Book Review: Birdsong

Title: Birdsong
Author: Sebastian Faulks
Publication Date: 1993
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Rating: 1/5
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I started reading Birdsong on a night I couldn't fall asleep. I'd been going through A.S. Byatt's Possession and for whatever reason(s) I just didn't want to keep going. It had been awhile since I'd read anything like historical fiction even though it's a genre of which I'm quite fond. 

Since I was using my e-reader at the time, I decided to go through all of the historical fiction sections they had on offer. I'd not thought of WWI fiction at all. I am a huge fan (which sounds incredibly inappropriate considering the ocean of human suffering) of WWI-era poetry. I even designed a lesson plan for my DH to use in his history courses comparing or contrasting Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" to Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est". And as a Tolkien fan, I often contemplate the effects of war upon his writing. 

First Nerd Problems

Yesterday was one of those days where Murphy seemed to be above me making sure that little rain-cloud never strayed too far. Ah, a mixed metaphor is always fun on a Saturday morning.

Anyway, to get to school I take two buses and a train. It takes about 90 minutes which is not ideal but for a reader like myself, it's really not too bad. I've been spending three mornings a week deeply enthralled with my new best bud, George R.R. Martin (or GRRM if you're super cool and constantly tweet about #ASoIAF). But, more about that later.

My first bus was 20+ minutes late, and that borders on the line of being late for class (as in missing half of it because of missed connections). So I rushed over to catch a different bus that required a two block run to catch the train — which was also late. I was so stressed I couldn't read (which is the most frustrating feeling in the world). I finally got onto the third bus of my journey and pulled out my eReader to delve into A Feast of Crows. I have a Nook Color, one I received for my birthday the year before last and up until the last few days I have loved it. I read The New York Times on it, I've read all the GRRM books that I have on it, so on and so forth. But out of nowhere it's started turning itself off randomly and once awakened it's lost my page. Ack! GRRM tends to write pretty exciting things at the end of chapters and it's a huge pain in the butt to have search around and not have the event spoiled (I hate spoilers like River Song).

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By the time I was on my return trip it stopped doing the irritating thing so I was happily re-immersed into A Feast for Crows. And that's where I went wrong — I'm the kind of person who walks down the street reading, I sometimes read in the shower, even. When the bus hit the end of the line/my stop I got up, reading, and got off the bus. As the bus pulled away I realized that my iPhone was no longer in my pocket.

...

I asked a fellow at the stop if I could use his phone to call mine, maybe if the bus driver saw it light up or heard it buzz he could hold it for me? I'm such an optimist. Anyway, lawyer dude looked at me like I'd asked for a firstborn to nom on. I guess my demeanor reads "I'm going to steal your phone by lying and sell it for drugs", maybe I wasn't meant to teach Elementary School. My mood did not improve. So I hopped on the next Northbound Train hoping that two stops up I could find a Transit Cop or someone to radio in to the driver before my phone disappeared.

I don't know if you've ever had to report a lost phone to Transit Police but they look at you like, "Dude, it's over. Move on." And say things like, "Have ya heard of an app called 'JailBreak'?" to which I tried not to explain how jail-breaking and phone theft work in reality because that just wouldn't help my situation. Then they tried not to laugh at me as I explained that it must have fallen out of my pocket. So embarrassing. Also, the first thing the cop did was tell me "Call Lost and Found, the number is blah-blah-blah". "Okay, is there a payphone nearby?" I asked. Then he laughed. I sighed and tried not to cry in public.

Eventually I got a hold of my husband, after running around three different buildings and almost crying at someone. I got into the car and bawled.

"I just wanted to buy The Hobbit tote bag I saw, go to the library and fill said tote bag with books and then go to the Book Festival! Why is today so bad?!" 

That, my friends, is a First Nerd Problem.

I went home and prepared to zap my phone from a distance (sorry, Better Midler is now in my head, too). But because I am apparently a hopeful person (it goes with that whole Chaotic Neutral thing) I sent a plaintive text from DH's phone to mine: "If found please call this number: ### ### ####". I sat at home and drank bourbon and apple-cider, bemoaning my First Nerd Problems and eating Indian Food. My Gandalf the White iPhone 4 was gone. I was Frodo sad.

And then my phone called me! A bus operator had found my phone and kept it safe so no one would steal it! She was glad I'd texted because she wasn't sure what to do at first.

Holy heck, +2 faith in humanity!

And to think, I'd been musing about sending rude messages to the thief!

My favorite plan was because my Lock Screen is the image below so I thought about texting:

 Valar morghulis

Good thing I didn't! It might've made this kind woman creeped out and I may never have been re-united with my lil phone! Rejoice!

So, I've got 9 Nerd Problems but a Phone Ain't One.

But I did receive sad news about my eReader. Apparently, B&N have decided to move on to brighter pastures with a Nook HD and HD+ tablet, essentially kissing off the Nook Color. There will probably be another update (maybe two if we're lucky) but they are not producing any more of the tablets and it's not even on the Nook front page anymore. Sigh. If that is the future, do I want to be a part of it? Do I want to shell out $199 or $269 for a  new Nook later this year? Do I really like the eReading experience that much? 

I hate when I have to worry about the battery dying, especially in bed, and I miss the smell of paper. I do like that it can stand on my chest and my arms are free to pet the beagle. I also like that I don't get hand cramps from 1000+ page books. But, as the Book Hoarder that I am I feel like I don't entirely own the books I have on there. For a few crappy ones, that's fine, but for GRRM books and Christopher Buckley novels that I'd lend to friends it doesn't quite feel right.

Part of the Budget Deal I made with DH for October is that I would go one whole month without buying a book — unprecedented — which will give me time to mull over this whole Nook situation. Am I a tech geek or a stickler for the classics? Or am I, in fact Chaotic Neutral?

"Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile"

— Shakespeare's Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act I Scene i, Spoken by Berowne
 
Remember that terrible chandelier hanging from our middle room? The scourge of the 70s-80s? The blinding glass shame? The fixture that would be great if I were hosting a reenactment of Empty Nest.

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Okay, actually that sounds like a really fun party plan, I might do it. Regardless, it felt like cocaine had been snorted off of every prism or we needed a vinyl tablecloth and get fabric striped wallpaper.

Let's revisit our poor chum.

If you looked straight into it, it was like looking into the heart of the TARDIS which we all know messes with your head and can be really bad for any resident Daleks.

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For months I pinned ideas and fantasized about the lighting in my dining room/library. This is the room that houses my favorite pieces; all of my bookcases, the mid-century dining table that belonged to my grandmother, and the Jon Hamm bar all live in there!

And then one day, the husband and I had a rough weekend financially. Sometimes these things happen, a check gets deposited three weeks late, and then another and then another. Which, yes, was poor planning on our part but that's a whole different kind of tale. The point is, it was a few days until payday so two poor newlyweds would not be embarking on any kind of expensive DIY. But I needed to do something productive, anything to pull myself out of the cavern of self-loathing.

I tried my first idea, a Chinese lantern. A plain old, white round lantern. There are no photos of these attempts, by the by, because they failed pretty spectacularly. I removed all the of the glass prisms, all 16 of them and then attempted to shimmy the lantern around. The skeleton of this light fixture is to spokes of rods which are just the right length to tear a whole through the paper of a lantern. Sigh. I pretty much knew that would happen, but I was trying to prove a glass half-full hope. So, into the recycling with the torn up lantern.

The fixture is wired in such a way that it would take a hell of a lot to remove it from the ceiling, if you're wondering why that never happened. The joys of home renter-ship.

The poor husband heard me curse for awhile and tried to watch the MLB network around it.

Then I decided to put all of the prisms back on, which has to be done in a methodical way or else it leans precariously to one side, scary! Then I pulled out a roll of drawing paper. I tried to circumnavigate the  fixture. This also resulted in many curses and a few wobbly moments on the step-ladder. Enter husband, Dining Room Left. We fought with the paper, trying to get a sense of the length it would take to enshrine it. I thought to myself, I will draw things on the paper and it will shine through like stained glass! But the paper ripped, again and again. And the foul language continued. I decided to go back to organizing our books into LCC as a distraction. I must do something! I muttered through gritted teeth.

I happened across a tattered copy of Romeo & Juliet. To be honest I'm not sure to whom it belonged, he or I. Because I have a gorgeous complete works tome that I treasure I was about to toss the paperback into the pile to go to The Book Thing (a decidedly small assemblage as you can imagine). As I handled it I realized it was a rather narrow book, compared to it's height, not unlike the blasted prisms from the chandelier. 

The lightbulb in my brain went off (har har). I reached up and grabbed on of the prisms. The page was just a little short, but not unappealingly so. If they were all at the same length, it might even look purposeful. I began to run around the house for supplies. Poor DH had no idea what was going on as roadrunner careened up and down the staircase. 

My collection of materials was slight, a utility knife and a smaller calligraphy pen. I do not have a single hole punch, which might seem like the way to go, but even if I did I fear the holes would be too large.

I began by removing as many pages from the binding as I needed. The book was, as I said, pretty beat up so holding it flat open was easy. The point of the knife I pushed into the glued binding and a nice steady straight cut. Boom! Freed pages. 

When I experimented with the first page I wanted to make sure I was comfortable with the hole being a in an easy place to replicate. I went with the first line of text, beneath the Running Head. So I skewered as many pages as need and hung them with care. 

Because I left the drops on the paper is safe isn't a fire hazard (I'm pretty neurotic as it is, the last thing I need is The Towering Inferno in my dining room).

Et, voila!

 

 

Total price of project: $0
Duration: 10 minutes (maybe)

We are having our housewarming party this weekend (A Hobbitous Housewarming) so I can unveil it to my friends and family, yipee!

I suppose I could have used a quote from R&J  to title this, but everyone already knows that one so where is the fun? I might end up using different pages, books, authors, etcetera but I'm loathe to tear apart another book.

Speaking of the play, DH ended up doing an interactive version of it at the Renaissance Festival this year. If he's good I will only upload it to Facebook...

Library Studies 101

“Of course it's alright for librarians to smell of drink.” ― Barbara Pym

Which is good because our library and our bar live in the same room. Hello? Books and booze? A perfect combination. Throw in the beagle and it's all three of my babies. Okay, that's enough alliterative torture.

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The Library Project was inspired by my Dad. He always had this crazy notion to put all of his books in order, shelve them and then maintain them in a database with its own dedicated computer. So, before I started in on his large collection that I have requested be bequeathed to me, I wanted to try it out with my measly four bookcase collection. Plus, this was the first time all of the books were already in need of being shelved. I chose Library of Congress Classification over Dewey Decimal for a few reasons.

• Dad seemed to prefer LCC (even his LibraryThing account specified as such)
• "Uh, it's for grownups!" — an acquaintance who is studying for his MLS.
• I am just more familiar with it, period.
• Have you ever been to Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress? That's where I want to go when I die. (Or anywhere where my Dad's spirit is.)

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 Anyway, the decision was made and then the work ensued.

This is what we started with, (almost) all our books collected in the center of the room.

I have moved lots of times and I have moved lots of books each time. Use boxes designated for copier paper
— trust me — they fit books well and you end up with the perfect weight. Avoid a pulled back or cardboard ripping and book cascade! 

Now, I thought I was ahead of the game a bit because in my previous library incarnations I kept books together (loosely) by genre. This is why every box is labeled carefully, e.g. the bottom box reads "Books — Nonfiction (Memoirs & Bios)".

Once we put the shelves up barren (of which I regrettably do not have a photo) it already felt more studious than in our old house. This is why I like dark-colored shelving, it feels more literary than plain white by a landslide. So, one day I got up early (seriously, I woke up at like 5am for no apparent reason other than I wanted to get started) and made many cups of coffee. James left for work and I started pulling books out.


There are a few tools necessary.


One thing that is useful to have when beginning a project like this is the internet. Since the majority of my books do not have the updated LCC info on the reverse of the title page. So, what you can do (and I was forced to do until the cable guy came later that evening) was make piles of "to research". At some points I got antsy and started looking things up on my iPhone, which I'm sure was great for our data plan (le sigh).

After some practice I discovered I did not like using the LoC Online Catalog for this purpose. It was not designed for referencing in this manner.

But, Classify is a great tool! This experimental database contains "91 million classification numbers" and is not limited to LCC or DDC. It's attached to WorldCat which is a great way to find a book in your local library no matter where you are. 

The other good thing to familiarize yourself with is the basic structure of the system. I printed one out and eventually copied it by hand (because I'm a verbal-visual learner like that). This will help keep you in check should you get a bad call number, which will happen from time to time.

There are numerous outlines to be found and the most detailed is from the LoC (big shock there). They offer a printable version of each but that would result in hundreds of pages and be a big waste of time/paper. So, I found one that was much more simple. I also wanted to have a copy of the outline available to refer to later when everything is all shelved. At some point this will actually be created and I'll be sure to make it available.

My tools other than that were post-it notes and a pen (the other stickers and the marker come in later)

So, in the grand scheme I spent nothing because I already had all of my materials but on the off-chance that I didn't the project would have been $11.66 or $311.63 with shelves (minus cost of books).

I've staged this over several days so I estimate the hours to be 12-24 depending on the size of your library. The first step is the longest!

1. OCLC Classify — free
2. Outline of LCC — $0)
3. Recycled 3"x3" Post-Its (here) — already had, approximately $6.10 retail
4. Ball-point pen — already had, approximately $1.82/2 pack
5. 1/2" x 32/4" Multi-purpose labels (similar version found here) — already had, apparently paid $2.10 years ago
6. Ultra-Fine Point Sharpie — already had, approximately $1.64/2 pack
7. Billy Bookshelves from IKEA, in black-brown retails for about $299.96
1. 3 of the 31.5"x 11" cases, already had, $79.99 each ($239.97 +tax)
2. 1 of the 15.75" x 11" case, already had, $59.99 each

Step One — Identify Call Number
Write it out on a sticky note and place upon the cover.

Classify allows you to search in many ways, via ISBN, UPC, ISSN, and up-frotn with Title and/or Author. 

If you have found numerous call numbers for the same title, either grab your handy outline or write both and make a note to check it later.

 

Sometimes a book may have two different call numbers listed, but as your familiarize yourself more with the system you will probably be able to decide which you would prefer to use.

This is going to be the longest part of this process, it will take the most time so do not be discouraged!

Step Two — Group Books by Main Class
It's really tempting to go ahead and start lining books up on the shelves in their detailed order. I know, I did this at first. It was a real heart-breaker when I realized it was folly and a real head-ache when I had to move everything else after it. 

It will be a surprise how many or how few you have of certain classes. James and I have a lot of C (Auxiliary Sciences of History), E (History of the Americas), PQ (French Literature), PR (English Literature), and PS (American Literature). I did not expect us to have as much B (Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion) but it was a pleasant surprise — minus the moving everything thereafter as I mentioned.

 
It looks like quite a mess, doesn't it? It was a long day of piles but that's the longest and most trying part!

Step Three — Move Everything To Shelves
If  you have some spare sticky-notes, it might be a good idea to put them around each section so if you have a stray book you can find it's home (roughly) rather quickly.

Step Four — Label The Spines
Now that all of the books are known to you and in relatively the right spot you can make for the really good looking part, spine identification. Grab those Multi-purpose labels and a fine point sharpie. You could, of course, type them and label that way, which is much more authentic but for me and for the time  I have, handwritten is fine.

I labeled all of the books, removed the post-its and and waited until everybody was "spined" before organizing. 

Could you skip the Post-It stage entirely and go straight for the spine? Absolutely. I wanted to make myself more familiar with the system by doing it the long way, but that's just me :)

Step Five — Re-Shelve and Show Off
Now that you can see the Call Numbers from the spines it should be very easy to put all of your books in the correct order.

Now, kick back with the book of your choice and enjoy the pages!

Book Review: World Without End

It wasn't until last summer that I got around to reading Ken Follet's 1989 novel The Pillars of the Earth. An 816 page saga set in the shadows of a Cathedral being built during medieval English civil war.

It was a great book to take to the hospital while Dad was unconscious for three weeks. That may sound crude, which I don't intend at all, but my father of all people would understand being sure to have a book with one during long periods of stress. 

I enjoyed Pillars a lot. That said, it will never be in my Top 10 Desert Island collection or my I Insist My Husband Read This list. My problem with the book was the characters were very much Good or Evil. One character was the hero: more clever than anyone, broad minded and well-intentioned. The other character was spindly, narrow-minded and determined to progress only their own means. Not a lot of grey area there.

The other issue was the Awkward and quite common eroticism. Do not get me wrong, I am by no means a prude and enjoy a well-crafted sex scene as much as anyone — mayhaps more than others, even — but the scenes in Pillars were, to borrow a phrase from a friend,

"like reading a dirty novel for forty year-old women bought in the grocery store"

I suspect this is how many folks feel about Fifty Shades of Grey which I have no problem not reading.


But, this is not supposed to be a review of Pillars but of the 2007 1024 page follow-up, World Without End. The thing is, it's almost the same book just 200 years later — in the same place, facing similar architectural woes, and incredibly familiar-feeling characters who face human failure and the brutality of the social hierarchy and who are in fact related to the protagonists of Pillars.

I read all 1024 pages quickly because it's a Potato Chip Book. One can read a bunch of pages in one sitting without realizing it. And this continues to happen day after day, most of time you can have only a few and get one with whatever really needs to be done that day. But then, at bedtime you end up devouring half of a bag and realize it's late and you feel a little greasy but still almost like you've accomplished something.

 

Did you see this project? I think it's fascinating and 

I have definitely been a data point of poor late-night eating. MassiveHealth.com

In the end I will probably not read any more of Follett's work, he has eight other novels currently in print, because although it was a nice snack I want something better, meatier and more satisfying.

Find nearby library copies of: The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and the rest of Follett's catolog.

I bit the bullet

I’m reading The Hunger Games. Now I can make fun of it (or not) based on an actual opinion and not just hearsay.

Quiet day at work. Grocery list and meal planning, check. Time to read my book and sip out of my awesome Jane Austen mug that my husband gave me at Christmas!