accent was so think, it would have stuck to the wall if you’d thrown it” (p 62), “If a hornbill with a machete had run across Siri in the bush and hacked him to death, he would have succumbed in good grace: a victim of the survival of the fittest rule” (p 109), and two lines together: “‘Dtui, get my gun,’ said Siri. Siri didn’t have a gin but Dtui ran off to get it anyway” (p 117). Funny!

Author fact: I can’t remember if I mentioned this before but Cotterill has his own website here.

Book trivia: this should be a movie, but it isn’t. Not yet, at least!

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter simply called “Laos” (p 128).

Best Game Ever

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Bowden, Mark. The Best Game Ever: Giants Vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008.

Reason read: Football season starts in September. Even though Brady is out for the month I have confidence the Patriots will do well. In fact, they won their first game without Brady AND Gronk. Edited to add: 3 out of 4 without Brady isn’t too shabby.

This is the story of a football game, but not just any football game. It’s the nail biting, down-to-the-wire play by play of the December 28th, 1958 NFL World Championship Game (now known as the Superbowl) between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts. I’ll pause to let that sink it…the Baltimore Colts…not the ravens nor in Denver. Anyway, Bowden takes the reader through the late 1950s and football’s growing popularity. He builds each team with mini biographies of team owners, coaches and star acquisition athletes like Frank Gifford and John Unitas. He sets the scene for their historic match-up, all the while outlining how the game has changed over the years. It isn’t until chapter six (out of eight, not including the epilogue) that Bowden gets to the night before the big game. 75 pages out of 239 are dedicated to the Best Game Ever. But, if you are a football fan of any kind, you will appreciate those 75 pages! Bowden has the ability to capture the excitement.

Author fact: Bowden also wrote Black Hawk Down (not on my list, but made into a movie). What are on my list are these two: Killing Pablo and Guests of the Ayatollah.

Book trivia: This is not unique to this book, but I really like the photos included up front: Bert Bell, the Giants in mid action, and coaches Tom Landry and Weeb Ewbank. There are other pictures but they are in the typical location, throughout the center of the book.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Baltimore” (p 34). I don’t necessarily agree with the inclusion of this book in the Baltimore chapter, but Nancy says it definitely belongs.