Website for The Translator

After receiving a copy of The Translator by Daoud Hari from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, I reviewed the book here and also sent a copy of the review to Random House. I received a nice e-mail thanking me for taking the time to read and review the book. Random House has a website for the book, which will be in bookstores on March 18. Of course, the site has information regarding the book -- an interview with the author, pictures, an audio clip from the book, as well as a reader's guide and a teacher's guide is promised soon. What makes the site for this book special is the fact that there is useful information regarding the genocide in Darfur and ways in which we can help. Please take a moment and go check it out.

Weekend Reading

I feel like I've been in a "reading groove" here lately. I've been enjoying everything I've read and have been able to do quite a bit of reading. I've actually read 15 books since January 1, which puts me way ahead of my target of 50 books for 2008. Dare I dream of reaching 100? Let's not get ahead of ourselves! Life has a way of knocking me off track every now and then. But for this weekend, I have nothing planned. So, I plan on finishing The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis, which is fiction and (you guessed it!) deals with some of the same themes that have been in his other writings. But, he's a really good writer and even though all of his books contain some of these Christian themes, the reader doesn't feel as if they're being preached to. On the contrary, the books simply make the reader think, which is always a good thing. This is a short book, so I hope to move on to some other reading. I have two arcs that I need to read, and I would like to start on Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, which is the March selection for the Year of Reading Dangerously challenge. I have soooo many books that I want to read, it's hard to choose. I haven't been talking much about all of the books that have been coming into my house, but rest assured there are enough to keep me busy. In fact, I'll have to live to be 150 as it stands now to get all of them read. Have a great weekend!

Class is in Session

I'm back in class -- well, sort of. I've decided to audit a class this semester taught by Dr. Jim Gulledge here in the library. The class is The Works of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. I'm really excited about this class after the first meeting yesterday. The class is small, about 18 students, and the setting is intimate, which is a pleasant way of saying that we're crammed into a tiny room on the third floor of the library. After reviewing the syllabus, I can honestly say that I'm glad that I'm auditing the class. I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up and work full-time and take care of everything else in my crazy life. As you might expect with these two prolific authors, the course is extremely reading-intensive, which suits me just fine. In fact, I just returned from the bookstore where I picked up several of the books that are required for the course. The Essential C. S. Lewis, edited by Lyle W. Dorsett, The Tolkien Reader by J. R. R. Tolkien and Beowulf: A Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney and edited by Daniel Donoghue. In addition to these, we'll be reading The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien and three of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series by Lewis -- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle. I know I may be the last person on the face of the planet who has not read The Lord of the Rings. The closest I've come is watching the movie, which I did enjoy. So, I'm looking forward to finally reading this book.

I know I'm weird when it comes to things like this (my children remind me of this fact quite often!), but I'm like a kid in a candy store when I go to pick up books for a class. I love school. I always have. I think that's part of the reason I ended up as an academic librarian. This is as close as it comes to getting paid to go to school, which happens to be my ultimate dream. I graduated with my MLIS in 2005 and haven't taken any classes since, which is the longest that I've been out of school since 1998. I was beginning to have withdrawals. Luckily one of the benefits of being an employee in most colleges and universities is the opportunity to take classes free. So, until someone hires me to be a full-time student, I will probably continue to take classes that pique my interest in order to stave off those pesky withdrawal symptoms. So, you'll probably be hearing updates about the reading for this class periodically throughout this semester.

I should finish my latest Early Reviewers book from LibraryThing, Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris, this weekend. I also hope to make some progress on Great Expectations, which I'm supposed to have read by the end of the month for the Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge. My face to face book club meets on February 7, and we'll be discussing The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks. So that will be next on the reading list. Of course, that is after I do the reading for my class.

Have a great weekend!

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

(I received this book as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program. The book that I received has a different cover, which I like better.)

Let me preface this by saying that I don't read very many short story collections. So, I didn't really know what to expect from this book. However, I knew from the very first story that I was going to enjoy this book. I especially like the way that the author loosely ties all of the stories together using the title character, Olive Kitteridge. This allows the reader the opportunity to see how differently people perceive themselves and others. The stories also progress over time. In the first story, Olive is a working mother, and in the last several stories, she is in her 70s and has lost her husband.

Though Olive is featured in each of the stories, she is featured more prominently in some, and these turn out to be my favorite stories. It would be difficult for me to pick a favorite story, but I think "Security" would have to be one of my favorites. In this story, Olive goes to visit her only son and his pregnant wife in New York. Olive feels very out of place and is devastated to learn that Christopher has issues with her and the way he was raised. The visit ends with Olive and Christopher having an argument and Olive leaving earlier than planned.

It's true that on the surface Olive seems to be an unpleasant person who speaks her mind without regard for the feelings of others. However, I think that the author does a good job of showing the complexities of this character. I feel like much of her brusqueness comes from insecurities. But for all of her rudeness and harshness, she does show kindness in unexpected ways.

Overall, this is a really great book of stories that does indeed read like a novel. I would highly recommend it. Thanks LT for this early reviewers program!