Most of you know from watching television how bad the fires are (and continue to be) in southern California. While those of us in Santa Barbara have not been part of the raging inferno, a number of my friends and families of friends further south have been. Some of  them have been evacuated, others are still at home but not out of danger. It pains me terribly to think of the wild animals and pets that have fallen, and of the human loss and damage that will last many years after public, media and government attention has turned to other disasters.

Part of the frustration I feel comes from not being able to do much other than be there for them. But I did receive an e-mail recently from Lynn Price of Behler Publications that brought tears to my eyes, and I wanted to share it. (The “hurts” to which she refers are books that are slightly damaged and cannot be sold at retail.)

The ash and thick smoke that blanketed us for so many days has cleared out, but the smoky smell is horrible and hangs in the air like glue. My lungs are as unhappy as my sinuses are, so no walking for us yet. The fire is still only 30% contained and it’s making a move for south Orange County and Riverside. Yikes. I can hear the tons of aircraft flying around against the hillsides, so while the sky appears clear overhead, I know better.

My daughter and I took a slew of our “hurts” over to the high school down the street. It’s an evacuation center for all the displaced. The place looked like a war zone, and they were so grateful for the books—something to divert attention away from their worries. I’m so glad we did it.

I am glad she did too. Though I was touched by her action, I was not surprised. Lynn is a quality person. And what she did reminded me that in the midst of this major disaster—when lives are being literally saved and lost, when emotions rise against the arsonists who started some of the fires, when people’s most basic needs are in the hands of strangers and they feel utterly helpless to take the reins of their lives back again—that sometimes unassuming things can make life bearable for a few hours.

This week I wish to salute those small kindnesses of Lynn and others like her. I’m not ungrateful for enormous efforts of the firefighters and the Red Cross, but I think there is an unspoken, perhaps even unconscious need for some normalcy that emotionally if not physically removes the constant reminders of loss and pain. Something even as simple as a new book, in Emily Dickinson’s words,  “To take us Lands away.”

“It was a dark and stormy night . . .” Nicki Leone begins in her review of a new book about the cultural, literary, cinematic and historical impact of one of the most famous novels ever written—Frankenstein. In A Reading Life, she takes on one cultural/cinematic critic’s take on the monster’s role from birth to life in his society and in ours.

Dan Jaffe’s interview with Los Angeles poet Laurel Ann Bogen is the subject of this month’s Talking Across the Table. With ten books, publication in more than 100 literary magazines and anthologies, theatre and performance experience, Bogen is a consummate poet whose own “life is the influence on my work.” 

Henry Carrigan, having had a week in which among too many other things he went before the board of his university press seeking their approval to issue the new season’s book contracts, had less time than usual for his column. For that reason, his review of Richard Russo’s new book is a bit short. Still, it is rich in the way of this fine reviewer who actually needs few words to share his pleasure of an excellent read. See what he says this week in Readings.
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“I like books with a little snark to them,” says Lisa Guidarini in Reviews & Reflections. She got her wish when she was sent a collection of short stories by author Roy Kesey. So taken was she by them that she promptly requested an interview, which you can share this week.

Do you read in the bathroom? If so (or even if you find the idea icky), you’ll like Anne Michael’s entertaining take on it and on someone who taught her that maybe there might actually be something in the idea. Read it in this week’s Seasoned Lightly.

Frank X. Roberts returns to Bibliopinions with “The Old Poets,” a new poem that celebrates the sonnet, “. . . a disciplined poetic form which forces the writer to stay within fourteen lines to express a given idea, and to limit each line to ten syllables (although this can vary).” His opening essay explores in brief the history of this form and his poem is a lovely tribute to it.

“Going Your Way” is probably one of those vaguely familiar phrases you might remember if you grew up in the middle of the twentieth century. Like “Pop, pop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is” or “ Melts in your mouth, not on your hand,” certain advertising slogans slammed themselves into middle-class consumer brains through sheer repetition. If you can’t place “Going Your Way” (or even if you can), check out On Marking Books for an interesting look at one particular part of public transportation.

Google is amazing. Really. I was looking for something to complete this letter, and on the off chance it might produce something interesting I googled “librarian blogs.” Well! One million, four hundred and ten thousand hits were returned. Since that’s too much, even for me, I checked out the first one which turned out to be Librarian Blogs and Sites Internet Directory, a site with links to more than 230 blogs and web sites by—who else?—librarians.

It turns out that a lot of librarians like to write. The blogging librarians include specialty librarians (law, medicine, business, school, science), a bad girl librarian, a barbarian librarian, a belly dancing librarian, a biker librarian, a bodybuilding librarian a librarian with a fondness for twee pop, a caveman librarian, a librarian who likes librarian humor, butt-kicking librarians, a decaf librarian, an eclectic librarian out to change the stereotype of the profession, a flaky librarian, a virtual librarian, a hip librarian, an indie rock librarian, a radical librarian, librarian avengers, library chicks, a Luddite librarian who ridicules other librarians’ blogs, a librarian with tattoos who discusses how they relate to librarianship, a naughty librarian, a pernicious librarian, a practical librarian, a baby librarian, a librarian looking for work, a feminist librarian, hopeful librarians in training, classification and cataloging librarians, a web-design savvy librarian, a librarian who details (in “excruciating detail”) just what a librarian does, a laughing librarian, a leather librarian a “Liberry Blooze,” a librarian who lists librarians in the news, a “Libronut,” a renegade librarian, revolting librarians, a sensible shoe librarian, a spinster librarian, a well-dressed (corporate) librarian, even a librarian who details “the glamour, fashion and humor of the public library” at Sex and the Library blog. There’s even a blog about what libraries are doing with blogs. Who knew librarians had so much going on?
 
Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren