palace of winds

Goodbye, Columbus: and Five Short Stories, by Philip Roth. — I must have requested this one alongside the Nemesis audiobook I finished in June. Safe to say at this point that Roth isn’t really my author, though there are lots of people who think he’s a genius. I never got swept away in the stories or felt much for any of the characters. Just not my thing.

The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson, narrated by Steven Crossley. — This was the 2010 Man Booker Prize winner. Normally I’m a big fan of Booker books, but… I don’t know if it was a problem with listening to it versus reading it, but my mind kept drifting, and — confession: I totally lost the plot during one of the first discs. I kept listening anyhow, but just never settled into the book. I didn’t care much for the characters and it didn’t bother me at all that I didn’t really know what was going on — which is the opposite of my usual careful, close reading style. Both this and the Roth stories wrestle primarily with questions of Jewishness, and maybe I’m just not in the right frame of mind for that right now… I’ve also read other Booker winners that are primarily end-of-life reflections (maybe the Booker panel favors them?), and they’re typically not my thing. I’m sure they will be one day, but I think I’m a good many years away from that resonating for me.

The Ill-Made Knight and The Candle in the Wind, by T. H. White, read by Neville Jason — These are the third and fourth books in the Once and Future King compilation (I had a bit of a wait to get the audiobook back from the library, then was mired in The Finkler Question for a while). The entire collection is the story of King Arthur — these continue the quirky, fun style to an extent, though as they progress into the Guinevere/Lancelot/Arthur triangle and the treachery of Arthur’s son Mordred they naturally lose a lot of the light-heartedness of the earlier books. Still enjoying them, but the Questing Beast thread from the second book is still my favorite.

2011 Book Count: 28
January: 6
February: 2
March: 7
April: 3
May: 3
June: 3
July: 4

I wake a minute before my alarm. Some dream shreds away, replaced by an incoming rush of memory: life, now, lately. It is a huge feeling, a lightness tucked under my ribs. I lie there in the warm July dark, pushing my hair up off my damp neck, and I think I am happy.

The plane game is one of patience. Waiting through security, waiting at the gate, waiting to board. Standing awkwardly in the narrow aisle, waiting for someone further on to repack their bag, to finally swing into their row. So many annoyed, resigned faces.

You finally inch into your seat and then it’s the set-up negotiation, all knees and neighbor’s elbow and uncooperative backpack. You wedge a book into the seatback pocket, balance your headphone case on one knee, catch a pencil briefly between your teeth. The backpack goes under the seat in front of you after a few insistent kicks; you slip off your shoes; you finally relax back.

Last week I was seated next to an unobjectionable enough neighbor. He took the armrest but I had the side of the plane to lean against. He was quiet, did not smell bad, and was not wearing a pink spandex jumpsuit. He did, however, dangle his hands between his thighs, and spend nearly the entire flight jiggling his knees together and apart. When the plane landed he bent each arm up in turn, then folded each hand forward at the wrist and pressed sharply down on them, as though they needed reattaching. A doll securing his joints. It was such a strange, fascinating gesture that I nearly forgave him for having spent the last three hours seeming to jerk off next to me.

Thanks especially to January and March, I finished my 2011 reading goal a full six months early. Apparently I need to be a little more ambitious with my numbers next year…

Nemesis, by Philip Roth, read by Dennis Boutsikaris – Nemesis is set in 1940′s New York, during a polio outbreak. The main character is a playground director, who watches helplessly as his kids begin falling victim to the paralyzing disease and the neighborhood is overtaken by fear. I did listen to the whole thing, but found it pretty meh. The narrator uses a very thick New York Jew accent that I found rather distracting (even though it was appropriate), and I just didn’t find the main character very interesting or likeable. I’d give this one a miss.

Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut – Loved it. I’d never read any Vonnegut before this, and had somehow escaped having any actual clue what he’s like as an author. Somewhere along the way I’d picked up the impression that he wrote Literature and was expecting — I don’t know what. Maybe a high poetic style, or something overtly philosophical, or..? Whatever I thought I was going to get, this was not it. It is literature, and it is thought-provoking, but Sirens of Titan is also a quirky sci-fi romp. I finished it quickly and wanted to read it again right away.

Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon – A friend of mine lent this to me a while ago, and I was a little hesitant to crack it open because it’s massive. I read it ridiculously quickly, though, and loved it. It’s a time-travel romance, set just after WW2 and then 200 years prior. The main character is feisty and fun, and — honestly, if the phrase “time-travel romance” does it for you, pick up this book. I’m really excited to read the next one.

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel, read by Simon Slater – This, sadly, is one I just couldn’t get into. I requested it from the library, but when it came in I couldn’t remember why or what it was about or anything — which actually happens to me quite a bit. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. In this case, not so much. I had high hopes when I put the first disc in; I liked the narrator and was really intrigued by the story. Turns out that it’s all about Thomas Cromwell, though, and while I normally find the whole King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and etc era interesting, I just couldn’t keep my mind on this one. Lots of politics. Lots and lots. I don’t like to quit on books, but I had to with this one; I like to be absorbed in my book or music while I’m driving, especially lately, and this one just wasn’t doing the trick. I slogged through over half of it, but I’m not counting it toward my total.

2011 Book Count: 24
January: 6
February: 2
March: 7
April: 3
May: 3
June: 3

Last fall I bought a hula hoop from a woman at my barn. I never hooped as a kid — I remember not being able to, but I have to confess I don’t have a memory of ever having tried. It’s entirely possible I just decided it wasn’t going to work and never touched one. Anyhow, this hoop I got is sized and weighted for adults. The bigger and heavier a hoop is, the easier it is to keep it going. (Well, to a point, obviously.) So, I got an adult hoop, and I learned to use it. And then I got another one: a little smaller and heavier, with water in it, strictly for “ab blasting”. I used both of them a little (a very little) over the winter, standing in the one place in the middle of my living room where I could hoop without destroying anything, but that was it.

About a month ago, a friend and I went for a Sunday stroll around Lake Harriet, and ran into a hooping meet-up. Just a bunch of folks who’d claimed some green space by the bandshell and were hooping it out in some of our first spring sunshine. So we grabbed spare hoops and joined in, laughing and making idiots of ourselves. I got hooked again.

The hoop group meets every week; they call it Hoopla. Two weeks ago I dragged a couple friends, and this past Tuesday I overcame all my co-dependent tendencies and went all by my very own self. There was a tornado watch and the sky looked a little ominous, but we were treated to patches of sunshine, the most refreshing misty rain, and a big old rainbow. The people were awesome and welcoming, and I learned a lot. I tried some things I didn’t think I’d be able to do; some of them I could and some of them I couldn’t (yet). Number one project right now: knee hooping. It looks so easy when other people do it, but damn, knee hooping is no joke:

So I’m sidelined for a few days (at least until my hands heal a little). I think I’ll spend the time hunting for good instructional videos on YouTube. I WILL get this knee thing down, dammit…