A little book that buzzes

Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl. Everyone would be pleased to see me coming. . . A pound coin can go wherever it thinks it will be safest. It can cross deserts and oceans and leave the sound of gunfire and the bitter smell of burning thatch behind.

So begins Chris Cleave's novel Little Bee.
The ideas in the book have been buzzing around in my head ever since I picked it up last week. The book jacket reveals little about the story, but it won't be a spoiler for me to say that it centers around the cataclysmic meeting of an English woman and a Nigerian girl, Little Bee. I found myself rereading whole passages—Cleave's writing was beautifully crafted. Read this, and you might find that your world has become a little smaller. To use Little Bee's words, "I knew that the hopes of this whole human world could fit inside one soul. This is a good trick. This is called globalization."

Summer reading list

With just three weeks left of school, I'm anxious to get started on my summer reading list. This might just mean getting to spend some time on goodreads.com for some suggestions. Making the short list are:





Mark Twain, who reportedly said, "Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her (Austen) up and beat her over the skull with her own shin bone" might find this an improvement on the original.



From her essays to novels, I've always found Anna Quindlen's writing to be thoughtful.



I first discovered this series after returning from a visit to Uganda in 2001. Now, it seems as if every spring McCall releases another one. HBO created a television show based on the series and its rich characters. Fans are waiting to see if they'll continue for another season.



And many, many more.

"My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter." ~Thomas Helm

To Kindle or not to Kindle: the changing nature of books and reading

My mom, sisters, and I have developed a floating library of sorts. Titles have included Beautiful Boy, The Lovely Bones, My Sister's Keeper,The Thirteenth Tale, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The library has expanded with Holly and Mom adding two of Greg Mortensen's books to the collection. And after a trip to Barnes and Noble, I've added Tracy Kidder's Strength in What Remains. In fact, over break we spent a lot of time in the bookstore. There's just something about the smell of a room full of books. The feel of the pages between your fingers. The weight of them in your hands. So when a Facebook friend posted a link to an NPR article "How E-Books Will Change Reading and Writing," I was interested.

In the article, Time magazine book reviewer Lev Grossman argues that e-books create a different kind of reading. "They scroll and scroll and scroll. You don't have this business of handling pages and turning them and savoring them. . .and likewise you don't tend to linger on the language. When you are seeing a word or a sentence on the screen, you tend to go through it, you extract the data, and you move on." There are implications for writing as well; narratives will need to hook the reader immediately, focusing less on the poetry of language and more on high-interest plot lines.

I can't help but wonder if language will suffer as a result. Who hasn't read (and re-read to anyone who would listen) a powerful line in a novel? Much of the appeal of our floating library is the discussion about the books after we've read them. The nature of e-books makes them seem very impermanent. At the risk of sounding like a traditionalist, save the Kindle for someone who will appreciate it more. I'll stick with my books.