On Weather and Being Under the Weather

Le frégate
Henri Matisse

Oh, my. My computer and I were both blindsided by viruses at the same time. While my laptop languished for a week at the techie hospital, I languished on the chaise lounge. 

The Polar Ice Caps that seem to be hovering over the region and the blowing snow didn't help my frame of mind. I did manage to push though and fulfill a couple of commitments but keeping up an entry a day on 'Belle, Book, and Candle' fell by the wayside.

I wish I could report that I read many books this past week, but sadly that has not been the case. I did finish Once Upon a Timepiece by Starr Wood which I really enjoyed and will write about another time.

I managed to read a chapter or two in The Bully Pulpit about Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Said chapters are quite long and so filled with information that after finishing one I feel as if I have read a book.

There were a couple of free mysteries on my Kindle which once begun were quickly abandoned as they didn't hold my interest. So, I returned to the tried and true detective adventures of Peter Diamond in Upon a Dark Night. Author Peter Lovesey never fails to sweep me away with his tales of Bath, England and the criminal goings-on there.

My laptop is back where it belongs...on my lap. I am slowly coming back to life myself and hope to get in the swing of things shortly. If you, dear reader, have left me a comment I plan on catching up with you over this weekend.

Theodore Roosevelt and Speed Reading

Bookplate used by Theodore Roosevelt

for his personal library

"My library has been the greatest possible pleasure to me, [Theodore Roosevelt] wrote to his parents during his freshman year [at Harvard], "as whenever I have any spare time I can immediately take up a book." 
             ---from The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

It is said that Mr. Roosevelt read a book a day...before breakfast! In the evenings, when things in the White House (where he lived from 1901 to 1909) were quiet, he read another book or two plus magazines and newspapers. 

Speed reading, anyone?

I once took a class in speed reading. It ruined me. It made reading too much like work, gave me a headache, and I had absolutely zero comprehension of what I had read. I soon went back to my normal pace. I am the type of reader who Reads Every Word. It is my one weakness (as Candleford's Postmistress Dorcas Lane would say).

As much as I like the idea of gobbling up books, I find that forcing my eyes to tear across lines of text takes away all the enjoyment of reading for me. 

In 2009, the blog "The Art of Manliness" (which has some great information that is not only for men) had a post on Mr. Roosevelt's reading habits and some tips on increasing one's reading speed. You can read the entry, slowly or quickly, here: Speed Reading.

What about you, dear reader. Have you tried speed reading? Did you have any success? Do you consider yourself a slow reader or a fast reader?  Have you ever calculated the number of words you read per minute? Does your reading speed matter to you? 

Comments, anyone?

A Gift Just for Me

Bloomsbury Bookbag

by Levenger

I do love to treat myself. This year I splurged and bought the above pictured Bloomsbury Bookbag from Levenger. It was on sale before Christmas (and still is for $49) and comes stocked with a selection of bookish items. Mine contained a full-size notepad, a book bungee, bookmark sticky flags, two small magnifying cards, a selection of index cards, and a telescoping pen.

It is quite the stylish tote! This bag is made of blue (not quite as dark as in this photo) cotton canvas with leather trim and handles. The inside is lined and roomy and has a zippered pocket. There are six outside pockets just made for stuffing. The bottom is flat so it sits well - an important consideration.

Also pictured are three books on my list to read in 2014 beginning with The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin and One Summer by Bill Bryson. The book that is still gift wrapped is an autographed copy of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt that I bought in Savannah on my recent Grand Southern Literary Tour 2013.

Of course, this bag will hold much more than books, but I can't think of anything else I would rather carry around with me. 

What gift did you treat yourself to this year?

Two for the New Year

Ray Stannard Baker
AKA David Grayson

I am on the verge of finishing three books-in-progress before the year's end: Cross Creek by Majorie Kinnan Rawlings; What's the Worst That Could Happen? (ninth in the Dortmunder series) by Donald Westlake; and The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith, the latest in his No. One Ladies' Detective Agency series. 

I am hoping to start with a clean slate as I just bought The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin and One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson. 

I recently watched an interview with Ms. Goodwin from 
C-SPAN's Q & A program archives which introduced me to her
latest book. (You can watch it here.) What caught my attention was the fact that one of the journalists featured in the book is Ray Stannard Baker who wrote for McClure's magazine, the muckraking monthly, along with Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Ray Stannard Baker (1870-1946) is better known to me as David Grayson, the name he used when he wrote a series of books that have found their way onto my bookshelves through discovery at used book stores. These include Adventures in Solitude (1932), Adventures in Friendship (1910), and Adventures in Contentment (1907). I wrote about Mr. Baker/Grayson and these books here.

The Bully Pulpit is a huge, 900-plus page book and Mr. Bryson's One Summer runs over 500 pages. I am making quite a commitment here with these two books and one I hope I can keep. If I read just four pages a day, I will be finished with both by the end of 2014.

BOOKS: Five tasks to prepare you for the New Reading Year

There are all sorts of articles written this time of year listing Things To Do to prepare for the year's end, such as gathering tax receipts and information, clearing out old files, and sorting through your closets and cupboards to bag up and make deductible donations.

I have some thoughts on what we bookish folks can think about and accomplish to start off the New Year with a clean shelf, so to speak. It's as easy as BOOKS:

Be ruthless. Sort through your shelves and book piles (I know you have them) and box up those that you know you won't read again - or even read for the first time. Duplicates? I have a tendency to replace paperback editions with hardcover editions and yet never seem to be able to let go of the softcover books. Donate the ones you no longer want to the Goodwill, your library, or a favorite charitable book sale. Perhaps you will even find a borrowed book that needs to be returned to its proper owner. 

Organize and clean what is left. Dust those dust jackets. Swipe those shelves with a clean cloth. Eliminate those little piles of book lint in the bookshelf corners. Take a minute to put all your books together by one author or that cover one subject. Perhaps those five books of Mary Oliver's poetry would be happy perched on a windowsill or bedside table. Get those books off the floor and into a proper home. Perhaps a new bookshelf is in your future to keep your collection corralled.

Open the journal or notebook or computer file that holds your To Be Read List. Take a look. Are there books that you have now lost interest in reading? Are there ones that have been on your list for a decade? Clean up this list by eliminating ones that are no longer relevant and starring the books you absolutely want to read in 2014. Of the Top One Hundred Books for the year listed on Amazon, I have not read a one. But there are two that interest me and are the first ones on my TBR list for 2014: One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson and The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin. 

Kickstart a reading schedule. Develop the habit of reading at certain times of the day. I try and read for an hour first thing in the morning before the computer and chores and errands start to eat up my time. I usually take a tea break about four o'clock and read for a bit then as well. I also read for 30 minutes or so every evening before bed. Other than than, it is catch as catch can.

Survey your list of books read in 2013. Get a sense of where you spent your reading time. Were your choices intentional or did you succumb to the shiniest reviews? Did you read all fiction or did you learn something from books on history or biography or nature? Are you reading only best sellers or have you dipped into the vast canon of works from the past? I don't pay much attention to the latest and greatest lists and have a tendency to read mostly mystery and non-fiction books. Perhaps I could use a little more balance in my reading choices. 

Here's hoping these simple tasks will inspire you to have a Great Reading Year!