Sign of the Times

You know I like a good typo. But when it appears in a national publication that should know better, I get a little testy.
Recently, New York Times Magazine had a doozy. Every time an article referred to a D-list actor named James Deen, it changed his name to James Dean (see article on the right). Oddly, it only happened when the writer used Deen's full name. This despite the fact that a second reference, which was "Deen," followed (very closely). Now you know the writer didn't do this - it must have happened during fact-checking and proofreading.
So this tells us, boys and girls, that either someone was asleep at the wheel, or that New York Times Magazine was using the all-powerful spell check instead of a human proofreader.
Maybe the powers-that-be don't care that they look like idiots. But I remember a day when the New York Times was held up as the pinnacle of journalism, a true goal to aspire to as a writer and editor.
I have a lot of friends who work at that newspaper, and they are absolutely fabulous at their jobs. But they are also stretched to the max in the pursuit of the tightest margin, rather than the tightest article.
While I love the Wild Wild West that has become Internet "journalism" because it's given us a lot of fun and funky writing, I don't think that means we should ignore the basic rules that set the foundation for writers. And that goes double for print publications.
James Dean the icon should not be mistaken for James Deen the "porn star." I guess we should just be thankful it didn't turn into Paula Deen. She would not be amused, ya'll.

My Eyes!

There are two times during the year when I know I'm going to need a trip to the optometrist. Spring and fall are notorious for heaping books on me. I know it's partially my own fault. Why I feel the need to read all the books on an awards nomination list is beyond me. But it's a compulsion.

As you may know, I am already in the throes of reading all the contenders for this year's Tournament of Books, hosted by The Morning News.
There are 15 books on the list at this point, and I have read six. Don't worry...with five weeks to read the rest, I have "plenty" of time. Sigh.
I have also done my civic duty and voted in the Tournament of Books Zombie Round. Just in case you haven't been reading my blog (sigh again), the Zombie round gives eliminated books a chance to rise from the dead. I voted for my favorite book to date, Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (READ IT).
But back to the issue with my eyes. The Edgar Award nominees were just announced by the Mystery Writers of America, giving me roughly 20 more books to read by May. I have read five of the nominated books already.
That's a lot of pressure. After all, how can I give you my opinion on the sanity of the judges if I have not read the books myself? Exactly.
To add even more tiny print for my optical pleasure, the National Book Awards have changed their rules for the first time in forever, stating that they will now announce a "long list" of 10 nominees per category. I applaud the changes, which were inspired by my favorite book award, the Man Booker Prize. However, that now means I'll have about 80 books to read for those fall programs.
So look for me at the local pharmacy, trying on reading glasses in ever-increasing intensity.
Meanwhile, here is the list of the nominees for the Edgars. Note that I don't include the short story or juvenile prizes. I have to draw the line somewhere.

Best Novel

The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins
The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (you go, Girl)
Potboiler by Jesse Kellerman
Sunset by Al Lamanda
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
All I Did Was Shoot My Man by Walter Mosley

Best First Novel

The Map of Lost Memories by Kim Fay
Don't Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman
Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal
The Expats by Chris Pavone
The 500 by Matthew Quirk
Black Fridays by Michael Sears

Best Paperback Original

Complication by Isaac Adamson
Whiplash River by Lou Berney
Bloodland by Alan Glynn
Blessed Are the Dead by Malla Nunn
The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

Best Fact Crime

Midnight in Peking by Paul French
Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King
More Forensics and Fiction by D.P. Lyle, MD
Double Cross by Ben Macintyre
The People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry

Best Critical/Biographical

Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe by John Paul Athanasourelis
Books to Die For edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke
The Scientific Sherlock Holmes by James O'Brien
In Pursuit of Spenser edited by Otto Penzler

Gaming the Scrabble System

I have enough self-confidence to admit that I am an avid Scrabble player, and have even been known to play on a team. There is one member of our team who shall remain nameless (Jean) who seems to have figured out how to game the system.

She sits there quietly, the sweetest person on the team, and just smiles and waits. And then she cuts your throat. She would be the perfect recruit for the CIA. No one would suspect her. But she's ruthless.

Now I think I've discovered her secret. Besides the fact that she likes to construct little buildings of multi-layered words (drives us crazy), I bet she knows what the research guru at Google just figured out: Letter frequency and word frequency don't match the point system that Scrabble has used for 75 years.

According to Deadspin, the strategy you should use is to get rid of your J and Q as quickly as you can. They just don't pay off the way you think they will. As the article says, "God bless 'jo' and 'qi.'" That's practically a rallying cry for our team.

And the letters you should be thrilled to pull? That would be H, Y, and Z. Deadspin says, "The language contains more Z-words than (Scrabble founder) Alfred Butts apparently realized, and you can exploit this knowledge." Zouks, anyone?

The clever writers at Deadspin have also figured out my ruthless teammate's issue: "Once a fever catches you in Scrabble, it's hard to shake. You become misanthropic, savage."

Well played, Jean. Well played.

Review + Recipe: End of Times

Review: The Age of Miracles

by Karen Thompson Walker
Entering your teens can be an earth-shattering experience for any girl, usually including a brick-hard belief that the world is going to end if something does, or does not, happen the way it should. Everything is drama and high emotion.
Imagine if that coming-of-age is played out at a time when the world really is moving to a close.
In The Age of Miracles, a young girl named Julia begins a normal Saturday with her family, until the news emerges that the Earth has begun to slow down. At first the movement is small, barely noticeable, just adding 56 minutes to the usual 24-hour day. But as the planet slows more and more each day, bigger changes occur. Birds fall from the sky, crops begin to fail, insomnia strikes as the hours of daylight shift and slow. Morning becomes night and night becomes noon. Gravity pulls and pushes the human body in unhealthy ways. And there is absolutely nothing that can be done to stop it.
At first, there is a faction of "normals" who want to, who need to, retain a sense of normalcy despite the reality that is right in front of them. Eventually though, even they must give in to the inevitable. After all, how do you stick to a schedule when the clock (and the government) tells you to go to school as the sun goes down? Why bother with your job or paying bills as you watch all the plants wither around you? Does that "normal" life make sense when nothing will ever be the same?
In this crazy, tilting world, Julia's personal life mirrors the larger events surrounding her, with a constant moving landscape of parental problems, boy issues, and raging hormones.
Julia finds it difficult to keep her footing on the shifting ground of her life, and that's without the grander scale of problems created by the Earth's slowing movement.
Walker does a deft job of juggling the larger picture of a descent into the end of time, and the smaller, but no less important, details of a young girl just at the start of her adult life. At the end, this isn't a sad tale, but rather a bittersweet look at the time in our lives where one chapter is ending and another very different one is beginning.

Recipe: My Last Best Meal

So let's say the planet is spinning out of control – or slowing down to a dead stop. What would be your last best meal? This is game often played on Top Chef, and I notice that the most common ingredient is calories. Lots and lots of calories. And why not, right? So here is my recipe for the one dish that I try to eat only once a year: Macaroni and Cheese. Makes 4 servings, unless the world is ending. If that is the case, just get a big spoon and dig right in. Portion control will be the least of your concerns.
1 pound macaroni
4 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup diced onion
4 Tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream (see why I try not to eat this?)
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/2 cups very sharp cheddar, grated
1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup breadcrumbs
Cook pasta according to instructions and then set aside to cool. In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and then add onion. Lightly season with salt and cook until onion is translucent. Add flour and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, but don't let it brown. Whisk in milk and cream slowly to create a creamy consistency. Bring mixture to a simmer, add bay leaf and cloves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Turn off heat and remove bay leaf. Stir in
1 1/2 cups of cheddar and the Swiss cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then stir in the cooked macaroni. Spoon into 2 1/2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheddar, Parmesan, and breadcrumbs. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Books in the News

Are things turning a corner in the book world? I'm not saying that books are flying off the shelves or anything, but I am encouraged by recent book launches that have made national news.
First, I received many emails in my inbox from mainstream media outlets, alerting me to Khaled Hosseini's new novel that will be published in May. And the Mountains Echoed will center around the themes of family and generations, subjects that he also visited in The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
And, although I am not a fan, Dan Brown introduced his new book on the Today show this week. Titled Inferno and once again featuring symbologist Robert Langdon, the novel also will debut in May.
The "big reveal" was preceded by a social media event on Facebook and Twitter that asked fans to guess which "major literary masterpiece" would be the inspiration for the title.
Even though Dan Brown has "legions" of fans (according to most coverage of the event), the campaign had the unintended consequence of giving his critics a good laugh as they came up with some title suggestions. My favorites: The Bleak House Code, Harry Potter and Demons, and Fifty Shades of Robert Langdon. I even submitted The House with the Seven Demons.
I contend I was closest to the mark because both my guess and his actual inspiration (Dante, of course) are no longer widely read "masterpieces."
While I still say Dan Brown needs a good editor, he definitely scored with his PR team.
McDonald's also entered the literary news recently (using the term "literary" loosely) with the announcement that all Happy Meals in Britain will now contain books rather than toys. That has the good-news-bad-news issue that the Dan Brown announcement also had, but I like the idea that more kids will have books in their hands, particularly since McDonald's says it will hand out 15 million books by the end of 2014.
Now that makes me happy.

Is It March Yet?

Last year's Tournament of Books bracket.

This week, it's felt too much like March in my area of the country. The downside is that it brings to mind disturbing thoughts of global warming. The upside is that it reminds me that the 2013 Tournament of Books is just two months away. Let's focus on the upside.
Last year, I wasn't able to read all of the finalists before they squared off in a head-to-head showdown. I plan to read every one before this year's contest kicks off.
If you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, let's review.
Brought to you by The Morning News, and sponsored this year by Nook from Barnes & Noble, the Tournament of Books is a March Madness-style contest that takes 16 of the year's top books and has them face off in pairs on a bracket, with each contest judged by a member of an esteemed panel.
Or, as TMN says, it's the "granddaddy of highbrow bracketology."
I've read quite a few of the books on the list of 16, so I want to get the rest in before the contest kicks off. There also is a new twist this year, with a Pre-Tournament Playoff Round between Fobbit by David Abrams, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain, and The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. Once that round finishes, I'll read the book that's left standing. Hey, I'm already committed to reading roughly 12 books in 6 weeks, so forget about going for 2 extras, ok? Do the math.
If you want to play along, here are the other 15 books that are ready to rumble. The ones with asterisks are those that I've finished already:

• HHhH by Laurent Binet
• The Round House by Louise Erdrich (not a fan, so this one will be tough)
• * Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (met her this year!)
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• * Arcadia by Lauren Groff
• How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
• May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
• The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (reading this now)
• Ivyland by Miles Klee
• * Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (I'm getting pom-poms to lead the cheerleading squad for this one)
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Dear Life by Alice Munro
• Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
• * Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
• Building Stories by Chris Ware

Truth and Daring

I've been on a bio-streak recently. No, that isn't some sort of mad-scientist experiment. I've just read a lot of good books about fascinating lives.
It's interesting that there are so many versions of biographies – memoir, autobiography, epistolary account, biography, fictionalized bio, and more.
Two very different tales of larger-than-life characters were recent favorites: One is truth and the other is a daring tale of fiction.

Grace: A Memoir

by Grace Coddington
If Anna Wintour is the "devil" at Vogue, then you can call Grace Coddington the sorcerer behind the scenes. She is the creative force that has given Vogue's photo layouts their distinctive flair for decades.
This very candid memoir, perfect for anyone interested in the oh-so-snarky fashion world, follows Coddington's career from its beginning as a '60s Brit model who first wore Sassoon's famous five-point cut, to her work with British Vogue, then Calvin Klein, and then her amazingly long-term career at Vogue's American flagship.
She is just as open about her personal life, her ups-and-downs with co-workers and colleagues (including La Wintour), her sister's death, her marriages, and her 30-year relationship with her current flame, Didier Malige.
Not only is this a fun "insider's" read on the industry and a look at the creative process, but Coddington's signature quirkiness is also spotlighted, including her little pen-and-ink sketches of Vogue staffers, industry insiders, and her two cats.

Sutton

by J.R. Moehringer
Now this is a biography of another color. Touted as a "non-fiction novel," Pulitzer-Prize winning author J.R. Moehringer takes the real-life account of bank robber Willie Sutton and weaves it into a daring and fascinating tale of right vs. wrong, truth vs. fiction.
Sutton grew up in Brooklyn during the tough 1920s with luck already turned against him. His father was a blacksmith at the time when cars were hitting the streets, he was an Irish immigrant in a city that looked down on "his type," and he was one of the millions caught in vicious cycles of recessions and depressions in the early 20th century.
Those formative early years fed a deep anger and resentment in Sutton, particularly at the banks that he saw as the cause of all the financial woes of his generation. That simmering frustration found an outlet in crimes against those very banks. Styling himself as a modern-day Robin Hood, Sutton had a fruitful 30-year career robbing banks throughout New York and New Jersey. Ever the gentleman, he relied on disguises and guile rather than violence to commit his crimes, priding himself on never firing a shot.
During his several stints in prison, Sutton studied up on the classics and philosophical tomes, trying to find meaning in his life, and his crimes.
Moehringer finds a clever way to pull us into Sutton's life and mind with this fictionalized account, full of twists and turns.

Both of these books breathe life into the biography genre, making truth more compelling with a generous dash of daring. Look for more reviews of great biographies in the coming weeks.

Ode to the Library, Part III, Little Version

So far my ode to the library has gone big – featuring one of the largest library systems in the country, and a world-renowned presidential library.
It's time to downsize, with a big idea that is changing the world in small ways.
The Little Free Library project started in 2009 with the mission to offer free books to anyone who wanted them, and to promote literacy for all. Looking much like an oversized birdhouse, the little library was a cheery neighborhood repository where people could pick up a free book, or leave a book for others.
Today, there are over 5,000 Little Libraries in 36 countries – an amazing achievement for a "small" idea. In fact, that's more libraries than Andrew Carnegie endowed.
The ability to provide books, and the joy of reading, to communities that are too small, poor, or remote for a traditional library is an incredible gift. I was quite happy to discover that there are two in my town, including the one pictured above, and I have donated a few books to them for someone else to enjoy.
And now I'd like to do more. I've set a goal to raise enough money to fund a Little Free Library. If you're interested in joining me, email me at readeatthink (at) gmail.com. Or you can click through the link above to the Little Free Library fund and donate today.
It's a small way to make a big difference.

Ode to the Library, Part II, POTUS Edition

I've never been to a presidential library before, and I often wondered what would be cataloged inside. POTUS bedtime reading? Books only about that particular president? Best letters ever written?

The answer is all of the above – well, other than the bedtime reading part. And it's so much more, too.
When I visited the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark., I was surprised to find a lot to see and do. I had been told earlier in the day by the concierge in my hotel that Little Rockers (should be the right term, even if it isn't) didn't like the architecture of the library because it reminded them of a mobile home trailer. Long pause. "But maybe that's more appropriate than not," he said.
If you squint a little at the photo above, I guess it does look like a bit like a mobile home (nice touch with the cinder block supports), but I actually thought it was much more like those modernist homes you see clinging to the sides of hills in Los Angeles, and I liked that about it.
Anyway, this is the one library where you can go in and check things out, but only in the visual sense. There are some books, mostly bound versions of Clinton's papers, letters, and schedules. But it's more like a museum, with artifacts, gifts from other state leaders, letters from admirers and celebrities, and a recreated Clinton Oval Office and Cabinet Room.
I enjoyed the notebooks full of every daily schedule of Bill Clinton's two terms. And I'll answer the question I'm asked most when I say I looked through them: No, there was no mention of Monica.
Enjoy the photos below – and join me later this week for my final installment on the library, featuring the smallest one I've ever seen.

The recreated Oval Office from Bill Clinton's White House.

The Cabinet Room.

Those infamous daily schedules.

A Chihuly Christmas Tree, created for the Clinton White House.

The Presidential Seal on the ceiling of the Oval Office.

Letter from Mother Teresa to Hillary Clinton.

A table set with the Clinton White House china.

A small replica Taj Mahal created out of pearls and platinum, a gift to the Clintons from the people of India.

The interior of the Clinton Presidential Center. Note the books encased in the columns.

Overdue Ode to the Libarary, Part I

Looking back at the resolutions I set for myself at the beginning of 2012, I actually accomplished a lot of them. Shocking.

The one that I have to say I had the most fun with was the goal to visit the library as often as possible. And let's just say I didn't confine my visits to my local branch, the gorgeous Kathleen Clay Edwards Library.
I made it a point to go to the nirvana of libraries (New York Public Library, of course), and to my very first presidential library.
So I'm going to give you a three-part Ode to the Library. Because even my "best friend" and idol The Bloggess has declared 2013 the Year of the Library – but for slightly different reasons than mine.
Here in part one of my Ode, we'll travel to New York and visit Library Row. On that trip last December, I resided at the Library Hotel, one of the coolest places I've ever stayed. The hotel is full of books and reading nooks, making it the perfect escape.
New goal: When I'm rich and famous, I am going to live in the Library Hotel, like Coco Chanel in the Ritz.
A clever twist in the hotel's theme is that the rooms are numbered according to the Dewey Decimal System, and each room contains the books that would correspond to that DDS number in an actual library. For example, I had room 700.004, which of course would be Photography. Therefore, my room had shelves and shelves of fabulous books about photography.
The hotel's location couldn't be better – it's right on Library Row, about a half-block from the main branch of the New York Public Library, a building stuffed so full of words that it made my head spin. I even had that little panic attack I always have in great bookstores and libraries – the one where I realize it will be impossible to read everything around me, but I have a compulsion to frantically give it a go.
Anyway, on the way out I gave Fortitude the lion a little pat, and avoided Patience, the other lion on the front steps of the NYPL. Well you had to know that one wouldn't be my favorite, right?
Enjoy the photos of my trip. In the next installment, I'll take you along to Little Rock, Ark.

Fortitude watches over Madison Avenue.

 

The stunning carved ceiling in one of the porticoes of the NYPL.

The lobby of the NYPL, complete with Lego models of the lions, Patience and Fortitude.

One of the NYPL Reading Rooms.

Now that's a catalog!

The Library Hotel, a.k.a. my retirement home.

The book-filled lobby of the Library Hotel

My Dewey Decimal numbered room.

Book shelves in my room.

Too true.

One of the many sidewalk markers on Library Row, featuring quotes from books and authors.

New Year, New Books

Well, I did it. I read the 50 books in 2012 that I said I would. Actually, I read over 80 books, but who's counting? And to tell the truth, if you add in all the books in the huge Dickens anthology I read, then it's more like 100 books.
The hardest part of the process was keeping track of what I read. Pinterest helped immensely...when I could remember to pin the books that I'd read. To see (most of) what I read, click here.
So now comes the fun part: I get to tell you which were my favorites, and I get to set a new goal.

Favorite Reads in 2012

You know how hard it is for me to choose just one top book, so here are a few that really made an impression this year - but in no particular order:
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. Spooky, kooky, and impossible to put down, it will make you shiver in more ways than one. Click the title to see a review.
Extra Virginity by Tom Mueller. Well thanks a lot, Mueller. Now I look at all olive oil with suspicion. But this was a fun, fact-filled read. Click the title to see a review.
Bossypants by Tina Fey. All hail the next President of the United States. Okay, maybe just the Queen of Laughter then.
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. Why did it have to end? There is a reason that Mantel has won the Man Booker Prize twice.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. A heart-wrenching book that makes you wish the story wasn't true. But it is.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. What if the spinning Earth just ... stopped? The resulting story by Walker won't let you out of its gravitational pull.
The Black House by Peter May. If you read this blog, you know I read a lot of mysteries. Set on a remote Scottish island, this is one of the best I read this year.
Sutton by J.R. Moehringer. A fictionalized tale of a real-life bank robber in the '30s who fancied himself to be a 20th-century Robin Hood.
The Yard by Alex Grecian. A novel that imagines the earliest days at Scotland Yard. And there had better be a sequel in the works.
Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington. Full of fun drawings by the author and photos of her early modeling days, this book is a very refreshing look back at a creative and fashionable life.

Goal for 2013

Duh. I will read more books.
Let's see...this year I will set my goal at an even 100.
Wishing you many good books in 2013!