Since I am already committed to sending – actually WRITING – a letter every day for the entire year, I might as well support this monthly challenge, as well.

I already have a few of your addresses but if you want correspondence next month or whenever, feel free to leave a comment here and I will send a request for you reply with your snail mail addy or DM me @BkClubCare over at Twitter.

YAY!  

I’ve already purchased a few Valentines cards so the N&Ns are set. Are you ready? I’m ready.

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I am a few pages in to 1Q84 Book Two.

Yesterday was International Pie Day but I didn’t make a pie. Shocker?! I just wasn’t feelin’ it. And I have almost a full 9×13 pan of cheesecake sopapillas sitting in the fridge. This delectable dessert is made of 2 blocks of cream cheese, a stick of butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 2 packages of crescent rolls. I really don’t want to be the only person in the house eating that AND a pie.

I’ll make a pie on PI DAY, March 14.  (I hope anyway.)

Now for the whining.

Last week, under fabulous advice from some of my Tweet-Friends who love audio books, I was inspired to purchase a Creative Labs ZEN Mosaic EZ100.  I bought the refurbished one advertised for about half off the *NEW* retail price which unfortunately means that I don’t have any guide books included and I can’t find any serial or models numbers so I am having difficulty with registering the product and getting into the website. I know I’m whining and frustrated and good things do not come of poor attitudes like the one I’m exhibiting but I don’t know quite what to do. I’m tempted to take the thing down to BestBuy under the guise of buying a charger but hoping I can get a live person to show me which buttons to push to make the thing work.

Let me back up a day or two further… I had on my New Year’s Goals to FIND my husband’s MP3 player so that I can make my wish of listening to books come true and I did!  I found it!  It’s a SONY and more than a few years old.

So, I followed the enticing ads to subscribe to Audible.com and get my free book. I selected BossyPants by Tina Fey.

And being stupid and assuming that all mp3 players play audio books, I plugged the thing in and attempted to move my new audiobook to my player. NOPE. Incompatible. Sony doesn’t like to play with others. So now I have a book I can’t listen to unless I play it on my Mac which totally defeats what I want to do which is walk the dogs or mow the lawn.

That’s when I went on to Twitter to seek advice.

Thus the *new* mp3 player from Creative. I got it to charge. YAY. That worked fine. I dropped/dragged BossyPants to it. YAY. I see it! It’s there! I work the menu to select and hit play.

Nothing.

It says NOW PLAYING in the upper right hand corner. It shows a progress bar across the bottom. It even has the scary pic of Tina with the big hands in the background. Nothin’. Rather than a green arrow, I see an orange square. And that’s it. I don’t know what else to do.

I downloaded the Guide book from the website but I don’t think they had a Mac option – it’s just garbled mess.  [FIRST CLUE? or do I need a shovel slammed to my head.]

I am waiting for an email from Creative but it took so long for it to be accepted without serial and model numbers in the form that I don’t know what canned “we-can’t-help-you-without-proper-documentation’ response I might get.

Do you know anyone with a ZEN Mozaic EZ100?  or do I just find a middle school kid and have them figure it out?  Help?

oh hell. I give up. Just going to send it back and buy an iPod.  I just saw in the Forums that   the Zen and Macs don’t play well together.  Why did I assume that this should be easy?

You’ve been warned.

[updated to add a link to Anna's excellent review which will give you plot summary, etc., so you can go read that if you would rather.]

Thoughts and Questions    The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Doubleday 2011, Hardback 387 pages

I read this for my IRL “The Bookies” Book Club; discussion to be 1/26.

First Sentence:  ”The circus arrives without warning.”

blanks            Did you not love it when Widget says this to the man in grey? Did you not love that grey is spelled with an ‘e’ throughout? I think grey is a different color than gray, personally, though quite similar; would you disagree?

I adored the names that the author chose for her characters. Although…. I kept wondering about Poppet and Widget. Not that this has much to do with the names exactly but I was hoping for more explanation of how/why the magic was involved in their birth.  Destined accident? I would love for someone to explore this further. I keep wondering if I missed something.

I wanted more of Marco. Wasn’t totally convinced of why he ‘took’ to his studies so eagerly. I imagine that if I was left to my own devices, I would have strayed a lot earlier in the ‘mission’ than he did. At least Celia had an inkling of what was ahead for her even if she didn’t grasp the details.

And Isobel sure amazed me with how long she put up with Marco. Thirty years?!  Let’s explore this more, shall we? All the spying on Celia that she had to do, the getting stood up at the cafe, being able to read the cards and still wonder if Marco ‘loved’ her. She has hellavulots of patience.

OK, I admit and my goodreads updates will confirm this, I really thought she turned Marco to dust. Uh OH. I was quite taken aback.

I also think Lainie should have married the architect. But I was impressed with why she didn’t; her thought processes about it.

One of my favorite parts was the first circus meeting and how the architect was hesitant but quickly changed his mind, “He decides then that he rather enjoys unusual late-night social functions, and should endeavor to attend them more frequently.” Do you think Marco had a hand in the amazing food creations for these dinners? I would love to know more about the chefs and kitchen staff but that is probably just problematic of me watching entirely too much Food Network.

Overall, I liked this book much more than I expected to. After reading so many gushing reviews (and not really reading them because I shy from posts like this one that gives EVERYTHING away. In fact, I might have to take this to a different page so you have to click over), I had mixed feelings about whether or not this was something I would enjoy. I finally succumbed. And when it was a The-Bookies selection, I was honestly delighted to have an extra push.

If you are a faithful reader of this blog and even if you are I wouldn’t blame you for missing this but I bought this book as a gift for my friend Holly. She is one of my IRL friends that loves to talk books as much as I do. We frequently meet for coffee and chat chat chat books books books and she is a true delight and a gem of wonderfulness in my life. Anyhoo. When I found out that this novel was selected for January Book Club (after I had given it to her), I told her she had to read it NOW and get it to me by mid-Jan so I would have time to finish for discussion! Unfortunately, she ‘couldn’t get into it’. She gave it back to me (and I still intend on giving it back to her – I think her daughter might enjoy it) and I hope she accepts or even attempts to try again.

It does tend to damper the enthusiasm for a book when a good friend has DNF’ed it. She’s not the kind of book friend that always dislikes what I like so I was concerned.

I really enjoyed all of the characters. All of them. Celia was my favorite. The descriptions; the setting, the magic, the feasts were absolutely fabulous. I thought the pacing was almost perfect. On the other hand, the flipping back and forth to know which year was what/when did annoy me and I kept wondering if it was worth the bother.  [I told MBR not to bother with worrying about it and just go with the flow so we'll see what she says Thursday. (Hope I wasn't being too manipulative.)]

I adored the clock maker. I really loved how these secondary characters were so darn likable and woven into the main story so intricately.

Why Bailey? Was he chosen as early as the dare? Or was his acceptance and his breaking into the circus ‘the choice’? Could we have another book coming that continues the Bailey-Poppet-Widget running of the circus? (truly, I haven’t heard any rumors or confirmations on this, but did I hear movie options have been discussed?)

Is magic REAL? or is the ability to ‘do’ magic a talent or a learned skill?  It does bring up the whole question of what is choice and what is destiny, don’t ya think?

Have your ever had your Tarot cards read?  I have. I barely recall the first time but I was supposed to inherit money from a rich relative. Could still happen. The second time, the reader said that my husband would win his fishing tournament. He didn’t even place. But the third time was both extremely vague and spot on. Very interesting. I think Morgenstern captured this delicate balance very well. “You always have a choice.”  But my question is always, do you end up choosing as you were destined? or does destiny play out either way? Makes my head hurt to ponder.

Did you have to open a dictionary to look up ‘exsanguinated’?

OMG! I just read the back cover! Katherine Dunn wrote a blurb!!! And THAT m’DEARs is your clue that you must read Geek Love if you happen to enjoy circus books. I really wouldn’t put myself into that category but now that I think of it, I enjoyed Water for Elephants, too. Of these three, Geek Love is still my favorite. In fact, I gave Geek Love 5 stars in goodreads, The Night Circus 4 stars – or 4 slices of Boston Creme Pie (another squeeee moment while reading), and Water for Elephants 3 stars.

The blurb? Here ya go:

“The Night Circus is a gorgeously imagined fable poised in the high latitudes of Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde, with a few degrees toward Hesse’s Steppenwolf for dangerous spice. The tale is masterfully written and invites allegorical interpretations even as its leisurely but persistent suspense gives it compelling charm. An enchanting read.”

I haven’t read Steppenwolf; guess I better go tbr that.  And as to allegorical interpretations? Please let me know some?

Should I wear all black plus a red scarf to book club next week?  [scurries to closet to see if I even have a red scarf.]

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The PLAYERS:

We have met Aomame and Tengo, our two main protagonists.  Aomame is a martial arts instructor and physical education trainer with aptitudes for massage, acupuncture and quietly killing wealthy men who beat their wives. Tengo is a writer.

Our secondary characters for the Aomame storyline are the dowager and her body guard, the cop and prowling buddy Ayumi, and her deceased friend who still occupies a lot of Aomame’s thoughts.  For Tengo, we have Komatsu his editor, Fuka-Eri the original writer of the Air Chrysalis novel, her caretaker the Professor and Tengo’s lover lady who is extremely jealous.

WHAT’s HAPPENED SO FAR?

We meet Aomame as she gets stuck in traffic riding in a too-nice taxi that first sets her on the idea that something might not be right about the world but it was the cops carrying guns who really clue her in to oddities.  When she starts finding out about events in the past she knows nothing about but should and sees two moons, she calls this new odd reality 1Q84. She is introduced to a 10 year old girl who appears to have been horribly abused, possibly by a religious secret farming cult.

Tengo gets involved with a re-write ‘enhancement’ of a fantastical story written by a 17 year old girl named Fuka-Eri who says the story is actually true. Tengo is uncomfortable with the ethics question of his involvement, especially when it wins a literary award and becomes a best-seller.  He also feels strangely empowered by the writing challenge and finally begins writing his own work.

Fuka-Eri has history with that religious farming cult having ‘escaped’ — we assume, since she hasn’t really talked about it — 10 years prior. She knows of the Little People, in fact what little we know about Air Chrysalis, they are important. The little girl is unknowingly harboring a few of these Little People and it’s all getting quite strange. I was sad that the dog was killed.

I still haven’t figured out if only Aomame sees two moons or how many moons Tengo or anyone sees in the sky.  The Air Chrysalis story features two moons.

And I suspect the Professor has motives we haven’t yet explored – who is he really?  And Tengo’s lover’s jealousy bothers me. But then, if she feels arrogant enough to keep her husband AND take on a lover, I suppose she feels entitled to have it all her way.

Let’s DISCUSS:

Questions lifted and modified and inspired from LITLOVERS – an online book lovers community:

Q1 – The taxi driver in Chapter 1 warns Aomame that things are not what they seem, but he also tells her: “Don’t let appearances fool you. There’s always only one reality” (p. 9). Does this statement hold true throughout the novel? Is there only one reality, despite what appears to be a second reality that Aomame and Tengo enter?

I’m actually not sure if another reality is being woven into the TRUE reality or why only Aomame doesn’t know about the gun battle that happened a few years prior.

Q2 – Aomame tells Ayumi: “We think we’re choosing things for ourselves, but in fact we may not be choosing anything. It could be that everything’s decided in advance and we pretend we’re making choices. Free will may be an illusion” (p. 192). Do the events in the novel seem fated or do the characters have free will?

Great question.  Hurts my brain to ponder free will versus destiny.

Q3 – The dowager insists, and Aomame agrees, that the killing they do is completely justified, that the men whom they kill deserve to die, that the legal system can’t touch them, and that more women will be victims if these men aren’t stopped. Is it true that Aomame and the dowager have done nothing wrong? Or are they simply rationalizing their anger and the desire for vengeance that arises from their own personal histories?

The bastards had it comin’.

Q4 – Tengo realizes that rewriting Air Chrysalis is highly unethical and that Komatsu is asking him to participate in a scam that will very likely cause them both a great deal of trouble. Why does he agree to do it?

I’m not a literature student and I do get perturbed by plagiarism but I don’t quite get this as being HIGHLY unethical; or is ethical black and white, yes or no.  I have to ask how – and maybe it aint true? how people can have ghost writers or be a big name and have other people write stories for them which is what I’ve heard Patterson does.

Q5 – How does rewriting Air Chrysalis change Tengo as a writer? How does it affect the course of his life?

Duh, yea. Tengo wouldn’t have met Fuka-Eri and you know somehow he is going to rescue her – he is in deep bat shit trouble with her already, emotionally and likely physically.  As long as he doesn’t crawl in to a deep dry well of total darkness to do some thinking, I’m ok with it.

and my top-of-the-head questions:

Does anyone else call Aomame ‘Green Peas’ when they read her name?   (I do.)

Do you like the back and forth chapters between Aomame and Tengo?  When do you think they will meet?  Will Tengo remember her?   Did you figure out earlier than the reveal that Aomame was the classmate of Tengo’s who held his hand when they were 10?

Does Tengo remind you of the guy in Wind-up Bird?   (YES. Somewhat passive? keeps to himself.)

Did you have an uh-oh moment when you realized you don’t quite recall the plot of 1984 and might want to before reading on but then Tengo conveniently gives a quick little recap and you feel better about not remembering that book you probably read 30 years ago?  Yea, me too.

Would you nominate HM for bad-sex-writing?  Read all about that here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/25/haruki-murakami-bad-sex-award
But don’t read too far!  I have already had major plot points spoiled (not that I shouldn’t have seen ‘em coming.)

On a scale of SMOOTH & SEAMLESS to BUMPY & JARRING, where would you put this translation?

It does seem a bit quirky-not-good in a few parts but overall, I haven’t really noticed anything too odd.  Maybe I’m not paying enough attention or because I’ve read an HM translated by this guy already, I’m used to it?

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This is a very smart, very interesting, often entertaining, refreshing and even charming collection of essays and some fiction short stories about sex from a variety of female viewpoints. I bought this entirely on Andi’s recommendation;  so go ahead and click to her post here and then either run to your favorite bookstore, check the library for it or download to your eReading device and enjoy.

I don’t know if they have read it yet, but when I told my book club friends about it, a few of the members downloaded it to their Kindles right then and there.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I just realized that I skipped over the ‘graphic novel’ story because I was on a plane and didn’t want the nice lady sitting next to me to read over my shoulder.

Ahem.  ;)
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Gasp – - I might change templates! Only if I can find one that is clean, one side column, white background, with interchangeable header photos. In other words, that looks just like this one with only a few things improved.

Like tags at the end of the post and the click-to-go-to comments at the end of a post. I really dislike that once you read to the end of a post, you have to go back to the top to click on comments to add your say. So, I’m going to work on that.  And tags should be like postscripts not prescripts.

Is a Bloggiesta planned any time soon?

Okie dokie, just some maintenance news for the new year. Happy Day!

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Oh heck, I’ll just say it. I love self-help books. So there. Raspberries to you if you roll your eyes. I love raspberries, don’t you?

I very much enjoyed this and the first days of a new year is always a great time to read about how to be more positive and think “great expectations” for achieving goals and happier attitudes.

       Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.
-George Sheehan

This book is written by a guy who is a life coach — or, rather — a “how to live a cool life” coach. Thus the book. It espouses the same themes as The Secret (not really a secret bytheway if you publish a book, right?! But still totally misunderstood by most people, imho) and other “You gotta think it to be it” philosophies.  [One of my favorite books that helps mold better thought processes is Shad Helmstetter's What to Say When You Talk to Yourself.]  I ‘met’ Drew online blog-hopping and enjoy his practical yet radical thoughts.

If you think you can, you can.  If you think you can’t, you’re right.

I truly do believe that if you whine and complain about how your life sucks then you will only get more of the same. And the reverse is true, too. If you think joyful grateful generous thoughts, you tend to see your life in more generous terms and not only treat others more kindly but yourself as well. Thus my 2012 pledge to be “of generous spirit”.  AND I must add, that my goal to write a letter each day is helping tremendously! I think of friends and family and send them best wishes, sharing news and fun quotes and good cheer – it only helps me to appreciate the wonderful friends and my family that I love and reminds me that life is very good.  I am  telling the people who are important to me that they are important to me.  This in turn, helps me realize how I can be  important to them.

important |imˈpôrtnt| adjective of great significance or value; likely to have a profound effect on success, survival, or well-being : important habitats for wildlife | it is important to avoid monosyllabic answers | [sentence adverb] the speech had passion and, more important, compassion.  •   (of a person) having high rank or status. •  (of an artist or artistic work) significantly original and influential.

Now, this COOL-LIFE thinking does take practice. And those that already ‘know’ it and maybe not even realize they know it have always fascinated me. Self-confident people – how do they do it?!  It’s eluded me. It’s tough work. Or if I want to practice this right now, I would say, “I once thought it was tough work but I’m finding it easier and easier to think positive about the results I want to see. In fact, I’m seeing positive results already.”  (see what I did there?)

Invest a few moments in thinking.  It will pay good interest.  ~Author Unknown

Basically, you must live in accordance with your core beliefs. Change your core beliefs to be in-line with what makes you feel ‘best’ according to your values and            wa la!     You are no longer fighting upstream but going with the flow.

The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.  ~Albert Einstein

For me, I like having ideas and even words to think upon when I need to ‘re-align’ with what I think (and feel and know) I want out of life.  And I don’t mean fancy cars and jewels and crap. [But yea, I do kinda mean my fancy boat...] When I feel ‘NOT at EASE’ [aka 'dis-eased'] and/or stressed, I now have my “Be generous in spirit” mantra and the words ‘freedom’, ‘ease’, ‘connection’ to get me on a better track. Call me New-Age-y. Call me deluded.  Call me non-realistic. Whatever.

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good. 
-Vaclav Havel

Works for me.  I’m practicing.  I have a great life and I’m very well aware of it. Andbutandthensome, I do think I need to give more and create more GOOD in the world.  Put myself out there; create, generate positive waves of goodness to counteract all the negativity that swirls the globe. It’s something I can do. I should do. I want to light that candle so other candles see by my example. Call it prayer to a higher being of your choice, call it bullshit, call it good-energy-vibes, call it a twist on some-of-that-old-time-religion, whatever. It is my reality and I want the best reality my mind can conjure, thankyouverymuch.

I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. 
- Henry David Thoreau

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” 
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There’s only one me and it’s up to me to be the best me I can be and to imagine it so.  It’s the imagining part I want to make easy and fruitful and productive for good.

All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.
-Abraham Lincoln

RATING: Four slices of pie. Lemon Meringue Pie!

Electricity is of two kinds, positive and negative. The difference is, I presume, that one comes a little more expensive, but is more durable; the other is a cheaper thing, but the moths get into it.
-Stephen Leacock

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Jon Krakauer – I’m thinking that I should try Into the Wild first.

Mary Roach – any!  Depends on when and what strikes my fancy.

Tom Perotta – Election

Susan Jane Gilman – Hypocrite in a White Pouffy Dress

China Miéville - Kraken or The City and the City

Zetta Elliot – A Wish After Midnight

P.G. Wodehouse – I have Right Ho, Jeeves in iBooks

Connie Willis – Either Doomsday Book or To Say Nothing of the Dog

And these authors are favorites that I missed in 2011:

Diana Wynne Jones – most curious about Howl’s Moving Castle

Tracy Kidder – I own Old Friends, My Detachment and Strength in What Remains – which will likely be my first choice.

A.S.Byatt – I own Possession in paperback and The Children’s Book in hardback; I expect a vocabulary workout.

Ian McEwan – Eager to try Saturday.

Margaret Atwood – Alias Grace is up next.

So, counting the 11 books from the Loaned to Me Personal Challenge #1, plus a few readalongs, my monthly IRL book club, I’m up to 48 ‘scheduled’ books I *WANT* to read.

2012 PERSONAL CHALLENGE #2 – bring it on!

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Challenge:  What’s in a Name 5:  Something on a Calendar, #601 on 1001 Books To Read Before You Die (or at least the list I’m using)

First Sentence:  ”Miss Pettigrew pushed open the door of the employment agency and went in as the clock struck a quarter past nine.”

First FULL read of the year.   Thus?  did this book kick off the year on a good note?  YES!

Quote from blurb on book:  “Miss Pettigrew is irresistible, a perfect mix of wistfulness and joy, substance and froth.”  - Tracy Chevalier

Review in 7-10-7 Haiku:
Is Miss Pettigrew naive?  /  She can handle her own when needs arise; / One madcap helluva day!

Book I now have to read because it was mentioned in the Preface:  Stella Gibbons’ Cold Comfort Farm*

Where did I get this book?   From my friend Karen at Books and Chocolate for the Persephone Holiday Exchange.

Who will I give it to?  I think Miss Madeline will have to read it.  I love her responses to books and this might shock her a tiny bit in a fun way.  After than, Holly must read it and then it’s fair game.

Interesting CONNECTIONS:  This book is one that has a ONE DAY IN THE LIFE timeframe, as does Mrs. Dalloway and ____?______, perhaps Saturday by Ian McEwan?  Any suggestions for more?  I have the category set up here but not in goodreads (ok, got it NOW) and my search of my posts only brought up One Day by David Nicholls and that was more one-calendar-day snippets across many years.

My Rating:   

What did I think of the cover?   Just OK. Blush is applied too heavy.  The drawings inside the text were great.

Thoughts on fashion:  LOVED the glimpses into fashion and advice for looking young.

Slang:  Yes, glorious old-world British slang and some American, too, from that time period of between-the-Wars

Movie:   I have already seen the movie and tried not to *see* the actors in my head but not sure I succeeded. But it didn’t ruin it.  I do think Frances McDormand is a fabulous choice for Miss Pettigrew.    I want to see the flick again!

Discuss the ending:   [SPOILERS!?!?]  Well, now I ask, how is Miss Pettigrew going to ‘date’ this lingerie company guy and also run a house for our lovely Miss LaFosse?  But I did love that the book had a happy ending.

Who would I recommend this to:   Anyone who loves fashion, madcap adventure, sticking up for oneself, rags to riches, and flirting.

Who knew?   I find it most interesting that our author wrote typical ‘country’ tales and then wrote this (and also later wrote a mystery)  - which was ‘against type’ and was able to get it published anyway.  And then gave it all up (the being a writer thing) for a different life as life had ‘other plans’.

WORDS for Wednesday:      
marcel - a deep artificial wave in the hair.
prevaricated - speak or act in an evasive way.
cynosure - a person or thing that is the center of attention or admiration.
vamp - verb [ trans.] blatantly set out to attract : she had not vamped him like some wicked Jezebel.  

‘Oh, that,’ said Miss Dubarry. ‘That was very simple. I vamped the boss.’   …    ’I was always clever that way.’

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* I am seeing this book title EVERYWHERE. I think the universe is telling me I must read it.

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and VASILLY!

And when I say INFORMAL, I mean that we don’t have much more of a plan than to chat it up on TWITTER using hashtag #1Q84.  Since Maree is on the other side of the world and I always have to consult exactly what time it is for her (I usually end up googling “what time is it right now in New Zealand” and this is what link I get:   http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_NZ.aspx – it tells me it is 1:30 am to my Eastern US time of 7:30 am)

WAIT!  Unless Maree is a night owl, this plan may not work well.  I was thinking we would check in on Wednesday Nights into Thursday Mornings…

Well, we’ll just see how it goes.  Twitter can accommodate spontaneous conversations.

Otherwise, my plan is to have posts every so often with updates. Emails are likely; goodreads.com is a certainty.

UPDATE #1:  I opened the book last night and read two chapters, putting me on page 28.  I have a few wait-around errands today so I might get a few more pages.  I’m reading the hardback print version.

Carry on, Happy January!

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