clearing off the bookshelf

Oh, this is hard. I would like to hug each book to my chest and make it part of me forever. But we're moving and I need to clear out our stuff. We must make room for wonderful gifts of the future.

So here's a loving goodbye.

First I must note that Powell's has really enabled my book buying habit! I just can't resist an interesting title marked off. Who cares if I'll read it again? I just have to have it.

"Seven Loves" by Valerie Trueblood. Extremely beautiful, poetic language but not plotty enough for me.

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. Loved this book, a brilliant marriage of action adventure and profound philosophical musings on religion. But will I read it again? No. Some books you read once, get the message, and you're done with it. Humans yearn to believe the better story and that's just the way we're built.

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. Great cover, an exciting opening, lots of sweet animal - human moments, decadent atmosphere.

"What Do You Do All Day?" by Amy Scheibe. A funny book that gives you a sense of solidarity with SAHMs.

"A Wedding in December" by Anita Shreve. I really liked this book - reunion of friends, glamorous locale, secrets revealed, a wedding - all the elements I adore. Everyone is grappling with 9-11 in the book, which makes it seem kind of dated.

"The Girls" by Lori Lansens. This book is SO good. It made me cry. It's stunning. She takes a out-there premise of conjioned twins and tells a story of love, simple and complex.

"I Know This Much Is True" by Wally Lamb. I read this while pregnant. Such a good book. It's enormous and yet addicting, a whole world is created for you. It's about a man with a mentally ill twin brother.

"Goodnight Nobody" by Jennifer Weiner is a funny book about a SAHM solving a mystery. The description of suburban life is comic but the mystery is rather lame.

"Mail" by Mameve Medwed is a very enjoyable book about a Harvard woman falling for her mailman. It's clever and sweet and a good read.

"House & Home" by Kathleen McCleary is all about a woman's love for her home in Portland. This means a lot to me as I am preparing to leave beautiful Portland. But the plot aspects are kind of humdrum.

"The Brothers K" by David James Duncan is a big book about baseball, brothers, the
'60s. I confess my interest waned at times. But the ending was extremely powerful, an arrow to the heart.

"Dating Big Bird" by Laura Zigman is a chicklit book about the desire for a baby, not the desire for a man. It's bright and funny, set in the NYC fashion world, with a heartfelt yearning to be a mom.

"Happy All the Time" by Laurie Colwin is about two couples who are happy. They have no real conflicts. It killed me. I was reading page after page waiting for some tension and there was none. It annoyed the heck out of me. I love Laurie Colwin's books about cooking, I think she is a world-class charmer. I want to love her fiction. But I don't.

"The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean is a crazy story about orchids and then cult that surrounds them. She writes in the first person about reporting the story and takes it into many directions - the nature of passion, Florida's invasive species issues, botany. It's totally enjoyable to read b/c she takes you into all these unexpected and yet enthralling ideas.

"The Nanny Diaries" by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus is a peek into the rarified Park Avenue world from the eyes of the nanny. She is exposed to the high life but doesn't belong. She is intimately involved in raising their child but viewed as staff. The opening scene of the interview process is the best part. The plot is kind of weak with one-dimensional characters.

"Leave Me Alone, I'm reading" by Maureen Corrigan. I really like her insights and excitement for books! I am just as nutty for books as she is. She got me to reread "Gaudy Night" and "One True Thing" and Laurie Colwin's fiction. She also recommends MFK Fisher, which I need to read.

I did a big cleanout of my bookshelf before this move. I was very strict. Shopaholic, goodbye. Adios, Know It All. Only worthy books would come along. But then I ended up wanting to read them again and (don't tell) purchased the books again. (Damn you Powells!) Books are a story - and they are a connection to the past. I remember who I was when I reread a book. "The Thirteenth Tale" makes me feel neauseated b/c I read it in the first trimester.

I am searching for the secret of life and I know it's in a book. I feel that as a child, I found something in books that I want again. So I read and read, always looking for that secret.