Great "Expectations"?

After finding out I was pregnant, one of the first things I did was make sure I got a copy of the so-called pregnancy bible, What to Expect When You're Expecting. 

Now in its fourth edition, it has sold over 16 million copies, at least according to the flag on the cover. It also has spawned several related books, including What to Expect Before You're Expecting, Eating Well When You're Expecting, and What to Expect the First Year. It was written primarily by Heidi Murkoff, a layperson who was frustrated by the lack of pregnancy books available that addressed all of her concerns. She conceived the book and delivered the proposal hours before delivering her first child, and has now developed that proposal into an empire of books, websites and even smartphone apps. According to USA Today, What to Expect is read by 93% of all women who read a pregnancy book. Wow.

However, this book is not a complete success story. It has been criticized for being alarmist, judgmental, and needlessly detailed. Some of these criticisms are gentle; some border on vitriolic. Case in point: this review from the Huffington Post, recently sent to me by my sister-in-law:

Huffington Post What to Expect

Umm... yikes! This reviewer not only despises the book, but actually accuses Heidi Murkoff of spawning a generation of paranoid parents, who have gone forth and multiplied in the world and the World Wide Web, to pass their own alarmist judgement onto the next generation of innocent new mothers.

To this reviewer, and to all new mothers out there reading this book, I say, "Lighten up!"

Yes, being newly pregnant is scary. From the day the double pink lines appear on the stick, your life changes completely. The early worries about the health of your body and your growing fetus grow into bigger worries and burdens. Can we afford the extra expense? Should we find out if its a boy or a girl? I don't know how to diaper! I don't know how to bathe, swaddle or breastfeed! And wait, we're supposed to pick a name that this child will carry around for the rest of his/her life? AHHH!

But mothers- and book reviewers- we all must relax. Pregnancy, childbirth and raising children has been going on since Eve, and I'm pretty sure she didn't have a copy of What to Expect hidden away in the Garden of Eden. We live in an age of over-information, over-stimulation, and more knowledge than we can process, mentally or emotionally. Recognizing this is the first step to understanding that all information needs to be taken with a grain of salt and an ounce of perspective. In fact, in contrast to the Huffington Post reviewer, I actually think Murkoff does a good job of keeping that perspective. For every concerned question ("I'm 12 weeks pregnant and shocked to find I'd already gained 13 pounds!") there's an equal but opposite question ("I'm in my second trimester and haven't gained any weight at all"). Yes, there are some very scary chapters. I suggest not reading the one on miscarriages unless you're at serious risk. But the book is informative and helpful. It's up to the reader to choose which things to be concerned about and which to pass over, and to keep a healthy emotional distance.

As a first time pregnant woman, am I worried about things I've never had to worry about before? Yes. But am I going to let it take over my life? No. And frankly, if you're going to let a book do that to you, you're giving it way too much power. (I'm talking to you, Huffington Post reviewer.)

Lost and Found: A Book Miracle

Sometime during the midst of my pregnancy-related hiatus, I had a small gift conferred on me, via a friend, by the Goddess of Books and Reading. (Is there such a god/goddess? If not, there should be.) There's a long-established used bookstore in my town called the Bookworm that's quite popular among the local literati. I often bring in a load of books that I no longer read frequently enough to warrant space on my shelves, and rack up a bunch of credit that I usually put toward paperback beach reads before vacation every summer. A few years ago, I brought in some books from my young adult collection. I still read a lot of young adult books- The Pushcart War and The Westing Game are two of my favorites- but there were some that I decided to let go in the name of spring cleaning.

Well, imagine my surprise several weeks ago when a friend- the director of my husband's Big Band, actually- sent my husband home with a copy of this book:

I opened the inside cover, and here's what it said:

For those of you who don't know, Markowitz is my maiden name, and this is NOT my current handwriting. I wrote that when I was about ten or eleven years old.

Let me add something more:

1. I NEVER write my name in books. EVER. I didn't then, and I don't now. I've always felt like books belong to the reading universe, not to me specifically, and should be leant and borrowed freely. Thus, no personal ownership, and certainly no name labels.

2. I also never wrote cute sayings in books. Except for this one time. You see, "If this book should ever roam, box its ears and send it home" is a direct quote from the book itself. In Daddy Long Legs, the main character, Judy, finds an old book (I think it may have been Treasure Island) with that inscription in it, and the name "Jervis Pendleton," who is her roommate's uncle and a future romantic interest. I'm guessing here, because I was only ten, but I think I liked the book so much that I thought it would honor the author by putting that inscription inside the book cover.

Of course, when I sold it to the Bookworm, I had completely forgotten my name was in it. I never expected to have this or any other book returned to me, ever. But it was a delightful surprise. So thanks, Goddess of Books and Reading (I really need to find another title for her) and thanks, Dave, for passing the book along! It was a tiny little miracle during a time when a lot of things felt uncertain in my life.

And in case you were wondering, it is an excellent book. Jean Webster, the author, was educated at Vassar College, another local institution, in the early 1900s. The book consists solely of letters, a device that has become popular in YA literature again lately, except with emails, texts, tweets and Facebook updates. The letters are a correspondence between Judy and her mysterious benefactor, a trustee at the orphanage she lived in for her entire childhood, who decided to anonymously sponsor her to go to college. Judy's voice is spirited, lighthearted and intelligent, and it's fun to read along with her as she experiences a new world as a college coed with a great appreciation for the freedoms she did not have at the orphanage.

To close, a question: How many of you write your name in your books?

Girls in White Dresses

This book was not what I expected.

Here's an excerpt from the book jacket:

"Isabella, Mary and Lauren feel like everyone they know is getting married. On Sunday after Sunday, at bridal shower after bridal shower, they coo over toasters, collect ribbons and wrapping paper, eat minuscule sandwiches and doll-sized cakes. They wear pastel dresses and drink champagne by the case, but amid the celebration these women have their own lives to contend with."

When I read that, I assumed the book would be a typical light, fluffy tale about young women, possibly envious over their friends' marriages, searching for and eventually finding love. But from the opening chapter, it became obvious that this isn't your typical book about girls and weddings. It is much, much darker than that. There are breakups and failed friendships, miscarriages and relocations, and lots of crying and drinking. The women, far from being desperate for marriage, aren't even sure if they like the men they're with half the time. One of the characters, Isabella, spends a weekend with her boyfriend Harrison at his friends' house, and seems to fluctuate between loving and hating him with every new activity the four attempt. Lauren dates a man who gives her a goldfish on their second date, and mid-relationship, claims he never wants to live with anyone, ever. Mary kisses an engaged man at work without realizing he's engaged, and later winds up marrying a man with a mother named Button. And there's their friend Kristi, who has six bridal showers and dozens of other little tiny bridal "events," all of which she expects her bridesmaids to attend, forcing them to see how shallow she is and ultimately end their friendships with her.

I can't say I actually enjoyed any of the characters. In fact, reading this book broke one of my rules: I usually stop reading if I don't care about the outcome. (See my post The Turn Off.) But I kept reading this one, for two reasons. One, I liked the format. Every chapter was a little vignette about one of the characters. Mary, Lauren and Isabella were the recurring ones, but there were also stories from their friends' points of view. Two, I liked the style. Jennifer Close writes in blunt, plain language and in the present tense, which is my personal favorite writing tense. It feels fresher and closer to the reader than past tense. 

When I finished the book, I wasn't really sure how I felt or what I thought about it, but it stayed on my mind for a few days. And that, I think, is the mark of a great writer. 

Also, during the days in which the book was sitting on my bedside table, I frequently had the song "My Favorite Things" stuck in my head. It took me a depressingly long time to figure out why.

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes..."

Can Rowling Recapture the Magic?

I recently came across this news item in the Huffington Post that stirred intense excitement, mixed with some trepidation, into the cauldron of my heart:

New JK Rowling Book

Obviously, I'm excited to hear that the author of my favorite book series, a writer I respect intensely, and the lead invitee to my fantasy celebrity dinner party, is publishing another book. Moreover, this book, unlike Harry Potter, is meant to be geared towards adults. It's a smart move- after all, Rowling's original fan base has grown up, and after several years of being spoiled by Harry, we're all still seeking novels and series that we will love as much and that will whet our taste for reading as thoroughly. But unfortunately, both for Rowling and for us, our expectations for her next opus will higher than Grawp's eye. Is there any way Rowling can match them?

My biggest question is whether Rowling will be able to change her style enough to make it into a true adult, not young adult, novel. In all seven Harry Potter books, even as the situations got darker and the plot twists more remarkable, she kept to fairly plain language. Her adjectives were straightforward: Cho Chang was "pretty." Hermione's hair was "bushy." Harry's capture of the snitch was "quick." These adjectives stuck to each character like Dobby to his socks, never varying throughout the series. This is an excellent device for a young adult novel, but adults have more sophisticated taste for description. I'm curious to see if Rowling can adapt to this new approach, especially after writing so many thousands of words in the young adult style.

Whether or not she succeeds, there is no doubt that this novel will sell out faster than you can say, "Chocolate frog cards." If you're curious about the content, keep your eye on Rowling's official website. She's notoriously secretive about all of her work, but you can bet that as soon as she has an announcement to make, it will be here.

JK Rowling Official Site

And as soon as it's released, you can bet I'll be saying, "Accio book!"

(I really had to restrain myself from interjecting more HP references into this post. You might say that I Imperious-ed myself into submission.)

Game Change

A few weekends ago, I was in the middle of recovering from a bad virus. I'd been stuck at home, feeling miserable, for several days. I'd watched hours and hours of Gossip Girl on Netflix, and my brain was feeling sluggish and spongey. I couldn't take another minute in front of the idiot box. That was my frame of mind when I wandered over to my bookshelf and picked up a copy of this book, which my grandfather had given me a few weeks before:

As I started to read, I found my brain re-animating itself. I quickly became absorbed in the fascinating story of the 2008 presidential election. The book was written by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two journalists who had worked closely with all the major candidates' camps and interviewed hundreds of people working on the inside. In short, they knew all the dirt there was to know about the Obama, Clinton, Edwards and McCain campaigns. 

What I loved most about this book was how easy a read it was. I'm interested in politics, but extensive reading on the subject generally depresses me. I'm not even sure I've ever read a full book on the subject before- biographies of political figures, yes, but the world of politics and campaigning, no. However, this book reads like a novel; the authors are simply telling stories. Stories such as:

1. Michelle Obama's extreme reluctance to have her husband enter the race

2. The difficult, often verbally abusive relationship that Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, maintained with the rest of her staff

3. The "silent support" given to Barack Obama early in the race for the Democratic nomination by many extremely powerful members of the party. They wanted Obama to win, but would not come out in public support of his nomination for fear of angering the Clintons, so they settled for giving Obama back-door advice and encouragement. 

4. How reluctant Clinton was to "get her hands dirty" by personally making phone calls to potential large-scale donors and endorsors; when weighed against Obama's ease on the phone with those same potential investors, it cost her millions of dollars in donations and some key endorsements

5. The struggles within the Clinton camp about whether to "play the race card" against Obama, and how to keep Bill Clinton from putting his foot in his mouth again, and again...

6. The unprecedented grassroots campaign run by the Obama camp, which collected millions of small-scale donations from online sources and allowed Obama to decline public campaign funds

7. The true character of Elizabeth Edwards, a completely opposite picture from the way she was painted in the press

8. John McCain's unwillingness to prepare for debates, figure out a clear message, or even go out and campaign in some places

9. The appalling lack of vetting before the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate, due to her selection only five days before the announcement. McCain had only met her once, and many people in the party and the campaign had never heard of her. 

10. How unglued Palin became when prepping for interviews and debates; the huge stacks of index cards she and her staffers made to help her study; the way she would sit on the floor and refuse to communicate when she was over-stressed

11. The impact of Tina Fey's Palin parody on Palin's image

12. How concerned Palin was about her popularity- not in the whole United States, just in Alaska

13. How the collapse of the economy favored Obama's resurgence, and how even President Bush was astonished at McCain's lack of thought and planning for the economic talks held during his "suspension of campaign" in October. McCain made a huge show of canceling his campaign appearances, most notably on the Letterman show, but made no contribution whatsoever to the meetings in Washington, letting Obama take center stage without a fight.

14. The occasional tension between Obama and his vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden

15. How Obama offered Hillary Clinton the secretary of state job without approval from his advisors, and how she firmly turned him down before caving into the pressure to accept

These are just a few of the sensational stories that the book includes, and they don't even brush the surface of the day-to-day facts about each campaign, which may be less salacious, but no less interesting. The book is organized into three parts. Part I is the race for the Democratic nomination between Obama, Clinton and marginally, Edwards; Part II is McCain's battle for the Republican nomination; and Part III is the story of the conventions to the presidential election and beyond. 

The 2008 election was riveting and exciting throughout, and I know I spent a lot more time watching the news and reading the political blogs that year. But this book showed me that I didn't know a tenth of what really went on behind the scenes. It's a fascinating story, and I encourage anyone who is remotely interested in politics- or even just human nature- to give it a read. 

Next Sunday, March 10th, a movie based on the book will be premiering at 9:00 on HBO. It has already stirred up a lot of controversy among the politicians and press portrayed!

Additional details can be found here:

http://www.hbo.com/movies/game-change/index.html

As we continue the race for 2012, take this opportunity to see how we got here four years ago!

Sowul, Renewing

I'm back!

I know it's been a very long time since my last post- about two months- so I feel I need to explain my absence. For that explanation, and in keeping with the theme of this blog, let me show you what I've been reading for the past two months.

Surprise! I am currently 15 weeks- a little over 3 months- pregnant. While this was a very happy miracle, I didn't have the easiest first trimester, due to continual "morning" sickness and some extra complications from a preexisting medical condition. I was also constantly getting sick from all the germs floating around school this time of year. So for the past few months, I haven't been able to do much more than go to work. If I wasn't working, I was either sleeping or lying on the couch, watching TV. Unfortunately, both reading and blogging seemed out of my reach at the time. I didn't feel I had the mental or creative energy. 

I did learn something important about myself- I'm never going to be the "tortured artist" type. My creativity level goes right down when I'm not feeling well physically or mentally! Apparently, my brand of writing needs a certain level of well-being to thrive.

I am happy to say that now that I'm in my second trimester, I feel much more healthy and energetic. I'm ready to resume some of my normal activities again, like exercising, cooking, and (of course) reading, writing and blogging. 

Though I haven't been posting, this blog has not been absent from my thoughts. I did manage to read a number of good books once my brain went numb from all the television, and I'm looking forward to posting about them. I'd also signed up in the fall for an online class, "How to Blog," which ran for the month of February, and while it was a little more basic than I'd hoped, I did glean some good tips. 

I'm gratified to see that in my absence, my audience has not completely disappeared. Many of my previous posts have gotten page views in the last two months. Thank you to those of you who've stuck around and continued to check the page. I'm very touched by your loyalty and promise to provide you with new material from now on. 

If you do know someone, personally or digitally, who used to read this blog but gave up on it during my absence, please pass this post along to let them know of my plans to return and renew. I have some great posts lined up for this week and would hate for anyone to miss them! 

To close, I just want to say thank you to my husband, who did a fantastic job of caring for me and picking up the slack while I was having a rough time. Much better times are ahead!

See you all tomorrow- It's so good to be back!

The Boleyn Inheritance

I love historical fiction, but it has been difficult for me to find good writers in that genre. I often find that either the historical details are accurate, but the story is dull or hokey, or that the story is interesting, but poorly rooted in the setting.

One author I love is Philippa Gregory. She is well-known for her vivid depiction of the tragic lives of King Henry VIII's six wives. I respect her because she researches her novels as well as if they were nonfiction. She takes well-developed characters, gives them strong motivations and depth of emotion, and weaves them into the fabric of true history. At this stage in her career, she must be quite an authority on Henry VIII and the entire Tudor family.

I read The Other Boleyn Girl, which is about Mary and Anne Boleyn's rivalry for King Henry's affections (Anne won, to her obvious detriment). It's a juicy tale full of power-hungry courtiers, back-stabbing relatives, sensuality, desperation, and brother-sister incest. But as riveting as that book was, I liked the sequel, The Boleyn Inheritance, even better.

The sequel is told in three voices: Henry's fourth and fifth wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, and the high-ranking courtier manipulating behind the scenes, Jane Boleyn. Both Anne and Katherine had short marriages; Anne's ended in a quiet divorce, and Katherine's in another beheading. (I assume there was no need for a spoiler alert there. Most people know the classic Henry VIII rhyme, "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived".)

The best part of this book is the distinct trio of narrators Gregory provides.

Katherine Howard is silly and wealth-obsessed, but skilled in the art of flirtation and willing to serve her power-hungry clan with blind obedience. Her beauty and feminine wiles earn her the crown and the space in Henry's bed at the mere age of fourteen. She meets her downfall when she can't carry on in her marriage to the aging, fat and flatulent Henry after she falls in love with Henry's new favorite champion, Thomas Culpepper.

Jane Boleyn, Katherine's mentor and guide in the Boleyn/Howard clan, carries around the burden of having sent her sister-in-law Anne Boleyn to her death. She gave evidence against Anne and her own husband, Anne's brother George, accusing them of an incestual relationship. Jane still seethes with jealousy and resentment over her own inability to satisfy George. Meanwhile, Jane is determined to do her part to raise her clan into power again, and is hopeful that she will earn a new husband for her efforts. Jane is gradually driven to insanity, and it's fun to read the changes in her "voice" as this happens.

Anne of Cleves is the perfect counterpart to the silliness of Katherine and the insanity of Jane. Anne is an honorable woman, one who tries her best to be a queen worthy of praise and respect, but she has married into an impossible situation: she is the fourth wife of a man who is increasingly spoiled and impossible to please, and the fourth queen of a country that has tired of loving and losing their monarchs. Anne is the sole voice of wisdom and accountability in this novel, and as a result, she is the only one who truly gets what she wants in the end, while the rest of the court goes down in debaucherous flames.

I highly recommend all of these books. I'm currently listening to The Constant Princess, which tells the tale of Henry's first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and I'm enjoying it. It's fun to escape behind the walls of the Tudor castles, with their riches, lords and maids, and courtly delights. And even better, I'm learning about people and events that really happened, handled by a master author who makes the history come alive.

So grab a glass of ale and a roast leg of turkey, and cuddle up in your hardest throne-like chair with one of Gregory's books. I promise you'll lose your head in the story (and not on the executioner's block, like Anne Boleyn).

The Need to Read

Happy New Year everyone! After a very hectic month, I'm looking forward to returning to this blog with renewed vigor and creativity.

I've been on vacation from work for the past 9 days, and while those days have been packed with holiday and family celebrations, I'm disappointed in myself for only managing to finish one book (and several magazines). What's worse, the book wasn't even a very good one- The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch- or at least, it was neither good enough nor bad enough to blog about. When I'm on vacation during the summer, I can easily read 2-3 books per week, not counting the audiobook that's always on in my car. So what's the problem now?

I blame two things:
1. Christmas music and
2. Television.

Christmas music prevents me from listening to audiobooks, because while it lasts, I can't get enough of it. As a music teacher, you'd think I'd be sick of any form of holiday tune by December 1, but you'd be wrong. I'll still have my car radio, my iTunes playlist, and Pandora synced to Bing Crosby, Michael Buble and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra all the way through the twelve days of Christmas. Audiobooks can wait.

Television is the big culprit, and will continue to be blamed for any lack of reading throughout the winter and spring. Over the summer, we all read more- why? Because there's nothing but reruns on TV. We also read more in the summer because books are more portable than television, or at least they used to be. Pretty soon we may all be watching episodes of 30 Rock on the beach instead of reading Tina Fey's bio, Bossypants. Certainly many of us with smart phones have that capability now, though wireless networks may not have completely covered the beach zones.

Television vs. reading is not a new topic. Experts say that television is mind-numbing and time-wasting; that the decline of reading is wasting away our brains; and that the couch-potato syndrome is making us fat and unhealthy. I'm not an expert, but I do think there's value to some television. I like shows that make me think and make me laugh. I like shows that make me think more about the writers than the actors, the witty and creative men and women behind the scenes. I don't think those shows are time-wasters, but I do think it's tough sometimes to decide which programs are important to watch and which are the ones that drain you of time and energy. I know that my ability to focus on a book for a long period of time is less than my ability to focus on the TV screen, at least during the winter, and that makes me sad. I'd like to try to build up that stamina again in myself, and to promote that desire in others.

I also have to remind myself that I didn't have this blog last summer, at least not until the very end. I was able to read freely and without critical voice, and that lack of pressure made it easier to breeze through novel after novel. Now that I'm conscious that what I'm reading is feeding my writing, I need to be more choosy about what I'm reading and also be more critically aware while reading it. I'm glad of this because it helps me become a more discriminating reader and a more understanding writer, but it also makes the reading itself more challenging.

With my return to work, I need to try harder to make time for reading, rather than simply find the time. I always read before bed, but if I'm already tired, that doesn't add up to much. I know that, in the evenings, I need to turn off the television or move to a room that the television is not on. Sometimes that's difficult- if I want to spend time with my husband, and he's watching TV, for example- but I'll need to try harder to make that choice. Winter is a time for staying indoors and cozying up to a good book. In 2012, I'll make it my resolution to spend more time doing just that.

Anyone want to join me?