Seems like a good [...]]]> Happy Spring, everyone!  We’re down to one small snowbank at the end of the driveway, and I can see fresh green shoots from perennials pushing their way through the (very muddy!) ground … I think that “out like a lamb” will apply and we’ll have a gorgeous spring after our tough winter!

Seems like a good day for giving away books!

First up are the winners of Christopher Meeks’ novel The Brightest Moon of the Century.  The novel includes seven black and white photos that give a sense of the era and the settings in the book.  In the giveaway post I asked your thoughts on photos/illustrations in books.  I found the range of responses to be interesting; most like photos that enhance (not dictate) our interpretation of the book, and many mentioned maps and genealogical charts as being useful references.

I used random.org to pick two winners, they are:

• #4 Dan who said: I feel that photos and graphics enhance memoirs, biographies and other true stories. I recently read “Schulz and Peanuts” and I thought the insertion of the comic strip helped understand where the artist in that period of his life.
• #15 Kim V thought: I like to go back to review, again and again. the pictures as I’m reading through a book. They really enhance the story.
  

Congratulations to the winners!  Please send me your mailing address and I’ll get the book in the mail to you.

Books are popping up like crocuses (croci?) around here … Stay tuned for another giveaway announcement!

Welcome to Day Three of “The Brightest Moon of the Century Appreciation Week!”  What?!  You didn’t know that’s what was going on over at She is Too Fond of Books??!  Didn’t you wonder what all the balloons, champagne and flowers were about?!?

Here’s the way it’s been playing out:

Back of the book blurb:  Edward needs a place in the universe, but he wants an understanding of women.  He stumbles into romance in high school, careens through dorm life in college, whirls into a tornado of love problems [...]]]>

Back of the book blurb:  Edward needs a place in the universe, but he wants an understanding of women.  He stumbles into romance in high school, careens through dorm life in college, whirls into a tornado of love problems as a mini-mart owner in a trailer park in Alabama, and aims for a film career in Los Angeles.  Will his love for a Latina prove to be the one?  In nine chapters, the reader experiences Edward’s life from ages 14 to 45.

She is Too Fond of Books’ Review:  With The Brightest Moon of the Century, Christopher Meeks demonstrates a smooth transition from a short fiction writer (I reviewed his collection Months and Seasons here) to a writer of novels.  I don’t believe every writer can pull this off, but Meeks has the talent to carry his quirky characters and their “find the extraordinary in the everyday” plots into a full-length novel.  Each of the nine chapters is so thoroughly flushed with details that it could stand alone as a lengthy story, but that would leave the reader wanting MORE, which Meeks provides by giving the stories the respect they deserve and packaging them as a novel.

As we saw in his short stories, Meeks has an discerning eye for pulling nuggets of brilliance out of day-to-day life.  Thus, Edward’s difficulty knotting a tie becomes a window into the observations of a 14-year-old thrust into situations beyond his control, both large (the death of his mother) and relatively small (preparation for his first day at a private school, to which he is transferring, at his father’s insistence).  The knot is, perhaps, a metaphor for the emotions he is battling:

Tie tying, Edward had observed, started with the tie around the neck, so that the thin part and the fat part stood side-by-side on one’s chest like Olive Oyl and Bluto.  The fat part was supposed to hang down farther than the thin part.  Then in a flurry of crossing and flipping, a knot was made.  This was done always so fast, Edward couldn’t follow what happened, so now, in front of the mirror, he experimented.  He came up with knots, but only things that Boy Scouts might be proud of.  None of them would slip to allow him to move the knot toward his neck.

The nine chapters are arranged chronologically and given not only a title, but also a subtitled date, which immediately allows the reader to place Edward’s age and stage of life.  The beginning of each chapter is enhanced with a vintage black and white photo taken by the author himself.  Think how the photos in Water for Elephants give you a visual cue to carry along with the text; it’s a beautiful accent, and I imagine Meeks must have had fun going through his collection to find photos that fit the novel. 

Here is one from the second part of “Orange Crush” (Spring Quarter 1974) as Edward settles into a dorm and university life.  In this chapter, concerns about connecting with a woman take precedence over concerns for his schoolwork.  Edward is a sensitive and fair character.  Unlike many of his classmates, happy to connect for only one night, Edward searches for a special woman.  I wonder if this constant quest is a result of losing his mother so young.

This photo is from “Hi Jolly” (Summer 1979).  Without giving away the plot, I’ll share that Edward has moved to Alabama to manage a mini-mart on the outskirts of a trailer park.  Ever the idealist, his visions of 7-Eleven style uniformity contrast the cliched reality of life at Eastwind.

Edward is a delightful character; he’s sensitive and creative … I wish he were my brother!  Perhaps his biggest flaw is the self-doubt that runs through each chapter; in other words, he shows his human side.  Edward is endearingly real, and readers will be rooting for him in every situation.  The Brightest Moon of the Century will appeal to readers across genders and generations. 

Read other reviews at The Medieval Bookworm and Raging Bibliomania,

Time-sensitive info:  Christopher Meeks will be reading from The Brightest Moon of the Centuryat Vroman’s (695 East Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA) on March 7, 2009 at 5pm.  Also, his play, Who Lives is being produced by the Pico Playhouse (10508 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles) March 12 – 29, 2009.  Unfortunately, I’m on the other side of the country, but I’d love to hear from anyone who attends either event!

TEASER TUESDAYSis hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and asks you to:

TEASER TUESDAYS is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading and asks you to:

Raise your hand if you’re swearing off the rest of the Halloween candy starting this morning!  I’m sending bags of it into the office with my husband (OK, there’s a small stash I’m stowing in our storage freezer … don’t tell the kids!).  My healthy attitude will get a boost this morning because I’ll be [...]]]>

Raise your hand if you’re swearing off the rest of the Halloween candy starting this morning!  I’m sending bags of it into the office with my husband (OK, there’s a small stash I’m stowing in our storage freezer … don’t tell the kids!).  My healthy attitude will get a boost this morning because I’ll be walking more; my car battery died and the car’s in the shop most of the day.  I’m bundling up LM4 in the jog stroller this morning for a walk to preschool, then walking back in the other direction to meet a friend for coffee — a visit with a friend is always a good way to start the week!

Monday 11/3 – Christopher Meeks starts his two week visit to LibraryThing Author Chat; Visit the main Groups page for Author Chat and scroll down to click on the thread with Chris’ name;  or, just click this link (depending on whether you subscribe to the “give a man a fish” or “teach a man to fish” theory).  I loved Months and Seasons, a collection of short stories that I reviewed here.  Click this link to see a timely video – Rod Maxwell, an actor doing a dramatic reading from the middle section of one of my favorite stories, “Dracula Slinks Into the Night.”  The actor portrays the protagonist, Hugh, a somewhat reluctant Dracula at a Halloween costume party with his wife; it’s very well done and gives you a taste of Months and Seasons.  The story continues after the video ends, so you’ll want to get the book to learn what happens next with Hugh and Kathleen.

Tuesday 11/4 – Election Day in the U. S.  I’m not going to give you a long list of reasons why you should vote, or try to tell you who to vote for … here’s a tip though … go into Starbucks after you vote for a free tall coffee! (valid November 4 at participating Starbucks stores, view the ad on the website for details)

If it’s Tuesday, it’s time for Tuesday Thingers!

Wednesday 11/5 – Come back to read my review of Jennie Shortidge’s Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe, a stop with TLC Book Tours.  This is a wonderful “coming of (middle) age” story with a main character I would have as a friend.

Thursday 11/6 – Swapna at S. Krishna’s Books has written a wonderful post for the “Spotlight on Bookstores” series.  Read what she has to say about a delightful store she discovered on her honeymoon, and her husband’s sweet comment about her love of books.

The younger kids have no school today (parent-teacher conferences), so I’ll have three kids with me at storytime this afternoon.  Hopefully we can get out and do something fun after lunch.

Tonight my TriCon Book Group meets to discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.  We usually do a theme dinner, but none of us were in the mood for mutton, so we’re going potluck when we discuss this classic.

Weekend Plans – Our weekend is pretty open at this point; what have you got going on?

Many thanks to Lenore at Presenting Lenore and her husband, Daniel!  Daniel is a published illustrator who agreed to create a graphic for her (and me! and all of us!) for the LT Author Challenge.  Is that Emmy reading a book written by a LibraryThing Author?!

Here’s the list of books I hope to read and review [...]]]>

Many thanks to Lenore at Presenting Lenore and her husband, Daniel!  Daniel is a published illustrator who agreed to create a graphic for her (and me! and all of us!) for the LT Author Challenge.  Is that Emmy reading a book written by a LibraryThing Author?!

Here’s the list of books I hope to read and review for the challenge:

• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
• Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
• Transported by Tim Jones
• Guernica: A Novel by Dave Bolin
• Janeology by Karen Harrington
• The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea by Christopher Meeks

That’s two LT Author books a month, in addition to my “regular” schedule for reviewing, book groups, etc.  I think I’m up for the challenge!

I connected with Christopher Meeks when he responded to a post I wrote about the difficulty my book group has had discussing short stories; he wrote an excellent guest post which offered several suggestions on how to approach a [...]]]>  

I connected with Christopher Meeks when he responded to a post I wrote about the difficulty my book group has had discussing short stories; he wrote an excellent guest post which offered several suggestions on how to approach a short fiction collection, including the proposal that there might be a theme of sorts running through the stories.  He says that “short story collections as a whole should be thought of as concept rock albums … some stories are lighter than others, and, as in a good album or concert, the reader’s emotions should be like [a] roller coaster … ups and downs, and the loop is a surprise.” 

Christopher offered me a review copy of his latest collection, Months and Seasons.  I gladly accepted, eager to approach short stories with an enlightened eye!  This is a group of eleven short fiction pieces “about time – narratives of different people at different ages.” 

His simile to a roller coaster is apt here; some of the stories gently unfold, others surprise with their twists and turns.  The work is quite varied in style, but consistent in its high quality.  I was reminded of Roald Dahl’s short pieces when I read “The Farms at 93rd and Broadway”, about an older couple who unexpectedly attend a hypnosis demonstration instead of the Broadway show they had set out to see; by the end of the piece I was wondering which character was showing signs of senility and which was bluffing.

Some pieces are heavy on dialogue, others rely more on detailed narration.  “The Holes in My Door” begins as a piece about a man suffering from depression more than a year after his wife has left him.  Meeks deftly tells the tale in the first person, as the unnamed narrator slips deeper and deeper into paranoia:  “I heard noises outside each night, things I had never noticed from my room before – an odd, loud cawing for instance.  Couldn’t be a bird - few birds are active at night.  Must be a robber calling to his cohort …” 

At the young end of the age spectrum is a 7-year-old girl at camp, afraid of getting in the lake for swim lessons.  At the opposite end is a 78-year old man and his experience of “The Old Topanga Incident.”  This story is based on a ravaging fire that consumed over 16,000 acres in November 1993; it is gripping not only because of the way Meeks tells of the force of nature that is the Santa Ana winds fueling the fire, but also because of the urgency expressed by the point of view Meeks chooses.  “The Old Topanga Incident” is told as if the narrator is telling it to you, not you-the-reader, but you-the-protagonist, as you watch all your worldly, and highly-prized, possessions, burn to ash:

You open the door and you see a number of things simultaneously:  two firemen in bright yellow rubberized coats stand before you, shouting, “You’ve got to get out now!”  Two hundred yards up the hill is a wall of flame, and the house of the svelte woman with the dog burns brightly as if it were made of gasoline.  Flames shoot high.  Embers the size of your fist land in the juniper and cypress trees in your yard, on your car, in the driveway.

The end of Months and Seasons offers a “bonus track”, a story from his upcoming collection The Brightest Moon of the Century.  Each of the stories in the book center around the character Edward, parceling out bits and pieces of his life over a thirty-year period.  “The Hand” is the first story in this upcoming group, which will culminate as a “novel-in-stories” a la Melissa Bank’s The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing.

For a sneak peek at the “ups and downs,” written about in Months and Seasons, watch this YouTube video of an actor-read excerpt from the story “Whiskers”, introduced by Meeks.  His work has appeared in Rosebud and Clackamas Literary Review as well as other literary journals.  A previous collection, The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea was published in 2005.  Learn more by visiting the author’s website or subscribing to his blog.  Climb aboard the roller coaster that is Months and Seasons; the ride will stay with you for a while!

There’s still time to join us in planning “the week ahead”, and to enter to win a Page-A-Day Book Lover’s Calendar.  Find the details here:

A snapshot of what may, or may not, happen in my life this week:

Monday – We were away this weekend, so much of my day will be spent recovering from that [...]]]>

There’s still time to join us in planning “the week ahead”, and to enter to win a Page-A-Day Book Lover’s Calendar.  Find the details here:

A snapshot of what may, or may not, happen in my life this week:

Monday – We were away this weekend, so much of my day will be spent recovering from that – laundry and grocery shopping!  We were down the Cape visiting with friends at their family’s beach “lodge” – thank you Hilary and Tony (et al!).  The original structure of the Lodge was built as a fishing shack in the 1700s, it has been extended and updated throughout the years and has quite a bit of character.  As soon as we pulled down the gravel driveway and saw the building I said, “It’s The Big House!”, which was met by my children eye-rolling “of course it’s a big house”.  No, it reminded me of my mental picture of The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt.

Tuesday – TuesdayThingers, in which the Boston Bibliophile poses a question, somehow related to the LibraryThing site.  I also hope to have my review for Christopher Meeks’ short fiction collection, Months and Seasons, ready to post. 

Wednesday – I’ll post the next installment in my SOBs series, a photo and short blurb about R. Franklin Pyke Bookseller in Avalon, California, which was discovered by Lisa at Books on the Brain while on vacation recently.  We don’t have a lot of information about this bookstore; if you can add anything, feel free to Contact me or Comment on the post.  If there’s a special bookstore that you’d like to spotlight, please let me know!

Thursday – Tonight Book Club Girl will interview Debra Dean, author of The Madonnas of Leningrad.  If you have a quesion or comment for the author, you can call in (or e-mail your question to Book Club Girl ahead of time). 

Friday - Today’s the last day to enter the drawing for a copy of Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle.  The winner’s name will be posted on Saturday.