Booking Through Thursday–Manual Labor Redux

Following up last week’s question about reading writing/grammar guides, this week, we’re expanding the question….

Scenario: You’ve just brought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?

Do you ever read manuals?

How-to books?

Self-help guides?

Anything at all?

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I love getting gadgets and part of the fun is reading all about it. It delays the gratification of the new gadget so I can enjoy the newness longer! If it is a complicated gadget I’ve learned the hard way I had better read the manual.

Anytime I’m interested in a subject I love to go to the library and checkout a dozen books on the subject. I like to read different opinions and ideas. The problem with that strategy–sometimes I spend so much time reading and researching I never get to the new project.

What about you? Do you read the manuals or jump right into the action?

My Tree

Sunday was a thunderstormy, blustery day. I sat at my computer, but looked up when I heard a gust of wind whip through the backyard. As I looked I noticed the wind catch the biggest tree in our yard. Suddenly I heard a crack and a thud as the top two-thirds of the tree fell. This big old beech tree which I loved to watch, photograph and admire suddenly is only a 20 foot stump in our yard.

The tree which is on the edge of our property fell away from our house into our neighbor’s yard. It took out the tops of several other trees as it fell and did some damage to a shed on his property. I don’t know how old this tree was, but it was one of the largest in our neighborhood–perhaps 75 feet tall. It has lost large branches through the years we’ve lived here and had two large holes in the trunk.

The tree fell just below the bottom of the two holes. The holes weakened the tree in the last few years, but I loved watching the squirrels play in the holes as well as the mother raccoon who kept her babies in the tree for several weeks each spring. Most years (usually in May) I looked out the kitchen window and watched her move her babies out of the tree to new quarters in the neighborhood! I thought just last week I hadn’t seen the raccoons this year. After the tree fell I headed outside and the raccoon stuck her head out of the top of the tree stump–suddenly she had no roof on her house! As soon as she saw me she ducked down and I don’t know if she stayed put until dark (we got a lot of rain Sunday) or whether she quickly left for newer quarters.

We’ve lived in this house nearly 10 years. That’s the longest we’ve lived anywhere since we’ve been married! It was the yard and all the trees which attracted me. According to the fellow who came to look at our trees and advise us about them these trees were here when the house was built–part of the hardwood forest we used to have around here. I’ve photographed my tree in every season. I thought it gave our yard such character. When I looked at the tree I always had a vision of the tree suddenly walking away (like the the big old trees in the Lord of the Rings movie who join the battle). I could imagine my tree leaving to find other beech trees. All the old beech trees in our neighborhood have died and been cut down. Instead of walking away our majestic tree fell and I won’t look out my kitchen window and see it anymore.

Instead I will see this. Still interesting, but not the same. My husband says we should make a totem pole–I say it’s already a totem pole!

Cranford, Episode 2, on PBS May 11

The second installment of Cranford (on PBS’ Masterpiece Theater) continues tomorrow, May 11 (Sunday) night. Cranford is based on three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell.

If you can’t watch this series on TV the installments are available online for a limited period of time. Episode 1 is available now and Episode 2 will be available online beginning May 12.

Check out the Masterpiece Theater site and register to win a free book: Twenty copies of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford (Penguin Classics, paperback) are being given away. Click on the “Free Cranford Giveaway” image on the Masterpiece Theater Cranford home page to be part of a random drawing.

I’m enjoying the myriad threads connecting the people in Cranford. The history and attention to detail (as well as the acting) are all well-done.

Manual Labor

• Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

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I have some of these manuals and occasionally I use them when I’m not sure about usage. I must admit I tend to use my instincts about grammar and what sounds correct to me. I read what I write out loud and that helps me decide what sounds correct. Of course, I may just be continuing my mistakes and exacerbating them!

I do have a huge dictionary I’ve had for years which I use, though when I’m on the Internet I’m more likely to use a dictionary and thesaurus on the Internet. What do you do?

Review: Hush: An Irish Princess’ Tale by Donna Jo Napoli

Melkorka is a princess, the first daughter of a magnificent kingdom in medieval Ireland–but all of this is lost the day she is kidnapped and taken aboard a marauding slave ship. Thrown into a world that she has never known, alongside people that her former country’s laws regarded as less than human, Melkorka is forced to learn quickly how to survive. Taking a vow of silence, however, she finds herself an object of fascination to her captors and masters, and soon realizes that any power, no matter how little, can make a difference.

Hush by Donna Jo Napoli is a young adult novel based on an ancient Icelandic saga. It’s written in first person, present tense which gives it a sense of immediacy and suspense. The book has a melancholic feel and is not a fairy tale or romance or a conventionally happy book–though in many ways Melkorka triumphs. The book does not sugarcoat the realities of the time Melkorka lives in (early 900s) although those realities are not overly graphic.

Melkorka’s father is looking for revenge over the Norse because a Norse boy cut off his son’s hand–but in case things go awry, his two daughters are sent away. It’s ironic that instead of safety the two girls are captured by slavers. With anguish Melkorka asks herself: would she have been safer staying in her village?

The slaver ship’s captain finds stork feathers among Melkorka’s clothing and calls her “Aist.” He thinks she can change into a stork and is filled with awe and even fear of her. Melkorka takes a vow of silence and finds that this coupled with the stork feathers gives her power. One of the other captives points out Melkorka’s silence gives her an edge with the captain (whom Melkorka calls “Clay Man” in her mind because he smells of clay).

“You are right to keep your voice to yourself, Aist,” she says into my ear. “Hush. You’re the one who started this silence–you have to keep it up. Or you lose yourself. He’ll just snuff you out.” She makes a puff of hot air that warms my brain. “Like that, like a lamp flame. A slave life counts for nothing unless the slave finds a trick. You’ve found yours. Stick to it. Hush.”

I don’t understand, But I will hold my tongue. The last person who told me to hush was Mother.

and

And I am the master of what I say. Clay Man can ask whatever he wants, however many times he wants. But all I listen to is the hush, from deep inside me.

and

I have very little power. But I have no doubt anymore: What power I have comes from my silence.

Early in the book Melkorka was disdainful of slaves. She thinks they are stupid. Her father owns slaves despite the church urging the people of Ireland to set them free. When she becomes a slave herself she discovers the powerlessness of slavery, but also the comradery of slavery.

“. . .Feel the magic, Aist? Right now, can you feel it? We are a family.”

And I do feel it. I snuggle closer to her.

“I’ve seen it before. Slavery has a way of foiling itself. . . . Temporarily, at least.”

Melkorka endures much as a slave and travels far (all the way past the Norse lands, through Russia to the Black Sea and finally to Iceland). Napoli has written a suspenseful and exciting book. I read the book in a matter of hours and highly recommend it.

Masterpiece Theater–Cranford–May 4, 11, 18

Masterpiece Theater is showing a 3-week series–May 4, 11 and 18–called Cranford starting tonight. Cranford is based on three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865). Elizabeth Gaskell wrote a number of novels and short stories in the mid 1800’s in Victorian England including two which have already been adapted for the screen–North and South and Wives and Daughters.

Cranford has great actors–including Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Michael Gambon, Francesca Annis and Imelda Staunton. Cranford was nominated for seven 2008 BAFTA Awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts). Atkins won the best actress award.

National Public Radio aired an interview with Judi Dench on April 26 about the Masterpiece Theater production. In that interview Gaskell was chacterized as a combination of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. In North and South besides the enjoyable story I liked the way the class differences in England were illustrated (between the mill owners in the north and the gentile society in the south and between the mill owners and labor union). I reviewed the North and South miniseries in January.

I enjoyed North and South and Wives and Daughters and look forward to the next three weeks of Cranford! And here’s a great deal, too: starting May 5, for a limited time, the Masterpiece Theater website is showing full-length episodes of Cranford.

What about you? Are you planning to watch this miniseries? Tell me what you think of it after watching.

Mayday

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??

And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….

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99% of the time I have a book with me wherever I go. I’ve been stuck too many places with nothing to read so I always carry a book with me now. However, one book is never enough! So…I would buy additional books at the airport.

Almost every airport has bookstores. Even if the airport doesn’t have an actual bookstore they have small stores selling snacks. Those stores have at least a few books and magazines–I would find something! I’m sure I would buy a variety of things to read because reading is part of my comfort system in times of stress.

What about you? Would you find something to read? What do you do during a stressful time?

May 2008 Books

Wow, some good books are coming along in May! I’ve already ordered a few of these and look forward to reading these books.

Fire and Ice

• By Anne Stuart
• 5th and final book in the Ice series
• Paperback on sale May 1
• Romantic suspense
• I have enjoyed all the books in this series.

From Dead to Worse

• By Charlaine Harris
• Southern Vampire (Sookie Stackhouse) series, Book 8
• Hardcover on sale May 6
• Favorite author–I like all the books she has written, but this is probably my favorite series–I’ve pre-ordered the book!

The Host

• By Stephenie Meyer
• Hardcover on sale May 6
• Adult science fiction
• This book is by the author of the Twilight series (young adult vampire books–the next book in that series is out in August). This sounds like a very different book than her young adult series.

Romancing the Dead

• By Tate Hallaway
• Garnet Lacey, Book 3
• Urban fantasy–main character is a witch–add in vampires, Vatican witch hunters, the Goddess Lilith and it all makes for an entertaining series
• Trade paperback on sale May 6
• I liked the first book in this series

A Fatal Waltz: A Novel of Suspense

• By Tasha Alexander
• Book 3
• Hardcover on sale May 20
• Historical Mystery/Suspense set in Victorian England
• I read the first two books in this series last year and they were both among my favorite books from last year–I’ve pre-ordered this book!

Secrets of Surrender

• By Madeline Hunter
• Paperback on sale May 20
• Historical Romance
• I like Madeline Hunter’s writing and am looking forward to this book

Your Scandalous Ways

• By Loretta Chase
• Paperback on sale May 27
• Historical Romance
• Loretta Chase is a favorite author–I’ve liked everything I’ve read by her

The Lost Duke of Wyndham

• By Julia Quinn
• Two Dukes of Wyndham, Book #1
• Paperback on sale May 27
• Historical Romance
• Julia Quinn is another favorite historical romance author

What books are you waiting for in May?

Springing Through Thursday

Well, here where I live, Spring is sprung–weeks early, even. Our lilac bush looks like it will have flowers by this time next week instead of in the middle of May as usual. The dogwood trees, the magnolia trees–all the flowering trees are flowering. The daffodils and crocuses are, if anything, starting to fade. It may only be April 24th but it is very definitely Spring and, allergies notwithstanding, I’m happy to welcome the change of season. What I want to know, is:

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

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Even before I jumped to the Booking Through Thursday page I realized spring has sprung here! Both my reading and blogging are affected! I think the biggest effect of spring and summer is that I don’t read as much (and probably don’t write as much).

I’m not only reading gardening books and catalogs right now, I’m also out in the garden reveling in the beautiful weather, photographing the garden and visiting my local nursery.

I don’t read light fiction because it is spring or summer. However, during Christmas I enjoy reading a few books taking place during the Christmas season as well as reading cookbooks and trying new recipes for cookies and family meals!

What about you…does the season change either the amount or type of books you read?

Vocabulary–Booking Through Thursday

Suggested by Nithin:

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

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I have to admit if it’s just one word or phrase I probably skip over it. If I keep coming up with words/phrases I’ll grab my dictionary or my computer and start looking stuff up. Having my computer handy makes me more likely to look things up.

For example, I use my computer if I’m reading historical fiction to see how closely the book follows history. Sometimes if it doesn’t that’s okay with me–the book is fiction. However, I just finished a book which had a major plot device about Czar Alexander I in 1807 (reigned from 1801 to 1825). A fictional character in the book was involved in an unsuccessful plot to assassinate the czar and vowed to continue trying to remove a bad leader. I love to read a book when an author takes a fact from history and fits it into their book in an interesting, credible way. In this case I couldn’t find any information about assassination attempts–the czar seems to have been quite popular especially in the early part of his reign. I liked the book, but not as much after I found that out.

Computers make it so much easier to look up facts when we’re reading. What do you do? Do look up words/phrases or other information about a book? Do you use a computer, dictionary or other reference book?