Category: Reading

Review: The Art of Asking

I don’t know why I started following Amanda Palmer on Twitter.

I’d never heard her music.

I’d never seen her show.

I’d never read her name in the news.

I only knew she was the wife of Neil Gaiman.

Amanda Palmer HuffPo
When I saw she had written a book, I thought “yeah, I’ll add that to the list and read it someday.” Then, it started to take over my Twitter feed. One Saturday I decided to see if my small-town library even had a copy; they did, and it was available. I tweeted about it, and much to my surprise, Amanda Palmer herself retweeted me. Twice:

Amanda Palmer Retweeted Me

I used her book for my second-ever Teaser Tuesday and almost couldn’t put it down:

Here's the thing: all of us come from some place 
of wanting to be seen, understood, accepted, 
connected.
 
Every single one of us wants to be believed.

Artists are often just . . . louder about it.

Art of Asking is also the first book in a long time I received flak over. Apparently, the cover “isn’t appropriate.” Really, people? Ulysses and Lolita were fine, but AoA needs to be hidden away? Perhaps you forgot the phrase

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

And what a book it is. Amanda recounts her early artistic career as a Living Statue, the growing pains of the Dresden Dolls, her falling-into-love with Neil Gaiman, the backlash of a successful Kickstarter campaign, her current tour, and many personal relationships. Through it all she delves into the basic human need to be seen and understood without being judged, to ask without fearing the possible – inevitable? – rejection, to trust unconditionally.

Amanda lets us into her world and barew her own fears and faults and foilables. She does not claim perfection, far from it. What she offers is light.

A flashlight on a dark path, keeping others from stumbling.

A spotlight on an exit ramp, showing the way.

Track lighting on fine art, highlighting beauty and grace we might have missed.

The best books reach inside and change the very essence of our being. They change how we see ourselves, those around us, and the world we live in. They are unavoidable catalysts for change in a static world. In my last twenty-nine years, only three authors spoke to me in such a way:

J.R.R. Tolkein

C.S. Lewis

Dante Alighieri

Now the Triumverate becomes a Tetrarchy:

Amanda Palmer has arrived.

Teaser Tuesday: The Long Mars

Once again the wheel of time has turned to

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, the third (and most likely final) installment of the Long Earth series. I’ve only read the first few pages, but it already appears to be a significant improvement over the other two.

Enough chatter; you want the teaser! Happy to oblige:

Well, there are plenty of contingencies we couldn't 
survive at all. A massive enough meteor strike.

IMG_2366

In Retrospect

I gave last week’s read The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer 5 out of 5 stars; I’d give more if I could. I’m actually working on writing a review to post here and on Goodreads – unlike the review for Republic of Pirates, which I still haven’t gotten around to . . .

The Seven Deadly Sins . . .

The Seven Deadly sins may bring to mind one of two things.

For Catholics (and several other religious denominations), the phrase refers those faults that may or may not send one directly to Hell without passing Purgatory or collecting $200. Although thirty pieces of silver may be an option, I hear the gift shop is terrible.

For the more musically-minded, the phrase might plant an earworm:

Sail away where no ball or chain
Can keep us from the roarin' waves
Together undivided but forever we'll be free
So sail away aboard our rig
The moon is full and so are we
We're seven drunken pirates
We're the seven deadly sins

Of course, the two are not mutually exclusive. Anyway, Heather over at bitsnbooks recently posted her Seven Deadly Sins of Reading; being tagged by proxy, here is my own list:

LUST: a strong sexual desire

What attributes do you find most attractive in male (or female) characters?

Intelligence and strength of will. This means I often find myself sympathizing with the antagonists of a story rather than the intended protagonist.

Dore_Gustave_Francesca_and_Paolo_da_Rimini_Canto_5_73-75
Gustave Doré Francesca and Paolo

GLUTTONY: intense over indulgence

What book have you devoured over and over with no shame?

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

The Discworld novels by Sir Terry Pratchett

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis

640px-Stradano_Inferno_Canto_06
Third Circle illustrated by Stradanus

GREED: an intense and selfish desire for something

What is your most expensive book?

I’m not sure; there are several contenders:

A large coffee table book on Raphael

A leather and gold edition of 100 Decisive Battles from Ancient Times to Present

Several turn-of-the-last-century encyclopedias and almanacs (valuable for their prints)

Gustave_Doré_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_22_(Canto_VII_-_Hoarders_and_Wasters)
Gustave Doré The Hoarders and Wasters

SLOTH: a reluctance to work or make an effort

What book have you neglected to read due to laziness? 

Until recently that distinction would go to To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It was the only book I’d ever lied about reading, too.

Now, I’m probably neglecting Atonement by Ian McEwan; it’s been on my Currently Reading list since January and I haven’t even cracked the cover.

Gustave Dore The Slothful
Gustave Doré The Slothful

WRATH: extreme anger

What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Nicholas Sparks in that I love to hate him. Lacking originality, his books are highly predictable; never mind the fact that he’s literally sold the exact same story many times over.

466px-Stradano_Inferno_Canto_08
Fifth Circle illustrated by Stradanus

ENVY: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities or luck

What book would you most like to receive as a gift?

Anything signed by Tolkien, Lewis, Pratchett, or Dante (good luck with that last one!)

Gustave Dore The Envious
Gustave Doré The Envious

PRIDE: satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements or from qualities or possessions that are most widely admired

What books do you talk about most in order to sound like an intellectual reader?

Everything I’ve ever read.

Gustave Dore Titans and Giants
Gustave Doré Titans and Giants

What about you?

What, if any, are your reading sins?

Do you have any bad reading habits?

Teaser Tuesday: Art of Asking

Once again the wheel of time has turned to

Teaser TuesdayEven though it will be Wednesday when this finally posts. You know how things keep piling up . . .

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

Last night I started Amanda Palmer’s Art of Asking. I was just going to grab two sentences and ended up reading the first 64 pages; I only stopped because I had to sleep sometime and I really did need to make it to work on time this morning. That’s how good it is. Now I’m going to break my own rules and share not two but three sentences:

Here's the thing: all of us come from some place 
of wanting to be seen, understood, accepted, 
connected.
 
Every single one of us wants to be believed.

Artists are often just . . . louder about it.

If that doesn’t spark your interest, bear in mind that Amanda Palmer herself retweeted my library run to get her book:

Amanda Palmer Retweeted MeHow many authors would do that?

In Retrospect

I awarded last week’s book Republic of Pirates 3 out of 5 stars. I’m still working on writing a review; stay tuned to Goodreads!

The Ripples They Cause

Word of the Week certainly fits the mold of a regular feature.

Last week’s word was discovery. This week’s word is . . .

LOSS

Late last week, my sister posted to my Facebook:

Days Bakery ClosingTruly the end of an era, people are wondering who will supply their dinner rolls and cookies with frosted faces and donuts and cakes and – most importantly – lebkuchen.

However, all is not lost. There are rumors the bakery will be bought – property, machines, expertise – and the tradition continue. In addition, I received a parcel:

Parcel PostThree Lebkuchen! Thanks, Mom!

I’m not as desperate financially able as the woman who cleared out her freezer and ordered fifty dozen lebkuchen.

FIFTY DOZEN

At ten dollars per dozen, that’s quite a bit of dough.

Pun intended.

Then there’s the loss the world is talking about:

Sir Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett

I doubt there’s anything I can say here that hasn’t been said elsewhere.

I have no story of how I met him or saw him or received an autographed book as a gift. Nevertheless, he influenced my life in ways few authors have. In those terms, he’s part of my Triad:

Dante

Tolkien

Pratchett

His books have been out since the early eighties, but I only discovered the Disc in 2008 or so with the Hogfather DVD American release. Having loved the film, I tracked down the book; looking back, it may not be the best introduction to Discworld, but I was hooked. Soon most extra money went to purchasing more of Pratchett’s works, and I found myself emotionally invested in Rincewind and Granny Weatherwax and Gythia Ogg and Havelock Vetinari and Sam Vines and Moist von Lipwig and DEATH.

As Iain Sutherland wrote on the change.org petition that DEATH return Sir Terry:

Terry Pratchett turned Death from a figure of hate into a much loved and sometimes welcomed character. No-one else cared about you Death.

You owe him!

I’ve never cried about the death of a celebrity or other public figure . . . until now.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was crying not as much for Sir Terry, but for the end of the Disc.

Does that make me selfish?

I’ll never understand why I’m such a selfish man.

Sir Terry’s death also makes me angry.

Angry for the loss of literary wonder.

Angry at the Alzheimer’s that took him far too early.

Angry at the unfairness of it all.

Another petitioner on change.org wrote

It is like when you lose that relative who you didn’t know very well, but they helped you get through some really tough time and you always meant to call or write, and now it’s too late.

It’s times like these that make us wonder what makes it all worthwhile. Sir Terry had the answer:

“I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there 
in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"

Death thought about it.

CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.”

When it comes down to it, I just don’t know what to say. So I’ll read instead, savoring every line and turn of phrase and share the ones that speak to me. Because although Sir Terry is gone,

No one is actually dead until the ripples 
they cause in the world die away.

May Sir Terry’s ripples go on forever.

Teaser Tuesday: Republic of Pirates

We interrupt Photography 101 to bring you a feature new to Running In My Head:

Teaser Tuesday

What is Teaser Tuesday? I’m glad you asked!

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Should Be Reading A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

Anyway, of the books I’m currently reading, Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard is closest at hand, so here are two random sentences:

By some accounts, she lost her mind during her 
incarceration, and (with the possible assistance of 
the Devil) escaped to live a hermit's life on the 
stark tablelands above the Atlantic beach. 

There she roamed, scaring children, searching for 
Bellamy, and bringing nasty storms down on
passing mariners, hobbies that earned her the 
epithet Sea Witch of Billingsgate . . .

If you want to know more, follow my Goodreads account and get notified when I give it a rating or review!

Teaser Tuesday

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