Citizen Reader

Back in the reading saddle.

I realized the other day that I have a different book going in every room of the house (and one in my backpack), and it feels really, really...good. It feels like I am getting back to myself again, reading-wise.

So what's going on where? Details to follow, but in the bathroom I have a novel by a British author I've always enjoyed, in the bedroom is a book on how Generation Y is getting royally screwed, economically speaking (nice light bedtime reading, dontcha know), in my bag is a memoir that I'm not quite sure about but am going to stick with anyway, in the living room is a somewhat depressing book (book info toward the bottom of that post) that I've had to take a small pause from, and in the kitchen waits a book I started a few weeks back and really must get back to, because it is fascinating. Oh, and how could I forget a book about books, which, interestingly enough, has a chapter about being in the middle of too many books (and which roves around as I carry it from room to room and outside)? Add to that some books on gardening (every year in spring I read about gardening, rather than actually gardening) and some on toilet training (although, sadly, neither CRjr nor I are too interested), and you have a full reading slate.

It's lovely.

Are blogs over?

Lately I've been hearing from many people whose taste and advice I trust that blogs are somewhat "over."

My question(s) for you are: Are you still reading blogs? If blogs are over, what has taken their place on our wasting-time-on-the-Internet agenda? Shopping? Are you spending more time on Twitter or Tumblr? I only ask because, frankly, other than BBC productions I have already seen and SHOULD NOT BE WATCHING AGAIN on YouTube, I really don't find all that much I have to look at on the Internet, other than the blogs I read and love (and which you can find in my sidebar--pretty much all favorites of mine).

Except for John Green giving a commencement address. I only watched a few minutes, but gosh, John Green is cute. It was worth wasting the time. And I'm so touched he told grads not to worry about their lawns. This makes me feel better, as my front lawn is a wasteland after last year's drought and like-living-on-the-surface-of-the-sun temperatures, and I just can't get myself to worry about it.

A quick word of thanks.

As we head into another weekend (and I'm so glad that weekend will not include a foot of snow for me, as it already has for my neighbors to the north), I thought I'd take a quick moment to say THANK YOU.

It's now been a little more than six months that I have been an Amazon associate, and a bit more than two and a half years that I have been a Powell's bookstore associate. In that time, many of you have made some of your book and other purchases through this site (my Powell's link is at right and all of the book titles here link there as well; my "Shop Amazon" link is also at the right, as the Amazon graphic which leads you right to them). When you do that, I get a small kickback from your purchases. Your generosity and willingness to stop here first while shopping has made it possible for me to continue hosting on this domain and using the TypePad service, and I really, REALLY appreciate it. Thank you, so much.

That is all. Now go enjoy your weekend, and hopefully it doesn't involve any more winter.

What my book choices say about me I don't know.

I still continue to feel as though I am not finding much reading that is setting me on fire, but as I sat down to consider the nonfiction titles I've read in the past few weeks, I'm seeing a pattern emerge.

First I read Charlie LeDuff's Detroit: An American Autopsy, which was fantastic but not exactly cheerful. Just lately I've also read books titled The Business of Baby: What Doctors Don't Tell You, What Corporations Try to Sell You, and How to Put Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Before Their Bottom Line and Down the Up Escalator: How the 99 Percent Live in the Great Recession (reviews to come) both of which were interesting, but again, not exactly light. And then today I stopped by the library and there was only one title waiting for me, which I didn't even remember placing on hold: Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam.*

It was totally inappropriate but I actually laughed when I saw that title, particularly in light of the other downer books I've been reading. It just goes to show that I clearly must be drawn to the dark and the depressing (as I find the majority of my nonfiction, when you get right down to it, simply by trolling the "new nonfiction" lists in my library's catalog, and picking most things based on their titles).

But just now perhaps I could use something a tad less, shall we say, "depressing as hell"? Any suggestions for good, thoughtful** nonfiction that also doesn't make me want to crawl under a rock and cry? Many thanks in advance.

*It looks like a good book, actually, but so help me, I just don't know if I can handle it right now.

**Please nothing that includes the words "inspirational" or "sentimental" on the cover or in reviews. To quote the wonderful author Jim Knipfel: "when I hear the word 'spiritual,' I reach for my revolver."

To be continued...

I know, I just can't seem to get back on a regular blogging schedule. I feel like I owe you a book review, and I even just read a fantastic book that I want to tell you about, but for the love of all that's holy, I just can't get myself to do it tonight. Soon, I promise.

In the meantime, please do check out a new travel nonfiction blog that is being written by my friend and colleague, Robert Burgin. The blog is called Travel with a Book, and it's a great source for travel book suggestions. Burgin is also the former editor of the Real Stories series (for which I've written a couple of volumes) and also just wrote a travel literature guide himself (titled Going Places). I will make sure to get a link to that blog in my sidebar.

In other news, the American Library Association has announced the shortlist for their Andrew Carnegie Medal awards, and I've got very decided opinions on what should win. Not to be too melodramatic, but if the Quammen book* doesn't win I'm giving up on the ALA forever. So there!

*I'm also pulling for Richard Ford's Canada.

Unsettled.

I am unsettled. Unsettled, unsettled.

Yes, I think it deserves repeating at least twice. Although my usual two moods are antsy and testy (thanks to the great 1992 Noah Baumbach movie Kicking and Screaming for that line), lately "unsettled" hits nearer to the mark. And why am I so unsettled?

I'm bored with reading.

Of course everyone goes through slumps, and I am familiar with that phenomenon. But this is something bigger. For one thing, it's been going on for months. For another, I have periodically been reading things I very much enjoy, and I've got any number of books going (although the collected nonfiction of Joan Didion, regardless of how I love her, only serves to increase the unsettled feeling--more on this later). But overall? Some of the fizz definitely seems to gone from my reading life.

So: help me out. Reading suggestions? Conquer cabin fever* suggestions? Anybody else feeling this way? (I know at least one other person is, and they have my sympathy.)

*I'm sure this has something to do with it. It's mid-March, for the love of Pete, and we can't get out of the flurries/32-degree mark weather pattern.

Comment apologies.

A brief note today to apologize for comment weirdness happening on the site. Recently I've had to add the Captcha verification stuff when people want to comment (which I hate doing) because I was getting hit with hundreds of spam emails that I had to go in and clear manually. And now, for whatever reason, comments that are NOT from spammers are getting dumped in my spam folder. This happened earlier in the week on the Caitlin Moran post, so many comments were delayed. So sorry about that. I'll see what I can do to fix things so when you comment, the comment appears immediately.

In the meantime please do continue to comment--the comments are usually the most informative part of this blog, after all. Thanks!

Good work if you can get it.

Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History
by Florence Williams

Sorry for the intermittent posting here, which will continue for a bit longer. I actually have a few freelance jobs going, which always puts the hit on my recreational reading, and makes my eyes too tired to do much other computer work. But, as we say around here, Mama needs a new pair of everything, so I'm just glad to have the work.

In the meantime I am trying not to hate Mr. CR when he starts appropriating the books I want to be reading. (No offense to Mr. CR--he works hard and deserves the break.) He's started Florence Williams's science title Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History. His pithy review? "It's pretty interesting." If I ever get around to reading it I'll try and expand on that!

Happy holiday shopping season!

I know: puke. I was in a store the week before Halloween and they already had holiday decorations up, which always just seems really wrong. And this year I'm hearing that stores are dispensing with Black Friday opening times of 2 or 4 a.m. and just opening up on Thanksgiving night? Ridiculous.

But you know me, I'm part of the problem, not the solution. As this season creeps up on us (particularly Cyber Monday), I thought it might be a good idea to offer a small, hopefully-not-too-obnoxious reminder that if you do any shopping online this year, please consider doing so by stopping here first and then using my affiliate links to Powell's Books or to Amazon. You can use the links in this post, or the two links that are permanently at the top right in my sidebar. If you click through on those, anything you purchase in that session will yield a small kickback to me, which I primarily use to support this site's hosting, etc. In addition, all of my title links in my posts go through to Powell's; if you use one of those, again, anything you buy in that session (doesn't have to be the book whose link you followed) will be credited to me.*

And that's the last you'll hear from me on the subject for months--I might do reminders quarterly, because that's the sort of mercenary I've become--but tomorrow, back to regularly scheduled programming. Thank you in advance, and thank you in particular to readers who have already shopped those sites after clicking through here. Your friendly neighborhood nonfiction ranter really, really appreciates it.

*If you'd like to patronize other great sites with similar affiliate links, you should know that The Millions, Bookslut, and Bookshelves of Doom are all great book sites to support too.

UPDATE: Would anyone who views this site on an Apple computer please comment and let me know if you can or can't see the fairly large Amazon graphic/link near the top of the right sidebar? A reader let me know they can't see that graphic, and the only thing I can figure out is that I think they use an Apple. I use a PC so it's hard for me to check that! Thanks so much.

A word about selling out.

Well, up is down, black is white, cats and dogs are living together in sin*...I always said I wouldn't become an Amazon Associate, but guess what I just went and did?

Hi everyone, my name is Citizen Reader, and I am an Amazon Associate.

Here's how it breaks down. I am now an associate for both Powell's Books and Amazon . When I add links to books in my posts, I will, whenever possible, link to Powell's. If you'd like to buy the book, all you have to do is click on my link and it will take you directly to Powell's, where your purchase will count towards my account and I'll get a little kickback.

However, in my right sidebar, I also now have a generalized Amazon link. If you ever buy anything through Amazon (and I'm not saying you should, although God knows I'm guilty of it sometimes myself), I would humbly request that you get into Amazon by first coming here and then clicking on that link. I will then get a small kickback on ANYTHING you buy, not just books. I can't see who's ordering what, and wouldn't look at that sort of information if I could. I have done this on the off chance that, if you are buying something from Amazon (particularly as the holiday shopping season approaches), and you remember to get there through my link, that might help me out financially, without costing you anything extra.

I am doing this because any extra money I can make through this blog not only helps pay for it (for the blog service hosting, for example), but also makes it more possible for me to continue reading and writing here, rather than trying to create other freelance streams of income. Nothing else will change, really--I still don't accept review copies, and you can be sure anything I write about books or nonfiction news here is my opinion and only my opinion.

At the end of the day: I'm really not here to sell books, but if you do buy any (or other merchandise in general), please consider buying them through my Powell's or Amazon links.

Thanks for bearing with me through this disclaimer. And thanks to everyone who has bought books through my link at Powell's so far--I really, really appreciate it.

*Thanks to Ghostbusters (and to the incomparable Bill Murray) for this line, as always.

What I did on my summer vacation, part 2.

Before I began my Summer Hiatus, I think you could probably sense my heart wasn't much in blogging anymore. This was for a variety of reasons, the first and foremost being I FUCKING HATE TECHNOLOGY. Yes, it's ironic to be saying that on a blog. I get it. But I only got into blogging because at first it was so easy it wasn't even like using technology. And then, like everything in life, it got harder.* Somehow I keep getting hit with tons of annoying spam comments, no matter how I lock down my comments section, and I have to go delete all those by hand.** I'm also changing how I'm selling out, so I've been trying to figure out how to add Amazon links, in addition to Powell's links, and all of that takes time. And I just don't have the time to give to that kind of stuff anymore.***

In addition to all that, for some reason I seemed to be going through a little thing where I just kind of wanted to think about what I was reading, without writing about what I was reading. I just wanted to keep it to myself. I would come up with some sort of lame excuse like "I give so much of myself as a wife, mother, daughter, and productive member of society that I just didn't want to give any more," but that's a laugh. I do all those things in a totally half-assed way (except the "productive member of society" thing, I'm so bad at that you could say I'm doing it in a whole-assed way). It's just the way I was feeling. I think every blogger goes through it sometime. In a way I suppose you'd call it burnout. This is extremely common and contributes to why lots of blogs are here today, gone tomorrow. They're a lot of fun to write at first but then, well, it becomes a job like anything else. And when it's a job you're not getting paid for and is not mandatory, well, it's usually the first thing to go.

I also somewhat feel this has been a shit year for nonfiction. I blame the election.

Hmm, with the footnotes, long enough for today. Sorry about that. Tomorrow: stuff about books. I promise.

*And why is that exactly. Why, as we get more advanced, does technology, at least Internet technology, seem to be getting more clunky and annoying and time-consuming? I respectfully submit that nothing in my life, like banking or visiting the doctor, has really gotten faster or easier since we've had the Internet. Do you think it has? I'll admit that online banking can sometimes be a bit faster than stopping by the bank, but in general there's still things I have to go to the bank to do, and everything THERE takes longer; plus, it still takes time to bank online.

**I tried to do that thing that makes commenters type a code word they see (captcha), even though I hate that, but for some reason that doesn't work at all between Typepad (how I host my blog) and the Mozilla Firefox browser that I use. What?

***Who are all these people who go to the Apple Store for fun? Who don't view shopping for a cell phone as one of the seven circles of hell? I wish I was one of those people. To me, gadgets=expensive little soul sucking time vampires that want me to buy apps, whatever the hell those things are.

What I did on my summer vacation.

HELLO!

Well, there was no plan, really, to my own personal Summer Hiatus 2012. At first I kind of kidded myself every week that I would start posting again "next week," but as the weeks passed and I felt more relieved than sad about not posting, I thought, well, let's just do this shit up right and take the whole summer off. And so I did.

So then I thought, let's start up again after Labor Day.

Well, you can see how that turned out. Happy October, everyone!

First things first: I hope all of you had a very enjoyable summer. I know I did. Even though it was often a billion degrees out and we got no rain*, we made the best of it by going to the park every day before 10 a.m. and again after 5 p.m., and in between hunkering down inside and thanking God for the 20th-century miracle of air conditioning.

And now: what did I read all summer? The answer is: Nothing, and lots. Interested in more specifics? Please tune in tomorrow.

*We planted a small garden this year, which was hilarious. Even when I watered our plants, particularly the peppers, they still just spontaneously erupted into flame. Well, not really. But they did completely burn up in the sun and produce absolutely nothing. Thank God I'm not a farmer.

The book I've been waiting for all my life.

Oooh--delicious. I WANT to read this one.

I'm sorry it's not written by this guy, but that's all right. As long as it's been written by someone, I'm happy.*

*Gosh, I've missed deriding Thomas Friedman. I feel alive again.

Go big or go home.

Well, hello!

I'm sorry that it's been a couple of weeks since I posted. As you all know sometimes life gets busy, and when it does, I tend to react by getting even lazier than usual. It's a problem. Evidently I need a bottle of 5 Hour Energy about every, say, 4 hours.

In positive news, I have been finding and reading a ton of great nonfiction books. However, the more great books I found, the greedier I got for reading time to read them, and therefore did not feel like taking the time to write about them.

But there's another issue at stake. Lately it occurs to me that it is time to go big or go home with the blog--commit to at least three days a week, do more features, be a bit more organized, perhaps really try to build traffic and (gasp) accept ads. So with that in mind, I'm going to take another week off and try to build up some posts, and polish off some unfinished business: the results of the reading poll everyone was nice enough to take way back in 2011, the final "nonfiction books you might actually want to read" lists, another book menage, etc.*

So please do stay tuned. New, improved posting (hopefully) sometime during the week of April 9. (And thank you, thank you, for your patience with me and my laziness.)

*Forgot to ask earlier: any features or posts you'd like to see, or changes you'd like to see made to Citizen Reader? Let me know!

Hey hey we're the Monkees...

...minus one:

Davy Jones has died at age 66.

I watched the Monkees in syndication religiously during my formative years. And yes, like the other predictable 99% of the female population, I thought Davy was the cutest.*

*The video is not Davy's best song. But I love his "Baby, you need all the friends you can get, I'm telling ya."

I'm really overthinking storytime.

CRjr and I are just back from a library storytime for one- and two-year-olds. He's taking a short nap, and I feel like I should also. Just to recover.

Now, storytime was just fine. Very nice, in fact. Some songs and singing, clapping and hand motions, a few stories, and then some coloring for those who wanted to. Lots of other little kids and their moms. (Yes, all moms or female nannies.)

So why did the whole scene make me so tired?

Now, I think CRjr enjoyed himself okay. He didn't seem too interested at first, but when the program started he faced forward (sitting on my lap, he wiggled back towards me after starting on a little carpet) and watched carefully. Of course we didn't know some of the songs and hand motions but everyone else seemed to, and we caught up after a while. The stories were good, the librarian kept things moving around nicely, and CRjr definitely enjoyed just looking around.

But my question is this: is it really important that CRjr learn the movements to "The Wheels on the Bus"?* That he learn to follow along with what everyone else is doing? To me it seemed eerily like preparing him for school, which will prepare him for an office job of some sort. To quote something I tell CRjr about unsuitable things to touch: Ucky.

But of course I am overthinking it. It doesn't help that CRjr seems by nature not to be much of a follower. He's hitting his gross and fine motor skill benchmarks, but the boy refuses to play things like patty cake. I should know--I've been trying to play patty cake with him for months now. He laughs and engages while I do the motions, but he seems uninclined to play the game with me. So, like any mother who just wants her kid to fit in with the crowd, I feel a little like we stick out, and it makes me nervous. I know it shouldn't.

I think we'll go next week. CRjr doesn't know enough to look forward to it, and I definitely won't, which seems the wrong attitude to have. But there you have it.

*I know it probably is important. But it's so hard for me to understand why. I was not taken to the library or storytimes (not because Mom didn't love me; it just wasn't something they did) and I learned to read and interact just fine.

Uninspired.

A bit of housekeeping this morning that probably should have been done last week. Barely two weeks into 2012 and I'm already behind. Sigh.

First, many thanks to everyone who shared holiday and new year wishes over the past few weeks. I appreciated it, very much.

Secondly, I am sorry for the lack of posting. It is part of a greater, multi-part problem, which primarily consists of:

1. I have read hardly any nonfiction over the past month.

2. I have read hardly anything, a re-read of Anne of the Island (by Lucy Maud Montgomery) at bedtime notwithstanding, over the past month.

3. I am not finding anything I want to read, fiction or non, and the coming crop of 2012 books bores me to tears. More on this later.

4. When I am not reading, I am not sure what to do with the blog. This will most likely be a bit of a long-term problem, as I quite simply do not have as much time for reading (or blog writing) as I used to. I could blame CRjr for this, as it turns out it is work to care for another human being, even a blessedly healthy, happy, little one. Instead I will blame the universe for not letting me be born into an independently very wealthy family. You know, the kind of family with copious spare time and the financial wherewithal to hire nannies with backgrounds in childhood development and a second language they could teach my child.

So, what to do? Well, one immediate solution that comes to mind was suggested by a commenter (thank you--you know who you are): it is time to have a Book Menage. But I'm currently at low ebb on ideas. Does anyone have any nonfiction or fiction titles they'd like to suggest, or possible themes? Please list them in the comments, and we'll schedule a Menage discussion. Beyond that there will be some other posts this week about reading and nonfiction in general--stay tuned!

The gift that keeps on giving.

This year I have asked for--and am currently receiving--the gift of a day off.

Believe me when I say this is almost certainly the best Christmas present I have ever gotten, with the possible exception of a diecast model of the orange Dodge Charger General Lee (from the hit series The Dukes of Hazzard) when I was ten years old. My benefactor Mr. CR is in charge today--watching CRjr while I run errands, do only the work I choose to do, and generally goof off for a blessed 24-hour-period.

I spent some of my goof-off time this morning in Barnes and Noble*, where I perused the dollar book bin with nary a concern in the world. I found a book called "Love Lives of the Famous: A Physician's Reflections," which I found intriguing. So then I read the front jacket and found this: "Is there a link between human sexuality and material ambition? Do the same drives that encourage men to seek power and position also motivate their sexual behavior?" So I was pretty much already sold on the book when I flipped it open and saw this chapter heading: "Hemorrhoids, Sex and History."

Ha!! I defy you NOT to buy that book for a buck. I did, and am quite looking forward to it. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Now: off to goof off some more. I hope all of you got what you wanted from Santa as well.

*I can't believe hating Amazon and all they stand for has put me in the position of feeling that my local Barnes and Noble is a tiny mom-and-pop operation that should be patronized. Although at a buck a pop my patronage is not going to help them very much.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Which is, incidentally, also my favorite Christmas* song. I listen to my Frank Sinatra version of it until Mr. CR wants to drown himself in eggnog.

I'll be taking a brief break from posting over the holidays, mainly because reading will take a bit of a backseat to a) holiday logistics and visits and b) holiday viewing. Typically around this time of year there are certain Christmas TV shows I must re-watch: The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Lunch Incident, the Northern Exposure raven pageant, and of course, Charlie Brown. All of that takes time. If I can squeeze in my annual reading of The Dark Is Rising, I will try, but either way, there just won't be much to post about.

*I've never understood the big fight about Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, etc. I don't mind when people say "Happy Holidays" either. The point is: enjoy the time of year and whatever it is you celebrate, even if it's just a return to calmer days and less consumerism in January.

The Great Citizen Reader Survey of 2011: Reminder

Do you know anyone who's a reader and is looking for a way to kill some time at work* as we all wind down toward the holidays? Ask them to fill out the Great Citizen Reader Survey of 2011!**

And a great big THANK YOU to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. As noted earlier, I'll leave the link up through December 30, and share the results sometime in the new year!

*Yes, yes, I know we're not supposed to be looking at the Internets for personal reasons at work. I'm sure it's on all our New Year's Resolutions lists to stop doing that.

**Or watch Paul Rudd dance. Or John Denver and the Muppets and 12 Days of Christmas. Now we're wasting time!