Merry Christmas!

I'm going on a blogging break till after the holidays. I wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy Christmas season!

Grandma's Shakespeare - a minor disaster and a question about antiquarian preservation

We're doing some major moving of shelves, which involves books, books, everywhere. Bags of books are being donated, things shifted and shoved to make way for the treadmill we bought as a Christmas gift to our fat selves (in the hopes that 2010 will be the year we shrink down to size and get healthy). In the process, my husband decided to get into the file cabinet and dig around. I'd completely forgotten that at some point I put the tiny volumes of Shakespeare that I inherited from my paternal grandmother inside one of those file drawers to keep them out of the light and, hopefully, preserve them a bit.

I found four of them on the floor when I walked into the room with the file cabinet, today. One was splayed open across a wrought-iron mirror, another was face-down and open, the remaining two fortunately landed flat. I was so shocked to find them on the floor that I actually gasped aloud. I picked them up, closed them and then asked my husband which file drawers he'd messed around in. He'd been in three out of four -- and couldn't remember which three. That meant I had to go digging for the rest of the books but I finally located them all. Some are in better condition than others.

This one seems to be preserved the best:

Isn't it beautiful? My grandmother gave me those books about a decade before she died because I mentioned that I recalled reading Romeo and Juliet on the high, 4-poster bed as a child and how much that had meant to me. So, they're very special. I have no idea how old they are because I took this photo and then realized I probably shouldn't be handling the books without gloves. There were already a couple little bits of leather on the floor. I closed it and put them in what I hope is a safe place.

The inscription says Mida Vesta Summers from "Uncle" - Christmas 1922. My grandmother was born in November of 1900 and would have therefore been 22 when she received the books. She was married a couple years later and was apparently a bit of a socialite. "Uncle" could have been a family friend; it's impossible to say, since she's long gone and so is my father.

I'm going to do a little research to see if I can find out how to better protect these little gems. I know absolutely nothing about the preservation of antiquarian books. Do you? If so, please share!

Winners of How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food by Chef Alain Braux

The winners of How to Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food are . . . .

Kris

Janet Ruth

I'll be in touch with both of you to get your mailing addresses. If you don't hear from me by tomorrow morning, please send your mailing address to the email in my sidebar post haste because Chef Braux wants to mail them out by Saturday morning in order to make sure they arrive before Christmas. Is he terrific, or what?

Congratulations!! I know you're going to enjoy this nutrition/cookbook. My husband and I absolutely love this book and have our fingers crossed that a major publisher will someday figure out that it deserves a huge audience . . . and publish it and make Chef Braux scads of money and Americans healthier. I was not paid, urged or held at gunpoint in order to say that. (<------just in case the FTC was wondering)

Mass Casualties by Spc Michael Anthony

Mass Casualties: A Young Medic's True Story of Death, Deception and Dishonor in Iraq
by Spc. Michael Anthony
Copyright 2009
Adams Media - NF/Memoir
234 pages

Mass Casualties is the story of a young man who grew up in a military family and signed up to join the U. S. Army as soon as he graduated high school. Because he tested well, Anthony pretty much had his choice of what type of job he'd like to have. He trained to be a surgical assistant because of the above-average pay and signing bonus.

After training, he was shipped to Northern Iraq, where he began to get to know the people he would work with and to learn his job. He was quickly surprised to find that the man in charge of scheduling was a control freak who had no sense of how to create a schedule. During Anthony's first weeks in Iraq, he and several other people were switched from one shift to another on a daily basis. Soon, they were unable to sleep at all, their bodies confused as to when it was time to rest. That poor scheduling was just the beginning of a difficult deployment in Iraq in two different locations with the same wily but inept commander.

Mass Casualties wasn't quite what I expected it to be, but it's an interesting memoir. There's a lot less focus on the surgery Anthony was involved in and the patients than the full experience of being deployed. You do hear about quite a few of the cases he dealt with and how they had to balance the use of a minimal number of surgical space when there were mass casualties coming in. But, the real focus is on relationships, everyday frustrations and and problems with the Army.

What I loved best about the book was that you really get a sense of what it's like to live in a war zone and the immediacy of having to run for a bunker during bombings. The bombings were more frequent and closer -- with bombs actually hitting inside their compound -- than I expected. When bombs were falling, the reading was pretty intense.

I disliked the fact that the author shared graphic detail about the sexual escapades of people around him. Yes, it was part of his experience. But, it's something I avoid reading about and before accepting this book for review, I read some reviews at Amazon. I asked the tour host if the book was as graphic about sex as described in a particular review and she said it was not that bad. I disagree. Mass Casualties isn't a book that can be renamed "Army Sexcapades," but there is a lot about the sexual activity of those around Anthony and anyone who dislikes reading about such things should be forewarned.

In fact, Anthony described all this activity because it was something that upset him. It's against Army regulations for people to engage in sexual activity but it was rampant and a large number of those whom he knew to be having affairs had spouses back home. Anthony was appalled at this behavior and that's undoubtedly why he seems so focused on it, particularly later in the book.

3.5/5 - A solid memoir and exposé of life in the military that looks specifically at the frustrations and issues of life in the army. Points off for going into a little too much detail about the sexual escapades of those around him because some of it was just flat disgusting. Too Much Information. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the book.

I received this book for review from Pump Up Your Book Promotion.

Don't forget! Tomorrow is drawing day for two copies of How to Lower your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food by Chef Alain Braux. Sign up here, if you haven't already.

Sheesh. Can't sleep.

Since I can't sleep (again - so sick of being totally wired at night), I decided to do a little blog-hopping and it was going great until I got to Suey's blog. And, then Book Nook Les's. I couldn't comment on either, but then I went back to fetch links to both blogs and I think I figured out the commenting problem. It's not a Blogger issue -- it's a Google Reader issue. For some reason, the clicking-through business is not working quite right.

If you're having this same trouble and you use Google Reader, try just typing in the URL to whatever blog you're having trouble with and see if that works. As for me . . . I'm going to try to get some sleep, now. Tomorrow, I'll comment on Suey's post about supporting local authors and Les's post on 20th Century Ghosts (a book that impressed me -- Les even quoted me on that). Nighty-night!

The Sum of His Syndromes by K. B. Dixon and a bunch of malarkey (it *is* Monday, after all)

The Sum of His Syndromes by K. B. Dixon
Copyright 2009
Academy Chicago Publishers
126 pages

Sometimes the monotony of good ole common sense can simply flatten you. You can nod yes for just so long before somewhere deep inside you fall asleep.

There are times when I no longer know what it is I'm thinking. I mean, sometimes I get caught up in one of those regressive loops--thinking of myself as someone who is thinking of himself thinking of himself. Other times it's just a spooky white noise.

Dave Linden once got kicked in the head by a fireman. He deserved it.

This week Dr. C is suggesting some sort of compromise approach to what we are calling my issues. We should be "eclectic." I told him that while I'm frequently in favor of such approaches in this case it was something I could see right through. It was nothing more than chemistry in reason's clothing.

Paul Maynard once touched a porpoise.

David is a depressed man who hates his job, is falling in love with a girl named Kate but pretty sure her friend Lisa is going to talk Kate back to her senses and he'll lose her, is on his third psychiatrist (Dr. C) and has one close friend who is pretty strange, himself. David fights the idea of medicating his syndromes into submission. He's not exactly a people person and he takes notes in the sixth-floor men's room because he knows nobody will bother him there.

The Sum of His Syndromes is written entirely in little soundbites like those quoted above. It's a quirky little book, rather plotless. There's never any kind of resolution to the separate storylines embedded within the protagonist's offbeat observations, and yet there's something oddly appealing about it. The writing is idiosyncratic but intelligent, sometimes funny, frequently thought-provoking. The quote on the cover says this:

This is the kind of book where we see a bit of ourselves and grimace--but keep reading.
--A. M. Homes

That summarizes The Sum of His Syndromes pretty well. I think most everyone will feel a little familiarity with some aspect of David's life; there's something we can all relate to in this book. I had a grand time reading The Sum of His Syndromes.

4/5 - Bizarre fun in the form of snippets: observations about bits of conversation overheard, thoughts about the protagonist's everyday life at work, on dates, with his best friend, at the psychiatrist's office. I would have liked a bit of resolution--the book simply ends without wrapping up anything at all. But, The Sum of His Syndromes is uniquely entertaining and I'd love to read more by this author.

Woe betide the woman who turns down an author's offer to review and discovers she loves his writing. I'll just have to order Mr. Dixon's other books, later on. I'm still purging like crazy, donating tons to the local library. Children's books are always, always gone by the time I return to donate more -- whether fiction or nonfiction. It's interesting to see what quickly disappears and what lingers in the library basement, waiting for a new home.

Today, the weather sucks. That's good, really good. I finished reading Schooled by Gordon Korman -- a YA novel that I began reading in the hope that it would break last week's reading slump. Victory! It worked! So, I moved on to Mass Casualties by Spc Michael Anthony, a tour book I'll review soon. After I closed Mass Casualties, I started reading Extras by Scott Westerfeld. I knew this book left Tally Youngblood and her story behind, but it was still a bit of an adjustment. I'm enjoying Extras; it's just very different from the rest of the Uglies series.

During the weekend, I managed to finish the first of two stories in Angels at Christmas by Debbie Macomber. It was the usual sweet, light Macomber story with the three crazy angels: Shirley, Goodness and Mercy. At the moment, I don't feel like reading the second story and am unsure which Christmas book I'll attempt next. I have a couple that simply weren't grabbing me, but then nothing was really grabbing me, last week, so I'll just see try again and see what clicks. Devil's Cub wasn't even capturing me -- and it's by Georgette Heyer! If I can't get into Devil's Cub, it will be the first Georgette Heyer book I've ever set aside. And, I'll be freaked out, but I'll probably get over it.

I just removed Can God Be Trusted? from my sidebar for the same reason. It's just not keeping my attention. Every now and then, I have to totally shake up my reading material because I'll balance 5 or 6 books and all of a sudden none of them appeal to me. It's the weirdest thing. That may happen, soon but, at the moment, at least Extras and Look Who's Laughing are keeping my attention. Look Who's Laughing is a book I bought when our local Bible Factory Outlet went out of business, about 3 years ago and yet another book that I "just happened across" while cleaning to make room for the treadmill we ordered as a Christmas gift to ourselves (see sidebar about the message from God).

I'm afraid to look at my Google Reader. But, I visited a couple of Blogger blogs, today, and had no trouble commenting. Have I missed anything wonderful? I hate doing mass deletes, but sometimes readers are a pain. They taunt you with all the posts you're not getting around to reading. I refuse to kill myself over a lack of proper blog-hopping, so I did a mass delete to ease my mind. Right now, making space and purging, home repair and updating are my priorities. My brain is full. I anticipate taking off a couple of weeks, soon, and then after the holidays things should get back to normal.

Have you read anything unbearably wonderful, lately? Share a title and author with me. I still want to know what you're reading and loving. Skip the ones you hated. I'm fine with just the good stuff.

Happy Malarkey Monday!

Bookfool, getting into the Christmas spirit a wee bit late

Comment FAIL

The image doesn't fit the problem, but I thought it was too cute to pass up. I found it here. I'm having a technical issue. Since I'm more than a little tech-stupid and my son recently told me I need to defrag (I am fragged . . . so sad), I'm hoping I just need to do some tidying in order to solve the problem. In the meantime, I'm unable to comment at a startling number of Blogger blogs -- specifically Blogger, not Wordpress or LiveJournal, etc., near as I can tell. Till I get the problem figured out, my apologies for my inability to comment. Doggone it. I need to communicate. Back soon . . .