The good news is that I have really hit a groove with War and Peace and am enjoying it quite a bit. The bad news is that progress reports don’t  make for very interesting posts. I am not the kind of person who can effectively (and entertainingly) write about books while I am in midstream. And since War and Peace is such a classic what could I really say about it anyway?  Don’t get me wrong I will have some thoughts when I finish the whole thing but nothing so profound that I can stretch it out into weeks worth of posts.

I promise I will have something more interesting to blog about later in the week.

In the meantime if you are participating in Dovegreyreader Scribbles’ read-a-along, you might not want to look at the second photo below.

The image below is a picture of the character tree that I mapped out poolside back in January when we were in Thailand. I was trying to wrap my brain around all the various characters and their associations. At this point I still ocassionally glance at the list of characters but it is getting easier to keep everyone straight.

I feel like I owe you all something bookish for the weekend. But doubt that I will finish reading anything all that soon. Besides being busy with other things (and enjoying the early fall/Indian summer weather) I am in the middle of several books that are going to take me a while to get through.

The shortest is Shirley Jackson’s memoir Life Among the Savages. I have been half finished with this for some weeks now. I am enjoying it and will finish it one of these days. It just feels like I may have temporarily fallen out of the mood for this one.

Next shortest is E.M. Forster’s posthumous collection of short stories The Life to Come. I read this years ago and am now enjoying reading one a night. This one might get finished up this weekend.

Next shortest is Nobel laureate Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook. This one clocks in at just over 600 pages. This is the Lessing novel that everyone has heard of but not many have read. I find it fascinating in good and bad ways and will have plenty to say about it when I finish. I have been tabbing things as I read so I remember to write about them.

And the next shortest is the 1,350 page War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Some of you may remember me writing about starting this one late last year. Well I read about 100 pages of it in 2009. By the time I picked it up again in early 2010 I kind of forgot who was who and what was going on. Still, I pushed forward for another 150 or so pages. Flash forward eight months and I haven’t touched it since. Until last night that is. I read on Dovegreyreader Scribbles yesterday that she is leading a year-long read of this weighty door stop. And I thought this might be my chance to actually get through it. I was thinking of following along (about 100 pages a month) or doing the alternate schedule (a chapter a day), but once I started reading it again last night I decided I am going to finish it by the end of the year rather than follow along. Frankly it is a little too compelling for me to stretch it out too much. Plus I worry gaps in reading will make me forget too much. So last night I forgot about the 257 pages I have already read and started from the beginning. With the previous attempts under my belt, re-reading the first 60 pages has been so much more enjoyable. I feel like I am in the groove. So fingers crossed on this one (again).

And of course I promised you all the result of our color choice for our library. It won’t be Persephone gray, but it will be a nice dark gray that should make for a very atmospheric space. You can see below the color we chose: Benjamin Moore’s “Ashland Slate”.

When I was a kid summers were gloriously long. We finished school in the spring just a few days after Memorial Day (never past the first few days of June) and we didn’t go back until just before Labor Day (never earlier than the last few days of August). That would give us almost three full months of summer vacation. The summers seemed endless–at least until mid-August when the start of the school year began to loom.

Now kids barely have two months off from school. And in their over-scheduled lives, summer camp and family vacations take up large chunks of that. No doubt enjoyable for the kiddies but it doesn’t leave much time for loafing around and running around the neighborhood, (and spending hours at the library!).

And don’t even get me started as to what happens as an adult. Unlike Europe, most Americans only get about two weeks of vacation time a year. Or in my current case three weeks of “paid days off” but sick days have to come out of that as well. Thankfully I haven’t had one sick day for about a year so I can use it all for vacation. And I am also good at linking up federal holidays and weekends to vacation time to really stretch the time away from work.

Studies show that humans need at least two weeks of continuous vacation to receive any mental health benefit from being away from everyday stress that builds up the rest of the year. Little 4-day mini-breaks, while fun and interesting don’t provide the necessary down time to allow one to decouple from the routine of life. Even worse is the increasing employer expectation that their employees shouldn’t actually take their two weeks all at once, or that employees should take their Blackberry with them on vacation.

I need to be a European.

  
The new library here at My Porch is in desparate need of some paint. The previous owner had painted it a very  blah, ugly, dirty beige. At first I thought I was going to go for a very light and bright white since the room doesn’t get a whole lot of natural light. But the room also has this wood paneling with a rather pronounced wood grain. I thought that the white over the wood grain would neither hide nor enhance the grain pattern. So then we started thinking of colors and I kept being drawn to the row of Persephones on my shelves.Such a lovely gray, maybe I could do something like that. We looked through more Benjamin Moore grays than you would think existed. We narrowed it down to 7 that we wanted to see in the space.

 
My friend Steve posted this link on his Facebook page. It is a collection of British novelist interviews from the BBC Archives now available for listening online.

Forster, Bowen, Huxley, Wodehouse, Woolf, Murdoch, Isherwood, Spark, Drabble, McEwan…

I can’t wait to listen to these. Check them out here.

8/31 UPDATE: So far I have listened to Maugham, Bowen, Forster, Wodehouse, and Isherwood. They are fascinating, not just because of who is being interviewed, but the formats vary quite a bit as well.  And for Spinal Tap fans you might notice that the volume control on the BBC media player goes to “eleven”.

  
I have been talking about Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon for some weeks now. And have been talking about Portland itself for a years. Back in 2006 I crowned it the best city in the USA and four years later I feel the same way. I might amend that to say best small city, but for whatever Portland has or doesn’t have it is such a pleasant urban experience made all the more fantastic by lots of green and fresh, cool, clean-air. And it is just a stone’s throw from the home of some of the world’s best Pinot Noir wineries. Yum. We were too busy enjoying the city to take many pictures or Portland itself, and none to compare to the great snaps we got on the Oregon coast so I am not going to post any of those. But I think we also realized that Portand is more of a feeling and experience and it doesn’t necessaryily photograph well. It is all about a hundred little details that make it so pleasant.

But back to the main event! Before I get around to showing you some of the books I purchased at Powell’s I think I need to give you some idea of the scale of the place. It takes up an entire city block. But I will let the store map tell the story…

Visit the Persephone Bookshop for the first time!

Places I haven’t been in a long time and might revisit:
The (old) Tate
The gift shop at the Transport Museum
The Cabinet War Rooms
Sir John Soane Museum

Something I would really like to do:
Meet a few UK book bloggers in or, within an easy day trip of, London…I would write to you many of you and suggest a meeting, but I am shy of rejection and don’t want to put you on the spot. So, if any of you have any interest at all, please let me know either via email or in the comments.

I need your help…
So what do you think I should do while I am there? Could be a day trip, could be a museum, a neighborhood, a restaurant. Try to make it off the beaten path since we have both beaten the path a lot.

I blame popular usage of all of these phrases on House and Garden TV and all the other home “improvement” or decorating shows on TV. You know the kind of shows that end with a couple walking into a room and screaming “oh my god” as they bring their hands up to their mouths.

If you want to get mind-shatteringly plastered just choose one of these phrases and then watch any HGTV program. Each time they use the phrase take a drink of your favorite beverage. Unlikely you will still be sober as they cut away to the first commercial break.

pop of color

take it to the next level and its sibling kick it up a notch

focal point

wow factor

art piece
If you have to add the word ‘piece’ after ‘art’ then it sure isn’t art, but it probably is a piece of crap. Art is not something that happens for the sake of interior decoration. Art happens for its own reasons.

  
I generally don’t participate in memes, but I had so much fun reading the answers on Fig and Thistle and Scobberlotch that I thought I would join in.

1. Favorite childhood book?
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

2. What are you reading right now?
The Radiant Way by Margaret Drabble
Coronation by Paul Gallico
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
None

4. Bad book habit?
Buying too many.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Nothing (see #4)

6. Do you have an e-reader?
No, and I never will. I love the look, feel, and smell of real books. I have said on more than one occasion that if they stopped publishing real books I would still have a universe of books that I could pass the time with until I died.

And speaking of e-readers: The other day on the Metro the woman sitting next to me (in her 60s or so) was reading from an e-reader. I looked over to see if I could see what she was reading. And there, right at the top of the “page” in type MUCH larger than anything in a real book I saw the following: “He had a huge cock.” I quickly look away lest one of us get embarrassed.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Several.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
I read more now. I remember more now since I am writing reviews of most every book I finish. And I read fewer bad books now. Mainly because I have found kindred spirits in the blogosphere that help me weed through the chaff.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Almost impossible to answer. For the most part naming a least favorite would reflect too poorly on what are pretty much all good books. But, I guess I would say the Penguin English Journeys series in general. I tried to read all 20 of them in April and the concentrated nature of the task it made them all seem rather tiresome.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Also very hard to answer. Stoner by John Williams and The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Fairly often, but I have a pretty broad comfort zone. Although I guess looking at my books read some might disagree. Themes that I almost universally hate are sports, magic, circuses, well, almost anything supernatural.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I have a sub-section of my comfort zone I call the cozy zone. That would focus on genteel, British ladies drinking tea. The broader comfort zone includes all kinds of literary fiction that aren’t afraid to be mundane. I particularly like coming of age stories, independent women finding themselves, job-related stories,  and of course bookish characters/settings.

13. Can you read on the bus?
Subway, yes. Bus, sometimes. It makes me a bit motion sick.

14. Favorite place to read?
Haven’t found it yet. But generally in bed.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
As I fetishize books more and more as objects I am finding it harder to lend them out.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Never.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Only when it is a mass market edition that is falling apart.

18. Not even with text books?
Text books are different (and a long time ago).

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English

20. What makes you love a book?
Such a difficult question. If I had to pick what one theme is most likely to make me love a book I would say characters who undergo a positive, radical (at least for them) transformation.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
In real life I don’t do much recommending. On my blog I tend to get enthusiastic about many books but try to give enough description to give my readers the chance to make up their own mind.

22. Favorite genre?
Literary fiction.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Definitely non-fiction. I almost never read it. I like my reading life quite a lot, so I don’t with this one too much.

24. Favorite biography?
A Girl From Yamhill a memoir by Beverly Cleary

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Do diet books count? The South Beach Diet. I used to work at Barnes and Noble years ago and every time someone came in with a list of self-help titles they were looking for I always wanted to walk them over to fiction. I think one learns much more about oneself and how to cope with life from fiction than from self-help.

26. Favorite cookbook?
I find that most cookbooks have only a handful of recipes I ever try. I may want to try more, but I seem to get stuck on just a handful. Like travel guides I never find the perfect one, because it doesn’t exist.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

28. Favorite reading snack?
As much as I love eating I tend to not do it while reading. Too messy.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson. I found it just okay.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Traditional professional critics? Almost never.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I have only ever accepted one ARC so I don’t feel beholden to any author or publisher. Sometimes I edit my true thoughts down a bit to not offend some of my favorite bloggers. Yes, peer pressure is alive and well at age 41. But frankly there are some wonderful bloggers out there with whom I don’t want to pick a fight. It doesn’t mean I don’t say what I think I just am less negative than I may want to be. On the other hand if I am not worried about that I would have no problem going after a book I thought was a piece of crap.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Latin.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Anything by Faulkner or Joyce.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Anything Faulkner or Joyce.

35. Favorite Poet?
Without question, Walt Whitman.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Zero these days. When I used to be in library mode I would say about 7 to 10 at a time.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
About 30% of the time.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Tepper from Tepper Isn’t Going Out by Calvin Trillin

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Widow Barnaby in Widow Barnaby by Fanny Trollope

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
I choose editions that are cheap enough that I can leave them behind to make way for other things in the suitcase.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
I don’t understand the question.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
The Divine Comedy by Dante. I found it kind of interesting, and I know there are larger lessons to be drawn from it, but the fantastical world created in it just kept reminding me of the hocus pocus aspects of organized religions that can turn the less rational among us into willing, believing, participants in a dogmatic, supernatural magic show.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Undone chores.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

A Room With a View (the 1985 Merchant-Ivory production, not the more recent travesty of an adaptation)

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
The recent big screen version of Brideshead Revisited. I love the book too much to have it distilled down into anything less than greatness. (Greatness had, of course, already been realized for this book in the early 1980s television series.)

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
I am not going to answer this one, but it was on my recent trip to Powell’s in Portland.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Ususally I just read a few lines here and there. I don’t think it would count as skimming.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
I do Nancy Pearl’s rule of 50, so I tend to put losers down at page 50. But sometimes they sneak through anyway. I have no trouble leaving a book behind if it starts to feel like my life is slipping by and I am stuck reading an odious book.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes, but I also like to reorganize and reorganize just for fun.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
KEEP.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Not really because I only focus on the ones I am looking forward to reading.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
Howard’s End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. In a crime of bait and switch, Hill’s interesting premise was undermined by the fact that she either ignored it or was unable to deliver the goods.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
The Brontes Went to Woolworths

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Anything by Nevil Shute or Elinor Lipman

  
Manzanita, Oregon. What a great place to spend a week in August.