Books Turn Me On

Before Jim, the men I dated fell into two categories, the smart, well-informed ones and the “shhh baby don’t talk” variety.

The latter didn’t last long. Bottom Line: Smart is sexy and people who read books turn me on.  I’m not alone in this belief.

If you’re looking for an interesting read to up your sexiness quotient, here are a few I recommend.

Nonfiction

The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe: Peter Godwin returns to Zimbabwe hoping to witness the change in power after the election defeating Mugabe. As Mugabe refuses to leave office and sets out destroying the opposition, Godwin weaves his first-hand experience with the stories of those persons tortured and jailed by Mugabe’s goons and the story of a country destroyed by a corrupt rule whose only goal was personal power.   

A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s: For a child born in the ’70s this is an eye-opener as to the bad old days for women, the loss in momentum of the suffrage movement once the vote was obtained and the impact of Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique.”  Filled with personal stories from readers of the Feminine Mystique, the book is a quick and short (186 pages) read. The part I found most fascinating, however, was the last eight pages, which discuss the “mystiques” having their way with us today.  For those who work, the “career mystique” is all too familiar.

Nonfiction Food

The Man Who Ate Everything: A series of essays, it reveals Steingarten as an enthusiastic amateur. His enthusiasm is infectious but it’s his dry wit that will have you laughing out loud. For my longer review click here. But here’s a small smackerel of Steingarten’s musings on “Greek Cuisine” to whet your appetite.

“The Greeks are really good at both pre-Socratic philosophy and white statues. They have not been good cooks since the fifth century B.C., when Siracusa on Sicily was the gastronomic capital of the world. Typical of modern-day Greek cuisine are feta cheese and retsina wine. Any country that pickles its cheese in brine and adulterates its national wine with pine pitch should order dinner at the local Chinese place and save its energies for other things. The British go to Greece just for the food, which says volumes to me. You would probably think twice before buying an Algerian or Russian television set. I thought for ten years before buying my last Greek meal.“

Fiction

Angelology: A Novel: This story raises fascinating questions about angels, demons and the differences in between, pulls you in and leaves you wanting more. For my more detailed review, click here.

Jane Austen Ruined My Life: A fun, light read. A must for any Jane Austen fan. For my more detailed review, click here.

The Help: A stunning debut novel about the divide between white women and the African-American women who take care of them. A page-turning story of dependence, bigotry and social change.  The movie based on the book comes out this summer.

The Lacuna: A Novel: Barbara Kingsolver is a master storyteller. I don’t want to give anything away, so all I’ll say is this book puts a face to several dark parts of America’s history while keeping you spellbound.

What I’m Reading Now
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook: Anthony Bourdain’s latest. If you’ve already been hooked by Kitchen Confidential or Bourdain’s exploits on the Travel Channel in No Reservations this is a must read.

Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses: by Seattle author Claire Dederer, this memoir cleverly braids yoga, Dederer’s childhood punctuated by a pseudo-divorce (her parents separated but stayed married), life as a new mom and what that meant in liberal Seattle from the mid-90s to today (organics and clogs anyone?). Favorite line so far: “We are all trying to buy local food in a convenience store and failing.”

Note: for your convenience all links lead to Amazon in case you want to read one of these books for yourself.  If you buy through the link I may receive a few pennies in return, but the cost to you is the same as if you went to Amazon without the link.

Please Don’t Throw Your Books Away – Dad

A few weeks ago the Friends of the Seattle Public Library had one of the two massive book sales they hold each year. Picture an airplane hangar filled with table upon table of books, yours for $1 a book, or slightly more for an author autographed or book in exceptional condition, and you have a picture of book lover euphoria.

Driving back from the sale with eight books in hand and only $10 out-of-pocket, my Dad phoned. Like me, both of my parents are book fiends, so I told my Dad about the rows upon rows of books I perused and of my great bargains. He was surprised. “Do libraries still accept book donations?” “Yes,” I replied. “Huh. I usually just throw my books away once I’ve read them.”

As my brain screamed “Dear God” and I narrowly avoided running into the curb, what inexplicably came out of my mouth was “Did you at least recycle?”

The concept of throwing books away is simply impossible. Books are sacred. You may lend or give books to friends, donate them to the library or even sell them on half.com, but as the daughter of a woman who hoards the written word in all its forms, throwing a writing away is heresy.

I quickly educated my Dad on the fact that yes, to my knowledge all libraries accept book donations and thanked God he mostly buys electronic books these days thanks to the iPad and Kindle. Then I thought, do other people do this too?

For those of you looking to streamline your bookshelves, here are some ways to save your books from the recycle bin and put them out into the world for the benefit of others.

Donate

The Seattle Public Library will accept donations of three boxes or less at any of its branches. Have more to donate? Take your books to the Friends Book Sale sorting room, located at 6310 NE 74th St., Seattle, WA, 98115, within Warren G. Magnuson Park. Donations are accepted at Magnuson Park on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Not in Seattle? Check your local library for its donation policies or contact your local bookstore for the names of charities seeking book donations. Many children’s shelters are in constant need of  children’s books.

Trade

My girlfriends and I regularly swap books. Reading books your friends have chosen automatically gives you someone to discuss the book with and is an interesting insight into your friends.

Have more books than your friends can read?  Bookins is an online trading source for books and DVDs.  You list the books and DVDs you are willing to part with and when someone picks one of your offerings you ship it at no cost to you (you print out a prepaid mail slip).  In exchange you get points which you can use to choose a book or movie someone else has listed.  In addition to your points you pay $4.49 for shipping.  There are over 50,000 readers on Bookins so the selection is pretty large.

I have a friend who leaves books she’s read on long flights in the airport gate area with a post-it that says they’re free for the taking. A nice gift to the traveler who finished their reading material before their next connection.

Sell

Sell your books on half.com or ebay.com and get some extra cash to buy more books. Brand new hardback best sellers usually fetch the highest price.

What do you do with your already read books?