My 2015 Project

I had a writing project last year.

The author commissioned the tiger painting - he says he's the little tiger on the right.

Obviously, I did not write this book. I was the editor who helped whip this book into shape before it was sent to the publisher.  And while I wish that I had had one more run through on the book and I would like to re-organize the first chapter, I am still proud of what I did. (And doesn't every editor/writer wish they had time for just one more pass?)

If you are looking for a military blow-by-blow, detailing troop movements and strategy, this is not the book for you. This is more of a coming of age story, with firefights, brothels, bad jokes, incredibly brutal training, and a lot of cheating at cards.  It's funnier and more erudite (lots of Nietzsche) than you might expect for a book about war.

I'm honored that I got to spend so much time with the author (both in person and on the page). He is a witty, well-travelled man, with an enormous fund of stories (many more than went into the book) and a fascinating person to get to know.

If you're interested, The Tales of Six Tigers is available on Amazon here.

The proceeds from the book will be going to the TLC Brotherhood, a veteran's organization for those who served in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

What I'm reading now

A lot of people make resolutions about improving themselves at this time of year, and that usually includes a reading list. People will buy weighty tomes, books on self-improvement, or important and serious novels. I won’t be doing that.  

It’s not that I don’t appreciate serious literature, but it’s January. This is the month that I recuperate from the holidays, and I just can’t face Middlemarch right now. I'll come back to the serious reads, but for now, I want something light and funny. 

I haven't read science fiction in years. I burned my way through a lot of the genre in high school and sort of lost interest afterwards. It's not that I don't find speculating on the future interesting, but there are a fair number of sci-fi novelists who forget that the point of literature is to tell a story, not to numb me with detailed explanations of physics, number theory, or (yet another) dystopian future.  So it was complete chance that I stumbled on Agent to the Stars online, and after reading the synopsis I had to buy it. 

It’s about a junior Hollywood agent who has the ultimate PR problem: How do you go about introducing an alien race to the world? Without causing widespread panic and riots?

As an added complication, the aliens are really ugly and they smell. 

It also contains some sharp observations on the entertainment industry, and the negotiations are masterful. On one hand, he's a complete bastard, on the other, you can't help but admire how well he does it. It’s funny, intelligent, and I enjoyed it immensely. If you want a fun and satirical read, I recommend this one highly.

Bonus for the true sci-fi fan: the Audible version is read by Wil Wheaton!

Things I'm Loving Now: April

The theme of this post is borrowed (stolen) from my friend Leslie. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I'm really getting a kick out of my new Kindle. It's got a bright screen, it was reasonably priced, and it's small and light enough to carry around all the time. I'm having a lot of fun with it. 

Since I don't have the budget for serious jewels, I'm building a library of them instead. In 1912, some workmen were excavating a sub-basement in Cheapside (London), and stumbled on a cache of jewelry that had been lost since the Great Fire (1666). This is more than just a catalog or a book of pretty pictures, it tells about the discovery of the cache, and about jewelry making at the time. Did you know that "the acid test" and "up to scratch" are goldsmith's terms, and originally refer to proving the karat weight of gold? Lots of fun nerdy stuff like that, and the pictures are gorgeous! 

I watched the original Cosmos as a child, and remember being mesmerized. This updated version of the series is a worthy continuation. And I've been a fan of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson for years. You can see clips and full episodes online at http://www.cosmosontv.com/.

And last but not least, sushi socks! What's not to love?

Which Dickens?

My late grandmother was an Anglophile. If it came from the UK, it was good. She had tea from Harrods and Wedgewood china, pins from Scotland painted with thistles, and a treasured picture of her cousin shaking hands with the queen. But mostly she had books, lots and lots of books. And I inherited from her the complete works of Charles Dickens.

 

Of these, I have read exactly one: Great Expectations, because it was required to pass my English literature class. I remember liking the book more than I expected, but I haven't picked up any more of them. I am going to change that this summer.

Which one should I read? Nicholas Nickleby? Barnaby Rudge? the Mystery of Edwin Drood? or maybe Little Dorrit, or The Old Curiosity Shop. I could skip fiction altogether and read the travelogue of his American tour - American Notes.

I am asking your advice, O wise denizens of the blogosphere. What should I read this summer?

Weekend Fun Video
The muppets take on Charles Dickens best known story.

Sweetness

You've probably figured out by now that I gather books like other women gather shoes, and books on food and cooking are especially welcome.  A few years ago, I picked up a book called Sweetness and Light: The Mysterious History of the Honeybee. I bought it mostly for the title, which comes from a story by Jonathan Swift (the author of Gulliver's Travels) that I have always liked.  In it a bee and a spider are comparing the merits of their work (web v. honeycomb). The bee wins the argument handily:

 

" We have chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light."

 

At that point I knew nothing about honey other than it was sticky stuff, made by bees, that came in jars. The book turned out to be fascinating. For instance:

 

• Honey is naturally sterile, and was used to dress wounds to prevent infection
• Honey does not go bad. Ancient honey from Egyptian tombs has been re-constituted and found to be completely edible.
• Honeybees are not native to North America, but a European import

As I started getting interested in honey, I found that there were as many types of honey as there are flowers. The clover honey in the supermarket is barely scratching the surface. And honey is a terrific souvenir, there is almost always a local honey for sale.

The honey I picked up in Mexico - isn't the Mayan bee great?

I have 7 jars in my house at the moment. Some are from vacation (NYC, Mexico) one was a present (buckwheat) and the rest I picked up during regular shopping. They all have very different flavors, though in general, the darker the honey, the more agressive the flavor. Chestnut is a bit metallic, the buckwheat is almost like molasses, and the rosemary is distinctly herbal. My favorite, the one I'm hoarding because I can't get it anymore, is walnut, which is very complex, almost bitter. Plain yogurt and a spoonful of walnut honey makes me a very happy woman.

I don't eat honey every day. Not even every week, but as I said before. it doesn't go bad. So having seven jars of honey in the cupboard isn't that big a deal. And if it crystallizes, you can zap it in the microwave, or just stick the jar in hot water. It will liquify either way.

I don't have a recipe for today, though if you want to do something easy, beat a couple of spoonfuls of honey into a stick of butter. The resulting compound butter turns toast into a gourmet experience.

The Book Sale

When I was 23, I went to Paris, one of the great shopping capitals of the world. Did I bring back perfume? clothes? a gorgeous pair of shoes? Nope. I had a suitcase stuffed with old books from Shakespeare & Company. My luggage was heavy, but erudite.

I love books. I have books in almost every room of my house. And they are not decorative. I don't understand the current designer trend of wrapping them in matching plain wrappers. Or taking the covers off and then tying them together with string. How will you know what books they are? How can you select a book from a blank library? I'd take it as an modern art installation, about knowledge being hidden beneath the surface, but it's obvious they aren't being that deep.  



Unfortunately, books aren't cheap (cheaper than Louboutins, but still, an expensive habit.)

So this weekend I met up with a book-loving friend and went to the Houston Public Library Book Sale. $2 hardbacks and $1 paperbacks. Heaven.

Book sales are quiet affairs. Everyone is scanning the titles, reading a few pages to see if the text grabs them.  We must have been there at least 2 hours.

Before I went in, I put myself on a budget. 10 books, no more. This was painful, because there were a lot of books. I skipped the Math and Science section entirely. I barely glanced at Drama, and only saw 2 tables of fiction, and there was a photography book that I'm still kicking myself for not buying. Still, I think I got a good haul for my 23 dollars.

Biography/Memoir

Peter the Great - His Life and World

M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child & Alice Waters - Celebrating the Pleasures of the Table

Brother, I'm Dying - Edwige Danticat

Millionaire - A biography of John Law

Abigail Adams

The Forgotten Genius - A biography of Robert Hooke

Cooking

M.F.K. Fisher - Among the Pots and Pans

Fiction

Swann's Way - Marcel Proust

Dixieland Sushi - a rainy day read

Travel

Hunting Mr. Heartbreak

As you can tell, I got a little carried away at the Biography table. I love biographies. The Proust was one of those " I've always been meaning to read this" purchase, and since I have very little vacation time, I'm usually up for an interesting travel book. I also picked up these:

These are pamphlets, so they don't count towards my 10 book total. (I'm justifying myself -shhh!) One of them even has the original price tag on it: 2 shillings, sixpence. Peter the Great has a beautiful butterfly bookplate in it. You don't get that kind of detail in an e-book.

How was your weekend?