A little plug for our guest blogs on this site: Mary has a wonderful blog on Muse and the woman hero's journey, and Ania Szado is our guest blogger for this coming January.
December 8, 2013 Christmas Wish List Event
- Thread starter Gail Anderson-Dargatz
- Start date
It's here! I've been looking forward to this event for a few weeks! Books I'm giving for Christmas this year:
1. The Diary of Anne Frank--for my 12 year old son who is fascinated by the German Nazi period. He sees the "bad-ness", but I fear, also is intrigued by the sense of belonging some fell sway to via the mind-bending tactics of that regime. I want him to see the reality of the victims from a real person near his age. I bought the book; holding it, I remember when I first read it and how devastating it was to me. So it's still in my drawer til I have time to give it to him when I can share a little of my own experience reading it. Not sure if that's right or wrong, but it keeps tugging at me to do. Any input welcome on that!
2. Buddha in Your Backpack by Franz Metcalf for my 14 y.o. son who is interested in Buddhism, and is a thoughtful young man struggling to make sense of himself...in that 14 y.o. tangle of "becoming".
3. Gift certificate for books and toy ideas via "A Mighty Girl" website which is one of my fave finds of the year for sure! Collects and displays books and toys etc that feature girls as heros vs victims (my paraphrase)...e.g. A girl goes and slays the dragon before waiting on a Prince to do it for her. http://www.amightygirl.com/holiday-guide
I want:
1.The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. Just discovered this last week from the bookshelf of a friend! Read it in an hour; it stayed with me for days! http://www.richardpaulevans.com/books/the-christmas-box Beautifully, succinctly written. (RPE claims he wrote it in 6 weeks. Brat.)
2.Alice Adventures in Wonderland ("original"--not Disneyfied)
3.Winnie the Pooh (ditto)
4.Beatrix Potter collection (need to see if there's an edition that includes both her stories AND her original drawings/biography bits. THAT would be perfect!)
The latter three are to rebuild my own book collection that has been scattered, literally across miles!
1. The Diary of Anne Frank--for my 12 year old son who is fascinated by the German Nazi period. He sees the "bad-ness", but I fear, also is intrigued by the sense of belonging some fell sway to via the mind-bending tactics of that regime. I want him to see the reality of the victims from a real person near his age. I bought the book; holding it, I remember when I first read it and how devastating it was to me. So it's still in my drawer til I have time to give it to him when I can share a little of my own experience reading it. Not sure if that's right or wrong, but it keeps tugging at me to do. Any input welcome on that!
2. Buddha in Your Backpack by Franz Metcalf for my 14 y.o. son who is interested in Buddhism, and is a thoughtful young man struggling to make sense of himself...in that 14 y.o. tangle of "becoming".
3. Gift certificate for books and toy ideas via "A Mighty Girl" website which is one of my fave finds of the year for sure! Collects and displays books and toys etc that feature girls as heros vs victims (my paraphrase)...e.g. A girl goes and slays the dragon before waiting on a Prince to do it for her. http://www.amightygirl.com/holiday-guide
I want:
1.The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. Just discovered this last week from the bookshelf of a friend! Read it in an hour; it stayed with me for days! http://www.richardpaulevans.com/books/the-christmas-box Beautifully, succinctly written. (RPE claims he wrote it in 6 weeks. Brat.)
2.Alice Adventures in Wonderland ("original"--not Disneyfied)
3.Winnie the Pooh (ditto)
4.Beatrix Potter collection (need to see if there's an edition that includes both her stories AND her original drawings/biography bits. THAT would be perfect!)
The latter three are to rebuild my own book collection that has been scattered, literally across miles!
Hi everyone,
I've just spent the bulk of my Christmas money at our local bookstore (Novel Idea) so this forum comes at a good time! I have a bit of an eclectic mix so bear with me.
Nocturne by Helen Humphreys is my non-fiction pick of the year. I'm giving a copy to both my mom and my mother-in-law, as well as my publisher. In this gorgeous celebration of a life Helen reflects on her brother's untimely passing. To be honest, I didn't want to read this book because I thought it would too sad -- but I couldn't put it down. It reminds me more of Helen's poetry than her prose. The writing here is spare, honest, funny, and gut-wrenching.
For the kids on my list (who are now between the ages of 6-10) I have some of my all time favorite books: Awake and Dreaming by Kit Pearson, The Giver and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, and of course, Love that Dog, by Sharon Creech. Awake and Dreaming is a gorgeous book about a young girl who lives in poverty and lives a kind of alternate life...I don't want to describe it too much and ruin it. Suffice it to say that I think it's beyond beautiful. The Giver is a great introduction to science fiction and delves deeply into issues of freedom, suffering, and love. Number the Stars is the best introduction to the Holocaust I've read. It gives a fictionalized account of the true resistance in Denmark, with a female protagonist who is not only brave and admirable, but also thoroughly herself. Love that Dog manages to make it on my list as one of the best books of poetry I've read as well as one of the best kid's book I've ever read.
For my husband I'm giving him Born Weird, by Andrew Kauffman. Born Weird is a fun romp through the world of the Weirds, a family that seems very real despite the surreal elements of the book. I'm also giving him Bang Crunch a fabulous book of short stories by Neil Smith. Smith's writing reminds me of Munro and since my husband wrote his thesis on Munro I think it's a fitting gift. In addition, since he's been such a good husband this year, I'm also picking up The Sisters Brother by Patrick DeWitt which I haven't read but I've heard is quite an excellent and bloody book.
Speaking of bloody, I'm giving Husk, by Corey Redekop to my neighbour Matt who loves the zombie genre. I thought Husk was a fun though vomit-inducing read.
For my bff I'm sending the griffin nominated Personals Ian Williams as well as Leaving Howe Island by Sadiqa DeMeijer. Both of these books of poetry have that warm tenderness that makes you glad to be a part of this world. I know Sheri will go crazy over these books.
Lastly, I'm asking Santa for Caught by Lisa Moore (I died over February -- what a supremely beautiful book) as well as How to Get Along with Women by Elisabeth DeMariaffi. I've been wanting to read more of Elisabeth's work ever since I heard her read in a little book store in Perth, Ontario. And now I'm broke.
I've just spent the bulk of my Christmas money at our local bookstore (Novel Idea) so this forum comes at a good time! I have a bit of an eclectic mix so bear with me.
Nocturne by Helen Humphreys is my non-fiction pick of the year. I'm giving a copy to both my mom and my mother-in-law, as well as my publisher. In this gorgeous celebration of a life Helen reflects on her brother's untimely passing. To be honest, I didn't want to read this book because I thought it would too sad -- but I couldn't put it down. It reminds me more of Helen's poetry than her prose. The writing here is spare, honest, funny, and gut-wrenching.
For the kids on my list (who are now between the ages of 6-10) I have some of my all time favorite books: Awake and Dreaming by Kit Pearson, The Giver and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, and of course, Love that Dog, by Sharon Creech. Awake and Dreaming is a gorgeous book about a young girl who lives in poverty and lives a kind of alternate life...I don't want to describe it too much and ruin it. Suffice it to say that I think it's beyond beautiful. The Giver is a great introduction to science fiction and delves deeply into issues of freedom, suffering, and love. Number the Stars is the best introduction to the Holocaust I've read. It gives a fictionalized account of the true resistance in Denmark, with a female protagonist who is not only brave and admirable, but also thoroughly herself. Love that Dog manages to make it on my list as one of the best books of poetry I've read as well as one of the best kid's book I've ever read.
For my husband I'm giving him Born Weird, by Andrew Kauffman. Born Weird is a fun romp through the world of the Weirds, a family that seems very real despite the surreal elements of the book. I'm also giving him Bang Crunch a fabulous book of short stories by Neil Smith. Smith's writing reminds me of Munro and since my husband wrote his thesis on Munro I think it's a fitting gift. In addition, since he's been such a good husband this year, I'm also picking up The Sisters Brother by Patrick DeWitt which I haven't read but I've heard is quite an excellent and bloody book.
Speaking of bloody, I'm giving Husk, by Corey Redekop to my neighbour Matt who loves the zombie genre. I thought Husk was a fun though vomit-inducing read.
For my bff I'm sending the griffin nominated Personals Ian Williams as well as Leaving Howe Island by Sadiqa DeMeijer. Both of these books of poetry have that warm tenderness that makes you glad to be a part of this world. I know Sheri will go crazy over these books.
Lastly, I'm asking Santa for Caught by Lisa Moore (I died over February -- what a supremely beautiful book) as well as How to Get Along with Women by Elisabeth DeMariaffi. I've been wanting to read more of Elisabeth's work ever since I heard her read in a little book store in Perth, Ontario. And now I'm broke.
Good morning!
Nerys, A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam is also on my list for books to receive. His first novel, Some Great Thing was one of the best novels of that flurry of young writers in the early 2000s.
I actually cheated and bought The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt as an early gift for myself and started reading it a couple of weeks ago, but it's 771 pages, so I fear I may be it reading next Christmas also!
I bought A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout for my mother-in-law, because she only reads non-fiction and is really into politics (hence, she reads nothing I write). And I bought The Silent Wife by ASA Harrison for my brother-in-law who likes crime fiction. And The Grinch Who Stole Christmas for my son because, well, you know.
Nerys, A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam is also on my list for books to receive. His first novel, Some Great Thing was one of the best novels of that flurry of young writers in the early 2000s.
I actually cheated and bought The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt as an early gift for myself and started reading it a couple of weeks ago, but it's 771 pages, so I fear I may be it reading next Christmas also!
I bought A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout for my mother-in-law, because she only reads non-fiction and is really into politics (hence, she reads nothing I write). And I bought The Silent Wife by ASA Harrison for my brother-in-law who likes crime fiction. And The Grinch Who Stole Christmas for my son because, well, you know.
Well, because I've been a full time MFA student and working full time too, most of the books I've read in the past two years have been on craft. So, if you're buying for a writer this year who has a good sense of humour and who is minded to master grammar (I know, small audience, but anyway), I'd recommend "The Elements of F*cking Style" which is a sardonic little book of grammar. It has chapter titles like, "Don't join independent clauses with a comma it's f*cking lame-o" and "Stylistic structures are like brands of Scotch. Pick one a stick with it". It's definitely a rated R grammar reference, if you can imagine such a thing, but informative and refreshing somehow. And it's thin which all books about grammar really should be if they are actually going to be read. I also found "Bird by Bird" by Ann Lamott an entertaining, inspiration read (it felt really good to know that there is a published author out there more neurotic than I am, and giving advice no less, dear god) and Natalie Goldberg's Zen inspired, "Writing Down the Bones". Though both of these have been around for a while, I found them soothing, funny and inspirational all at once.
I also recently read The People Are not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu. It's an impressive debut novel about young women in the Israeli army. It's not a cozy book by any means, but it's funny, brave, and skillfully written. Review here.
I am going to pop in from time to time with brief comments about each of the novels I mentioned above:
First: The Roundhouse, (Louise Erdrich) a story of a crime and its consequences on a First Nations Reservation in North Dakota in the 1980’s. Erdrich writes with such compassion, from such a deep well of experience and knowledge, that – though the tale is ultimately tragic – it is at the same time strangely uplifting, perhaps mainly because she lets us see so clearly into the heart of the young protagonist.
First: The Roundhouse, (Louise Erdrich) a story of a crime and its consequences on a First Nations Reservation in North Dakota in the 1980’s. Erdrich writes with such compassion, from such a deep well of experience and knowledge, that – though the tale is ultimately tragic – it is at the same time strangely uplifting, perhaps mainly because she lets us see so clearly into the heart of the young protagonist.
I think it's funny that we're both giving books about the holocaust for the holidays! I think these books are great for getting the discussion going on human nature, discrimination, and empathy. Both my daughter and I cried during the reading of Number the Stars. Even though it's not really a sad book, it brings home the idea of all of those who didn't make it. I think it's a wonderful bonding experience and it shows our trust and belief in our children.
Gail, check out Beth Kephart. Her writing is just beautiful. And, interestingly, even captivated the child of mine who prefers reading newspapers to fiction.
Yes, I read the Yiddish Policemen's Union last month and found so many things about the novel to appreciate: the quality of the writing, for sure; the strong character of the north; the creative premise. It's on my reading pile again. I will pick it up in a few weeks to see not the story this time, but more how he does it.
I haven't read as much this year as I should have, and mostly books that weren't new. I think the only new release I finished was Night Film by Marisha Pessl, which was riveting and expertly paced, as a literary thriller should be. I enjoyed its perverse characters. Ha.
Easily the best book I read this year was State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, not that it's new. But it was new to me! Very close to being the perfect novel, in my opinion. One of those quest novels that reminds me Heart of Darkness, and that pleases the goggle-eyed English student in me.
Easily the best book I read this year was State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, not that it's new. But it was new to me! Very close to being the perfect novel, in my opinion. One of those quest novels that reminds me Heart of Darkness, and that pleases the goggle-eyed English student in me.
I didn't know she was your daughter!!! I see her book mentioned all over the place. How exciting. It's going on my list!
I forgot to post my website too. www.michellebarker.ca
I forgot to post my website too. www.michellebarker.ca