April is National Poetry Month

Oh, how in the world did National Poetry Month sneak up on me like this? The craziness of winter, the non-sale of the bookstore, the still new work of the library world and here it is, April. So, although I have a lot to say about so many things, I am just going to post my favorite poem in honor of Spring and Poetry and the world spinning round.

Summons
By Robert Francis

Keep me from going to sleep too soon
Or if I go to sleep too soon
Come wake me up. Come any hour
Of night. Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door.
Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.
Tell me the northern lights are on
And make me look. Or tell me clouds
Are doing something to the moon
They never did before, and show me.
See that I see. Talk to me till
I’m half as wide awake as you
And start to dress wondering why
I ever went to bed at all.
Tell me the walking is superb.
Not only tell me but persuade me.
You know I’m not too hard persuaded.

A Piece of Pi

I am the first to admit that math was never my strong suit. I have always been a book person. But the last few years I have enjoyed hearing about the celebrations of "Pi Day" on March 14th. There is even a website, Pi Day, which has a countdown clock. There are discussions about why people like Pi including poetic statements such as "Pi is a magical loophole in our assumed and intuitive structures….lovelovelove". There are even Pi day songs with lyrics such as "Oh number Pi, Oh number Pi, your digits are unending" (Sung to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree"). Today, I saw students walking into school carrying cakes and pies. Who knew that math could be both fun and tasty?

In Praise of Old Books

Jaqueline Winspear is the wonderful author of the Maisie Dobbs series and one of my favorite authors. She and five other authors write a terrific blog called Naked Authors.com. Recently she wrote about her visit to the Boston Public Library. I know that this is a long quote, but her sentiments about books and bookstores and libraries made me smile on a gloomy, gray, March day. Ms. Winspear says:


"Now, this is a library-goers library, a place with thousands of books that seem to scream, 'Come in, read, research, study, learn, travel to far places, meander back in time, stretch the gray matter, pull me off the shelves and have your way with me.' And as I was sitting at my desk, surrounded by a pile of books on the social history of Beacon Hill, I thought, 'Why would anyone want a Kindle?' (Or something similar). Well, having slogged a couple of hefty books off and on one ‘plane or another, I can see why, however, there is something about those older tomes, something about a place so steeped in intellectual curiosity, that underlines the importance of the book. And later, as I braced myself and went out into the cold air, I realized that it had to do with what we are really tapping into when we open a book, whether we are immersed in study or reading for pleasure. We are accessing a direct line to a vein of storytelling that goes back centuries, and the fact that we can pick up a book – old technology, if ever I saw it – speaks to that legacy. I was using books that will never be available on a Kindle, and to turn their weary but still-up-to-the-job pages made me ache with pleasure. We are so lucky to have libraries, so fortunate to have bookshops, and we have been blessed with books. I just wish more people would come in from the cold and seek the warmth of they offer to the very soul of a person. I've always felt a sense of belonging, in a library - a belonging that warms the cockles of my heart."

The Many Faces of Jane

I just love Jane Austen. Her books are like mashed potatoes on a snowy day, filling and comforting. I have read and re-read all of her books many times. I don't really have a favorite, but lately I have been intrigued by the many different ways in which you may consume the classic, Pride and Prejudice. Of course, there is always my favorite, the Penguin Classic paperback, but you may be suprised at the appearances this timeless story makes in different packages.


There are the movies, both the classic version with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier and the more recent version with Keira Knightly. In 1995, the BBC produced a wonderfully long and luxurious (6 hours!) version of the book in a miniseries starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Mr Firth again reprised his role as Mr. Darcy in the modern day take on this story in Bridget Jones Diary.

Now, coming in April we can look forward to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, a story described as "the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action". I think I hear Jane Austen whirling in her grave....

Finally, I found the following site that condenses the plot of Pride and Prejudice into a Facebook Status Update page. Austenbook lists the changes in relationships and announces the events that drive the plot. My favorite listing is "Lydia Bennet and Kitty Bennet joined the group 1,000,000 Strong Against the Officers Leaving Meryton {join!}".

So you can choose your Pride and Prejudice.....black and white or color, with or without zombies. For me, give me a rainy day, lots of tea and the 6 hour miniseries. I know I almost know it by heart, but it always draws me in.

Meme Madness

It seems like everytime I open a blog or a social networking site there is another meme. You know those posts asking you to list "25 Random Things" or "Memories" or "In Your Senior Year of High School Did You...." . I truly enjoy reading them, but find completing them more difficult. It is hard to think up 25 random things about myself or remember what I did in high school. But I may have found the perfect meme.....or at least I may have "borrowed" other people's ideas and created the perfect short meme for me. Here it is.....Bookmama's Book Meme:

1. What was your favorite book as a child?

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. What is the one book you recommend to almost everyone?

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
3. Do you read books while you do other activities, and if so, which activities?

Yes, cooking, bathing, watching TV, listening to music and any activity which allows it.
4. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
5. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?

Hot Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman, Eclipse by Richard North Patterson and

Above the Law by Tim Green
6. What book did everyone like and you hated?

Atonement by Ian McEwan

7. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life?

All of the Travis McGee books remind me of off-season in Colorado.

8. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

The Hours by Michael Cunningham
9. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

Jessica Howard
10. What was the last book that you bought?

A book on hydroponics for the home gardener for my daughter.
11. What was the last book you checked out from the library?

Above the Law by Tim Green
12. What do you wish you had time to read?

Raj Quartet by Paul Scott

13. What is one of your favorite reading memories?

Listening to my friend Jane reading The Monster at the End of the Book complete with

Elmo and Cookie monster imitations and hearing my daughters shrieking with laughter.

I could continue to ask questions about books for hours. You can find out a lot about a person by asking what they read, why they read it and what kinds of books touch them. I hope you enjoy thinking about how you might answer the questions. I would love to hear your responses.....

Oh Mexico....

The sale of The Open Book has eaten up every waking minute and I have sadly neglected Bookmama's World.  While the sale of the store is still in limbo, I am leaving in about an hour for a long anticipated trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  While I am there, I hope to regroup and recharge and READ!

I tend to be sensible when it comes to packing.  I throw in a few pairs of shorts, a bathing suit and a skirt.  I take the necessities.  But when it comes to taking books on vacation, I am, admittedly, ridiculous.  For this vacation I am taking two mysteries download to an MP3 player and the following books:

The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Eclipse by Richard North Patterson

Exile by Richard North Patterson

Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman 

 

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz 

You may not believe it, but I am concerned that I will run out of books.  Luckily, my sister and my mother will have backups waiting for me.  I will give you an update on how many I read when I get home.  In the meantime, thanks for checking in on my world.

Good Times at the Open Book

If The Open Book could talk I am sure it would have lots of stories to tell.  A bookstore can be a witness to blooming love stories, angry fights, laughter, friendship and many other human experiences.  It has been a privilege over the last ten years to witness the human drama unfolding in the store, to take part in lots of the laughter and to have formed unbreakable friendships. This is my last week at the bookstore and I have to tell you that it feels a bit like an extremely long wake. Although the bookstore will go on, my stewardship of this business will come to an end.  It is an understatement to describe it as bittersweet.

Unwinding a ten year old business is a lot of work, which is too easily and too often interrupted by the discovery of things that take you wandering back in time.  I remember standing in an almost empty store holding balloons to give out to the children and wondering what this new career would bring.  I could not have imagined the richness of the bookseller's life.

I am moving onto a new career which is full of intelligent, interesting people.    I am so glad to be working in a place filled with books and people who love them.  It will ease the transition and I look forward to growing as a librarian and the new adventures I will have.

The Open Book has hosted lots of good times (some of which I am sure I am not aware of....so many people had keys).   Christopher Morley said,  "When you sell a man a book, you don't sell him just 12 ounces of paper and ink and glue....you sell him a whole new life."   I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to give "whole new lives" to so many and to be The Open Book's Bookmama for awhile .