 Biblio-DNA When I visited my parents recently most of us—they along with my two sisters and one brother—went out to a Mexican lunch then trooped over to one sister’s place to drop her off and chat for a while. It was my first time there and what struck me, aside from the crowded conditions in the studio apartment, was that there were no books. Nor were there any newspapers or magazines. Absolutely no reading material at all. Two televisions (“in case one breaks”) and two DVD players dominated the room not just because they were there and not just because they were on while we were there but because they had in fact been on before we picked up her, while we were away and continued on after we left. It was such an odd sensation for me to be in a home where no reading material exists because everyone else I know has books around and talks about what they are reading. That seems a normal existence to me because I grew up in a house with books. I was read to as a child. I devoured the weekly and monthly magazines my parents subscribed to, and can still remember the afternoon when I was home alone reading, probably in Life, with wide-eyed and terrified attention, the serialized version of a new true crime book when a neighbor child knocked on the door, sending me into a screaming fit and the tableside lamp onto the floor. (I deliberately avoided reading any more of installments of that particular story, and have with the exception of In Cold Blood—which I read once and will never read again—avoided reading any more true crime.) Aside from that experience, I loved reading. I had inherited the gene. Thanks to my parents who instilled that love of reading in me, the love of books and reading is firmly entwined in my DNA. But aside from my youngest brother, who reads but not at the rate I do, no one’s home has any books at all. So did the biblio-DNA go wacky somewhere between the oldest and youngest? I honestly have no idea. What makes one child inherit the bibliogene while others seem immune? We grew up in the same home with the same bookshelves and saw our parents reading. How did they not develop the same passion for books and reading I did? Was it because of school? Did I get teachers who emphasized reading and they did not? Or are there other reasons? Did they view their required reading as so awful that once out of high school they never wanted to see another book? Even being forced to read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Middle English over the course of a year in high school didn’t put me off reading. Of course, we had other books assigned during that time to compensate including one that introduced me to the wonderfully icky side of death, that of “beautifying” the corpse: The American Way of Death. Despite a warning that it was not for those with weak stomachs and could be passed over, I dived right into those specifics, because when a teenager is told that the next four pages can be omitted there is no chance of her skipping them. I am happy to report I was appropriately appalled—and made sure by reading that section about half a dozen times. Though I have never said anything to my non-reading siblings I sometimes feel a sadness that I cannot share of my reading experiences. The difference between us is too great. They have no idea what I am reading, and even less concern. Were I to talk about the world journey of Frank Lenz in The Lost Cyclist, my current book, they would listen silently. But I don’t think they wouldn’t hear anything until the television was turned on. Upcoming Book Festivals: The Alaska Book Festival is a bit unusual in that its events take place once a week over the course of five weeks—July 14, 21, 28 and August 11, 18. Fairbanks is the scene of the festival that celebrates “literature from and about Alaska. . . . [and] to engender enthusiasm for and awareness of all genres and formats of writing, and to celebrate the work of Alaska writers, publishers, editors, illustrators and presses.” The first event, on Wednesday, July 14, is Tom Bundtzen, a senior economic geologist, who will discuss Alaska mining and geology and on the books he feels should be on everyone’s must-read list at Schaible Auditorium at 7:00 pm. From Friday through Sunday, July 16-18, Iowa will be hosting the Iowa City Book Festival. Each day will be filled with activities for all ages of book lovers. The Friday evening opening begins with the Author Dinner at 6:30 pm; tickets are $50 per person. Since it takes place in the main library, the menu was specially developed from the Szathmary Culinary Collection in the Special Collections department. Saturday is festival day. More than three dozen authors , musical entertainment, children’s activities, book dealers, food vendors, book arts demonstrations, and panel discussions will keep attendees busy from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Sunday will be “A Day in the City of Literature” where a free City of Literature Passport gets you into a number of businesses including restaurants, bookstores, and other venues where local poets, novelists, and writers of creative nonfiction will share stories and more. You’ll receive stamps at each place you visit and the passport with the most stamps at the end of the day will be the winner, for the passport holder’s book club, of a private party with an author at the Prairie Lights Times Club. The upper coastal area of southern California, specifically the city of Ventura, will be hosting the Ventura Book Festival on Saturday, July17 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. This festival, just down the road from me, is unusual in that the panel sessions have a $10 cost for each one. The money raised goes to a good cause—the California Literary Arts Society (CLAS) youth and literacy programs. More than three dozen vendors will be there, and the dozen panels offer discussions on poetry in the twenty-first century to marketing your book. And on Saturday, July17 and Sunday, July 18, Cowan will be the home of the Tennessee Antiquarian Book Fair. Forty vendors will be there to show off their wares, and attendees are encouraged to bring up to three books for dealer appraisal. Five speakers are scheduled over the two days, and will talk about Collecting the Works of C.S. Lewis, The Civil War in Middle Tennessee, Book Collecting 101, Conflict and Character Development in Works of Fantasy, and The Authority of the Bible for the Church today. Hours are Saturday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. The cost is a mere $5. The Pub House: This is a tempting portrayal of books worth exploring, and in searching out specific books I found several that showed their range and quality. The Ghost Trap is a debut novel, the story of a young Maine lobsterman who struggles with love as it was and as it is in both his personal and professional life. Seven-Tenths is a tender memoir of the connection an unhappy mechanical engineer and a visually impaired oceanographer found when he becomes her eyes during a professional expedition in the Arabian Sea. But it’s more than a memory of the two of them—ocean currents, an armed pirate attack, and his relationships with the Woods Hole’s team told with gritty details, humor, and a sense of wonder all play a role in this sensitive story. Imaging Books & Reading: Of Interest: Until next week, read well, read often and read on!
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