You might remember that a while ago I came upon a flyer announcing that Nancy Pearl was going to speaking in Langley. I got all of my work done and sent off, so I was free to trot off on Thursday morning to see her talk.
Nancy Pearl is a retired librarian from Seattle. She has become known for her love of reading and her talent and at recommending books to others. You can read all about her here on Wikipedia. I didn't know that she started the concept of having a whole city read the same book -- "Seattle Reads" -- which has been adopted by any cities around the country. I knew her from her interviews on Public Radio, and from a few books she has published with lists of book recommendations.
Beforehand, I got my official Sno-Isle library card, giving me access to the Snohomish and Island County libraries. Isn't that a great name? Sno-Isle sounds like a magical wintry island where you can snuggle in, drink hot chocolate and read all day.
Nancy Pearl's talk was held at the local arts center, and the place was packed. It was wonderful to be in a big room full of avid readers. It looked to me like a lot of book club groups had come together. As a newcomer to Whidbey Island, it was heartening to look around and see people who love books and reading. Will one of them become a friend, some day? This talk was Nancy's 25th talk in Langley, and the woman next to me had been to every one.
The talk was about some of the best books that Nancy has read over the last year. Conveniently, the program included the list of titles and authors Nancy would be discussing, and people (including me) took notes to remember the ones that sounded most appealing. It was a delightful talk, and Nancy seemed like someone you'd want to just sit and talk books with for hours.
She talked some about paper books vs audio books vs e-readers. Nancy has no prejudices against any of the formats. There was a bit of discussion about how a book/ebook is a dialogue between book and reader, and an audiobook becomes a conversation between author, reader and narrator. It is certainly true that audio book narrators can make or break a listening experience. (I recall one I tried to listen to awhile back where the narrator kept pausing or changing her intonation as if the sentence had ended...but it had not. It was very disconcerting and I stopped listening because it was just too distracting.)
And speaking of stopping, Nancy Pearl has become known for her "Rule of 50" which she has now adapted. Her view is that life is to short, and there are too many great things to read, to waste time on something you are not enjoying. Hear, hear! So her rule is this: You should read 50 pages and if you are still not involved or enjoying it, stop. (Her exception was if you are reading for a book club, keep going... because then you have made a commitment to the other club members.) She also added: you are reading a mystery, not enjoying it much but reading only because you want to know who did it, for pete's sake go look at the end, and then walk away. Her new amendments are: if you are over 51 years old, subtract your age from 100 and that is how many pages you should read. For example, if you are 65, subtract 65 from 100 and you need only read 35 pages. And, she added, if you are 100 then you can judge a book by its cover and read however much or however little you choose.
Isn't it funny how we need permission to stop reading a book? For the longest time, I felt like I had to read to the end if I started it, and felt horribly guilty if I stopped midway. Some years back I let go of that, but I appreciate having a librarian's permission to abandon ship at will.
Some of Nancy Pearl's previous Langley talks are posted on Youtube, so you can listen, get a flavor for her, and get some past book recommendations. She's done a Ted Talk, which you can watch here. And she has done a bunch of "Book Lust with Nancy Pearl" author interviews on Seattle Channel, which you can find on Youtube also.
You want to know what Nancy Pearl recommended, don't you? Here are a few of the ones I noted:
What Just Happened: Notes on a Long Year by Charles Finch
A non-fiction diary of one man's experience of 2020 and Covid lockdown. Nancy said she didn't want to relive 2020 but the book was wonderful. You can see her interview with the author here.
Revenge of the Librarians by Tom Gauld
A collection of cartoons about books, writing, editing, reading. You might recognize his style from his New Yorker contributions. I went straight to the bookstore afterwards and bought this. I need more cartoons in my life. And it's delightful.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
I had read this and really enjoyed it. It's the story of Lenni, a 17 year old terminal cancer patient, and Margo, an 83 year old woman, who are both hospitalized and meet in the craft room. They realize that their ages total 100 years, and they decide to paint images of their lives, one for each year, so when they are done they will have a collection of 100 paintings. I thought it was lovely, poignant, and not (surprisingly) not depressing.
Thank You, Mr. Nixon by Gish Jen
I really want to read this. It is a series of linked short stories, about different generations from the same family. The publisher's blurb says: "Beginning with a cheery letter penned by a Chinese girl in heaven to “poor Mr. Nixon” in hell, Gish Jen embarks on a fictional journey through U.S.-China relations, capturing the excitement of a world on the brink of tectonic change." This especially interests me. Caroline was born in and adopted from China, and our beloved guide when we were in China, Chen, was the (then very young) Chinese diplomat responsible for coordinating Nixon's travels through China. There is a Nancy Pearl interview with Gish Jen on Youtube.
The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
I have seen this book in a lot of places, and figured it was one of the many sort of derivative historical fiction pieces that seem popular right now. Nancy Pearl's comments about it made me want to read it, and I just got it from the library. If you're an Agatha Christie fan, you probably know that there is a real mystery about Christie's life about an 11 day period where she simply disappeared. To this day, no one really know what happened, and there is much speculation. Christie's husband was having a very public affair, and when Christie disappeared it was feared that she had killed herself. She was subsequently discovered, alive, checked into an inn under the name of the mistress. This is a take on that 11 days, told from the perspective of the mistress. Nancy recommended it highly, so I'm giving it a go. But before I start I'll watch Nancy's interview with the author, here.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
This was on my "to read" list so I am looking forward tot his even more. You might know Gabrielle Zevin from her delightful novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow traces the lives of two friends from their meeting as young students, to their decision to create a computer game together, to what happens after that. According to the publisher, "two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality." Nancy raved about this and said you do not have to know about or like computer games to really enjoy this book.
Still Life by Sarah Winman
I'd not heard of this but it sounds intriguing. Based on Nancy's recommendation, I've added this to my To Read list. Here is the publisher's description:
"Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades."
After the talk, I wandered over to Langley's charming independent bookstore, Moonraker Books. I bought the Tom Gauld book of cartoons there, wandered a bit -- so many tempting books!
I ended my outing at Crabby Coffee, where I sat next to the fireplace, sipped a latte, and perused Tom Gauld's bookish cartoons.
It was a wonderful way to spend the morning. And now I will appreciate Whidbey's rainy and chilly weather even more, because it is the perfect weather for snuggling in and reading.
