You may have noticed that the “For Fun” section of this blogsite wasn’t always about books. Today I have relocated those items and added a new tab section called “Life Beyond Books.” I anticipate adding material to this new section whenever I get hot and bothered about something that really doesn’t fit on a “books” site. Often, this will be my soapbox–so, forewarned is forearmed.
Kudos to Pat Summitt, age 59, for the way she is facing her newest competition, early onset dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. She wondered at her erratic behavior and got herself checked out at Mayo Clinic. She didn’t hide from reality. By not hiding, and by forcing others to face her reality as well, she’s setting a great example for respecting the truth. Once you have answers, you can start to pick among whatever options are available to you. You make sure you stay in charge by making sure others are prepared for when you can’t perform any more. And you show respect for those others as well, not forcing them to find ways to “work around” you.
Ms. Summitt has made a valiant choice. It’s not easy to do what she did, to run after the enemy, to chase it down rather than hide from it. She has opened herself up even as she asks for people to respect her privacy going forward. None of this will be easy for anyone, but at least she has made it less difficult on her loved ones and the people she works with. Honesty takes strength of character, and she seems to have it one hundredfold.
Books? There aren’t any I know about that will help you figure out if you have dementia, since that takes professionally administered tests, both mental and physical. There are many books on caregiving, however. I think the one that is considered the “bible” is probably The 36-Hour Day, now in its Fourth Edition (authors Mace and Rabins, published by Johns Hopkins University Press).
Additionally, too often, people are told they have Alzheimer’s when, in fact, they have some other form of dementia. Or they hear the word Alzheimer’s and just want to die. I haven’t read it, but there’s a book called The Myth of Alzheimers (authors Whitehouse and George, publisher Johns Hopkins University Press) that may be worth checking into. From my Web searching, it seems not to deny that Alzheimer’s exists but to give the reader a way to understand the whole concept of aging and dementia in general. The authors have a terrific blog worth visiting.
Cautionary Note: Too often, dementia is diagnosed without concern for how the statement of diagnosis itself will affect the recipient(s). If you or a loved one receives this diagnosis without proper concern for how it’s hitting you, seek out more support.
Digital art by Idea go*
The most expensive textbook I had to purchase in college cost $29, if memory serves. I think on average I was probably spending about $15 per book, so the most expensive one was about twice the normal cost. In the late 1960’s it was a jaw-dropping amount. The shock of it was good for at least a week of conversations with other students before other topics took over, like which fraternity party to go to the next weekend. Also, I was too busy studying the near-thousand-page book’s chapters, all in small type in a black-and-white format that held no photographs and lots of chemical equations. I think it was a neuroscience text.
Textbooks in general have become hugely more user friendly but also have continued to rise in cost, and now a comparable text to my $29 one might come in at $100. Some texts come in upward of $150 but they contain more color and artwork than the one I had to suffer with.
There was a bookstore near my college that did offer used textbooks, but the book I needed was not there. It may have been a new publication, or the students who had used it the prior year decided it was too valuable to them to sell back (most of these students were pre-med). But at least for many courses, a used book was an option, along with all the underlining and marginal notes (“who gives a damn?” and “so what?”) students are prone to making. Well, I was anyway.
Enter, stage right, today’s latest idea for saving money on textbooks: rent ’em! If you’re interested in details insofar as one website offers, click here. There are probably others, but this is the one that promoted itself into my inbox one day. I’m so happy I already have my degree.
*digital artist’s website link: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
You’re familiar, I’m sure, with movie trailers. You’ve also now seen a book trailer or two on this site. Most book trailers are like slide-show presentations of praise blurbs, sample illustrations (in a children’s book), excerpts of publisher’s or author’s comments on the book, or parts of the book itself. A form of author interview may be included, though a lot of authors don’t even appear in the trailer for their own book–probably with good reason, since they are writers not performers. A lot of book trailers are not even prepared by the publishers of the books but by the authors, either because their books are self-published or published with a small press operating with limited funds.
But now and then a book trailer jumps out as different for one reason or another (read: especially entertaining). Here is my favorite to date:
Despite my original plan not to include book reviews on this blogsite, I have gone and written one. I just can’t be trusted after all. Here’s what led to my downfall: (1) I have been writing a few articles for Blog Critics; (2) I went to Paris; (3) David McCullough’s book The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris came out; (4) one of Simon & Schuster’s marketing specialists offered Blog Critics a copy for review; (5) Blog Critics informed its writers; (6) I couldn’t restrain myself and was the first to ask for the assignment. I guess I just wasn’t ready to leave Paris. So I now predict I’ll be writing book reviews–every now and then, and for purely personal reasons. I will place them in the new tabbed section above, “Book Reviews.”
Once I became entrenched in the business of textbook publishing, I hardly ever read for fun. The 60–80 hour workweeks left little time for food and laundry, let alone reading. When at work, most of the reading I did was nonfiction–either textbook material (manuscript and proof stages) or financial and business management material. The only fiction materials were excerpts for use in reading and language arts textbooks. Since reading of any kind had become associated with work, I didn’t read for fun. When I wanted fun, I socialized. When I needed to relax, I watched TV.
Oh, I would read fiction recommended by friends now and then, but my attention span had shifted. The books took longer to read, and I couldn’t “sink into” them the way I used to. Publishing habits had me scanning for important paragraphs and skimming for efficiency. I became impatient with fiction.
Imagine the thrill for me when I changed careers from publishing nonfiction to writing fiction. Now I could read fiction as part of my work! I needed to read what other authors wrote. I began to hone my craft by their examples. It has taken me, literally, a couple of years to learn to read like a reader again, not to mention digging in even deeper to read like a writer. Now a few years into writing, I’m happy to report I’m reading carefully and enjoying it more. It has been a pleasure to welcome back the habits of my youth that gave me so much pleasure before publishing turned it all into a race of some kind.
Caveat: Lest I be misinterpreted, I loved publishing, heart and soul. I’m just happy now to be renewing acquaintances with a long-lost love. The book cover above is a reissue by W. W. Norton publisher of a classic gem, given to me by a publishing friend in 1971. On Reading by photographer Andre Kertesz, is a book on reading that has no words, just photos–of all ages/genders people reading in different cities/countries, of different reading materials (newspapers, books, etc.)… of people loving to read. A gem.
On the heels of a family vacation last week, grandchildren Tim, Lauren, and Jeremy (and their parents) spent a few days with us. Of course, I asked who was reading what these days. The books I remember being mentioned were 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, being read by 17-year-old Tim, and Of Mice and Men, being read by 13-year-old Jeremy. Lauren had a couple books in her bag but I didn’t spot the titles as I passed by the futon to get to the deck. Sorry about that.
Tim said he’s on page 50 and hasn’t gotten to the first habit yet, but he’s looking forward to it. Jeremy wonders what the significance of the rabbits is near the beginning of Steinbeck’s book. Such conversations make my heart soar.
At one point I went to check Facebook updates and found that our grand-niece Kaylin had created and posted a retrospective on Harry Potter. Since I’m not a follower, I asked Tim and Jeremy (Lauren was out of sight) to take a look at it, and they swooned over it! So, I include it here, below, for you Potterheads out there (am I coining a term?).
And now Gary and I are off to Cape Cod for a few days, visiting a friend who rents each August. While there I’ll be reading aloud to her the first draft of my second novel, a sequel written last November. My friend doesn’t enjoy reading but loves listening, so it’s a great opportunity for me to identify and circle bad passages for later attention. Back in touch next weekend!
Big onscreen awhile back (okay, forty-five years ago) was a movie called Endless Summer, a documentary following two surfer dudes in search of the perfect wave. I propose we go in search of the perfect beach read. In general a beach read is light reading as opposed to difficult or demanding reading. A beach read will not send you to a dictionary to learn the meaning of a critical word. It will not encourage you to stop and think, to contemplate what the author is telling you. A beach read is a book you can put down anytime you like and pick it up again without losing the thread of some major thought. A beach read is pure entertainment.
Every summer many newspapers and magazines put out lists of recommended beach reads drawn from current book releases. I’m going to harken back in time, however, and list some personal favorites from prior years. In addition to the types of books below (which don’t include romance novels, for instance, since I’m not a big reader of those), there are mass market paperbacks galore at your local supermarket, pharmacy, big box stores. Enjoy your summer. Be sure to wiggle your toes in any sand you can find that the ants haven’t already claimed.
Everyone in our novels workshop commented by week’s end what a terrific group we had. This was my first writers’ conference, but I’ve read enough commentaries by published authors to surmise that this was an unusually focused and compatible set of people. I’m sure I’ve been spoiled for life.
Instructor Lily King, whose books (see prior post) have received much critical acclaim, kept us on track all week. We read and commented on two writing samples each day, concentrating first on what we liked about a piece and then on aspects we thought could be improved. Afternoon sessions, which were open to all workshop participants (novels, short fiction, poetry, memoir) zeroed in on topics of interest to everyone (e.g., tightening language, revising drafts, incorporating humor, giving readings).
Both in the morning and the afternoon sessions, opportunities were provided to engage in brief writing activities. Combined with lunches catered by Stonyfield (visit their natural-foods restaurant at Rtes 1 and 295 in Falmouth; Stonyfield Café), the week was a delicious composite of learning, writing, and socializing/sharing.
Yesterday I went online and joined the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance ( MWPA). I look forward to continuing the feeling of mutual involvement in a group that serves a ton of talent.
Lily ended our time together with a discussion of writing goals. We each wrote down the goals we could commit to, and then we read them to the group to cement them. Even though I’ve always thought I was an owl and not a lark, I’ve learned that I do my best writing in the morning. My routine, which I started this morning, will be to sit at my desk to write from 6:30 to 10:00 each morning, six days a week. By this time next year I plan to have a publishing contract for a three-book series, with book one completed, book two in final revision, and book three drafted. There. Now I’ve committed to you as well.
Oh, you’re wondering how my material fared under the group’s scrutiny? I’m happy to say it was not ceremoniously rejected. But I do have a bit of hard work ahead of me. That’s okay—I’m looking forward to it.
The reason I’ve been silent this week is that I’m in the delightful throes of a writers’ conference organized by the University of Southern Maine. It’s taking place in a great old building called Stone House on a leg of land just west of downtown Freeport (most famous as the home of L. L. Bean). I took this picture of one of the exterior walls. The set-in stones made me think of an abstract underwater scene because of the black-and-white striped piece near the upper left, reminiscent of a saltwater denizen. The metaphor for me is a fish/writer surrounded by lots of other fish/writers. As implied by this picture, this old Stone House provides great atmosphere for what’s going on inside it this week.
There are two days left in the conference, today and tomorrow. My work is being discussed this morning, and I can’t wait to hear from my group what each of them responds to, positive and negative, in the chapters I submitted for comment. The discussions are lively and caring and instructive; we’ve all commented on how much we’re learning. The people are simply terrific. The instructor is Lily King, author of The Pleasing Hour, The English Teacher, and Father of the Rain, in that order. I read The English Teacher prior to the conference and enjoyed it thoroughly. Can’t wait to read the other two.
Lily has been an excellent group leader, and the participants are all smart and committed budding writers. None of us, except Lily, has been published yet (for this discussion I discount my self-publication of The Cleveland Rutters), but I believe all of us, from what I’ve read, are headed that way. Gotta run – more latah!
