The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...

I recently started working with a new client and my five minute commute has now turned into a forty-five minute one. Staying true to my New York roots, I refuse to brave the traffic on 495, and therefore have taken on a round-trip that involves three forms of transportation: a five minute ride in my car, a ten to twenty minute ride on the shuttle bus between my company's headquarters and the closest Metro station, and a ten minute ride on the Metro. The other ten to twenty minutes? Waiting for the Metro and shuttle bus.
When I commuted between Manhattan and Stamford, CT, I loved using the time to indulge in trashy novels. That commute was simple - all I had to carry was my purse and a book, and once I was on the train it was a non-stop trip. This one, however, is full of inconvenient interruptions, and I'm hampered by my purse, my laptop bag, and my lunchbox. By the time I really get sucked into a story, I have to stop, gather my belongings, transfer, and then get settled again. It was kind of hard to get focused on the story.
At first I listened to my iPod and furiously checked my smartphone, but after the first two days that got boring. And then I found the perfect solution...Shakespeare. See, my former students are performing in King Lear in the beginning of March, and I'm planning a big trip back to NY to see them and my best friend and former colleague whom I haven't seen in seven months. After getting off a marathon phone session with her two nights ago, I realized that if I was going to sit through three hours of King Lear, I darn well better re-familiarize myself with the plot. Although it used to be my second-favorite Shakespeare play, I haven't read it in about thirteen years, and the details had kind of faded...hazy memories of some nasty sisters a la Cinderella and a crazy old man in a winter storm, but that's about it. A few years ago, I sat through Love's Labor's Lost without ever having read it and it was torture, even for a Shakespeare-phile like me! Here's the thing though...who has time or inclination to actually sit down and read King Lear? Turns out, I do. It takes about ten to twenty minutes to read one scene...the exact amount of time I spend on the shuttle bus. The thin book tucks neatly into the side pocket of my laptop case. And I find that Shakespeare is easier to digest in smaller increments.
So, madwomen, that's what I've been reading lately. And considering the mind-numbingness of the eight hours I put in at my new client each day, I'm actually a little bit glad to stretch my brain each morning. Right not I'm on Act I, scene iv. When I'm done, I might try a little poetry...

I Told You Guys That Barbara Kingsolver Changed My Life

So, remember that scene in Billy Madison when Adam Sandler wakes up from his hangover and rides his golf cart out to the mailbox to collect his magazines? Well, it was "Nudie Magazine Day" at my house today...only it wasn't Playboy that arrived! It was the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog.

Shortly after I finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and began my farmers' market odyssey, I began collecting newspaper clippings about local food. Back in August I clipped a NY Times article about this catalog, reputed to be packed with what Anthony Bourdain would call "food porn" for gardeners, and in November (about the same time that I joined Kitchen Gardens International - that's a whole other story) I ordered a copy. About once a week since, I whine to Mr. DeWinter and wonder aloud whether the neighbors stole my catalog. And then, this evening, miraculously, it was sitting on my dining room table when I arrived home from work! I'm not ashamed to admit that I hugged it to my chest and danced a jig around the living room.

In fact, I haven't even had time to peruse it yet, because as soon as Mr. DeWinter saw my excitement, he grabbed it out of my hands and became mesmerized by chocolate habanero peppers, purple Russian tomatoes, and Georgia rattlesnake melons. The space on our balcony is limited, so we're going to have to choose wisely what to plant this spring. I can't wait!

I recognize that my interest in local foods is growing into an obsession...and I fear that I'm destined to become one of those annoying, holier than though people who preach about locavorism to those who have no interest in listening...someone a little like Barbara Kingsolver! On the other hand, I haven't touched a drop of soda in over three weeks, and Mr. DeW hasn't been to McDonald's in at least two...for us, that's a pretty good track record. Who are these fruit and veggie eating, wanna-be gardeners? While we won't be dressing in homespun or raising chickens anytime soon, our relationship with food is definitely evolving for the better.

Cutting for Stone be damned...I'm off to read my seed catalog and dream of spring!

Snow Days to Curl Up and Read

Hi ladies-

Hope you are all doing well and staying warm!

I just finished Room, and I really enjoyed reading it. I have to admit, it was going a bit slowly at first, and I was having trouble getting into the novel. However, I ended up with a snow day, and my cable and internet went out. Without any distractions, I settled in with the book, and once I got to page 50, I couldn't put it down.

I am hesitant to start the conversation as I don't want to give anything away if you are still reading, but I wanted to encourage everyone to stick with it.

I am looking forward to discussing the novel with all of you!

-Tracy

Lazy Saturday

Even Lily is excited for some reading this afternoon :o)

- Catherine Earnshaw

More Secret Literary Lives

Back in December, Miss Havisham posted about her secret literary affair with 60s counterculture books and movies. I was so excited to read her post because "Exposing Teachers' and Students' Secret Literary Lives" was the title of my presentation at the National Council of Teachers of English conference back in November. Our thesis was basically that if we can tap into students secret literary lives, we can engage students in other forms of meaningful literary activity. We began the presentation by confessing to our own secret literacies - both the presenters and the audience. Some of the secret lives we discovered included the following:

- Geo-literacy (maps and atlases)

- Manicure reading (trashy magazines at the nail salons)

- Jack Bauer (spy novels)

- Journals and diaries

As for me, I confessed to one of my secret literacies: traveling the world, one cookbook at a time. Yes, that's right, I am obsessed with reading recipes. Nothing makes me happier than purchasing a cookbook from an exotic location, paging through the recipes, drooling over the photos, and imagining the delicious meals that I could make. That's right - could! Because most of the time, I don't actually cook anything from these cookbooks. The recipes are complicated, call for unusual kitchen implements, or require hard-to-find ingredients. And then, of course, there's the fear that I'd go through all of shopping, prepping, and cooking, only to present the meal to my husband...who would wrinkle up his nose and head out to McDonald's. Well...that's not entirely fair...he's a pretty adventurous eater but he firmly believes that some cuisines should be prepared by those who grow up in the culture...and that he should partake of them only in a restaurant.

I haven't done much reading lately because of a combination of factors (work, laziness), but I have been reading my cookbooks! They're easily digestible (pun intended) because they're written in chunks, and I can page through them without committing to a long sit-down. Lately I've been working on Good Housekeeping's Light and Healthy cookbook as part of my goal to continue eating as many non-processed foods as possible. It has been difficult without the farmer's market, but I try to shop the perimeter of the grocery store and have been experimenting with winter greens like swiss chard, brussel sprouts and kale. And I made my first soup last weekend - a Caribbean black bean stew with sweet potatoes. It was delicious! Even Mr. DeWinter devoured some. Quite frankly, though, Good Housekeeping has nothing on A Taste of Cuba or Essentially Lily (Savannah and Miss H would love the vintage photos of Lily Pulitzer in this one).

Zagat's guides also make for a convenient, quick indulgence! I purchase one for every city I visit, and flipping through them is like a quick trip to New Orleans, or Denver or New York. And in a pinch, a chapter of Anthony Bourdain will do just fine. But those tidbits are missing the gorgeous, glossy photos of a really good cookbook. That's what really makes the experience...my imagination is good and all, but add in a few color photos and I really start to salivate!

So, that's one of my literary secrets...I'll dish about my obsession with Henry the Eighth another time. What about the rest of the madwomen?

Oh, and Miss Havisham...I do have an undercover obsession with 60s poetry...so if you ever want to hit up City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, I'm in!

Happy 2011!!

Happy New Year, Madwomen, and welcome to our new members! What better way to start off the new year than with some new madwomen to share our literary fun? Well, how about a group read!

We're hoping to pick out our very first group read for 2011. Once we come to an agreement, we will have until February 15th to read. After that date, it's free game to post about the book, and if you haven't finished, be warned of spoilers! In the meantime, please feel free to post about your independent pursuits!

So, now the hard part: selecting the group read! I spoke to Rebecca D. last week and we both picked out books that might work for the group. We came up with:

Room by Emma Donoghue
Here's the NY Times review http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/books/review/Bender-t.html

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
A review: http://lisamm.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/book-review-sarahs-key-by-tatiana-de-rosnay/

It certainly doesn't have to be either of those; if you have any ideas, please suggest them! It would be best to pick a book by next weekend to give everyone a month to read, so please, share your thoughts and ideas!

Happy Reading,

Miss Havisham

Lisbeth is a Madwoman!

I spent Sunday and Monday snowed in during New York's post-Christmas blizzard. After two days of family fun, it seemed like the perfect time to curl up with a good book...or two! With little else to do, I indulged in some holiday leftovers and devoured The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire. Although I had heard many rapturous reviews of the series, it wasn't high on my to-read list. I'm not sure why, but I think my apathy may have stemmed from my lack of knowledge of all things Swedish, combined with the knowledge that the books had been translated. In the literary world there are very few things worse than a poor translation, and I was hesitant to pick up the series only to be disappointed. Finally, the "look at me" covers screaming off of every display table in every Barnes and Noble that I've been in for the past twelve months kind of pissed me off. Yes, I admit it. I judged the books by their covers.

The best review I'd heard of the series prior to reading the books was, "The first one is just good enough to make you want to read the second one, but the second one is really good." I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment! The first 100 pages were slow going - lots of background information and confusing Swedish place names. But the mystery picked up in the second half, and the second book was action-packed! I haven't read the third one yet, but I'm planning to do so over the long weekend.

One thing I really did appreciate about the series was the author's portrayal of Lisbeth. As far as main characters go, she's no angel, but I found myself rooting for her even when I didn't really approve of what she was doing. She is sometimes described as having Aspergers-like behaviors, and its tempting to blame her social awkwardness on the mysterious childhood event that she refers to in passing as "All the Evil." However, the author also hints that while the event may have contributed to these behaviors, they actually manifested earlier in life and are not entirely attributable to any one root cause. I like this. All too often an awkward main character's behavior is based on and blamed on trauma. In Lisbeth's case, it's not a black-and-white situation. She is many shades of gray, just like in the real world. And while her sense of right and wrong may be too rigid, she sticks to her guns and does what she believes in regardless of whether it is the socially correct thing to do. I like that too.

Although the books are far from upbeat, and expose many dark corners in the social landscape of Sweden, Lisbeth makes me happy. And even though she's barely present in the narration of the second book, her presence is always felt.
Happy New Year's Eve everyone!
- Rebecca DeWinter