April 2010 Archives

Leah's Pick 3: April

By Leah on April 27, 2010 9:39 AM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks

renoir's colors.jpg Renoir's Colors, by Marie Sellier

This children's board book uses the beautifully impressionistic paintings of Renoir to teach kids about colors. A page with the name of a color opens up a flap that shows a glimpse of a painting, and on the following page the entire painting appears with questions about the scene. It's a great way to help children to interpret and enjoy art from a young age.

Going Away Shoes, by Jill McCorkle

Hailed on NPR as one of the best books of 2009, Going Away Shoes successfully fulfills everyone's desire to glimpse into lives of others--at least for a little while. These glimpses take place over eleven short stories that tell the stories of women with wit and vulnerability. It is a work that really allows readers to engage and empathize with characters--and that's the whole joy of reading, is it not?

Food Lover's Companion, by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst

I have to rave a bit about my adoration for the Food Lover's Companion. It is the quintessential reference guide for cooks and food enthusiasts. Both thorough and unassuming, this guide will answer all your questions without making you feel amateur. In the process, you might even find yourself becoming even more adventurous in your culinary pursuits.

Aja's 2009 Reading List: Part the Third

By Aja on April 21, 2010 1:55 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Editor's Note: Aja's back, and as funny as ever! For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath for this next installment, please inhale while accepting my apologies for the delay. Now, exhale. Good? Great. For those of you who missed the beginning of the list, check out Part the First and Part the Second to get up to speed! - Kirsten

Dearest Indigo Bridge Bookers,

These books have a little bit more information attached to the highly recommended section. As always, I've graded them based on an entirely arbitrary scale that should hopefully still convey which I thought were AWESOME. Bolded titles are the best of the best. (I restrained myself from making a Men in Black joke there.)

31. Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel. (Graphic novel and autobiography) (A+) I love Bechdel's work. The world that she can convey in a handful of panels is so dead-on, so intense, so achingly similar to my own that I do not exaggerate when I say her work haunts me. Her art is well done, her narrative, the setting and pace delivered in this graphic novel is pitch perfect. I cannot more highly recommend it. Amazing.

32.The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Fiction) (B+) The characters were complex, you cared deeply for them in sorrow and happiness, with an ending that wasn't wrapped up in a neat, little, perfect bow.

33. Moresukine: Uploaded Weekly From Toyko, by Dirk Schwieger. (Graphic novel and autobiographical journal) (C+) A German man, who writes his webcomic in English, was living in Japan for a few months working and asked his readership to send him on missions to then illustrate.

Note: This was a pick for graphic novel book club.

34. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale. (Young adult and fairy tale) (A) I hope I'm not ruining anything by telling you that, yes, the prince is exactly who you think it is. Surprise, everything turns out all right! Yet there are definitely darker aspects to this story - something that was traditionally being withheld from YA of yore but is making a comeback. Authors are realizing that teenagers deal with crazy, heavy stuff all the time and are now writing to reflect this. At the same time, Hale avoids being edgy for the sake of being edgy. She's conscious of how social class structures would have worked at the time while also recognizing that very similar goings-on happen in today's society. Sorry, I'll stop writing my own book on this. (I have now read the entire series.)

35. Veronica, by Nicholas Christopher. (Science fiction) (B+) A few phrases that describe this book: keys that open doors that only exist long enough for the key to unlock, stairs that transcend space and time, time that transcends space and time.

36. Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris. (Fantasy) (B-) While a worthy addition to this series, Dead and Gone wasn't the best or worst of the bunch, rather a safe middle ground.

37. Shakespeare's Landlord, by Charlaine Harris. (Mystery) (B-) I'll need to read a second book in this series to make a firm decision on it, but as is: This is a real world with no vampires, etc and the main character is one part house cleaner, one part martial arts expert, one part amateur detective. What could go wrong?

38. The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm, by Nancy Farmer. (Young adult) (A) This is a different style than I normally read. I loved it. I'm used to more structured books, while this had a feel of folklore. I would be interested to see if any of her other books are similar in nature, and if not, find other books that have the same feel. The Giver was like that, for me. It was a book steeped in the setting and told from the people experiencing the awe of directly relating to their culture. Does that make any kind of sense? Plus, mutant super power detectives. YES.

39. 1,001 Cranes, by Naomi Hirahara. (Kids/Young Adult) (C) There are boys, bad decisions, and a whole lot of questions that no one in her family will answer.

40. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. Every part of this book was awesome (if a little stretched ie arsonist plotline) except for the last two chapters. Those two chapters do not exist for me.

Note: I've been told that the much hated ending of the book was changed for the movie. Still, I boycotted the movie just the same. Many others quite enjoyed it.

Blowin' In the Wind...

By Marj on April 6, 2010 9:36 AM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks

Driving north on 17^th Street 10 days ago, I watched an invisible--and very welcome--force pick up a white plastic bag as I waited at a red light. The bag rode a refreshing March breeze, springing gracefully across the empty lanes, unchallenged by cars or bikes. Then the light changed, and everyone in this fleet of vehicles moved on toward individual goals as the bag continued its journey.

Did anyone else notice it, the white cousin of the yellow bag depicted by Ted Kooser in his first children's book, Bag in the Wind?

The following day, a crowd of 30 gathered at Indigo Bridge Books to hear our neighbor and former United States Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser, read from Bag in the Wind. I listened to this naturally quiet man--a man who gives thought to what he says--share his carefully crafted story with us. Once he had closed the book, he told another story: the story of how an accomplished writer builds his skills. We learned that he sought the advice of a distinguished illustrator, then used her feedback to hone his copy. The story's words surrendered a measure of their task to illustration, as the book's images assumed descriptive duties.

And I realized how fortunate we are. We live in a community rich with books, with the freedom to read and write (First Amendment, anyone?) and think about seemingly simple things. But in that simplicity--what happens to a bag "just the color of the skin of a yellow onion"--lies so much more. Our very values, our responsibility to continue using something perfectly functional rather than letting it litter our world as garbage, exist in the modest tale of a well-traveled plastic bag.

Thank you, Mr. Kooser, for spending part of your Saturday with us at Indigo Bridge. To those who weren't able to come, let this illustration from last Saturday provide valuable descriptive content from the book signing:

And, next time you have the chance, sit down with a copy of Bag in the Wind. Several years ago I heard Mr. Kooser tell a group of business writers that we all share another responsibility in our writing: we must honor the ordinary. Now, whenever I pick up one of my well-worn copies of his books of poetry, Writing Brave and Free, or this thought-provoking children's book, Mr. Kooser's agility in honoring our world's inhabitants, both animate and inanimate, dances before me. And I am swept away, much like a bag in the wind.

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