To Jacket or Not To Jacket

I stumbled on a lively debate online about books and how to care for them. It seemed to have started when one person asked, "Dust jackets, yea or nay?" and escalated from there. The overall concensus was that dust jackets should be kept because they increase the resale value of most books, help minimize wear and tear on the covers, and as their name implies, they do keep dust off the spines. A few people admitted to trashing the dust jackets immediately upon purchase to which some die-hards reacted with disgust and refused to chat with those "heathens" again. 

I have a love-hate relationship with dust jackets, myself. Most of them are designed to catch your eye in the bookstore and therefore have pretty garish artwork that doesn't appeal to me. Dust jackets tend to slide around when you're reading and if you take it off, where do you put it? And while dust jackets can help you quickly locate a book on your shelves, the cloth spines are more aesthetically pleasing to me. But, my books have their jackets because as their owner and friend, I feel it's my job to safeguard them. 

A small band of unconventional thinkers said they kept the dust jackets but not on the books. They had a storage box in a closet where they stored the jackets flat so that if they ever wanted to resell their books, they would have them, but in the meantime, they could have the look of beautiful cloth spines on their shelves. 

A couple of people said they got rid of their bound books when they got their Kindle or Nook and now they don't have to worry about dust jackets at all. I can't even imagine. A home without books on shelves... I tear up just thinking of it. Though that might lend credence to the thought that dust jackets will become more valuable over time. As e-readers become more prevalent, having those jackets with their synopses and author information could become quite the collectors' items. 

I had no idea so much could be said about dust jackets. 

What seemed to be more important to everyone was the way owners cared for their books. There are definite do's and don't's to make sure your books last a long time. 

• Sunlight and humidity are natural enemies of your books. Make sure your shelves aren't exposed to direct sunlight and keep your rooms' tempurature regulated. 
• Always store your books upright, never on their sides. I have been known to ignore this when I use a stack of books as a 'book end' to keep other books upright. I do try to swap out the books that are lying down from time to time but I should just decide now to stop this practice. I'll invest in some nice books ends this year.
• Make sure air can flow around your books. This means having some room between the books and the back of the bookcase. 
• Clean your books regularly. To do so, simply take off the dust jacket, hold the book closed and upright, and run a feather duster over the top and sides. 
• Be careful with food and drink around your books. And for goodness sake, don't use your book as a coaster.
• Always use a bookmark to keep your place. Never set down a book open-faced on the table, you'll damage the spine. 
• Never lend a book unless you really don't care about the condition in which it's returned. (Okay, that's my own rule.) I once loaned a mint condition book to a coworker and it was returned looking as though it had been thrown into a pool and then run over by a train. Thankfully, it wasn't a valuable tome. 

 So, what about you? Are you a dust jacket keeper or recycler? Do you care for books like they're friends or just another object in the room? Do you have your own book 'rules'?

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” ― Oscar Wilde

So, This Happened Last Night

I've been vegetarian for over four years now. In the back of my mind, I always saw this as a stepping stone to veganism but wasn't sure when I would be ready to make that leap. Because in my mind, it is definitely a leap. Giving up meat is relatively easy. Giving up eggs, butter, milk and ice cream? Now that's a commitment. 

Someone recommended Alicia Silverstone's book to me weeks ago and I finally had time to sit down and read it last night. Two hours later, I had finished the book and made my decision. I'm becoming a vegan. Alicia's book is called, "The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet" and if you are at all interested in veganism or macrobiotics (veganism on steroids), I would recommend it. It's engaging and personal and she shares her journey with humor and honesty. I appreciated her candor.

She admits that being strictly vegan can be challenging, which I found interesting coming from someone who lives in California. I assume that to be the best place to live if you want a plethora of vegan options and variety in the markets and restaurants. Apparently, that isn't always the case. Her advice is to "make the best choice in the situation." Sometimes you have to slip back to vegetarianism to make things work and that has to be okay. It's more important to enjoy life than stress over an ounce of cheese that comes melted into the entrée.

This is going to be quite a journey for me but I'm ready for it. Wish me luck.

About Books - Elephant Girl: A Human Story

Elephant Girl, by Jane Devin, is the story of a woman who took the painful memories of her past and transformed them into something that is so beautifully written that you can't help but enjoy reading it, even through the tears. I wept for the little girl, was frustrated along with the teenager and cheered for the adult as Jane Devin took me on the heartbreaking journey of her life. This is a difficult book to read and even more difficult to put down but it will leave you incredibly grateful for life and possibility. As I wrote in another review of this book, "This book takes you by the heart from the first paragraph and doesn't let go, even long after the last page is turned." 

I know Jane Devin from her blog, Facebook and Twitter and she is an amazingly strong and determined woman who perseveres against all odds, time and time again. She is an inspiration to those of us who are probably a little too sheltered, too complacent, too often swayed from our dreams. 

You can purchase Elephant Girl in paperback, on Kindle or on Smashwords

and you can learn more about Jane Devin at http://janedevin.com/ or http://www.findingmyamerica.com/ and you can find the Elephant Girl Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/AHumanStory.

Rating: ★★★★★

Find the Beauty - 03

This is turning out to be a difficult month for me and for many of my friends. It would be easy to focus on that and get mired down in the muck but I decided to spend a few minutes today listing some of the bright spots that are helping me through. 

• Lines and Colors. This blog proclaims itself to be "... a blog about drawing, sketching, painting, comics, cartoons, webcomics, illustration, digital art, concept art, gallery art, artist tools and techniques, motion graphics, animation, sci-fi and fantasy illustration, paleo art, storyboards, matte painting, 3d graphics and anything else I find visually interesting. If it has lines and/or colors, it's fair game."  I just think it's beautiful. Even when the art isn't to my taste, the talent and skill are amazing to behold. I call it my daily dose of museum without having to actually travel to a museum.
• Belkin customer support. After my Internet started working again, my wireless router needed to be reconfigured. I've had three wireless routers over the years but this is my first Belkin. I will never use another brand again just for the quality of their customer support team alone. The router itself has never had an issue but I have had to call them a few times over the past couple of years because of outages on Comcast's side. Each time, I have reached someone knowledgeable, courteous, patient and genuinely concerned about resolving my issues. The gentleman who helped me this weekend was superb and made the whole inconvenience a lot less stressful. Kudos, Belkin!
• Summer fruit and vegetables. Being a vegetarian, and one who actually likes fresh fruit and vegetables, summertime is the best time of year, especially in this climate that doesn't allow us any locally-grown produce in the off-season other than apples and squash. The other night I spent all my grocery money and didn't even get out of the produce section. I came home with peaches, plums, blueberries, cantaloupe and watermelon, tomatoes, Vidalia onions, sweet peppers, broccoli and kale. It makes spending time in the kitchen even more fun when everything's so colorful. 
• I Know You Like a Book. I stopped in this sweet little bookstore one night last week and it completely melted away the stresses of the day. I also bought three books so now I get to put three others on my pile to give away so that worked out well for someone else, too. 
• Kiva. I have two loans open at the moment (the others have all been paid back in full) and I just received an email that the woman in Rwanda that my money is helping just made another payment. It feels good, especially when you're not exactly feeling happiness in the every day, to know that you're helping someone in need. It also puts petty problems in perspective and makes you a bit more grateful for all the blessings you have.

I hope you're having a better month than I am but even if you're not,  there must be some small bright spot in your day. Care to share?

About Books - The Other Wes Moore

As you may recall, Peoria participates in the 'one city, one book' initiative promoted by the Library of Congress' Center for the Book. It is sponsored by the Peoria Reads! association and takes place each February. This year's book for Peoria was THE OTHER WES MOORE, by Wes Moore. Since I wrote a post talking about the event, I thought a book review would be in order. 

From the BN.com website: 

Two kids with the same name were born blocks apart in the same decaying city within a year of each other. One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, army officer, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.

In December of 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper ran a huge story about four young men who had killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One of their names was Wes Moore. 

Wes Moore, the Rhodes Scholar, became obsessed with the story of this man he'd never met but who shared much more than space in the same newspaper. 

This memoir was a little different than I expected in that it didn't delve quite as deeply into the childhoods of these two Wes Moores as I thought it might but still, it did an excellent job of highlighting the similarities of their paths. Both young men had troubled childhoods. Both had absent fathers. Both have mothers who love them. Both had trouble with the law in their early years. No parent dreams of the day their child will grow up and be incarcerated. No child is born hoping it will disappoint its parents. But as this book shows, life can get in the way of that. 

Each chapter begins with a bit of dialogue between the two men while they talked in the prison's visitor's room and then is followed by stories of pivotal moments in each of their lives corresponding to that conversation. I appreciated the format. It took you into the prison and then out to their childhood and then back into the prison so you never forgot the impact of the events and choices that determined their futures. 

This is an important read but isn't an enjoyable one. It isn't meant to be. What I believe it is meant to be is a reminder and an example of how vastly different a life can be with even just a minuscule variation in environment. If I were a parent, this book would teach me to take a hard look at the people my child saw as role models, even if the role models are siblings or other family members. Both of these young men had influences outside their mothers' reach and in both cases, destined them for the lives they have today. 

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Peoria Reads! - The Other Wes Moore

Although I can't find a consistent website or much information about this, Peoria takes place in the 'one city, one book' initiative started back in 1998 by the Library of Congress' Center for the Book, in which cities around the nation promote the reading of the same book by all their residents and then book clubs, high school reading classes, community clubs, etc. are encouraged to discuss it. 

Common Place and the Peoria Public Library have sponsored this event each February since 2002, when Peoria began participating. Although I've lived here since 1997, this is the first year I've heard about it so I'd love to do a bit more digging and see if there is something I can do to help get the event marketed more strongly. I think it's a great community event and anything that gets people reading should be encouraged and supported.

This year, the book chosen for Peoria is THE OTHER WES MOORE, by Wes Moore. Here is just a bit of the synopsis from the Barnes & Noble site:  "Two kids with the same name were born blocks apart in the same decaying city within a year of each other. One grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, army officer, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation."

Memoirs are my favorite things to read so I jumped at the chance to pick up this book and plan to begin it February 1 with my fellow Peorians. If you would like to pick up a copy at your library or local bookstore and read along with me, I'd welcome the company. 

Does your city participate in a similar event?  I would love to know how it is publicized and if you've ever taken part. 

About Town - I Know You Like a Book

I would rather do anything than mention a Meg Ryan movie but even I have to admit that there are two redeeming qualities to You've Got Mail, in an otherwise mundane Nora Ephron plot:  

• Brinkley, Tom Hanks' character's dog, (even irritating men are lovable with a dog like that) and,
• The Shop Around the Corner, the longstanding bookshop that was driven out of business by the big, bad Fox Books. (F-O-X... okay, the kid was cute, too.)

I have watched the movie a handful of times and every time I am mesmerized by the concept of a tiny, independent bookshop, surviving for decades on the endless book-loving knowledge of its staff and its tiny patrons and their parents. The movie portrays an image of a bookshop that, let's face it, is rare to find these days. 

There are a handful of bookstores in the Peoria area and other than the Big B's (Barnes & Noble and Borders) most of them deal exclusively in used books. I don't want to disparage the name of any local business because anyone making it in this trying economy deserves kudos and patronage, however, some would do well to take lessons from I Know You Like a Book, the delightful little bookshop in the downtown area of Peoria Heights. (And have you ever heard of a better name for a bookshop? I didn't think so.)

If ever there was our own The Shop Around the Corner, I Know You Like a Book is it. You are greeted warmly every time you enter, the rooms and shelves are meticulously orderly and clean, you are directed exactly to where you need to be to find the book you're looking for and the staff will not only have comments on the books you've selected but will also tell you what other books you are going to want to read based on what you've chosen. If for some reason you can't find what you're looking for, they will gladly order it for you. The shop is a large supporter of local area authors and at least once a month has one in to promote their current release and to sign books for shoppers. They also put out a newsletter on area reading/writing news and host the monthly meeting of the Midwest Writers' Group. 

I Know You Like a Book sells both new and used books and offers a warm, cozy atmosphere that is much like wandering into someone's den, rather than a business. You can even have a glass of wine and pet the affable store mascot, Ringo, the dachshund who will most likely be lying in his bed beside the counter. All in all, you will enjoy your time there, even if you leave empty handed. I can't speak to that personally as I have never left without a bag of books, but I am sure that it is true. 

I Know You Like a Book is located at 4707 Prospect Road, Peoria Heights, IL and is open 10am - 6pm, Monday through Saturday, with special holiday hours during the Christmas season. Street parking is available.  You can find them on Facebook here.