Week Five Assignments

1) The blogs that I am following is  NPR.

 I enjoy reading the author interviews on NPR's book blog. Not only do you get the writer's thoughts, you get responses from other readers as well; I am less eager to read "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America" after seeing reader comments. I also read Hosseini's interview in conjunction with the release of "And the Mountatins Echoed." I was moved by " A Thousand Splendid Suns" and this book seems to be even better received critically. I enjoy books that have foreign settings, especially by natives of that culture, and I also love character-driven narratives from a very different culture as well. Since I liked Housseini's comments about his characters, I am certain I will read this book.

As a result of following the NPR book blog, I am reading one of Nancy Pearl's Top Twelve Books for 2012, "We Learn Nothing," a book of essays and cartoons by Tim Kreider. The book is a good argument for leading an unexamined life; his premise is that we do NOT profit from our mistakes, whether personal or societal. And then he proceeds to elucidate in excruciating, self deprecating, and humorous detail. It's hard not to recognize oneself in his vignettes, and harder not to wince. Frankly, I chose it simply because it was on her list and because it hadn't shown up on any other "Best Of" lists for 2012. I was not disappointed.

2) What's popular in the Cockeysville branch, you ask? Easier to ask what's not popular here in this community of voracious readers. Our readers devour nonfiction as readily as popular fiction, and they  read the NYTimes, Post, Bookpages, listen to NPR, and get recs from their book clubs and Goodreads. So it's important to follow some of those sources, too, as well as SLJ and PW.

While I enjoy the community feeling of Goodreads and appreciate some of their recomendations, I suspect that Earlyword is going to become my favorite resource for RA. There is so much to savor: I would like to try reading a digital ARC of "The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic," by Emily Croy Baker from EDELWEISS. I found out when "Much Ado About Nothing" will be released in our local theaters. I saw Top Bestsellers from previous years, multiple awards lists, and all of Nancy Pearl's most pertinent info -- ALL IN ONE PLACE. This is truly a great find and I know I'll get lost in it more than once. But what I like about Earlyword is that all of my perusings will be literary -- no other pop culture rabbit holes to tempt me. Whew. Thanks for the tip on this one, gang.

3) I would recommend "Z, a Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald," by Therese Anne Fowler. The last couple of years has seen fictionalized accounts of the wives of some of last century's most notable cultural heroes: "The Paris Wife" is still being requested here and "The Aviator's Wife" is currently circulating well. It would be an easy sell to recommend a book about Zelda, since she has enduring notoriety hereself. The book features the iconic settings that readers never tire of -- New York, Paris, Long Island in the 20s -- and is written as an autobiography, in that confiding, yet titillating tone that books of the rich and famous often have.