LaughAloud

Don't Breathe a Word

The big Midwinter Library convention was in San Diego earlier this month, close enough for me to walk down each day to the Convention Center. Normally, although the exhibits are chock full of free advanced copies of upcoming books, I try not to pick up many, if any at all. My bags are usually close enough to the 50lb limit without piling in a bunch of books. But, since all I had to do was carry them home, I ended up with about 30 books. If they're all as good as the first one I read, I totally hit a goldmine this year!

  Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon comes out in May 2011.

The back cover description made this book sound compelling, but I had no idea. I couldn't put it down and couldn't stop thinking about it when I did. The evening I started it, I made the mistake of staying up late, the only one awake in a dark house. Fair warning - if you read this book, don't do that.  It doesn't look terrifiying, but it is, in a spooky, things that go bump in the night are real and after you kind of way.

Fifteen years ago, 12 year old Lisa, disappears into the wood, leaving behind her brother Sam who never believes the story Lisa tells him before she leaves - She is going through a secret door in the wood to meet the Fairy King and become his Queen.

Chapters alternate between the days leading up to Lisa's disappearance and fifteen years later when Lisa's brother Sam has tried to put the past behind him. Tried to forget about the sister he lost as a child and move on with his life. Until his girlfriend, Phoebe, receives a call that seems to be from Lisa. She is coming back from the land of Fairies and she needs their help.

It might not seem so terribly dark, but you'll be wanting to pile things under your bed and will be guessing till the very end whether this is a real supernatural tale, or a tale of evil people doing things that make them seem other worldly.

America

"This is the only country in the world...that worries about what it is."

    - Wednesday, in American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The Archer

"Physically, for one arrow, he is capable of shooting near the exact center of the target. For one arrow he is capable of drawing a bow with more grace than Apollo could command. For one arrow, almost anyone can achieve excellence. However, when that one arrow must be repeated with another, and another, on command, the archer begins to question his ability to sustain beauty."

                    -- KiSik Lee & Tyler Benner, Total Archery: Inside the Archer

Inside the Archer

I've finally finished reading Total Archery: Inside the Archer by KiSik Lee (U.S. Head Coach) and Tyler Benner. It's a fantastic and detailed book that breaks down the steps of shooting  into distinct chapters. Best of all it is bursting with large, full color images, just the kind of thing I've been missing in an archery book.

It is a book dense with information and for that reason I really spread out reading it. I started while I was at home re-cooperating from surgery and quickly became overwhelmed. Maybe because not only wasn't I able to shoot, but I could even stand up to go through the motions of what the book discussed. Or maybe I couldn't concentrate  because of the percocet. Either way, I set aside the book until a short time after I returned to work, which led to the nice ritual of taking the 6:30 bus to campus, and sitting in the coffee shop for 30 minutes or so to read a chapter of Inside the Archer before work. It was perfect. And it left me un-rushed, letting everything really soak in. I took notes. I had questions. Things I didn't quite understand and things that didn't seem quite right and things I wanted to know more about. Which leads me to...

I got SO much more out of this book because I have an experienced coach who I trust to ask my questions to. I can't even imagine reading this book without such a guide. As someone who knows my shooting and knows my flaws and who also has immense experience in the sport, my coach answer my questions and explain what I didn't quite understand. He could also tell me which things I should just not worry about and which ones I should focus on now and which I could worry about later. I think reading and really trying to implement the techniques in this book without a coach, even one seen only occasionally would be a mistake, especially for a relatively new archer such as myself. Which bring me to...

I'm glad I read this book now, and not a year or even 6 months ago. Although, if it had been available, I probably would have. All the great pictures, the step-by-step break down of the shot, I wouldn't have been able to resist.  I think I would have been overwhelmed by the information and much of it would have been talking about a final technique so far from where I was it would have meant very little, and would have seemed almost an impossible feat to achieve. As it is, I feel like I've gotten to a place where I have a fairly good understanding of the basics of what I should be doing (even if I'm not doing all of it) allowing me to really get lot out of the book, some of which can be applied now and some later. (And some maybe not at all - I like my wrist sling.) Knowing how far I've come in the past year, nothing seems quite so impossible as it did a year ago, even if it is far off in the future.

My biggest complaint about the book, was that it sometimes strives for poetry at the expense of clarity. I understand this impulse and fall prey to it myself (as you must know if you regularly read this blog) but I feel it can be more easily excused in fiction or creative non-fiction than in an explanatory text. When writing about something difficult to understand, a method many people struggle with, it's probably best to keep things a bit simpler and not let the words get in the way of the explanation. However, in the last chapter ("The Emotionality of Shooting") this style was perfect, and I wished there was even more time devoted to this.

Two things I really wish this book included:

An Index. OK, yes, I'm a librarian, I realized I might be a little biased. But the presence of an index is really one of the hallmarks of a good reference work and that is certainly what this is. It is a work that can be carefully read cover to cover, but almost certainly there will be parts you want to go back to, to hone in on certain details. The way the book is broken done step by step makes that easier, but there is a significant amount of cross referencing between chapters and a index would have been an improvement.

An Appendix listing the archers in the photos. I realize this book strives to portray "the archer" as anyone and everyone in the text and labeling the photos with the names of the archers could be a distraction to this endeavor, but an appendix with names would be nice.

Maybe these will be found in a second edition?

Twilight

"When she thinks of her father now, she sees him at the end of the day. That's his time of day, twilight, or just before. The late afternoon, when the sun is setting, when it feels sad and beautiful, like the last day. When the sadness is too unbearable to think about, and this makes you strangely cheerful."

-- Jane Mendelsohn, I Was Amelia Earhart

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen

This book was excellent. I read it in about a day & a half, it was so good I just couldn't put it down. The majority of the story takes place in the 1930s in a small time traveling circus. But the narrator is really now in his 90s reflecting back on his time in the circus. The ending is surprising & touching & perfect.

Archery: The Art of Repetition by Simon S. Needham

This book is a good mix of beginning and advanced information, and is the best illustrated archery book I've read so far.  Having the photographs and visual examples to go along with the text helps enormously and gives a greater understand of the techniques described. Also included, are photos of various kinds of equipment, which are particularly helpful since I'm starting to purchase my own equipment. Although I have yet to read this book cover to cover, I've gotten a lot of use out of the beginning chapters, and have read selections of the rest as needed. It has already proved to be a valuable reference tool and I know I'll be going back to it frequently in the future!

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

I chose this book for book club this month and I'm so glad I did.  I started it, and I simply couldn't put it down.  Not only that, but Chip picked it up and almost stole it from me.  The backdrop of the story is a plague that kills every person on Earth.  And yet, it is not about the plague at all or even really about the people it affects.  It is more about the person it does not affect and those who have already died.

Precision Archery

Precision Archery edited by Steve Ruis & Claudia Stevenson

After checking this book out from the library I decided it is definitely worth owning.  There is   a variety of material covered at an intermediate to advanced level, which means it will be useful for a long time to come. To be honest, I haven't read this straight through, but I have read a number of chapters and sections and see myself going back to this frequently as a reference. It includes chapters on tuning, developing a training regimen, practice, and both compound and recurve form. The text is rather dense, but that just means more information to absorb! Thanks to Alicia & Ryan for my Amazon gift card that I used to purchase this!

Letter of Warning

 The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf

 This book is well written & thoughtful & frightening.  Even if you don't agree with all her examples, she gives some important reminders of the real revolutionary nature of our nations foundation & rightfully asserts that constant vigilance is necessary now, and always in times of upheaval, to stay true to the founding principles of our country & to prevent the greatest fears of our founding fathers from being realized.

Archery Fundamentals by Douglas Engh

A good overview of the basics, but with a few extra things to think about & practice.  This is the perfect book to pick up right as you're starting to shoot.  For a shooter just starting out, it has a lot to reflect on and many sections could be read over several times. By the time I read it, after about 10 months of shooting, I had already heard and ingrained much of the information from my coach.  However, it was still helpful to read through once, and a few sections warranted more careful study. Near the end, I even found a picture of my coach, how funny!

This Week in Books

A few of the books that caught my eye this week among the new books at my library.

Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit by Robert Bogdan

 The University of Google: Education in a (post) Information Age by Tara Brabazon

The Meaning of Video Games by Steven Jones

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Leviton

A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations by Clive Ponting 

The Sexual Politics of Time: Confession, Nostalgia, Memory by Susannah Radstone

Names on a Map: A Novel by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Undertow: Poems by Anne Shaw

The Other Book by Philip Womack

The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett

This is the best book I've read in a long time.  Patchett evokes a deep melancholy, but also a peacefulness & stillness. If there was a feeling called "standing alone in the absolute quietness of gently falling snow" that would be the feeling to describe this book. 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

  My book club choice for May...subtle & unusual...you only slowly discover the truth of the world as the characters grow up and find themselves. Tragically sad, but very good.

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

Tyson gave me this & another Angela Carter book for Christmas & I'm just getting around to reading it.  I love it so far...there's a great interplay between the real & and the unreal (or is it?). I love her writing, she has a very clever way of describing the ordinary and making it seem extraordinary which is perfect for this story.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Alanna lent me this books months ago, but it was only after reading "Interpreter of Maladies" that I finally picked it up.  It was excellent, and as compelling and moving as Lahiri's other stories.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Book Club book for this month. It is excellent and makes me want to read Lahiri's other books.  These short stories are full of amazing characters; touching and full of life.

Dr. Suess is 104

Or at least, he would be if he were still alive.  This picture was taken last Monday at his annual birthday celebration in front of the Geisel Library. Have you ever seen a Cat in the Hat this big!?!

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

An exciting and interesting book that gives an unlikely but possible answer to the meaning on life on Earth.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel by Lisa See

I tried to get into this book several months ago and couldn't, but it was the book club book this month so I really had to read.  After the first chapter, I couldn't put it down. Heartbreaking and tender, and full of so much life.  An excellent book.