The First Reader
January 25, 2009

It’s not just that our new president is a reader, though he certainly is that, but he places immense value on books, on learning, on literacy, and on the value of words. In a 2005 speech to the American Library Association, he emphasized the role that reading holds in our lives when he noted:  “Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible, from complex word problems and the meaning of our history to scientific discovery and technological proficiency. And by the way, it’s what’s required to make us true citizens.” There could not be better words to warm this reader’s heart.

One difference between Barack Obama and George W. Bush can clearly be seen in how they approach books. Despite claims that Bush uses books to satisfy curiosity, to learn, for relaxation and “because of the relevance to his challenges,” the recent article by Karl Rove indicates that reading, for Bush, is nothing more than a continual game of one-upmanship. What began as a New Year’s resolution for Rove in 2005 turned into a belt-notching competition that lasted three years. Words that Rove used to describe their mutual reading goals were of the challenging variety—insurmountable, second place, decisively, indecisively, triumph, defeated, trophy, rematch, reading competition. When was the last time you or anyone you know used those words about reading lists? I find it sad and sickening that they found books valuable only for their boasting power: (“My … list is bigger than yours!”).

But now we have a genuine reader, someone who reads books for what can be learned from them and for pleasure in the language. One of the most fascinating pictures of Obama shows him casually holding his book. It could be a shot of any reader who has been momentarily interrupted, but the way he is gripping the book and the use of his finger to hold open the page to which he wants to return (as soon as possible) indicates his reading is important. This is a genuine reader, not someone using a book as a political prop or as an indication of mental virility.

It’s been less than a week since Obama was inaugurated, but already major changes have taken place. Most of those involve national or international issues and policies. But something else has happened too. Books are returning to center stage. Thank you, President Obama. 

Editor’s Note:
Anne Michael’s last regular column for BiblioBuffet begins this week. Anne has long had dreams of finishing her novel and writing children’s books. BiblioBuffet will lose part of its soul, but we wish her the best. Fortunately, she will return on occasion to share her thoughts on some particularly good reading. Until then … we will miss you, Anne. Thank you for all you have done. 

Upcoming Book Festivals:
Already in progress but continuing through January 31 is the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. This celebration of “life in the rural Wes” includes live concerts, theatre performances, a Silver Jubilee, and a Ranch Family Show. There are also special workshops and programs (including youth workshops), educational programs, and special exhibits.

The Pub House:
Daniel & Daniel Publishers is the parent company to three excellent imprints. The primary one, John Daniel & Company, publishes only four books a year in the field of belles lettres, fiction, poetry, memoir, and essay, and here is where you find their best work. Among their excellent offerings is a novel, Windstorm and Flood, the story of changing human relationships amid disasters; Keeping Warm, a collection of essays that explore one man’s eclectic life; A Hole in the Water, the story of a sixty-seven-year-old widow, local television host, and author who undertakes a trip to Italy to search for a longtime runaway daughter while also making choices for her own life; and Out of the Kitchen: Adventures of a Food Writer, a memoir of a career in cuisine and the changes and influences of societal trends, people, and heritage on it.

Perseverance Press is their whodunit arm. It is here you will find high-quality literary mysteries. Silence is Golden is based in the gold country of California; A Fugue in Hell’s Kitchen involves the theft of a rare and valuable music manuscript; Tropic of Murder and Hot Rocks are two of BiblioBuffet’s contributor Lev Raphael’s mysteries, a series involving a university professor who keeps finding death around him; Face Down Below the Banqueting House, an English Tudor mystery; Paradise Lost, intriguingly described as a “brain-tickling mystery”; and Family Business, a series based in Port Silva featuring mother-daughter sleuths. 

Fithian Books is a co-publishing venture (the author contributes to the cost of publishing) but what makes this particular press different from the usual vanity ones is that the publisher is selective about the books issued under this name and a number of them have been reviewed in trade publications. Any genre is eligible, and among their books I found Oozing the Moon, the journal of an unusual quest to understand the night sky and its inhabitants; Drieser’s Other Self: The Life of Arthur Henry is a biography of this now-obscure but important journalist, novelist, playwright and memoirist; and The Silence of the Parents, a novel about the lives of Holocaust survivors and their subsequent families, written from the second generation’s point of view. 

Right now they have twenty percent off sale if you order online. One caveat: their ordering page is NOT secure. You do have the option of ordering by mail with a check or by phone with a credit card (and getting the discount), and I suggest you use one of those means. 

Of Interest:
Our weekly book giveaway continues. This week I have something a little different—a lovely blank journal and matching gift cards with ribbons with the theme and writings of Marcel Proust. If you are interested in winning them, send me an email with your name and mailing address. If I get more than one person who wants the book I’ll put the names into a jar and draw the winner. This is the final week so let me know if you are interested.

This Week . . .
Do you like to talk about books with intelligent readers from around the country? If so, you absolutely  must visit the new online discussion group, Dirda’s Reading Room. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic and former editor of the Washington Post’s Book Review Michael Dirda, the Reading Room is composed of (for now) Ten Discussions: Classics for Obama; Please Recommend a Book for Me!; Books That Were Great in 2008; Favorite Mystery and Crime Novels; Baker Street Irregulars and Other Literary Clubs; What I Just Read; This is NOT a Silent Reading Room; Capital Reading: Best Books About Washington; When Good Writers Aren’t Good People; and Season’s Readings.

The discussions tend to be sophisticated but not snobbish. And while I’d prefer a better design—fewer ads taking up so much room, a larger typeface, the ability to use html formatting, a pre-posting preview, a clear link to signing in when you are already a registered member—it works quite well. The posts are still somewhat irregular, but the site shows a lot of promise for one so young.

Though registration is not required to read, you will need to do so in order to join in the discussion. It’s free and easy. And I encourage you to do so. I have found it to be enormous fun. Michael, who’s a little reticent when it comes to electronic communications, is a wonderful director. When he starts up a discussion you know you are heading on an interesting journey with an enthusiastic driver and erudite companions.
 
Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren