Straight through the heart

An essay in a recent NYT Book Review about the best way to teach literature may provide insight into the most satisfying way to read literature.

The author, an English professor who teaches a popular fiction workshop at a midwestern liberal arts college, admits to some bewilderment as his students acquire the ability to "write better sentences and cleaner paragraphs". What is the secret of their success? He realizes, finally, that he is "really instructing them in reading as a process of seduction...by fixating on certain attributes of the beloved as one falls in love".

His explanation seems a bit overheated - but maybe not.  He starts the class by assigning a few books, encouraging his students to focus on their visceral reactions to the reading assignments: What did they like? Love? And why? He observes that once his students isolate the energy and power in the phrases or sentences that they love, they apply that vitality to their own writing.

Love? Is this what we are seeking when we read a classic or contemporary work of fiction? The professor says, of course! (Or, in his words, "... how can  you teach someone to master language or read literature unless he's fallen in love with it?")

The professor's teaching technique results in his students becoming better writers. Would trusting our primal response to a work of literature result in our becoming more committed readers? What do you think? Have you read a book lately that has gone "straight through the heart"? I hope so!

Mary Hoskinson-Dean

click here for the complete essay by Dean Bakopoulos in 3/24/13 NYT Book Review

Valentine's reading, late edition

Do you like reading about romance? Here's a fun way to choose your next book. Amazon has prepared an interactive map of love stories set throughout the United States. Click here to access the map, and take your pick from a panorama of love. Enjoy!

mhd

The sages of Seattle have spoken...

…..and the best children's books of 2012 have been crowned! 

We are in our usual state of bemusement after the ALA announcement of its annual children's book awards.  Our favorites have been bypassed but we are delighted with the committee choices. (Great minds don't always think alike!)

Jon Klassen won the Caldecott Medal for This is Not My Hat, his subversive take on "sharing" clothing. Parents will laugh when they read this picture book; hopefully, the children who are looking and listening will, too…..

Katherine Applegate received the John Newbery Medal for her affecting novel, The One and Only Ivan. The unusual hero, a gorilla unhappily on display in a shopping mall, manages to win his freedom and that of his elephant companion through his ability to communicate with Julie, a young girl. A fantasy? Inspired by a true story, maybe not!

The recipient of the Michael Printz Award, for the best book for teenagers, was quite a surprise to us, and, for that matter, to the rest of the literary community. Nick Lake's hard-hitting novel about Haiti, In Darkness, combines the modern-day travails of a teenage boy trapped in the rubble of the recent earthquake with the historical struggles of Toussaint l'Ouverture, the 18th-century Haitian freedom fighter. An intense reading experience, it will reward your time and concentration.

If you'd like to see what we liked best in 2012, please take a look at our own list of favorites. Let us know if we've left out any of yours!

Mary Hoskinson-Dean and Allison Murphy

And the crystal ball reveals......

....oh, dear, still rather cloudy. We're seeking some clues as to who will win the American Library Association children's literature prizes, to be awarded on Monday, January 28, but it looks like we'll just have to go ahead and make our own best guesses!

Allison and I would not be surprised if Extra Yarn, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen, wins the Caldecott Medal (given to the artist of the year's most distinguished picture book). Perhaps The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins, or More by I. C. Springman (pictures by Brian Lies), or Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff, will receive the top award. There is no clear frontrunner for the prize, so our predictions may be wrong (as usual).

The John Newbery Award, given annually to the best children's chapter book or novel, does have some obvious contenders, we think. Among them are R. J. Palacio's debut novel Wonder, Rebecca Stead's book Liar and Spy, and Laura Schlitz's Splendor and Glooms.  The nonfiction book Bomb - The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin, might earn some recognition as well.

We are most confident about the Michael J. Printz Award, given to the best book written for young adults (known outside libraryland as "teenagers"). Allison and I expect that it will be won by the heartbreaking romance The Fault in our Stars by John Green, or the World War II thriller Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. (Though I did love the fantasy Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.)

Check back here in two weeks to see if we have a future in fortunetelling!

Mary Hoskinson-Dean

'Tis the season....

....for critics (and kibitzers) to announce their choices for the top, best, and notable books of the year. 

The Washington Post has its top and notable lists; The New York Times features its 10 best books and its 100 notable books; Publishers Weekly recommends its Best Books of the Year.  The Wall Street Journal prepared a bundle of lists for you to browse (including the "50 Friends"). Of the online sites, Slate.com has its staff favorites; the editors of Huffington Post knew what they liked. and Salon offers its "ultimate book guide". 

The library review journals are just gearing up: first off is our "own" Kirkus Reviews (founded by the late Virginia Kirkus Glick, a long-time Redding resident) with its best fiction and best nonfiction lists, followed by Library Journal, with its series of "Best of" lists.

May your busy holidays leave you time to enjoy at least one of the touted books!

mhd

Man Booker Prize announced - a first, a first, and a first

Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize for WOLF HALL, Hilary Mantel has won the 2012 Man Booker Prize for its sequel, BRING UP THE BODIES. In so doing she has achieved three firsts:  first British and first woman writer to win the prize twice; and first writer to win the prize for a sequel.  This series on Thomas Cromwell, the commoner who was Henry the Eighth's right-hand man, provides a riveting read about a compelling historical figure. One more book is planned; does Mantel have another first in her literary future?

Dan Stevens, "Downton Abbey" star and a 2012 Booker judge, talks about BRING UP THE BODIES and other titles on the Booker short list here.

By the Book

Here's a new source of ideas for choosing your next book to read: the "By the Book" feature in the  New York Times Book Review.  Authors in the news discuss what they've read lately. (You might be surprised!)

mhd