San Diego was 75 degrees while it was minus 16 degrees here in Minnesota! I wrote to thank my son's new in-laws for a fine time and decided to give them the formula for how many other Minnesotans and I plow through the frozen tundra that we often must experience.
The deep freeze dictates what is hot in Common Good Books. A good book, comfort food, or, perhaps, a drink and a roaring fire are what we recommend. A warm fuzzy cat or a loyal dog at one's feet also guarantees an inner warmth no matter how hard the wind is blowing outside your frosty windows.
Three Cups of Tea by Mortenson and Relin will surely warm your heart--a story of what just one ordinary person can accomplish in this troubled world of ours.
Kevin Kling's The Dog Says How is guaranteed to make you smile whether or not you even like dogs.
The Florist's Daughter by Patricia Hampl will take you on a most pleasant, nostalgic journey through Saint Paul in addition to exploring the many facets of love between aging parents and a daughter.
Recess at 20 Below by award winning author Cindy Lou Aillaud will enthrall your children. A contemporary photo book, they will learn about kids just like them and lots about Alaska, and they will have a school adventure very unlike their own, all at 20 degrees below zero!
Add some sunshine with the warm company provided by any one of these books. Keep tuned for the next set of the most pleasurable reads for cold nights.
-Mary
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
"Buy Local" message was heard this past holiday season.
____________________
Two of our countries most established poets -- Robert Hass and Robert Pinsky -- put out very good books last year (Time and Materials is great). Guernica Magazine recently did interviews with both. Read them here (Hass) and here (Pinsky).
____________________
The Guardian profiles Tom Wolfe. (I found this on Blog of a Bookslut, which is always good.)
____________________
How about another poem:
We resolve in 2008
To exercise more and lose weight
And try not to get sick
And read Moby Dick
As soon as we finish Man's Fate.
-GK
____________________
Two of our countries most established poets -- Robert Hass and Robert Pinsky -- put out very good books last year (Time and Materials is great). Guernica Magazine recently did interviews with both. Read them here (Hass) and here (Pinsky).
____________________
The Guardian profiles Tom Wolfe. (I found this on Blog of a Bookslut, which is always good.)
____________________
How about another poem:
We resolve in 2008
To exercise more and lose weight
And try not to get sick
And read Moby Dick
As soon as we finish Man's Fate.
-GK
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Role of Editor & Kevin Kling In The Star Trib
Who was the mind behind “minimalism”? Raymond Carver and his editor, Gordon Lish.
People can't get enough of Kevin Kling. The guy's funny. We've done a couple events with him and Mary Ludington, and I'm not sure there has ever been a more thankful person than Kevin. Continued success!
People can't get enough of Kevin Kling. The guy's funny. We've done a couple events with him and Mary Ludington, and I'm not sure there has ever been a more thankful person than Kevin. Continued success!
A Poem
First Reader
Bryn Mawr girl in the plaid skirt and the sweater set
Working at The New Yorker in the summer of '69
Reading unsolicited stories, smoking a cigarette,
Thank you, darling, for choosing mine.
You sent it upstairs with your blessing, a green slip,
And a note to the editor to read it and he read it.
And based on your gesture I launched a small ship
And went off in the direction I still am headed.
Years have passed since you looked my way and smiled
But to me it's happening now. I lay this at your feet,
This homage, darling, I place it on your pile,
My angel of 25 West 43rd Street.
Is it good enough? I don't know, dear. You decide.
Oh I tell you, the importance of angels cannot be denied.
- GK
Bryn Mawr girl in the plaid skirt and the sweater set
Working at The New Yorker in the summer of '69
Reading unsolicited stories, smoking a cigarette,
Thank you, darling, for choosing mine.
You sent it upstairs with your blessing, a green slip,
And a note to the editor to read it and he read it.
And based on your gesture I launched a small ship
And went off in the direction I still am headed.
Years have passed since you looked my way and smiled
But to me it's happening now. I lay this at your feet,
This homage, darling, I place it on your pile,
My angel of 25 West 43rd Street.
Is it good enough? I don't know, dear. You decide.
Oh I tell you, the importance of angels cannot be denied.
- GK
Thursday, January 17, 2008
It's Been A While
Blogs are timely. They are meant to be updated in a timely fashion. People check their favorite blogs on a daily basis for updates on the world which those blogs are representing.
Let me assure you, we are still here in our cozy basement home, selling away, if not blogging. My apologies. For 2008: More blog entries for any of you out there still coming by. Promise. Tell your friends.
So, what's new? A nice little event happening this weekend. Bill Holm will be down the street at the church talking with Garrison about his (Holm's) new book, The Windows of Brimnes. (My favorite lines in the book come early (mostly because I've just started it): "There are too many of us, and we are too hard to keep track of. We like to put things in numerical order, in case the authorities should need us suddenly.) If you haven't read Holm's book The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth, it would behoove you to get a copy.
And besides the fantastic writing, just look at that guy. He's awesome, right?
Alright, more soon. I leave you with an essay from the above-mentioned author.
I'll be working the event, so come by and say hello.
--David
Oh, and a new look...
Let me assure you, we are still here in our cozy basement home, selling away, if not blogging. My apologies. For 2008: More blog entries for any of you out there still coming by. Promise. Tell your friends.
So, what's new? A nice little event happening this weekend. Bill Holm will be down the street at the church talking with Garrison about his (Holm's) new book, The Windows of Brimnes. (My favorite lines in the book come early (mostly because I've just started it): "There are too many of us, and we are too hard to keep track of. We like to put things in numerical order, in case the authorities should need us suddenly.) If you haven't read Holm's book The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth, it would behoove you to get a copy.
And besides the fantastic writing, just look at that guy. He's awesome, right?
Alright, more soon. I leave you with an essay from the above-mentioned author.
I'll be working the event, so come by and say hello.
--David
Oh, and a new look...
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