the ten-thousand-page sprint to the finish

With 61 days left in the year, I am (on the one hand) pleased to be on my 44th book of the year. Having managed to read 50 books per year in 2008 and 2009, I'm doing pretty well. But I set my goal this year at 65 books. Given the precedence, the 30% increase is a little daunting. Especially now that there are 61 days left in that year, and I still have to finish another 22 books (including #44). That's one book for every 2.77 days.

Now, obviously it won't all work out like that. I mean, Possession has 576 pages and Spook only has 288. They won't take the same amount of time. So I'm doing things a little differently than usual. I'm giving myself a page requirement. I haven't done this since college. Combined, I have just under 9,500 pages to go. I'm requiring myself to read a minimum of 155 pages per day. It seems like a lot, but really it's not. Especially when the reading is good. I mean, Inkdeath was 656 pages, and I read it across 4 days, which is 164 pages a day. It's really not difficult.

At least I say that. And then I pick up book #44 which is Possession by A. S. Byatt. It's a beautiful story, it's 576 pages, and not only do I know and own the movie, but I've read the book before. My highlighting is all over the damned thing. But the text is so FULL. And even Byatt's prose is just so poetic, that I catch myself reading out loud. And when you read out-loud, you read slower. And the thing is I know what happens.

I know what parts I could skip if I wanted to. I know what parts are less important than others. But between the pull of the poetry and the binding of my own integrity, I don't skip those pages and I don't skim the text. I'm excited to be reading it again. I just wish that excitement would make me read faster! I have 21 other books to read, damnit! Read faster! I'm already getting excited about my list of books to read next year, and I'm not even done with this year's books. Gahhh.

Bound, by Antonya Nelson

Antonya Nelson's Bound is a frank look into the human condition, and into the ties that bind--some literally, some not. Her characters, while not wholly sympathetic, are realistic. Nelson has used her remarkable talents to make them multi-layered, three-dimensional, true to life. The broad message seems to be that we all suffer from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder, and not every makes it out of that condition...for those who do, it can take years and still require a bit of additional shell-shock. But the deeper, more focused point Nelson seeks to make is that we need one another. The ties that bind may be painful. Obligations may sting. Requirements may hinder. But without those people and things to which we are bound, we can never get by. We can never be free.
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On a related note - my mother forwarded this email to me this week. I don't forward e-mails, and I ignore most of those that come my way because I have enough junk to read. But this one relates to Nelson's book so I find it appropriate to share with you all (also, as my sister and I get older, my mother's emails get saucier. It's kinda cute.) :

Have you ever seen a baby porcupine?

Fable of the porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever. - Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities

The Moral of the story..........LEARN TO LOVE THE PRICKS IN YOUR LIFE

(thanks, mom.)

Update re: Maura Kelly in Marie Claire

Hey folks,

A reader from Newsy.com brought this video about the Maura Kelly controversy to my attention. Newsy uses "multisource video analysis" which means that instead of giving you one story with one perspective, they report based on a number of sources, all to give you a clear, well-rounded picture of what's happening, while still keeping their videos short and to the point.

Check out this video, and then visit Newsy.com for updates on this and other stories.

           Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Inkdeath, by Cornelia Funke

"Hark, the footsteps of the night
Fade in silence long.
Quiet chirps my reading light
Like a cricket's song.


Books inviting us to read
On the bookshelves stand.
Piers for bridges that will lead
Into fairyland."

Rainer Maria Rilke, "Vigils III," from Sacrifice to the Lares

I was very wary of this book. As I said in my review of its predecessor, Inkspell, I felt that that chapter had relied too much on there being a third book to come. I was also wary of Funke's choice of focus and the possibility of the dead coming back to life. I was disappointed. But that's part of the reason that I didn't wait so long to read this one. (Yes, I waited over three months, but it took me twice as long to pick up the preceding book after I read Inkheart.)

In response to Maura Kelly

On Monday October 25th, Marie Claire's online magazine featured an article written by a member of their staff, Maura Kelly. I found out about it because, in the wake of the extremely negative response, Marie Claire asked Cece over at The Big Girl Blog (which I follow) to write her own response.

Here is the text of the original article:

Should "Fatties" Get a Room? (Even on TV?)

The other day, my editor asked me, "Do you really think people feel uncomfortable when they see overweight people making out on television?"

Is that really the message you want to send?

During the winter, you see a LOT of ads and tv commercials (well...I don't because I have no cable) geared towards women who want to lose weight in time for swimsuit season. Many of these commercials have yogurt in them. And the actor is usually between 110 and 130lbs, needing to shed the 3-to-8-pound "winter weight." Unfortunately, it's not just the skinnies who get to see those commercials. Everyone does. And those women who are between 130lbs and, say, 430lbs will either ignore it and go on eating their pecan logs and frozen snickers bars, or they'll buy into it, buy the yogurt, and then get pissed when all it does is make them eat yogurt.

Autumn

The leaves in Pelham Bay Park are almost in peak. Last year, I accidentally had off from work on Sunday 10/25 (I forgot to wake up in time for work) so I spent a good part of the day in the park. The leaves had peaked, and everything was vibrant and beautiful. This year, I had off today and it was gorgeous out, so I stopped over at the park where I could see the change was in full-gear. But it hasn't quite caught up with last year's brilliance. It was more rainy last year. You can tell because in my pictures from that day, there are giant puddles and basically lakes all through the park. As a result, it was also chillier, making the change happen sooner. Today, the ground is a little damp, but not even really muddy, let alone a lake country. I decided to take a couple of comparison pictures so here ya go:

<-- here's what I call the three wise men (one my favorite spots in the park) on 10/25/09. The ground is that autumnal mix of orange and brown, and the leaves above are mostly yellowish, in the last stages before they really change.   

And then here's the same spot -->

as of today, 10/23/10 As you can see, the ground is a little brighter and the leaves above are a solid green, and still offer quite a bit of shelter, not letting in as much light.

                                                                                                                                         

<-- And here's this gorgeous shot from last year, the leaves in full change, the bright orange and the bright yellow. It's absolutely stunning.                             

And then the same two trees -->
(trust me, it's just a different angle) but the vibrancy isn't there. It's actually kind of sad...

If I loved you, I would tell you this - Stories, by Robin Black

Robin Black's If I loved you, I would tell you this is about the world of sadness we create inside our heads, and about how we keep it inside. We hide it from strangers--and who do we consider to be strangers? It's about the secret lives we lead, and who we let in on the secret, and who we don't. With whom do we share our personal lives, and who do we leave alone on the other side of the fence we call love?

In the story "If I Loved You", Black uses a literal fence to draw the line between who is in, and who is out. If the woman dying of cancer loved her neighbor--if she had any reason to include the--they would know her pain. And then maybe they would feel bad and would relent in their mission to make their lives impenetrable. But instead they go about their lives--we go about our lives--constantly judging those whose stories remain unshared.

In "Immortalizing John Parker" the title character's wife has barely even admitted to herself that her husband is dying. She, with her wealth and wealthy nature, has come to see even herself as a stranger, who cannot see the truth--will not be shown the truth--until the protagonist, a painter, breaks down that wall and provides a human compassion reminiscent of love, forcing Mrs. Parker to open up, and come to terms.

In "A Country Where You Once Lived" father and ex-husband, Jeremy, is exiled when disaster strikes. He came into the picture, a cardboard cut-out stand-in for family, but he's no longer truly part of the family unit. He now stands on the other side of the fence, and cannot really feel sympathy for the truth, nor gain access to it. He has lost his chance to be loved.

And finally, in "The History of the World" our female protagonist feels an undying guilt for her twin brother's birth defects--the one person she reveals these feelings to stops loving her, puts up a wall, and so she shells up. When that same brother dies in a car accident in which she was driving, the guilt piles up. She finds a kind of solace in helping a young woman who, though the elder has not opened up to her, shares her problems and her love. The young woman shares a beautiful thing - the flower festival - with the embittered woman, the latter finally understands how beautiful and fleeting the world is--and how open and sharing we must be, in order to survive and be loved.

Busy bee, and other things. Bees? Beads. Beads?!

Forgive me.

It's been 34 days since my last book entry.

I feel terrible about it. I really do.

I've just been so busy.

I know you don't ask for excuses; I know that you will forgive me out of unconditional love (please?) but I feel the need to explain myself. After that, I promise to say as many Hail Mary's as you need me to, as long as they're like, Hail Mary Tyler Moore's or Hail Mary Poppins' or something. I realized the other day that I couldn't quite remember how the Hail Mary prayer goes. Eventually I remembered, but it was an interesting moment for me.

My reasons for the delay are as follows:

OY!

This is terrible. I've been so behind both in my reading and my posting! And I don't even have a very good excuse, the only one I have being that I've been planning my day in Salem, Massachusetts. One day. Doesn't take that much planning (especially when you have little or no money). I'm going to be in the town of Salem for a whole 5 and a half hours. And I'm going to love every second of it.