Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War by Michael Gordin

It's here! My friend Mike's new book arrived today. I promise, I will put it on my TBR shelf and will be full of the best intentions to read this, but I can't guarantee to do it in a timely manner. Maybe E will read it first, since he likes the history stuff.

So although I can't give my personal opinion on the book, I can tell you what it's about:

"Most Americans believe that the Second World War ended because the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan forced it to surrender. Five Days in August boldly presents a different interpretation: that the military did not clearly understand the atomic bomb's revolutionary strategic potential, that the Allies were almost as stunned by the surrender as the Japanese were by the attack, and that not only had experts planned and fully anticipated the need for a third bomb, they were skeptical about whether the atomic bomb would work at all. With these ideas, Michael Gordin reorients the historical and contemporary conversation about the A-bomb and World War II.

Gordin posits that although the bomb clearly brought with it a new level of destructive power, strategically it was regarded by decision-makers simply as a new conventional weapon, a bigger firebomb. To lend greater understanding to the thinking behind its deployment, Gordin takes the reader to the island of Tinian, near Guam, the home base for the bombing campaign, and the location from which the anticipated third atomic bomb was to be delivered. He also details how Americans generated a new story about the origins of the bomb after surrender: that the United States knew in advance that the bomb would end the war and that its destructive power was so awesome no one could resist it.

Five Days in August explores these and countless other legacies of the atomic bomb in a glaring new light. Daring and iconoclastic, it will result in far-reaching discussions about the significance of the A-bomb, about World War II, and about the moral issues they have spawned."

Even better, I can point you to a video of Mike talking about this book.

Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War by Michael Gordin

Tags: books atom bomb Harvard WWII Michael Gordin

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

If you’re a senior in high school, or even if you know one, you know that it’s college application season. For me, this means that a few weeks ago, I was given the names of three Harvard applicants to interview for early admissions consideration.

I have been a volunteer alumni interviewer for about seven years now, and I love it. Every single candidate I’ve met has been unique and fascinating, and I love being a part of this exciting, albeit nerve-wracking, time in their lives. There is so much potential in their youth.

Yesterday evening I interviewed a seventeen-year-old young woman and, as all my interviews tend to do, we got on the subject of books. She said she had been reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky in her English Literature class and they had been having very interesting philosophical discussions about it.

Unfortunately, I have never read Crime and Punishment, so she explained the main plot of the book to me quickly. Basically, she said, it was about a man who was very introspective and thought and thought until he had planned the perfect murder in his head. Then he committed that murder. Then he is caught, the whole thing being very suspenseful and interesting, but it was the ending that they had been discussing.

My interviewee believed that even though the somewhat tacked-on happy ending felt contrived, she was satisfied with it thematically. Without the happy ending, the long book would have been empty of meaning—just a depressing sob story. The happy ending, however, turned the book into a story of redemption and hope. Only with this ending could the we readers use the book as reflection of our own lives, to be able to see ourselves and judge our own failings, then find the strength to overcome them. Then we can find greater meaning and hope in our everyday lives.

Yeah, I was impressed.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Tags: book reviews Harvard admissions college applications Fyodor Dostoevsky

Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son by Kay Ann Johnson

On Saturday, I spent the afternoon selling books at a event sponsored by the Northern California Families with Children from China organization. All the members at this "Between the Two New Years" party had adopted children from China, and the building was swarming with little Chinese girls running around. What a sight to see. As my mom commented, these girls are the lucky ones: after being born in rural China spending the first months or years of their lives in orphanages, they are now members of well-off, loving families in America. A far cry from what their lives would have been like if they were not adopted.

We sold a lot of children's books about China and Chinese culture, of course, because the parents there are very enthusiastic about learning along with thier children about their homeland. We also offered a few titles for the adults to better understand the situation in China for families. One of which is a book called Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son: Abandonment, Adoption, and Orphanage Care in China by Kay Ann Johnson. We sold all the copies we brought with us. Here's the book description:

Kay Johnson has done groundbreaking research on abandonment and adoption in China. In Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son, Johnson untangles the complex interactions between these social practices and the government’s population policies. She also documents the many unintended consequences, including the overcrowding of orphanages that led China to begin international adoptions.

Those touched by adoption from China want to know why so many healthy infant girls are in Chinese orphanages. This book provides the most thorough answer to date. Johnson’s research overturns stereotypes and challenges the conventional wisdom on abandonment and adoption in modern China.

Certainly, as Johnson shows, many Chinese parents feel a great need for a son to carry on the family name and to care for them in their old age. At the same time, the government’s strict population policy puts great pressure on parents to limit births. As a result, some parents are able to obtain a son only by resorting to illegal behavior, such as "overquota" births and female infant abandonment.

Yet the Chinese today value daughters more highly than ever before. As many of Johnson’s respondents put it, "A son and a daughter make a family complete." How can these seemingly contradictory trends--the widespread desire for a daughter as well as a son, and the revival of female infant abandonment--be happening in the same place at the same time? Johnson looks at abandonment together with two other practices: population planning and adoption. In doing so, she reveals all three in a new light.

Johnson shows us that a rapidly changing culture in late twentieth-century China hastened a positive revaluation of daughters, while new policies limiting births undercut girls’ improving status in the family. Those policies also revived and exacerbated one of the worst aspects of traditional patriarchal practices: the abandonment of female infants.

Yet Chinese parents are not literally forced to abandon female infants in order to have a son. While birth-planning enforcement can be coercive, parents who abandon are rarely prosecuted. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Chinese parents informally adopt female foundlings and raise them as their own. Ironically, as Johnson shows, in some places adoptive parents are more likely than abandoning parents to incur fines and discrimination.

In addressing all these issues, Johnson brings the skills of a China specialist who has spent over a decade researching her subject. She also brings the concerns of an adoptive parent who hopes that this book might help others find answers to the question, What can we tell our children about why they were abandoned and why they were available for international adoption?

Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son by Kay Ann Johnson

Tags: books China adoption Kay Ann Johnson

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (audio) by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale

I've decided to give Harry Potter another shot. It just seems like everyone else is having so much fun with it, and sometimes you do just want to read a fun book. Getting caught up in another world seems like a fine way to escape a bit now and then.

But then I had an even better idea: I would listen to them on audiobook! I had read a number of glowing reviews of the audio version read by the inimitable Jim Dale.

Luckily, the library has the whole series on CDs so I don't have to pay the exhorbitant fees for the CD sets. (I can't believe how lucky we are to have libraries! I still marvel at the whole system of being able to check things out for free, whatever you want. What a joy to be a citizen of a country where this is commonplace.) I've been listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the car during my commutes, and, at an hour a day the book will be over soon.

The audio version is AMAZING. Jim Dale's voice is absolutely perfect and everything everyone's ever said about him is true. I can't believe I've never heard him before, but now I'm ready to go for the audiobook edition of Around the World in Eighty Days that I have languishing on my shelf. And best of all, he really does bring Harry Potter's world to life and make everything seem so fun. I'm having a great time in the car this week-- I hardly noticed the traffic at all.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (audio) by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale

Tags: children's books audiobooks J.K. Rowling Jim Dale

Hummingbird by LaVyrle Spencer

When I was in high school, I was a big romance novel reader. As I got older, I read fewer and fewer, which seems quite natural. My favorite romance author was LaVyrle Spencer, and I am proud to say I have read every single book she's written. I think each reader looks for something different in whatever genre they enjoy; even within genres, there are finer differentiations in what moves one reader but not another. Spencer's books consistently offered me a very particular emotional pull that I enjoyed no matter what time period her stories took place in, what type of characters that populated them, or what ridiculous premises they were based on. Something about them...

Hummingbird is one of my favorites. I think. It's been so long since I read it that I can't be sure, so now I am tempted to read it again and see if it still has the same effect on me, or if I have changed.

Do I read fewer romance novels now because I am older and wiser, because my literary standards have changed, or because I've simply become less romantic? Would I still like all my favorite LaVylre Spencer books even if I didn't enjoy more recently written romance novels? An experiment is in order, it seems.

Hummingbird by LaVyrle Spencer

Tags: romance novels LaVyrle Spencer

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

I need to face it: when I go on vacation or just away for a weekend, I don’t get to read. But every time a chance to “get away from it all” looms ahead, I get so excited about picking which books I’m going to bring, and I have this grand idea that I will have such a relaxing time and I’ll spend hours and hours just lounging around with a book.

What really happens is that we go out to eat, go for walks, take pictures, visit shops, eat some more, drive around… and then the only time left for reading is in bed, but since we’ve done so much during the day, we’re too pooped out to read for very long. This happens every single time we go somewhere, even if it a resort on a beach or a spa in the wine country. Let’s not even mention our European or Asian trips, where every minute is filled with something to do and see and eat.

This past weekend, we decided to drive up to Lake Tahoe and not ski (because there isn’t very much snow up there this year and our friends said the slopes were pretty bad). Aha! If we’re not skiing, what are we going to do? That’s right. Not read. On the way up, we stopped to go sledding. Then we brought a backpack full of books to find a café, but instead ended up walking along the lakefront with our hot chocolate and coffee, watching the sunset and chatting with the Canadian geese.

We then went to the casinos along the Nevada border, had dinner and rolled some dice until I was too tired to stand. So we went back to the cabin we were sharing with our friends, and dammit, I was going to read. I got into bed at 12:30am and vowed I would finish reading The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket.

My impression of the book was that while I could appreciate Snicket’s (Handler’s) gift with language, his wit, and his humor, I never really got into the story. I felt detached from it all, smiling at the jokes but not particularly moved one way or another. Was it that I was tired? Or maybe it was that my purpose for reading was more scientific and work-related (one cannot be a publisher or a bookseller without having read any Lemony Snicket, right?). Or was it that I’m just too old for this?

The next morning, sleep-deprived but triumphant, I accompanied E to try, of all things, ice fishing. I crunched and slid out on a wind-whipped reservoir near Lake Tahoe with E and another friend, took some pictures of them in the 25-degree cold, and headed back to the car to read the other book I brought for a solid hour while they stood out in the cold with their lines in a little hole in the ice.

Maybe we should take more fishing trips.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

Tags: children's books unfortunate events Lake Tahoe Daniel Handler Lemony Snicket

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

There’s something wrong with me. I have a sickness.

I went to the library today to pick up Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt, which I had on hold because it is a finalist for the Cybils Award and, as a judge, I needed to get a copy. I don't go to the library very often, but as you can see, I really did have to go because I have obligations to fulfill. While I was there, I got two more books and an audiobook, even though I have more than a hundred books on my TBR bookshelves already.

This is why I must avoid the library.

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

Tags: children's books Cybils Award libraries addiction Melanie Watt

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

For the longest time—I swear, it must have been years—if you called the Publisher’s Group West customer service number and waited on hold, you would hear a pitch for the book Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. I listened to that recording so many times that eventually the last thing I wanted was to read the book. It’s an ongoing problem I have: if a book is too popular (an Oprah book, or on the NYT Bestseller list), I lose all interest in reading it. I’m sure many of these are great books, and luckily I do read some of them before they become popular. I know, it’s a personal failing of mine.

Recently, however, I found a copy of Peace Like a River at my parents’ house, which is strange because my parents get all their books through me and I don’t remember ever seeing it before. And then shortly after that, a bookseller and fellow member of the NCCBA recommended it as a great crossover book for teens. She couldn’t express how much she loved the book. I decided to give it a try.

I did enjoy this book very much. For a while, I thought it might even go on my favorites of 2007 list. It was certainly beautifully written. I loved the narrative voice and the landscapes of Middle America of the 1960’s. Each character had a distinctive being that was so clear and sharp, and I loved each and every one. There was just enough mystery and wonderment infused into the story while still being true and real in the deepest way that fiction can be true.

Booklist’s description reads,

“What readers will appreciate first in Enger's marvelous novel is the language. His limpid sentences are composed with the clarity and richness for which poets strive…"We all hold history differently inside us," says narrator Reuben, who was an adolescent in Minnesota in the 1960s, when his brother, Davy, shot and killed two young men who were harassing the family. Rueben's father--in Rueben's estimation fully capable of performing miracles even though the outside world believed him to be lost in the clouds--packs Reuben and his sister up and follows the trail Davy has left in his flight from the law. Their journey comprises the action in the novel, but this is not really a book about adventures on the road. Rather, it is a story of relationships in which the exploration of character takes precedence over incident.”

Yes, yes. And yet… after I finished, a few things began to bother me. For one thing, I decided I wasn’t that happy with the ending (which I will not reveal here). Then, I began to think about what the meaning of the non-so-subtle religious subtext might be, and given the ending, it turned a bit into something less wondrous and pure than it had been before. Perhaps I would feel differently if I was a religious person, but maybe not. I get the feeling that Enger takes things just a little too far at the end.

One of the blurbs in the front pages struck a chord with me. It reads, “It is Enger’s gift that he has made their extraordinary world credible.” That is exactly how I felt until things became a bit too incredible and I lost that feeling of wonderment at witnessing the mysterious and unexplainable. It’s a shame, because I really thought it was a great book.

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Tags: book reviews bestsellers Leif Enger

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers

In this month’s podcast about Winter books, I mentioned a picture book of Robert Frost’s poem, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, illustrated by Susan Jeffers.

As I said, anyone who has ever seen this book understands how beautiful it is. Frost’s poem is wonderful as it is, but with Jeffers’ illustrations, it is transformed.

Here’s the poem:

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though.
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Susan Jeffers illustrates each line with the most amazing pencil drawings of snow you have ever seen, and in each illustration the only spots of color are the man’s red coat, green scarf, and colorful packages. Then, she lets her illustrations tell another story, giving the man not only a reason to stop in the middle of the woods, but also more insight into his character. For example, after the line, “He will not see me stopping here/To watch his woods fill up with snow,” the next page is a wordless spread of snow falling, animals scampering, and the man lying in the snow. What is he doing? You turn the page, and there he is, looking down proudly at the snow angel he has made.

But that is not his real reason for stopping. I’ll let you discover that for yourself. It warms the heart.

Our current cold snap, with temperatures down in the twenties and thirties this week, puts me in a Wintery frame of mind. One of the things I miss most about living on the east coast is snowfall—the hush, the soft sound of a million little flakes of fluff hitting the trees and the ground. Looking at Jeffers’ illustrations, I can imagine myself there in the woods, stopping on my way to meet loved ones in the deep of Winter. And the world falls away, behind the curtain of tiny, floating crystals of serenity.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers

Tags: children's books poetry winter snow Robert Frost Susan Jeffers

The Report Card by Andrew Clements

Guest Blogger Day

The assignment was: Pretend you are the author of a book. Tell us why you wrote it and what you hope readers will get out of it. Write it from the first person point of view.

The Report Card is about a girl, Nora, who is a true genius. In school she gets bad grades on purpose to prove that grades aren’t everything. She is a brave girl that is trying to prove that taking tests is a stupid way to measure intelligence. As the author, I wrote this book for many reasons.

Ever since Nora was little, she hid her talent from everyone. Nora pretended she didn’t know anything while she did. Purposely, Nora gets average grades, simply to avoid the pressure of being in the gifted program. The reason I put this in the book was to help kids realize that just because you aren’t “gifted”, doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. Everyone has their own subjects in which they are smart. Nora was always just trying to prove that. She tried to prove this for her best friend, Stephan. She soon got a few classes to riot with her by filling out silly answers for tests.

Another point I tried to make was that bad grades don’t mean you are “dumb” in any way. You could have just missed something or got a bad grade on the test because you lost your concentration or were just tired. And just because you are in the gifted program or get fantastic grades doesn’t mean you can boss everyone around and act like they’re more stupid than you are.

I also wrote this book to help people understand the difficulties of being a kid. You have to worry about friends, grades, family pressure, and everything. When you’re with friends you have to try to figure out things like would you should do to make them like you more, what you could do together for fun and you have to worry about losing them. Your parents may always be asking you if you’ve studied for your next history test or grounding you because you got a bad score on a quiz. This causes pressure in grades. Family pressure would include things like having a sick grandparent who won’t live long, having a mom or dad who is a drug addict, or even having divorced parents.

Nora is great girl just stating her opinion. She is trying to change the fact that grades aren’t everything. Everyone is smart. Don’t judge others by what you see. Being a kid is a big challenge.

Elly, 7the Grade

The Report Card by Andrew Clements

Tags: children's books genius authors Andrew Clements

The Devil Never Sleeps by Andrei Codrescu

Have you ever heard Andrei Codrescu’s commentaries on NPR? I first heard him in 2002, not long after I started listening to NPR. Nothing I had heard up to then, or perhaps since, affected me the way his wonderful Romanian accent and singular perspective on humanity in modern times did.

The commentary I heard that first day was called “Soul for Sale On eBay,” in which Codrescu humorously reflected upon the history of selling souls after seeing that a man had put his soul up for auction with a starting price of 99 cents. That price had gone up to over $400 before eBay authorities pulled it. But Codrescu’s contention was that 99 cents was perhaps a fair price in these times for a single soul. Whereas in Faust’s time, a soul could be sold for all the riches and love a man could want, the economics of soul-selling did cycle over time. These days, he concludes, there are so many willing sellers that the price has been driven downward.

I don’t explain it nearly as well as Codrescu does, so you should listen to it yourself. My point is, I was hooked. I started listening to NPR constantly just so that I wouldn’t miss one of his commentaries. Everything he said seemed more witty, intelligent, and insightful than anything else I was reading or listening to. (I suspect the accent is responsible for some of that perception—it is simply delicious.)

But Codrescu was only on the radio once a week or so, and that was not enough. I looked elsewhere and found a book of essays he wrote called The Devil Never Sleeps.

I, uh… I never finished it.

I tried, but what I suspected was indeed true. It’s his accent I love. When I read his writing, it sounds in my head like me reading. With my Northeastern/pseudo-Californian accent—ugh. And then it doesn’t seem special anymore. It sounds like an essayist writing long treatises on the minutiae inside his own head. I love the minutiae, but it just isn’t the same without hearing his voice.

The Devil Never Sleeps by Andrei Codrescu

1/18/07 edit: The Valve has a funny response to the Onion's question of the value of George W. Bush's soul.

Tags: book reviews NPR accents Andrei Codrescu

The Object Lesson by Edward Gorey

I’m crazy for Bookmooch today. I had four requests this week, and given that I only had about twenty books on my “inventory” list, that’s a lot. I wrapped and sent three of them this morning, and poked around playing with the “Mooch” button I added to my browser. I love getting mooch requests. Happiness comes from sending books you don’t want to people who want them—and then being allowed to pick something for yourself. So far, however, I haven’t mooched anything yet. I’m hoarding my points for who knows what.

The fourth book that I will be sending out tomorrow is Edward Gorey’s The Object Lesson. Like most book lovers, I enjoy Edward Gorey’s art and dark humor. But I must admit that I just don’t understand this book. I want so badly to understand it, but every time I look at it, I feel like I’m the butt of the joke. It’s a short picture book with only one sentence or phrase on each illustrated page. It’s written as if it was a story, but the story doesn’t make sense. Here’s a typical excerpt, apropos of nothing before or after it:

“He descended, destroying the letter unread, and stepped backwards into the water for a better view. Heavens, how dashing! Cried the people in the dinghy, and Echo answered: Count the spoons!”

I suspect I may simply be too dumb to understand the deep symbolism and allegory of Gorey’s seemingly nonsensical and non sequitur ramblings. And what of the title: The Object Lesson? I don’t understand how the title relates to the story within. What is the lesson? Am I missing some key idea or clue? Is this a puzzle to be solved? Are there visual puns or other such figurative play on words and illustrations? Every time I look at this book, I feel stupid.

I have got to get this book out of the house. It’s destroying my self-esteem.

The Object Lesson by Edward Gorey

Tags: book reviews illustrated literary stupidity Edward Gorey

834 Kitchen Quick Tips by the editors of Cooks Illustrated

I'm not feeling so well this evening. It's a long story, involving getting up at 5:00 this morning to drive my aunt and her friend to the airport, then returning back to my parents' house to sleep for another two hours, subsequently messing up my circadian rhythm or something, because I feel jetlagged. I don't feel tired, I just feel sick. Three new first grade students for an hour this afternoon didn't help. And the fact that I've been unable to load images through Blogger for three days now. Grrr. No pictures.

So a short post today, just a quick tip from the folks at Cook's Illustrated, from their book 834 Kitchen Quick Tips, a compilation of the most useful tips that have appeared in the magazine.

Pan Flip That Stops Drips

Pouring melted butter, warm oil, sauce, or almost any liquid from a pan often creates a drip down the outside of the pan. This not only makes a mess on the pan's exterior but can burn into the pan bottom if you place the pan back on a hot burner. Try this the next time the occasion arises.

Instead of immediately turning the pan right-side up after pouring out the contents, continue to turn the pan in the direction of the pour, through one full rotation, until it eventually ends right-side up. This forces the liquid to run back into the pan instead of down its side.

834 Kitchen Quick Tips by the editors of Cooks Illustrated

Tags: cookbooks kitchen tips jetlag Cooks Illustrated

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Guest Blogger Day

The assignment was: Pretend you are the author of a book. Tell us why you wrote it and what you hope readers will get out of it. Write it from the first person point of view.

I am Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon and its sequels. There were many reasons why I wrote my books. There were many things that interested me. I would like to start off my reasons with what my books are about. Basically, the Inheritance series is about the magical world of Alagaesia, where Eragon and his dragon Saphira have to battle evil forces, try to find out about Eragon’s past, and learn to be a dragon rider.

What really inspired me to write my books was my interest in fiction and science fiction. This is what made me start writing my novels. And I would like to thank my friends and family for giving me the opportunity to have my books published. I would also like to thank the readers who took their time to read my books. Knowing that I have provided entertainment kept me writing.

I also wanted to teach my readers morals too. One moral that I wanted my readers to understand is the moral of trusting your friend and don’t doubt them even if they are suspicious. Another moral is that courage and teamwork can help you through many things. They could help you through the toughest times.

Besides teamwork and trust, there are also examples of bravery, risk, and trying your best in Eragon. Bravery is something everyone should have because without bravery, you will never succeed in life because you are too scared to try. Risk is a skill trait that is used commonly. Without taking risks, you will miss out on all the important parts of life because of constant what if questions. Finally, there is trying your best. You will never fail in life if you try. Always practice and you will achieve great things.

My reasons for writing Eragon are simple; I thank my friends and family for helping me write a successful book. And I would like to thank the readers for reading my books. I dedicate my books to my friends, family, and the readers.

-Gary, 7th grade

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Tags: children's books dragons authors Christopher Paolini

Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska

A review copy of Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska arrived in the mail today and suddenly I have a crisis of confidence. See, a few months ago I volunteered to be a judge of the 2006 Cybils Award in the category of Fiction Picture Books. (The Cybils Award is a blogger-inspired literary award for children’s and YA literature in eight different categories that debuts this year. Any blogger is eligible to be on a nominating committee or a judging committee, and all committee slots were filled by volunteers.) The nominating committees narrowed each field down to five titles, and now I and four other judges will decide among these five picture books by early February. But first we have to read them all, and Waiting for Gregory is the first one that arrived.

I found volunteering to be a judge eerily easy. All I did was send an email to the committee coordinator and the next thing I knew, I was judging picture books. Wow, they sure will let just anybody do this, I thought. I had a Groucho Marx moment. But then I assured myself that I have plenty of qualifications and yes, they really mean it when they say any blogger can volunteer to be a judge.

But now that the book is actually in my hands, I’m not so sure. What makes my opinion more valid than anyone else’s? Sure, I’ve read countless picture books and I definitely have my favorites. And, well, my job involves reading picture book manuscripts and choosing which ones are good enough to publish. But to publicly and formally assert that this book is better than that book, in a forum other than my own personal rantings, is so much responsibility! I’m no educator, and I have no formal education in any aspect of literature. Who let me on this committee?!?

See the official Cybils Award press release here.

Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska

Tags: children's books book awards Kimberly Willis Holt Gabi Swiatkowska

Now Playing BookTalk Podcast Episode #02: Winter Books

Is it cold yet? Curled up with a good book? Curl up with January's podcast, featuring a few books about winter. It's a short episode, but as we might have learned from last month's debauchery, the best things come in small packages.

Join the fun! Next month's theme will be "Smoochy Smoochy," in honor of Valentine's Day. If there's a book that appeals to your romantic side, or you've found the perfect antidote to a sticky sweet holiday, leave us a message. Call (415) 992-8622 before January 31 to record your thoughts about Valentine's Day-themed reading.

Visit the BookTalk site for more information and for episode notes.

Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork by Bruce Aidells

Aidells’s Sausages are a staple at our house. You can grill them right out of the freezer, eat them like hot dogs (ridiculous amounts of sauerkraut essential), cut them up and throw them in spaghetti sauce, slice them and broil them, and, if you have 45 eggs left over from a brunch party, chop them up and throw them into a quiche. (I just discovered that quiche is made entirely of eggs and heavy cream! Not to mention the butter in the crust. Oh my lord.)

In 2005, Mr. Aidells himself was at the NCIBA trade show signing ARCs of his cookbook, Bruce Aidells’s Complete Book of Pork. I wasn’t sure how useful the book would be, but I did not want to miss the opportunity to meet the man who makes me look so good in the kitchen, so I got a signed copy just to gloat. For the rest of the day, I told anyone who would listen, “I met Bruce Aidells!”

I don’t use this cookbook very often, but I did learn two extremely important things, which makes book worth its inch of shelf space. The first is a recipe for brining pork that makes any cut much juicier and more flavorful than straight cooking. Because pork tends to dry out, this step is invaluable for impressing the guests (or E).

The second, life-changing piece of information I learned is that pork does NOT need to be cooked to “just short of incinerated” to be safe to eat. According to Aidells,

“American pork fifty years or so ago… was occasionally infected with a parasitic worm called trichina, which was the result of pigs being fed table scraps or refuse already infected with trichina. Pork produced in this country today is from pigs no longer fed garbage but a scientifically designed diet of grains, protein, and fat. Essentially, modern methods of pork husbandry have all but eliminated trichina from pork.”

And that means dry, chewy pucks of meat have also been eliminated from my diet.

Now that I’ve been looking through this book, I’m getting hungry. Off to make dinner—E has given his notice at work and his last day is February 2! We’ll do something a little special tonight, I should think.

Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork by Bruce Aidells

Tags: cookbooks cooking pork brining Bruce Aidells

What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles

What's the deal with What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles? Why does everyone rave about how great it is, and how helpful it is? What makes it the best-selling job/career book in the world?

I bought a copy when I was a senior in college, and I maybe I just wasn't diligent enough, but I didn't get anything out of it. E recently bought a new one because two different people independently told him that the book changed their lives and opened their eyes to a fulfilling and happy life. But he's more than halfway through it and I'm not sure there's going to be a big epiphany at the end for him. He's about to quit his job of eight years for a career change, and knowing what he wants to do next would be a big help.

Can anyone share their experiences with this book? Any helpful insights on how to use it, or what E should expect to gain from it?

What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles

Tags: book reviews career change job hunting Richard Nelson Bolles

Baby Brother by Tanneke Wigersma and Nynke Mare Talsma

I sometimes, halfheartedly, sort of, collect—if “collect” is the right word—picture books about cats. They’re not something I actively seek out, but if a cat book strikes me as particularly cute or beautiful, I’ll add it to my growing collection. I’m pretty picky and I don’t even keep very good track of what I have. I wouldn’t consider myself a serious collector, but I do love the picture books I have.

I got Baby Brother by Tanneke Wigersma and Nynke Mare Talsma because of a review I read in School Library Journal:

“Mia writes a letter to her grandmother describing recent changes in the family. She focuses on her cat, whose bulging belly and changes in temperament are most obvious. The child details the preparations for and the birth of Stripe's five kittens and ends the note by saying, By the way, I also have a new baby brother. The unstated story is told through the illustrations. Readers see Mia's pregnant mother in the background as she goes around the house preparing for the arrival of the baby. The text is spare and the subtle pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations tell most of the story. A clever, sweet book to recommend to families with a new sibling on the way.”

This book is really lovely. As I said, I’m picky about the cats, and Stripe the cat here is drawn simply but adorably, as are Stripe’s new kittens. (Plus, Stripe looks just like our cat, Charlie.)

Today it occurred to me that I have two perfect recipients for gifting this book to. Two of my nieces just acquired new baby brothers this year, and it wasn’t until today that I remembered how appropriate this book would be for them. Yay! Baby gifts!

Baby Brother by Tanneke Wigersma and Nynke Mare Talsma

Tags: children's books cats new sibling Tanneke Wigersma Nynke Mare Talsma

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

It so often happens these days that I’ll be inspired to pull something off of my TBR shelf after it has been languishing there for months (or years) because of something I read about it on a blog. This happened last week with Joshua Ferris’ forthcoming novel, Then We Came to the End.

Mark Sarvas of The Elegant Variation wrote a post about this book, and even included the first chapter in its entirety, with the permission of Little Brown. Like me, he had picked it up at BEA and had not brought himself to pick it up until recently. In my opinion, the best endorsement of a book is when someone says, “I sat down and decided, ‘I am going to read the first twenty-five pages of this and then, only then, if I don't like it, it's gone.’ A hundred pages later I was still sitting there.”

Because of his post, I started reading Then We Came to the End on our trip to Los Angeles last week. There is not so much a plot as there is a setting where things happen. It is early in our new century at a large advertising agency. The dot-com bust has caused a downturn in business that has precipitated a slow trickle of layoffs. Among this backdrop, office personalities, conflicts, pranks, and coffee breaks ensue. It doesn’t sound like much, but in Ferris’ hands, this foundation becomes a full world bursting with character, warmth, humor, and empathy.

I liked the book from the start, but it wasn’t until a few days later, during a lull in my day when I didn’t even have it in my hands, that I really started to think about it. I began to marvel at the language, the audacity of writing a novel from the first person plural point of view (something I have never experienced before), and the immensely truthful portrayal of the lives of the characters and, by extension, our own lives. Mark Sarvas points out how well Ferris imbues his corporate workplace setting with such humanity, making clear his respect and affection for every one of his gamut of characters.

The more I read, the more I enjoyed and admired the book and Joshua Ferris’ artistry with words. Luckily, I finished it yesterday, New Year’s Day, so I can say this is the first book I’ve read in 2007. And it will most likely be one of the best.

Then We Came to the End will be released in March.

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

Tags: book reviews workplace humor elegant variation Joshua Ferris