Bookstore In Love

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. —George Carlin

Rachel’s fallen and she can’t get up.  She must have bonked her head on the way down because she said, and I quote, “Enough about Colin.”  I have a mind to drive to Vegas tonight.  Time to watch Pride and Prejudice, The King’s Speech, A Month in the Country, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Magic in the Moonlight all over again. What a fine idea at this late hour!  (I’ll bring the corn Rae; you supply the cokes.)  

We could tack on Shakespeare in Love if we’re feeling spry. That reminds me…we haven’t mentioned that a Riverside Shakespeare was blithely discovered (and purchased) in The Last Bookstore.  Naturally, we made our way there when we were in Cali. Rachel has officially been vindicated. And her forgettable boyfriend, Robert Whatever, can breathe a sigh of dramatic relief.  If only Bruce Young would pontificate once again for margins’ sake.  The place was pretty spacious, kinda dusty, and all around awesome.  We stayed till close.  I found a charming little book about Jane Austen. Rachel and I both purchased Far from the Madding Crowd in Penguin Clothbound.  Oh and Rae snagged a used copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel too.  What a fun memory from our trip. If you find yourself in downtown LA with a bit of spare time, be sure to check it out.  You’ll be glad you did!

Posted by Tracy

Throwback Thursday (Audiobook Style)

Pardon me while I fall off my chair. Tracy Jackson, yes our Tracy Jackson, a printed-page-purist through and through, just announced she's willing to give audiobooks a try. Gasp. First puppies and now this. I swear I hardly know her anymore. While I'm beyond thrilled she's willing to climb aboard for a trial run, I feel the need to intervene or this train may derail before it makes it outta the station.

Although Sissy Spacek reading To Kill a Mockingbird is a guaranteed home run, it pains me to say that not even Colin Firth could salvage The End of the Affair for me. Depressing with a side of yawn. (My apologies if you loved it.) Pop in your Pride and Prejudice dvd instead, followed up with The King's Speech for some icing on your Mr. Darcy cake.

Enough about Colin, back to Tracy. This experiment is too important to leave to chance, folks. We need to pull out the big guns. Here are five of the biggest:

Hands down favorite listen. I don't care if you've read The Help five to ten times and seen the movie, you still need to listen to this book. Trust me, you'll thank me later. If this book doesn't turn you into an audiobook lover, I don't know what will.

Two words: Edward Hermann. Now there's a narrator. His voice feels like home to me. Who better to bring Joe Rantz and The Boys in the Boat to life? (Speaking of voices that feel like home, David McCullough's reading of The Wright Brothers is right up there as well. Perfection.)

Speaking of Gilmore Girls (Edward Hermann), Big Stone Gap feels like the Stars Hollow of rural West Virginia. Bonus: Adriana Trigiani narrates the book herself. This is one of those books I think are made better by the listening. Kathryn Stockett (author of The Help) wrote of Trigiani: "I don't know how Adriana goes into her family's attic and emerges with these amazing stories, I'm just happy she does. If you're meeting her work for the first time, get ready for a lifelong love affair." Amen.

The Bartender's Tale made my top 5 last year and it's one of my favorite listens as well. I've yet to meet a Doig I didn't love—on the page or in my ear. The same narrator of this one, David Aaron Baker, knocks it outta the park again with The Last Bus to Wisdom. And Jonathan Hogan's reading of The Whistling Season series tops my list too. I do love me some Doig.

This last slot featured a slug fest between The Invention of Wings and All the Light We Cannot See with Wings pulling it out on a technicality: the writing is so exquisite in All the Light that I had to buy the hard copy so I could mark line after scrumptious line. So Wings wins for costing me less money. Flimsy argument as I did the same with Doig. Do yourself a favor: listen to both!

***Did I leave out one of your favorites? From the comments below I can tell I already left out some of mine. Melissa has me thinking maybe All the Light We Cannot See should've one that slug fest. And how could I forget I Capture the Castle and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? This is why I struggle with favorites... Share some you love so we can all find new favorites!

Posted by Rachel

Time To Take It Up With The Ugly Stepsister

“When you read a book, the story definitely happens inside your head.  When you listen, it seems to happen in a little cloud all around it, like a fuzzy knit cap pulled down over your eyes.” —Robin Sloan, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

Never say Never Rae.  I just listened to 5 minutes and 48 seconds of Sissy Spacek’s southern lilt reading To Kill A Mockingbird. As a matter of fact, this old dog just purchased the audio book.  Yep.  You heard me right.  I figure if I kicked the I-don’t-want-a-dog habit, I’m capable of conquering other stubborn ground. (I’ve got my own makeover goin on over here.) Why you may ask?  I suppose it’s because I can.  That doesn’t mean I’ll like it.  But I am gonna try it.  Just like the printed stuff, I aim to do my homework.  Here’s the VIP direction I’m headed in:

Because I’m still doin the English major thing and I can’t realistically disappear to a room of my own, listening to Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse may be a great place to start with this audio experiment of mine.  The real draw here is hearing Nicole Kidman—her ability to bring Woolf’s words to life has been described as “genius.” 

I hate to admit it, but I’ve never read The Wizard of Oz.  Sorry L. Frank Baum, don’t mean to disrespect. While I may opt to read this to the kiddos since we’re on a moony reading roll, I might be savvy to give the job to Anne Hathaway.  She does seem pretty perfect for this gig.  

And despite the fact that I’ve never (yes, I just said never) been interested in reading Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair, I desperately want to listen to it. If that sounds contradictory, I have two words for you: Colin Firth.  Dare I say I will listen to anything read by Mr. Darcy…I mean Mr. Firth: the Phone Book, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Mein Kampf, you name it.  

Feels like a new day.  I may even get a jump on the Christmas holiday and purchase this promising audio book for Rae: Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs. Hilary Swank does some dog-lovin’ justice as she reads about pure canine admiration.    

Posted by Tracy

Our Bookshelf Just Got A Makeover

I hope I will never have a life that is not surrounded by books. —Rick Bragg

Remember that promise we made months ago about a rating system? Well today's finally the day, folks. We may not always(ever) be punctual, but we do keep our promises...eventually. Enough about our shortcomings, let's celebrate the fact that it's easier than ever to find books we've read and what we thought of them. We now have a tab for each genre rather than combining them all on one bookshelf. From your mobile, just click on the menu above and you'll see the new categories. Fair warning: our ratings involve emojis so you'll need to view from a device with software that has been updated within the last year (ahem, we may or may not be guilty of not updating a computer for a couple years). The one thing we're missing is an emoji to let you know when we listened to the book (by we, we mean Rachel...Tracy would never). Still trying to find something better than that creepy ear emoji. If you have any suggestions, we're all ears. Heh heh.

Posted by Rachel

October Book Club Selection

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall. — F. Scott Fitsgerald

Happy first day of fall! It was a crisp 84 here in Vegas today and I almost reached for a sweater. Considering it was 104 a week ago, I'll take it. This post was supposed to be up hours ago but life happened and then The Blacklist started up again and well...here we are pushing midnight. So pardon me if I keep this short and sweet. 

I was downright giddy when I saw Amor Towles had a new book out. I'm an ardent fan of his first novel: Rules of Civility. Let's just say he had me at this line: "It is a lovely oddity of human nature that a person is more inclined to interrupt two people in conversation than one person alone with a book." Amen, Amor. Here's hoping A Gentleman in Moscow will be every bit as lovely. The folks over at Refinery29 are calling it "the perfect fall book to curl up with while the world goes by outside your window." Sold.

Posted by Rachel

Home Is Where Pax Is

 “So which is it? You going back for your home or for your pet? They're the same thing, Peter said, the answer sudden and sure, although a surprise to him.” 

Rachel is a dog lover, through and through.  Me, not so much.  I’m babysteppin’ with this retriever of mine. Despite my animal-lovin’ deficiencies, I could understand the way Peter felt about his pet fox Pax. Their relationship, brimming with loyalty and trust, is simply breathtaking—especially when juxtaposed to the volatile backdrop of war and human-inspired chaos. You’ll find yourself completely engrossed when Peter strikes out on his own, despite the encroaching war, to find the fox his father forced him to return to the wild.  

This book will long be remembered and read.  The extraordinary friendship between a boy and his fox is bound to resonate with all ages. Much like Charlotte’s Web, this novel will make you feel deeply. (You’ll get emotionally attached.) If you don’t believe me, just ask my nine-year-old son Jonah. When I read the final page, I looked up to see his chin quivering and his eyes watering. I hugged him close, and tried to think of a time when a book left as powerful a mark as this one did.  

P.S. It’s hard to imagine Pax being enchanting beyond words, but Jon Klaussen’s illustrations are pure gold.

Posted by Tracy

Good, But Not Great

We share a quiet kind of love. The simple things in life now bring me pleasure. My days of searching are over. I no longer have a desire to be anywhere but home. And my home shall be with him.

Call me charmed but not captivated by The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper. I wanted captivated; I wanted to swoon. It feels like we're due for a swooner. That being said, it's a sweet story and a good read. Just not a hit-it-outta-the-park kind of read. This book is like the friend you go to prom with because the boy you're crushing on asked someone else: fun minus the spark.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper felt very much like the first-time novel that it is. The writing seemed a bit choppy and characters too often seemed out of character. Maybe my expectations were just too high after the comparisons to Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and A Man Called Ove. This is no Pettrigrew and most certainly no Ove. And we all know how I feel about my Ove. 

Bottom line: a love story that reminds us that quiet lives can be every bit as beautiful as more adventurous ones. I just wanted it to be told a little better, that's all.

Posted by Rachel

Make Reading Great Again

“Things usually work out in the end.”
“What if they don’t?”
“That just means you haven’t come to the end yet.”

I heart Ms. Gibson. Anyone who comes close to pulling off a teenage miracle is one part uniquely competent, one part highly devoted and one part purely magical. I wish she’d run for President; she’d have my vote. Rachel and I took a poll and her list gets all A’s. And although it’s past midnight and throwback Thursday is officially over, I’m electing to flash back this Friday to one of Gibson’s picks.  

The Glass Castle is an astonishing memoir. Jeannette Walls describes her hardscrabble childhood marked with neglect in unsentimental, honest terms. In her father we see the complexity of human beings: a brilliant man and consummate dreamer who could lasso imagination for his children when he wasn’t sozzled—when he wasn’t destructive, dishonest, and overtly dysfunctional. Her mom was at times despicable too. An “excitement addict” who would rather make a painting that would last forever than cook a meal for her children that would disappear in 15 minutes. Your jaw will hit the floor as you encounter the Walls’ dubious parenting practices.  And yet, despite frequent clips of homelessness, hunger and depravity, the author also experiences contentment and adventure.  Remarkably, she neither demonizes or romanticizes her parents. She reminds her readers that everyone has redeeming qualities that deserve our attention.

Way to go Ms. Gibson! Everyone loves a rags-to-riches story.  I have no doubts Ben Boyle will want to turn The Glass Castle’s pages. Better yet, he’ll realize that his lit-lovin, chocolate-sharin’ mama is as fine a parent as she is a friend.  

Posted by Tracy