I had a nice hiatus.
I was able to list new blogs that I follow, link my book reviews to the list, read other blogs, and catch up on my magazine reading.
I gave the magazines away to a local hospital waiting room.
I am keeping up with the Daily Lit readings of Moby Dick. If I heard about a 21st century relationship similar to what Queequeg and the narrator are having, I would think that they were bro-friends (See Definition 2 - love that new word.)
Melville does digress, but I am enjoying them. I can visualize how Manhattan and Nantucket looked like in the older days and did verify that Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, worked as a simple laborer in a shipyard in other to find out more about shipbuilding in order build Russia's first Navy.
Queequeq and the narrator have arrived in Nantucket but haven't boarded a ship yet.
I answered some questions about my health for my insurance company and got a $75 gift certificate for my troubles. It was hard deciding whether to go to a restaurant or to buy books, so I decided to treat only myself: Books.
The Barnes and Noble gift certificate allowed me to buy:
The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (movie with a young Sam Neill, sigh)
Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the West - Imran Ahmad (heard him speak two weeks ago. will blog about the talk this week, I promise, Trevor!)
Traipsing in Canada with:
Through Black Spruce - Joseph Boyden
Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden
Map of Glass - Jane Urquhart (heard her speak at an author's event in Dallas, years ago!)
I am eagerly waiting for the UPS guy to drop off the box.
More reviews and bookly posts to follow.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
SPRING BREAK!
Actually, it's a spring cleaning.
I have to clean up a lot of things on this blog:
I have to clean up a lot of things on this blog:
- Add more books links to my review portion
- Write 4 reviews
- Add more sites that I read
- Read my Daily Lit for Moby Dick (I've read only 2 of the 27 I've received so far!)
So, I should be back in a week or so.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Stuff - 1st Q Winner of 9 for '09 Reading Challenge
As the host for the 9 for '09 Reading Challenge, I have the great pleasure to announce the winner for the First Quarter of 2009: Sarah of Crafterrific.
I wrote down all the names of anyone who posted something in 9 for '09 during January, February and March of this year.
My Mother (a fair person) drew Sarah's name.
I have decided not to give any books away, since I don't want to feed your book addictions.
But, the prizes are still wonderful.
A HANDMADE journal from BookGirl's Studio!
BookDarts bought from DeVilles Books in New Orleans.
Keep those posts coming. Another drawing will be held in early June and then in August, if you have read 5 books by then.
Books - Historical Notes - Gone with the Wind - Martha Mitchell
I finished Gone with the Wind, but I am not ready to give my literary opinion yet.
I am going to comment about life after the Civil War.
When Scarlett finally marries Rhett, she goes to New Orleans for her honeymoon.
She goes to the finest restaurants and devours crawfish. This didn't sound right to me. Crawfish didn't really become popular until the 1980s or so. It was considered poor people food.
And I was right. I am reading Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen for the One Book, One New Orleans nomination process. She has done extensive research of all the foods that we eat down here.
Roahen writes, "Crawfish have a long history in Louisiana as a poor man's food - in reputation, in stigma, and in reality..Marcelle Bienvenu and Carla and Ryan Brasseaux record that even as recently as the 1930s, Cajuns limited their crawfish harvests to time of flood, when they were too plentiful to ignore, and Lenten periods of fasting. The authors found newspaper articles from the 1870s that referred to crawfishing parties, "but these ventures frequently sought only bait for fishing expeditions." "
So, Scarlett wouldn't attend such a party and she wouldn't venture to an ugly, hot swamp. And, by the time of the honeymoon, she had enough money and wouldn't be caught dead eating a poor man's food. This part of the novel is therefore, historically inaccurate.
I was interested in the lives of the slaves, but Mitchell doesn't cover it extensively. From the reading of the novel, I gathered that house servants were treated better than the field hands and were a bit snobby.
I found an autobiography in the Making of America site, compiled by the University of Michigan). The staff at UMich digitized many books from previous centuries. (There is another similar project at Cornell.)
I found 2 references to house servants: in an autobiography of Charles Ball, who was a slave and the autobiography and viewpoints of Charles Woodward, a Kansas abolitionist, who moved to Georgia after the Civil War.
Both examples point out the differences in treatment of the field hands and house servants and why they didn't like each other after the war.
I was surprised that gentle Ashley would join the Klan. "He's too refined and not white-trashy," I thought.
Woodward also comments on the Ku Klux Klan by stating its formation started after the Civil War and after the former leaders felt they had to do something to get some power back.
So, Mitchell was accurate in the last two topics.
Everyone also comments about Scarlett being such a serious business woman. In my previous job, I saw lots of documents in which a business woman needed a loan to expand her business or buy homes to rent later. So, women alone in the South could survive. Now, can one become such a person practically overnight? That's one of the things that I will discuss in my next posting of Gone with the Wind.
I am going to comment about life after the Civil War.
When Scarlett finally marries Rhett, she goes to New Orleans for her honeymoon.
She goes to the finest restaurants and devours crawfish. This didn't sound right to me. Crawfish didn't really become popular until the 1980s or so. It was considered poor people food.
And I was right. I am reading Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen for the One Book, One New Orleans nomination process. She has done extensive research of all the foods that we eat down here.
Roahen writes, "Crawfish have a long history in Louisiana as a poor man's food - in reputation, in stigma, and in reality..Marcelle Bienvenu and Carla and Ryan Brasseaux record that even as recently as the 1930s, Cajuns limited their crawfish harvests to time of flood, when they were too plentiful to ignore, and Lenten periods of fasting. The authors found newspaper articles from the 1870s that referred to crawfishing parties, "but these ventures frequently sought only bait for fishing expeditions." "
So, Scarlett wouldn't attend such a party and she wouldn't venture to an ugly, hot swamp. And, by the time of the honeymoon, she had enough money and wouldn't be caught dead eating a poor man's food. This part of the novel is therefore, historically inaccurate.
I was interested in the lives of the slaves, but Mitchell doesn't cover it extensively. From the reading of the novel, I gathered that house servants were treated better than the field hands and were a bit snobby.
I found an autobiography in the Making of America site, compiled by the University of Michigan). The staff at UMich digitized many books from previous centuries. (There is another similar project at Cornell.)
I found 2 references to house servants: in an autobiography of Charles Ball, who was a slave and the autobiography and viewpoints of Charles Woodward, a Kansas abolitionist, who moved to Georgia after the Civil War.
Both examples point out the differences in treatment of the field hands and house servants and why they didn't like each other after the war.
I was surprised that gentle Ashley would join the Klan. "He's too refined and not white-trashy," I thought.
Woodward also comments on the Ku Klux Klan by stating its formation started after the Civil War and after the former leaders felt they had to do something to get some power back.
So, Mitchell was accurate in the last two topics.
Everyone also comments about Scarlett being such a serious business woman. In my previous job, I saw lots of documents in which a business woman needed a loan to expand her business or buy homes to rent later. So, women alone in the South could survive. Now, can one become such a person practically overnight? That's one of the things that I will discuss in my next posting of Gone with the Wind.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Books - News
My mom passes on ARRP magazines to me. She also receives ARRP/ Segunda Juventud (Second Youth), which had an interesting article about Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango St. (If you are learning Spanish, you can also read the article in Spanish and then check out your translation on the English side.)
I was encouraged to learn about Cisnero's foundation to help new writers. Maybe when I have vacation time, I can go...
There is another cool foundation for writers. All the deadlines have passed; however, spending summer days in New Mexico sounds divine.
Reward! Reward! If you find this article and send it to me, I will send you something.
Printed Words told Caribou's Mom that her A Novel Challenge and my 9 for '09 Reading Challenge were mentioned in Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine.
I went to Borders as soon as I could and didn't find the March issue. I went back a few weeks later, and the April issue was already on sale. (The on-line version doesn't have that article.)
I want to thank whoever mentioned my challenge in the RTBR. I believe that traffic did increase on 9 for '09 due to the write-up. And if you have a copy, please email me!
Paula Morris is going to write a book about her Maori ancestors going to England in the 1860s. I am looking forward to this work. Sounds like something for the International Fiction Book Group of New Orleans!
The first quarterly winner for the 9 to '09 challenge will be announced soon. Anyone who posted anything from January to March will be entered. I will write down the names and have someone who has no interest in the prize, draw the winning name.
I was encouraged to learn about Cisnero's foundation to help new writers. Maybe when I have vacation time, I can go...
There is another cool foundation for writers. All the deadlines have passed; however, spending summer days in New Mexico sounds divine.
Reward! Reward! If you find this article and send it to me, I will send you something.
Printed Words told Caribou's Mom that her A Novel Challenge and my 9 for '09 Reading Challenge were mentioned in Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine.
I went to Borders as soon as I could and didn't find the March issue. I went back a few weeks later, and the April issue was already on sale. (The on-line version doesn't have that article.)
I want to thank whoever mentioned my challenge in the RTBR. I believe that traffic did increase on 9 for '09 due to the write-up. And if you have a copy, please email me!
Paula Morris is going to write a book about her Maori ancestors going to England in the 1860s. I am looking forward to this work. Sounds like something for the International Fiction Book Group of New Orleans!
The first quarterly winner for the 9 to '09 challenge will be announced soon. Anyone who posted anything from January to March will be entered. I will write down the names and have someone who has no interest in the prize, draw the winning name.
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