When the Enthusiasm Just Isn’t There
October 3, 2010

Everyone has them: days, weeks, even occasionally months where your enthusiasm for reading books lags. Sometimes it’s the weather, other times it may be that life gets in the way with its demands. But it’s more than that, really, because reading when you are a passionate reader is not something that needs to be scheduled, but something that is a part of you. You do it because you can not do it.

So why, I have been asking myself, am I in such a slump as far as books go? I have several in mid-read, bookmarked and on my coffee table, my side table, or my bedside table. But they remain closed .  The only books I have picked up in the last couple of weeks have been ones I can browse through—coffee table books, art books, fine art photography books. They have felt soothing, not least because they are taking me places where I feel I can breathe fresh, uncontaminated air, and where I cannot be touched or reached by the poisons  of workplace dramas, computer problems, financial stress, family issues, deadlines—all without having to go to the effort of reading.

Looking at that last sentence I just wrote nearly takes my breath away. And I ask myself, when did reading books take effort on my part? When did I begin to feel not soothed by but annoyed by my books? And why? Truthfully, I find this scary. Will this last long? And most of all: what is the matter with me?

For almost all my life, reading has had the ability to draw me out, to soothe me, to make whatever life handed me go away as I sunk further and further into a story. Regardless of whether that story was fiction—Jane Austen, Sinclair Lewis, Leo Tolstoy—or nonfiction, I could always find another world, another time, and another place in which to place myself.

I just feel lost now, as if I am drifting helplessly among demands pressing down in on me and I have nothing to grab onto. That’s not entirely true, of course. I have wonderful people in my life, my beloved cats, a strong sense of responsibility, and a dedication to making things work. But the books that have always been my refuge and my retreat are . . . not with me these days. It’s sad, but as soon as I post this new issue (for I am writing this last bit on Sunday evening) I won’t go straight to one of my current books and sink into its pages as I usually do. I have no interest. I find that sad.  And I have nothing more to say either.

Upcoming Book Festivals:
This coming week and weekend offer a nice selection of book festivals for those on the west coast (Washington, Oregon, California) as well as in New Jersey, Tennessee, and Kansas. If you live near any of them, try to go and support the fun of reading.

Wordstock is one of the most fabulous of book festivals. Not surprisingly, it takes place in Portland, Oregon, home to the famous Powell’s. This year’s dates are October 7-10, though some small events begin on Monday, October 4. Two hundred authors, seventy-five exhibitors, and an incredible array of events will be there to celebrate the art of the word in book form. Among the events are the Wordstock VI Literary Feast and Book Release Party, writers and readers’ workshops, music, bookmaking, food and crafts, readings, signings, lectures, panels, presentations, and so much more!

Celebrate the beauty of poetry with the largest poetry event in North America, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. It takes place between October 7-10, this time in New Jersey’s largest city, Newark. On Thursday night, there’s a poetry sampler. Friday offers readings and conversations as well as open readings. Saturday’s offerings include humor in poetry, international poetry, poetry and music, storytelling, craft, the spoken word, history, the life of the poet, and more. Sunday continues women’s voices in poetry, more storytelling, poetry and work, appearances of U.S. Poets Laureate, and other subjects.

Tennessee’s Southern Festival of Books is an excellent festival that celebrates the uniqueness of southern literature. From October 8-10, Nashville will host this multi-day fair with more than 250 authors and thirty exhibitors, and their partner, the Tennessee Repertory Theatre that will show films, host discussions, and offer a stage version of To Kill a Mockingbird. But the main aspect is the continuous readings, discussions, panel presentations, and signings by attending authors.

The focus of the River City Reading Festival, scheduled for October 9 in Lawrence, Kansas, is that of children: kindergarten through sixth-grade. It’s goal is to “reinforce the importance of reading and literacy to children as a building bloc for success in today’s world.” To accomplish that, eight regional and local authors will conduct readings and signings; there will also be special craft activities including some that are themed to the author presentations. Costumed characters will also be present. The event runs from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Lawrence Public Library.

The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair will take place on the weekend of October 9-10 at Exhibition Hall. Admission is five dollars, and for that you will get to admire and perhaps purchase rare books, maps, photographs, and ephemera from more than 300 dealers from all over the world. There will also be a special Book Fair Dinner on October 8 at the Rainier Club with Mitchell Wolfson speaking on “Notes of a Collector.” Saturday hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Sunday’s hours are 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Cal State University Los Angeles is the host to the Latino Book & Family Festival coming up this next weekend, October 9-10. This is one of the best festivals geared to the Latino market, and this year it will feature more than one hundred Latino authors; three dozen panels and sessions covering poetry, fiction, journalism, publishing, art, music and dance; book signings, a special children’s area with an entertainment stage, arts and crafts, storytelling, and over one hundred exhibitors. There is also a special “Evening with the Authors” on Saturday evening and a Folklórico ballet competition. Saturday hours are 11:00 am to 7:00 pm, and Sunday the fair runs from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

The Pub House:
Tyrus Books focuses on crime fiction, specifically stories that deal “with crime and its repercussions.” I like that at the top of their books page they note, “These are our weapons. Use them wisely.” There are quite a few, both newly issued and soon to be issued ones. The former include the latest in the Claire Watkins series, Frozen Stiff, the story of conniving car dealer whose death stirs up those who supposedly loved him and of the detective who finds that the love she has frozen out of her life may be ready to return. Silver Lake follows the events that occur when two architects, professional and personal partners, meet a young man and invite him for dinner, thus opening their lives and home to an act of violence that forever shattering life as they knew it. Stein, Stoned combines the drug culture of the sixties with the straight-and-narrow culture of the eighties in one man who went from being the foremost authority on cannabis to an insurance man. It’s not all bad, however, because he’s able to have joint custody of his teenage daughter—until he stumbles upon the body of a supermodel and upon a murderous trail littered with friends, enemies, and a return to the old world.

Imaging Books & Reading:
This image is shameful. It’s too late to do anything to help them because I believe this image is from the 1930s or 1940s. But BiblioBuffet is committed to helping the children and adults of today get more books into their lives, especially those who cannot afford them. If you have the ability to help and if you are willing, please see our Book Donations page for suggestions for good places to send books.

Of Interest:
Penguin Classics, that publishing imprint that focuses on bringing into print a wide range of English and translations of international literary classics, now has a contest going. I’m sure most of you have seen repeated lists of books that some group of people has declared everyone must read. (Who makes up those groups will often tell a lot about what kinds of books you can expect.) But the people who work at PC really do read their works. And in 2009, they compiled a list of the 10 Essential Penguin Classics they thought every person should read.

In 2010, they’re not so sure. At least they are sufficiently unsure so that they are asking people to make their own choices out of a long list of one hundred. Click here to see their list of 100 and then vote for your top 10 before November 1. By voting you not only have the opportunity to add your voice but also a chance to win one of three tote bags filled with three of the Penguin Deluxe Classics books.

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren