What I'm Reading: The Song of Achilles (and Little Women)

What are you reading right now? (And, is it good? Would you recommend it? How did you choose it?)

  I have so many books on my bedside table right now, but the one sitting right here next to me is The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller. I had never heard of it (yep, I've been a little out of the loop) until Care announced a Read-Along. I'd been wanting to join a read-along but most of the ones I'd come across either didn't appeal to me (*cough*StephenKing*cough*) or I couldn't get the book in time (Quiet--I'm still sad about missing that one. I may have to do my own catch-up post when my library copy finally comes in).

Anyway--The Song of Achilles. So good! Miller interweaves her knowledge of history/the classics with a damned fine story. She intersperses just enough tidbits of the Greek language to keep the reader solidly rooted in Greece without overdoing it. And the characters! I've always liked Odysseus, but in this book he's actually one of my least favorite--which is not to say I dislike him, but that the others have come alive for me in such surprising ways.

[There is still time to join the read-along. Care's first post will be this weekend, and the pages fly by so if you got the book today you will catch up quickly. I will most likely be posting updates on Worducopia's Facebook page as well]
 

Evan and I are on the final chapter of Little Women, and we are ready to move on, but as he says, "It's been a good long reading adventure." 

I already knew that I loved the book, having read it as a girl. But reading it with my boy has made me love him just that little bit more than I already did--for his appreciation of the humor in the language, and his recognition of the inherent sexism in some of Alcott's moralizing tangents, and most of all for his middle-of-the-book exclamation, "It's not that I want a ton of romance, but when are Laurie and Jo ever going to get together?!" Yes. But then it all works out, differently than a 12 year old expects it to but still perfectly, and there are life lessons in that which have lasted me into adulthood.

What are you reading right now? 

Valentine from a Reader

 Question of the week: Not the kind of “love” question you’re expecting for Valentine’s Day. No, what I want to know is: What do you love most about reading?

I wrote you a little poem about my love for reading. (Beware: nobody ever said I was a poet). I don't know what to call it, though. Any suggestions on a title?

"Interrupted Reading" by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot

Relaxing amid life's bustle,
Engrossed in a distant reality
Amid people I could scarcely know
Doing things I'd never do.
I place a thumb between the pages,
Nodding at another nugget of wisdom.  
Gifts from a stranger's muse.

--by Alison Jakel

Books on Loan--How Long is Too Long?

Do you lend your books? Are any out on loan right now? Do you have any that have been loaned to you? Do you put a time limit on these? Do you think people should make an effort to read the loaned book quickly?

I'm much more likely to give a book away than to lend it. I don't especially like hanging on to books, which is why I get most of mine from the library. I'd much rather pass a book on and have it be read and loved by someone else, than have it taking up space on my shelves. There is one book that I loaned to a book club friend, which I really hope to get back in good condition (and I'm sure I will). It's written by another book club member, and it's the history of Spindrift, a cottage that was built in 1912 by the then-director of Portland's library, and then bequeathed to library employees as a place of respite. The cottage is a special place to our family, because we've been going there for the occasional weekend since before my kids were born. I bought the book directly from the author, and it's definitely a limited edition item, so once I get it back from my friend at the February book club meeting, I won't be loaning it out again.

Spindrift, on the Oregon Coast

I really don't like borrowing books from friends, though. The pressure! It takes me ages to get around to reading them. I have a pile of books from a friend who went to BEA a few years ago and was so sweet to have a pile of ARCs shipped to my house. I thought they were a gift at first, but when she let me know she'd want them back eventually, I made sure to keep them in a special place all together with a note that they were hers. I've read a couple of them and returned them. The others sit on their special place on the shelf, and my friend says she has no immediate plans to read them, so no worries.

I have two books that were lent by another friend--again, years ago! I've checked in with her about this and she's always she'd rather I keep them at my house, as long as she knows where they are if she needs them. One is the Flylady book. My friend and I are similarly organizationally challenged, and when we were kvetching  discussing this one day, she pulled out the book and said something along the lines of, "My mom sent this to me. It's got some good ideas, but I'm probably never going to do them. Want it?" Because it was a gift from her mom, she definitely wants it back. Because I've had it for years and still haven't implemented the system, I should really return it now. I'm going to be seeing her tomorrow, so I think I'll bring it with me.

This same friend lent me A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mystry. It's one of her favorite books, and comes so highly recommended from several friends, that I really should read it. The trouble is, (1) It's long and (2) I read chapter one and it was fine but I wasn't sucked in and (3) There are so many other books to read! I haven't been able to bring myself to return it, though, because my friend really wants me to read it. And I'm going to read it. I just don't want to read it now.

Yeah. It's been . . . I mean, I think our oldest boys were around 11 then? And now Ben is 16. It's about 600 pages, I could have read half a page a day in that time and been finished with it a year ago.

So, what do you think? Should I give it another try, or give it back to my friend tomorrow?

Soundtrack

Do you ever try to pair music with the book you’re reading? Play the movie soundtrack while reading the original book? Find mood music that fits with your story?

I rarely listen to music while I'm reading, but I like to try to pick a song that goes with each book I review. Sometimes it's a song whose words make me think of the main characters. Sometimes it's a song that evokes the setting for me, or one that's mentioned in the text. This isn't something I ever did before blogging, but it's one of my favorite parts of posting reviews. It's also one of the most time consuming things, so when my reviews start lagging, it's one of the first things to go.

One of my favorite things is when authors post a playlist that goes with their book. Author Lenore Appelhans recently shared the playlist for her new book, Level 2, in an interview on Mundie Moms. I haven't even gotten my copy of the book yet, but knowing there's a playlist makes me incredibly happy.

When I'm working on a book or story, there are certain songs that come to mind. My first protagonist--who lived at the back of my mind for 18 years before I got a chance to sit down and finish his story--yes, I could have given birth to him when I was 19 and he'd have been all grown up by the time I finished the final chapter, it's nuts--anyway, he has a whole playlist in my mind starting with 80s songs that were playing while I was writing the early drafts (songs by U2 and REM, mostly) and adding a few songs from the decades since then. There was also an album by Tanita Tikaram that had nothing to do with my story except for the fact that,  in 1989, I could press play on my little cassette deck and my mind would instantly go into creative mode.

My current protagonist has a song or two that I know she would listen to, but the music that goes with that story for me has more to do with the setting and her search for her brother, rather than her personal thoughts or feelings. It would take a lot of work for me to put that playlist together, but I promise that if there is a book launch party one day, I will make it happen.

Here's Glycerine--a song that always brought my character to mind in the 90s, when I wasn't writing a word.