Monday Musings: The Best Books of 2013

It's been some time now since I've done a Monday Musings post.  School is out for the summer, our household has no particular set schedule,  my Mom recently underwent hip replacement surgery, and well, you get the picture...finding substantial "me" time has diminished.  But, I think life is beginning to return to some sense of normalcy here once again.  Since 2013 is now half over, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to look back on some of the books I've read thus far and share a list of my top five. This was rather difficult to determine; I've been fortunate enough to have several really outstanding books cross my path this year already and choosing just five was certainly a challenge.  But here are my top five and in case you missed my reviews, simply click on the titles:

1. The Flight Of The Earls By Michael K. Reynolds
2. A Tale For The Time Being By Ruth Ozeki
3. Mom & Me & Mom By Maya Angelou
4. The Cooked Seed By Anchee Min
5. The First Rule Of Swimming By Courtney Angela Brkic

These were all exceptional reads and I'm still chatting about them with family and friends.  I would love to hear what books are on your "favorites list" so far.  What books have you read that have remained with you long after the last page?

Monday Musings: From Book To Big Screen

This past weekend, I went to see The Great Gatsby based on the infamous novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Although I enjoyed the movie and the special effects a great deal, I wasn't totally in awe with the movie either.  At times, I felt as though certain aspects were overly exaggerated and at other times the character of Jay Gatsby, played by Leonardo Dicaprio, seemed rather "cheesy" for lack of a better word.  But overall, the movie certainly captured the essence of human nature as originally portrayed in Fitzgerald's novel, and certainly worth seeing.

I have several favorite movies that were adapted from books; The Harry Potter series, Balzac And The Chinese Seamstress, Fried Green Tomatoes, Forrest Gump, most movies based upon Stephen King novels, The Color Purple, The Godfather,  and I could go on and on.  But no matter how much I enjoy the movie, I still find that I prefer the novel itself.  There are just some things that cannot be captured on the big screen, such as the author's play on words, the atmosphere of the novel, or my  own interpretation of the novel itself.  And, I prefer to read the novel first before viewing the movie when possible.  The exception to this  was The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.  I have never read a book by this author (I know some of you may be gasping at this very moment) but after viewing the movie and sobbing throughout, I'm a bit more determined to follow up with  a few of his books now.  But for the most part, I prefer to read the book first.  What are some of your favorite films based on books?  In the end,  do you prefer the book or the movie? Why?

Monday Musings: Is Everyone A Critic?

Recently, I had been invited to join an online social group for writers.  Although I am not an author, I thought this would be a great opportunity to connect with authors and possibly increase my review opportunities.  As I was browsing this network, I came across a post entitled, "Is Everyone A Critic?"  Essentially, the author was belittling book blogs in general and expressed her opinion that not everyone should be able to offer a review of a book.  In essence, not everyone is qualified to review books (according to her standards anyway).  I admit, I was immediately offended but rather than leave a "snarky" comment...I just moved on.

Monday Musings: Publishing Posthumously

Even after her death in 1947, Willa Cather continues to be recognized as one of America's most prominent women writers and probably most notable for her stories, My Antonia and O Pioneers! In her final Will she had explicitly forbidden the publication of her personal letters.  However, in a recent interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, the now co-editors of Cather's published personal letters, Andrew Jewel and Janis Stout claim that Cather's letters were preserved with such care with the sole intention of being published "and  there was definitely the sense that there were precious materials that, one day, the world would want to see." You can find this complete interview here.

I'm finding this a bit disturbing and this is certainly not the first instance of posthumous publication.  If Willa Cather herself had explicitly stated in her Last Will And Testament that she did not want her personal letters published, shouldn't we continue to observe that final wish?   I could accept these items being placed into a Museum, perhaps The Smithsonian, as a testament to American literary history but certainly not published for the world to read and scrutinize.  Yes,these letters are a tremendous discovery and add personal insight into the life of an amazing woman and writer, but should we not respect a person's privacy and most all, her or his final wishes?  This debate about posthumous publication has been occurring for decades in the halls of academia and beyond as critics continue to argue an author's true intentions.  I think in this case it was made all too clear that these letters were not to be published.  What are your thoughts?  Does the public have a right to disregard an author's final wishes simply based on a desire to know the author in a more personal manner? 

Monday Musings: National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month has been celebrated every April since its commencement in 1996 by The Academy of American Poets.  During my younger years, I was never particularly fond of poetry.  I can still recall my high school English classes and the dread that came over me as we began the traditional segments on Poetry.  I felt as though I was drowning in allegories, alliterations, couplets, hyperboles, quatrains, rhythm, and the like.  Somehow the voice of the poet became lost to me amid all of this analysis.  It wasn't until many years later during a college course on World War I Literature that I discovered a deep fondness for Poetry and the emotional impact it possessed.  I immediately recognized " In Flanders Fields" By Lt. John McCrae.  My grandparents had a copy of this hanging in their home for as long as I could remember (In fact, that same framed copy now hangs in my living room).  As a child, I recall several occasions of insisting that my grandfather lift me into his arms and read it to me.  However, I was too young to understand its impact and the words were lost to me until many years later.  During my Lit. course, I was also moved by Wilfred Owen's infamous WW I poems, "Anthem For A Doomed Youth" and "Dulce et Decorum Est", and many by Siegfried Sassoon.  These were by no means flowery love poems, but instead dark and harrowing accounts filled with satire and the ugly truth of war.  For the first time, I was emotionally moved by Poetry and began to explore this genre of writing with a renewed sense of vigor.  As the years have passed, I have quite a list of favorite poets including, Emily Dickinson, William Wordsworth, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, and of course, Maya Angelou, as well as a variety of Chinese poets.  As National Poetry Month comes to a close this week, I welcome your thoughts and comments. Do you enjoy reading poetry? Do you have a favorite poem(s) or poet(s)? 

Monday Musings: Handwriting is Dead?

I know we've recently discussed the topic of print books vs. e-readers, and pondered if some day print books would in fact become obsolete.  However, in a recent article, The death of print has been greatly exaggerated by Kirsten Reach of Melville House, this discussion goes beyond books to include newspapers, magazines, and even handwriting....remember those days when our handwriting/cursive was graded for neatness and legibility, and if it didn't meet the grade we were forced, much to our disdain,  to write the assignment over? In her article, Kirsten argues that the death of print is, in essence, overly exaggerated and provides examples of how this debate has been going on for centuries. 

Although this isn't necessarily book-related, I would have to seriously question the downfall of handwriting in an age of text messages and emails.  When I was teaching freshman English during my years of Graduate Studies, I quickly became appalled at not only how poorly hand-writing has become, but that students were quite comfortable with incorporating text message acronyms and jargon into academic writing assignments.  I cannot begin to count the number of times a student would write "B4" instead of "before".  And not only did this appear in academic assignments but also student emails.  Yes, this is perhaps my biggest complaint resulting from today's technology.  What are your thoughts? Do you think  handwriting is a dying art form?

Monday Musings: Amazon's Acquisition of GoodReads

Last Thursday Amazon announced its acquisition of GoodReads (click here for the Wall Street Journal article). So what does this mean for the members of GoodReads such as myself?  To be honest, I really don't know.  However there appears to be many unhappy GoodReads members who are canceling their membership in protest of this acquisition.  Personally, I have no such intentions.  I currently own a Kindle and admit that I make a great many purchases from Amazon...and not just books either. 

Monday Musings: Why Do You Blog?

I recently read Born to Blog: Building Your Blog for Personal and Business Success One Post at a Time (I'll be posting a complete review later this week).  This is not something I typically read, but my sister and I have been engaged in an on-going discussion about blogging and I thought this particular book might be useful to both of us.  My sister, Betsy, recently started a blog, Betsy Between The Miles to share her passion for running and offering tips to others.  She is currently on assignment in Suriname and has been showcasing some of the local flavor as well as how she finds time to continue running amid a busy schedule.  This has been a wonderful way to stay connected to family and friends while she's gone and my boys are just loving the photos she shares.  Eventually, she would like to launch her own business as a personal trainer and hopes to utilize her blog to achieve that goal.  If you have a moment, please stop by and say hi  (I may be prejudiced of course, but I think her blog is off to an incredible start!)

In Born To Blog, the fundamental question is why do you blog? For me, it was simply a means to encourage myself to read more; to hold myself more accountable.  After years of academic study followed by the loss of someone very close to me, I found it difficult to simply read for pleasure but I knew I missed it a great deal.  And when I discovered how many authors are turning to bloggers as an alternate means to promote their novels I knew this would be a great opportunity to meet some very talented writers as well.  With the vast array of book bloggers, I'm also able to keep up with the latest reading trends in various genres and see what others are reading as well.  For me, this is simply a hobby and one that I enjoy a great deal!  So tell me, why do you blog?

Monday Musings: The Classics To Be Read

I was saddened this past week as I learned of the passing of Nigerian Author and Essayist, Chinhua Achebe.  Over the years, I have read various excerpts from his writings and had always intended to read his classic novel, Things Fall Apart.  Unfortunately, I never got around to reading it.  It's one of those books that I not only want to read but it's one of the many classics I feel that I should read.  Today marks the birthday of American author, Flannery O'Connor; another author I have yet to read but know I should.  And like most readers, I have a list of classic books that I've meaning to read and although the list is much too long to include in this post,  I've decided to choose five books from this list and commit myself to read them before the end of the year:

1. Things Fall Apart By Chinhua Achebe
2. A Good Man Is Hard To Find & Other Stories By Flannery O'Connor
3. Bastard Out Of Carolina By Dorothy Allison
4. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter By Carson McCullers
5. Tender Is The Night By F. Scott Fitzgerald

This really is just a small portion of the many books on my list, but it makes for a good start.  Perhaps this week I'll create a separate page here on my blog with my "bucket list" of books. What classic books are on your list? Who are those famous authors that you feel you just have to read?

Monday Musings: Print or E-Books?

I never imagined I would become so fond of my e-reader.  I have always been one to collect books and still enjoy displaying them on my bookcases.  But now, if I were asked to choose between print books and e-books I would have a difficult time choosing.  I've had my Kindle Fire HD now for a few months now and I love it!  I find that just being able to increase the font size alone is a big advantage for me.  At 40-something, I've been wearing bi-focals for several years already and any comfort I can give my eyes is a big plus!  And of course, e-readers are relatively light-weight and very portable.  I have a couple of Stephen King books on my shelf now that I've been wanting to read but the mere size of the books are rather daunting. (Stephen King really should become the poster author for e-readers!)  And, I like the ability to be able read in the dark. But with that being said, I still find myself wanting to have copies of certain books on my shelves; books that I really enjoyed and have left notes in the margins (yes, I write in books!) and those that I would like for my children to read someday as well.   It would really be difficult to choose....what about you, do you have a particular preference for one over the other? Do you think a day will come when print books are obsolete? (That is truly my worst nightmare!)

Monday Musings: Who's Your Rainbow?

March is National Women's History Month and in light of this, I've been thinking about the many women writers who have inspired me over the years: Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison and Eve Ensler...just to name a few.  However, if I had to name just one woman writer that I have turned to time and time again for inspiration and a bit of  "soul-soothing",  it would most certainly be Dr. Maya Angelou.  On days when I feel that I have simply had enough and need a time out, I know I can randomly flip through the pages of  Angelou's poetry or listen to one of her readings, and I'm sure to find comfort and a sense of renewed strength. (Now, some of you may turn to yoga for a similar result...but at my age, I find yoga positions to be rather intimidating and requiring a bit more flexibility than I can muster).

Monday Musings: Choosing Your Next Book

Welcome to another edition of Monday Musings.  For those of you who have visited previously, I'm sure you've noticed some major changes here? I spent the weekend re-designing my blog but that's not the only change.  Due to overwhelming review requests, I've had to seriously limit the types of books I'll consider for review. This was quite a challenge for me and required a great deal of consideration....I'm such a book junkie!

Monday Musings: Books In Translation

Welcome to Monday Musings!  This is a weekly feature where each Monday I'll post a  topic for you to share your thoughts and opinions. I would like to thank those of you who participated last week, and in particular, thank you to Natalie of Fill Your Bookshelf for sharing those wonderful pod cast links!

This week's topic for discussion is Books In Translation...

Monday Musings: Audio Books

Welcome to my first installment of Monday Musings!  This will be a weekly feature hosted here at The Book Barista where each Monday I'll post a book-related topic for your thoughtful consideration. So, grab your cup of coffee and let's chat!  This week's topic for discussion is Audio Books...