When I was in high school, I liked joining things — French Club, Key Club, Environmental Club, volleyball, softball, basketball, drama performances, creative writing magazine, yearbook…. You get the idea.

I thought that had worn off as I’d gotten older, but in the last week, the joining gene seems to have resurfaced since I have signed up to take part in two new projects:

The Kat with a K Summer Reading Program
Kat thought back to her childhood summers and remembered how much fun those summer reading programs the public library used to offer were. So she decided to create her own summer reading program and invited folks to join her. How could I resist?

For this challenge, I aimed low: only 10 books over the course of the summer. I thought about 15 or even 20, but given I only managed two last month (and since I can’t read and knit at the same time (see below)), I decided to play it safe.

But Kat also offered the chance to have a bonus goal and here I aimed high. As I mentioned here, I want to read Alexis de Tocqueville. So my goal is to read the complete text of Democracy in America — all 769 pages of it.

The Knitting World Cup 2006
Since I did eventually finish my Knitting Olympics projects, I thought I would try my hand at the Yarn Monkey’s World Cup knit-along. Who knows? Maybe I’m more of a summer sport girl. (I also thought I would hand the mousie booties from the Olympics over to their new owner, and Heidi seemed pleased by them.)

So what am I turning my needles to? A summer tank top from the most recent issue of Interweave Knits. I’m adapting it to work with Rowan’s Summer Tweed in Exotic (a turquoise tweed in cotton-silk).

The project has stumbled a bit in the early days as my guage swatch seems to have no bearing on either the pattern or the yarn’s specifications. I gave up on the math and decided to just cast on. Except that the pattern calls for a provisional cast on, which I didn’t know. Rudi went to sleep last night to the sounds of my bemoaning the yarn, the needles, the pattern, and my own inability. To give you some clue of how miserable I was, it took me about three hours to cast on and to knit three rows. Three hours. Today’s work is still moving slowly, but there does seem to be actual progress. Let’s just hope it’s not for naught and that the silly thing fits.

And let’s keep our fingers crossed that this is all I sign myself up to do for the next few months….

Guess what I won’t be watching? Tuesday Night Book Club, which starts next week on CBS.

I like light fluff combined with books as much as the next person (was Pam Anderson’s Stacked really that bad?). And I realize this is going to make me sound very shallow. But I just don’t think I would have so much in common with these women.

Sure, I may peek at the book list. But I think that’s where my interest in the show stops.

Last month I bemoaned only reading five books. Sadly that appears substantial compared to the piddling two I managed during May. I find that hard to believe. I mean, yes, there were two knitting magazines I snuck in there. And I started one book before deciding it wasn’t for me. But still … two?

I have been wandering around the house for two days looking in piles, picking up volumes, and wracking my brain for books I may have accidentally taken back to the library without first noting them. But I can find nothing. Apparently I’ve just had an underwhelming month.

Nonetheless, I wouldn’t want those two books to feel in any way unworthy.

They were:

A Good Year, by Peter Mayle

From the book jacket: “Max Skinner is not exactly setting the London financial world on fire — and when his supervisor steals his biggest client, it’s definitely time to inspect the vineyard in Provence that his recently departed uncle left him. Heartily and happily distracted upon his arrival by the landscape, the weather, and the food — not to mention the gorgeous notaire handling the estate and the stunning owner of the local bistro — Max almost forgets about his inherited property.”
Why this book? I don’t remember why exactly I first picked up A Year in Provence. It was probably recommended by one of the dozen bookstores that email me suggestions. But since then, I’ve been hooked and when Mayle himself came to D.C. two years ago to promote this book, we paid money to attend the reading.
My take: If you’ve read any of Mayle’s Provence books, this will come as no real surprise to you. The scenery is luscious, the food leaves your mouth watering, and the characters are sweetly quirky. A charming read.

Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

From the book jacket: “When Dorothy triumphed over the so-called Wicked Witch of the West in Frank Baum’s tales, we heard only Dorothy’s side of the story. The Wicked Witch we think we know is the predictable, green-faced villainess straight out of MGM’s imagination. But there’s more to the story than that. Where did the Wicked Witch come from? How exactly was she wicked? Why shouldn’t she want her sister’s charmed shoes? And, most important, what is the true nature of evil?”
Why this book? It’s come up a lot in my life recently. There’s the musical… There’s the sequel… Rebs bought it and despised the beginning so heartily she took it back to her bookstore… Di liked it enough to IM an endorsement. And I’ve been listening to a podcast version of The Road to Oz over the course of the last few months.
My take: If your only experience with Oz is the movie, you may not enjoy the book as much as if you have read some of the Frank L. Baum stories the movie is based on. But having said that, I thought that most of the book was very clever, thorougly drawing on Baum’s world as it does — from the characteristics of the various inhabitants of the nation to the types of characters he peopled his books with to the small details that changed between the book and the movie (those slippers aren’t really ruby in the stories, for instance).

Maguire enjoys playing with language and includes a number of Word Wealth words. My friend Amani was so taken with his vocabulary she started writing down words she wanted to learn.

Maguire also began an interesting discussion on the role and/or nature of evil. Is there such a thing? If so, what makes a character evil or makes them do evil things — free will, destiny, some combination? Is collateral worth the price of eliminating evil? Is it cut-and-dried? And are there always two legitimate sides or perspectives to things?

Unfortunately, something happened toward the end of the novel and for whatever reason he rushed around trying to squeeze the end of the story in before the book got too long. My head reeled as he bounced from one scene to another and as he tried to wrap Elphaba’s (the witch’s real name) story up as neatly as possible. But in his hurry to close the curtain, he undermined the importance of the questions he raised earlier, leaving me a little disappointed in what was otherwise a terrific novel.

I have mentioned before how jealous I am of those living in the U.K. because they have access to The Guardian in its hard copy format. It is possibly the best book paper in the world and easily surpasses anything I’ve seen here in the U.S.

This week they look at what makes a successful independent bookseller: “The Best Sellers”.

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of independent bookstores. I will patronize the national chains when I’m looking for something I know the smaller shops in my area won’t have (crossword puzzle books for Gramma, for instance), but if I’m buying a book for myself, it’s not going to be at a huge mega-bookstore.

Looking for quality independents in the D.C. area?

Olsson’s is a local chain with two stores in D.C. and three in Virginia (including one at National Airport). I’ve not visited their Courthouse location, but I can recommend without hesitation, any of their three other stand-alone stores. Dupont lacks a cafe, but you’re not missing it in that neighborhood. Over the last few years they have expanded from just selling books, cds, and dvds to include renting out art house/BBC movies and series. And they offer a free membership that nets you discounts over time.

Politics and Prose is what you envision when you envision a local bookshop — or what it would be if it regularly appeared on Book TV on C-Span2. It feels cosy, even if it has expanded over the years. New books and an area for readings are located upstairs and the downstairs is devoted to remainders, a great kids’ section, and a tasty coffeeshop.

You couldn’t go wrong with either one.

Via Bookish.

It’s not that I mean to gloat. Really. But I am doing a little happy dance today because I have tickets to a charity author’s night in August at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Who am I going to see?

Why, Stephen King, John Irving, and … J.K. Rowling.

Yes, that’s right. I will be in the same room with the author of Harry Potter!

::shiver::

Rudi can attest that while I am hardly nonplussed by musicians and politicians and other luminaries, that a few years ago when I met Laurent de Brunhoff, author of the later Babar books, that I just about melted into the floor and blathered something ridiculous while starting at him adoringly.

Having bought the tickets does entitle me to submit a question for each of the authors, so if you have anything you’ve been dying to ask any of them, leave it in the comments.

Now if you don’t normally troll my blogroll for additional reading material, you can be forgiven (for now) for overlooking one of the best comics out there — “Unshelved.” Created by two guys from the Seattle area, the comic focuses on the goings-on at a fictitious library. The main character is Dewey, the slacker young adult librarian who’d rather be curled up in the corner with his graphic novels than answering some of the inane questions you get when you’re perceived to be “an authority.” His world is shared by his coworkers, the library patrons, his cranky grandmother, and the school-teacher/volleyball player who is in love with — and frustrated by — him.

I met Bill (who draws the strip) more than three years ago when we were both stuck in the corner of a conference exhibition hall that time (and librarians) had forgotten. Bill and I tried to encourage the crowd to actually come down the rest of the aisle to see the ten booths past the post office. Admittedly, his comic strip may have been more of a draw than my health books and I may have ridden his coat tails to get my books into people’s hands…

Since then, Gene, Bill, and I usually manage to find one night during the conferences we all attend to have dinner. They are witty and quick and I usually feel rather dull in their presence, like Julia Roberts’ kid sister with braces might feel. Even if I do have to have them re-explain the new Battlestar Galactica series to me every time I see them, it is always a pleasure to spend a little time with them and their entourage of comics and graphic novel folks.

Today the Seattle Times covers the comic and gives you a hint of Bill and Gene’s personalities. Check out the article if you want, but definitely read the comic strip. You can even have it delivered free to your inbox every day. They’re more reliable than your paper carrier and the comic never gets wet if a freak rainstorm shows up between its delivery and your chance to pick it up. And their apparel is a great way to start up random conversations with people. My two t-shirts have started conversations with everyone from a random librarian on the Metro to the actors who play Maria on Sesame Street and Mr. McFeeley on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.