An endless supply of quotes exist telling us we should do what we love in life. Though many are cliché, I found myself rooting around for just the right one after hearing Alexander McCall Smith read from his latest book,
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. Having read most of the books in his No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, I was eager to see and hear in person the man who brought me the much adored Precious Ramotswe. As I entered the Borders bookstore in Ann Arbor, it was evident that I was not alone.
Since I probably haven't had the pleasure of listening to someone read to me since kindergarten carpet time, it was with happy nostalgia that I sat cross-legged and elbow to elbow on the bookstore floor, listening to the cadenced voice of Mr. McCall Smith. Bewitched by his lilt and laughter, he quickly transformed the packed room of overwrought adults into a sea of sunny, eager faces as he read his favorite passages from Tea Time.
There was a time when the hunt for a rare book, or even just an out of print book, was a major undertaking - you could either travel the country scouring multiple used bookstores yourself or pay a commission to a book dealer who would put feelers out through
his local network and, if necessary, to the wider world of book dealers through a classified ad in a trade magazine. However, with the advent of the internet and search engines such as AddAll, most of us have been able to cut out the middle-man and, with a few clicks of the mouse, track down that old childhood favorite without ever leaving the house.
But there is at least one area of book collecting that still benefits from the hands on touch - where the thrill of the chase is discovering the hidden secret of an apparently run of the mill book - and that is the search for fore-edge paintings.
To create a fore-edge painting, the pages of a book are fanned out and held in a vice. A painting is then applied usually with water color. When the paint is dry the book is released from the clamp so the book is flat again, and the edges of the book are then either gilted or marbled to completely hide any evidence of
the painting from casual eyes. I was introduced to fore-edge painting while visiting a friend's father on New York's Upper East Side a few months back where, even though the book's secret was known to me, I still felt a sense of discovery in fanning the pages to find the hidden painting.
Guest blog by Michelle Richmond
Michelle can be found online at
michellerichmond.com
In the past year, I've visited many book clubs for The Year of Fog. One of the things I've learned from this experience is how deeply books live inside the minds of their readers: once a reader opens a book, the story is never exactly what the author intended it to be. It takes on a new life, a life informed by the very unique perspective of each reader. The reader is not simply a separate being in a chair, holding a book in her hands. The reader is always part of the story.
My book-loving friend Martin and I have a recurring
conversation that usually starts with, "I'm going on vacation and can't figure
out which book to take." It's an interesting conundrum, and for us book
addicts, a critically important decision that we begin pondering weeks before we
actually leave town.
I suppose it partially depends on the type of vacation on which you're taking
this treasured companion (and by that I'm referring to your book and not your
spouse). If your intent is a relaxing week at the beach, for example, you might
pick something light and fun, perhaps romantic; the latest from
Ann Brashares or
Jude
Devereaux might be your choice. Those seeking to rekindle that special
spark (and this time, I am talking about your spouse) might look for a
steamier option, like
Anne
Rice's Beauty series or something by Jamie Denton (or perhaps no book
at all!). Still others may prefer perusing a longer or more complex book while
on vacation, since it's rare for them to have a large block of time in which to
read.
Guest blog by Meg Waite Clayton, author of
The Wednesday Sisters
Meg can be found online at
megwaiteclayton.com
The history of my writing starts with a brown paper lunch bag. Like Linda does in my novel, The Wednesday Sisters, my first writing teacher dumped a collection of "interesting things" onto a table and told us to write about anything that spilled. She swore we wouldn't have to read. Then she called time after five minutes, and called on me to read first.
Which is the good news: If she hadn't, I'd have ducked out before she could call on me second. It had taken all the nerve I had just to get to that class, to admit that, yes, I dreamed of writing novels. I thought writers leaped tall buildings in single literary bounds, and that's not me.
I recently finished
The Killing Way, a mystery by author Tony Hays. While the book was
relatively well-written, I found that I was still much more drawn to it than its
quality would seem to merit. I kept mentally returning to it, being excited
about getting back to it, only to realize I'd already finished the darned thing
and would have to wait for the sequel. In mulling over why I found this book so
fascinating, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't the plot or the writing
(although both were fine) -- it was the book's hero.
I've had numerous literary crushes over time. My first occurred when I was in
Mrs. Cummins' seventh grade English class. Every year she had her students read
The Adventures of Robin Hood. While most complained, I enjoyed the
experience tremendously. It was my first encounter with the hero, and I was
totally "in love" (whatever that means to a twelve-year-old). I even resorted
to wearing what I thought looked Sherwood-Foresty for awhile (a green shirt that
had laces strung across the v-shaped neckline, and leather moccasins that passed
for "boots," both readily available in the early 1970s, unfortunately).