A Million Heavens

As promised, here is a post about one of the excellent books I read in 2012.

The cover art of A MILLION HEAVENS is a little dark, and the title is hopeful. The combination intrigued me.

The back cover describes a small town in New Mexico in which townspeople participate in a weekly vigil.

        

The first character we meet is a wolf. We first see the wolf as he makes his rounds in this small desert town. The wolf knows that the humans gather. The wolf does not know that the humans gather in vigil because a young boy lies in a coma.

At first it seems as though the book is primarily about the boy's coma and those connected to the vigil. We meet many of the town's inhabitants, some who vigil and some who don't. We meet the boy's father, a gas station owner, the mayor. We even meet a dead man. Everyone has their own motivations.

In the beginning of the book, the author homes in on each of the characters, training his authorial eye on each of the characters separately, as though looking at them from afar through a telescope. Gradually the stories of these seemingly random characters coalesce, and as the book evolves into a story of a town and its inhabitants, we become enveloped in the world of this little town. I love how Brandon did this .

One of my former co-workers (blauthor of Books N Bits blog) LOVES McSweeney's, their publication and their books. I am taking a page out of his playbook and recommending this great McSweeney's title.

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Books Read in 2012

Happy New Year!

While I always like to look ahead at what's next on my reading horizon, I also like to look back and remember...

Below is a list of the books I read in 2012. I like looking over the list and remembering reading (and enjoying!) the books. It's like recalling visits with good friends.

It was a Gillian Flynn year and a John Green year, since I read several titles by both of them and they were amongst my favorites.

Some delighted me...Redshirts was very fun, and so was Alif the Unseen and Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore. I also really liked Libba Bray's Beauty Queens (don't be deterred by the cover!)

There were a few disappointments...I was interested to read more about Irene Pepperberg's experiences with her highly intelligent grey parrot, but the book didn't read as well as the subject. Or maybe just as not as well as I wanted it to. And The Twelve, the second in a trilogy after The Passage, didn't hold my interest.

A few had amazing writing that stopped me in my tracks...The Dog Stars was one. I have written blog posts about some of these books...and there will be a few more blog posts about some of these! Keep an eye out!



Read in 2012:
Extra Virginity by Tom Mueller
The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay
Anthropology of an American Girl by Hilary Thayer Hamann
Defending Jacob by William Landay
Man Seeks God by Eric Weiner
The Sensualist by Barbara Hodgson
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Losing Clementine by Ashley Ream
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (audio)
Primacy by J.E. Fishman
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
In One Person by John Irving
The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris
Some Assembly Required by Anne and Sam Lamott (audio)
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
The Plaza by Guillermo Paxton
I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Redshirts by John Scalzi
The Prospect of My Arrival by Dwight Okita
Are You My Mother? by Allison Bechdel
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Paper Towns by John Green
A Million Heavens by John Brandon
Son by Lois Lowry
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Likeness by Tana French
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
The Death of Sweet Mister By Daniel Woodrell
The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
Sex, Lies, and Handwriting by Michelle Dresbold
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

       

I'm already reading a great book to start off the new year (Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain).

Here's to 2013, a year of great reading!

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Read More

A friend of mine (and co-worker at the bookstore where I work) recently asked how Therapist and I met.

"Through Bookcrossing," I told her. I explained how Bookcrossing worked (go to bookcrossing.com to find out more, or http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/2of3Rs/     to see my own bookcrossing "bookshelf")

"Some of the Portland area Bookcrossers got together once a month to talk about books and releases and Bookcrossing. I'd been going to these get-togethers for a couple of years, and Therapist came to one of the meetings shortly after she moved to the area. She and I agreed to organize the following month's get-together after Wordstock that year."

I went on to talk about Bookcrossing, how one of the features is to join a Bookcrossing "ring". Someone can start a "ring" by offering to send a book to people who are interested in reading it. Different than a "wild release" where a book is left in a public place for some unknown person to pick up and take home, people sign up to be part of the ring. The first person sends a book to the second person who reads it and then sends it to the third person and so on. The book still travels, and lots of people get to read it.

"Therapist has made the point to me that 'rings' may not be the best for the book industry. She and I, if we hear about a book we're interested in, try to obtain it somehow, quite often by purchasing it. If people just participate in 'rings', then there is less purchasing going on," I told my friend.

"I get that, about how Bookcrossing rings might result in less sales sometimes," she said, "but I think it's always a good thing to have books in the hands of people. To have people reading different things, just reading, that can only be good."

"Well, that's a point," I said. "When I taught third grade, one of my goals every year was to get the kids to read more. We had 20 minutes of reading time in class every day, and I required them to read for an hour every week-end. Some of the kids hated it at first, there was eye rolling and fidgeting, but by the end of the year, even the eye rollers were reading. And liking it."

"I get parents in the store who complain that their child will only read one kind of book, whether it be THE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, or POKEMON or whatever," she said. "They want to get their kids to branch out, to read other things. I tell them that at least the kids are reading. They are holding books in their hands, and just by doing having books in their hands, they are knowing what it feels like to read. If they keep reading, even if their book selection isn't very broad, if they enjoy it, they'll learn that reading is fun and they'll choose reading as an activity. And they will branch out in their reading choices."

"I agree," I said. "I tell that to parents too. I love it when I hear that kids are reading, and that parents are encouraging them."

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Getting My Festive On

I have to confess that I don't do The Holidays well. At least not lately. Not since I started working The Holidays at the bookstore.

Some see The Holidays as a time to gather with loved ones, prepare special meals, and prepare gifts to give to family and friends.

I work in retail. And yes, it's books, which I adore and are the reason I put up with a retail environment. This time of year, however, it's a lot more about volume and getting people through the line quickly, rather than the thoughtful kind of book browsing and discussion that I love. Dozens and dozens of people are asking questions and needing the exact right book, cashiers and registers are working at full speed, phones are ringing off the hook. If there is a (rare) lull in the busy-ness of customer interactions, we are all frantically racing around trying to straighten and restock shelves so we can be ready for the next onslaug...uh, wave.

Customers are what keep our doors open, and we all try to be upbeat, even as we try to answer constant questions, gather books for customers and ring efficiently at the register. I don't think I can convey how exhausting a day like that is. For me, anyway.

The Holidays are tiring.

The Christmas music we have playing is slightly stale, sometimes strange, and does not inspire a merry disposition in this bookseller. There is a version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that is arranged and sung with the song Tom Dooley. Yep, that's Tom Dooley, that peppy song about a murderer who got hanged. So festive. Some of the songs sound as though they were sung by the Lennon Sisters. Nothing wrong with the Lennon Sisters...50 years ago. There's a song that has lyrics that start..."Mamacita, donde esta Santa Claus?" Um...I guess they provide a little comic relief.

A friend of mine is going through cancer treatment. She's young, has school-age children, and this should not be happening to her (not that it should be happening to anyone). She is blogging about it. I hate to use the word inspirational, because that sounds sappy and lame, and she is anything but those things. She is a stand-up comedian, fiercely sarcastic, and brings her humor and attitude to her blog...and to cancer (Weird Cancer Guy, be gone!). (Keep an eye out for more about her blog in a future post of mine!) One thing she does in her blog posts is list Three Positives...and I so appreciate that she is doing this.

During The Holidays I can easily lose sight of The Positives in my life. She, through her blog, has been reminding me how important it is to be aware of the positives.

So. Three Positives for me about working The Holidays in retail:

1. Customers have been, almost all of them, really patient and polite, with us and to other shoppers. I know that shopping during The Holidays is hard too.

2. People are buying books! I love seeing people who buy some of my favorites, either for themselves or for others. I get to talk with people about books, like the woman who was buying GONE GIRL and when I commented on how much I liked it, asked me what I've been reading that I really like. (THE DOG STARS by Peter Heller is what I told her. Really great. There will be a blog post about it.)

3. Most of my co-workers are fun to work with and can joke around and they really make the intensity of The Holidays bearable. They've also readily pitched in when I've asked for help, even though I know they've had tons of things that have needed to be done themselves. I am grateful for their humor and work ethic.

4. (Do I get extra credit for doing four?) It's almost over. Yes, after Christmas Day there are clearance sales and many many returns (we really believe in gift receipts! please get gift receipts!), so the busy-ness doesn't dramatically drop off after Christmas. But the end is in sight. Hallelujah.


Thanks for stopping by! Clicking on the underlined book title may take you to Barnes and Noble's web page for each book. Purchasing through these links helps support the blog. You can subscribe directly to the blog here on this page. You can also send us email: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com. You can also "like" us on our facebook page, NOT The New York Times Book Review. Happy Holidays!