A Work in Progress

What I Added to My Wishlist (more books)

Okay, so one more peripherally San Francisco-related but bookish post and then I promise it is back to regular business.  I have lots of books to write about, which I've read in the past month or so, and some other fun things to share.  I am feeling decidedly lazy at the moment however, so let me tell you about the books I wanted to buy but didn't.  They now are on my ever and always growing wishlist. 

I'm slowly settling back into a routine.  For some reason I have felt more disoriented coming back this time around than from other vacations.  No doubt not having been connected to the internet has had something to do with it.  Yet I can't say that I have filled in that non-internet time with bookish activities sadly.  So I have been doubly disconnected.  I hate that feeling.  And I am envious (as I make my way through posts in Feedly) of all the books that are being read (and I mean read and completed and then written about) out there.  I'm moving at a snail's pace and am having a hard time focusing on books, blogs and reading lately.  I'm wondering if I can salvage the rest of October and all my ambitious reading plans.  Perhaps not with just a little over a week left in the month.  Better to start from scratch in November?  What do you do when your reading mojo abandons you? 

Maybe thinking about books (and I think about books a lot normally) will help me get back into that reading groove?  So, in no particular order a few books that have recently crossed my path:

The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making by David Esterly

The Portland Vase: The Extraordinary Odyssey of a Mysterious Roman Treasure by Robin Brooks

The Interaction of Color by Josef Albers

Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco by Gary Kamiya

The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Provence by Martin Gayford

Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield -- I know lots of people have read this one and I even had it out from the library once, but it is now available in paperback.

This is Paris Wall Calendar 2014 by M. Sasek -- He wrote a number of "This is . . . " books including one about San Francisco.  I liked the looks of this one.  Hard to believe I actually need to think about 2014 already!

The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn by Solomon Volkhov

A Little History of Literature by John Sutherland -- This looks really good--from the Greek Myths to graphic novels.

The Sea by Marianne Dubuc --This is a very cute children's book.  Go and click out on the link and take a look!

Have you seen a whole series of books for kids of the classics called Baby Lit?  They look like fun and the illustrations are great!

Hubert's Freaks: The Rare-Book Dealer, the Times Square Talker, and the Lost Photos of Diane Arbus by Gregory Gibson

An Emergency in Slow Motion: The Inner Life of Diane Arbus by William Todd Schultz

Why Photography Matters by Jerry L. Thompson

Street Photography Now by Sophie Howarth

River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit

Face in the Lens: Anonymous Photographs by Robert Flynn Johnson

The Unrest Cure by Saki -- I have been coveting this book for a while now (a new NYRB edtion with illustrations by Edward Gorey!), and came thisclose to buying it when I saw it at Dog Eared Books.  I will definitely be buying it now, however.

Silent House by Orhan Pamuk -- I am having an overwhelming desire to read something by him at the momemt.

Beautiful Lies by Clare Clark

The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood

The Vatard Sisters by J.-K. Huysmans

Do you see a few themes going on here?  Museum gift shops/bookstores have lots of the sorts of books that interest me.  Otherwise it is all a hodgepodge of books that caught my eye.  Some were books that I see have come out in paperback and others that were totally new to me.  Some I am sure I will buy and others I'll try and find at the library.  But they all make my fingers itchy to pick them up, crack them open and start reading.  

Tomorrow is ghost story day and I've got three that I hope to write about.  Three more left in the book I am reading from.  I'm nearly finished with Wilkie Collins, too, and that will do it for my RIP reading.  But more about all that later this week!

What I Bought . . . Bookish San Francisco

San Francisco is a great book town.  I visited a mere three bookshops (brought home something from each . . .) and I am sure I barely touched the tip of the iceberg!  And then there were the museum gift shops.  And the airport bookshops.  All things considered, though, I think I still showed considerable restraint.  Maybe I'll share the list of books I made while I was traveling, though.  I think I made up for the (smallish?) number of books bought by the number of book titles I wrote down.

I found this little gem of a book at the Golden Gate Park Visitor's Center (where are located some of the WPA murals I mentioned yesterday).  If you stop by here on occasion you might know how much I love the seaside (or at least reading about it).  One of the high points of my vacation was being able to see the ocean again and I am only sorry I didn't spend more time there than I did.  San Francisco at the Seaside: Sutro Heights, Cliff House, Sutro Baths by Ariel Rubissow Okamoto has all vintage photos in it.  It is a mini coffee table book and quite lavish inside--a nice memento of a place I love.

There were so many temptations at the Legion of Honor's gift shops (read that as plural--yes, they have two!) that it was indescribably hard to walk away with just a couple of books (and a couple more postcard books)!  I knew I would have to lug home any books either in my backpack or in my suitcase (which didn't have much extra space to begin with), so I was limited by the type of books I could choose.  As much as I wanted proper art books (those hefty hardcovers with all the gorgeous illustrations on glossy paper), I knew I had to resist.  (Here's me jotting down titles about now . . .).  But I did find a couple (well, more than a couple, but narrowed it down to just the two) of interesting history books. 

I think someone already mentioned Peter Ackroyd's London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets, so I reached for it right away.  I got a nod of approval from the saleslady for it, too.  She said she read it and had a hard time putting it down.  Tim Blanning's The Romantic Revolution: A History caught my eye as well.  I can easily see that one paired with a few works from the period to broaden my reading.

There was a book called Artistic San Francisco by James A. Ganz, but I settled for the postcard book.  I may have a hard time parting with the actual cards, but perhaps that will be the excuse I give myself to (eventually) indulge in buying the book.  Above San Francisco: The Aerial Photography of Robert Cameron has some really stunning images in it.  Maybe I'll keep a few and send a few from that one.

I love the de Young's art collection and was very pleased to find de Young: Selected Works as a sale book.  It was a steal at $4.99!  And it has some of my favorite paintings in it along with a bit of commentary.  Another nice reminder of my visit.

It was purely by chance that I happened upon William Stout Architectural Books on Montgomery Street.  I had just finished looking at the murals in Coit Tower and wondered if they might perhaps have a book showing them in greater detail.  And yes, they did.  I am looking forward to reading Coit Tower San Francisco: Its History and Art by Masha Zakheim.  It has lots of detailed photos and companion text.  You may well hear more about this one!

If you are ever in San Francisco you have to go to Dog Eared Books on Valencia Street in the Mission District.  It was within walking distance from the rental where we stayed.  It has a combination of new and used books (mostly gently used or remaindered) and an entire bookcase dedicated to NYRB editions.  I had many more in hand but finally talked myself down to: At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays by Anne Fadiman, Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood and The Complete Fiction by Francis Wyndham. 

Another great find was The Booksmith on Haight Street.  They are smallish, but filled to the brim with books and cards and really cool literary bookbags.  I was coveting one, but it was my last day and I knew I had spent far too much money already, so I left with a copy of Muriel Spark's Ghost Stories instead.  I hope to read one or two still for RIP, but I may have to save the stories for a little Christmas ghost story extravaganza instead.

I really should have taken photos of the bookstores, shouldn't have I?  I guess I just lost my head in the face of so much bookish possibility.  A reason to go back. 

Now, I really (of course) want to start one of these now.  Essays maybe?  I need an engaging nonfiction read (I am failing miserably when it comes to reading as much NF this year as I would like).  The nice thing about my pile of books--every time I pick one up I will have a good memory attached to it.  I'll know where I bought it and will remember my time in San Francisco. 

Where I Was . . . San Francisco Views!

Day one: a walk on the beach!  Hello Pacific Ocean.  I've missed you. 

I could listen to the crashing of the waves for hours on end.  I don't even mind the grey skies and hazy afternoon. 

There are some really amazing murals in the building which houses the Golden Gate Park Visitor's Center.  These are from the 1930s and were created as part of the WPA program initiated by President Roosevelt.  We ate in the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant, which has a spectacular view of the ocean.  The perfect way to begin a vacation--watching the sun set over the Pacific. 

Day two: museums!  I love the Legion of Honor.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Impressionists on the Water and Artful Animals exhibits. 

Is every view of San Francisco stunning?

Apparently so.  Both photos taken from the high vantage point of the Legion of Honor.

One of my favorite galleries in the de Young Museum.

I especially like to visit this painting!

Day three: the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero.  On Saturday mornings they have a really terrific farmer's market.  The place was packed both inside and out.  Inside there are loads of shops, eateries, produce vendors and many of them give out delicious samples. 

As Alcatraz was closed a Bay Cruise was in order.  It was a bit nippy on the water.

But more amazing views made it all worth while.

The water on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge is quite choppy.  It felt like a cork bobbing up and down in the water.  I always thought those photos of the bridge engulfed in mist must have been airbrushed, but nope.  Quite atmospheric!

Had to buy bread at Boudin's on Fisherman's Wharf.  Pier 39 is a madhouse (as is Boudin's), but the bread is pretty tasty.

One of my favorite places in San Francisco is Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.  It's quite a climb, but there are more amazing views. 

And more WPA murals, which as you can probably tell I think are really cool.

Day four: shopping!  First on Haight-Ashbury, which has loads of unusual and cool shops (not to mention some delicious hole-in-the-wall sorts of restaurants).

And then later in the madness that is Union Square (and the streets surrounding it).

As you can see the weather was mostly gorgeous.  If the days began overcast and foggy, it soon all burned off.  The first couple of days were on the cooler side, but the weekend was perfect.  Sunny, blue skies and warm.

I am ready to go back!  San Francisco is a walker's dream (even those hills, which I see as good challenges). 

Today the highlights of my sunny holiday.  Tomorrow the bookish side of my adventures!

(A side note: I think I am finally back up and running with my home internet connection--some sort of problem outside my house that I hope has now been fixed).  I have lots of catching up to do and hope to make some good progress this weekend.  As always I thoroughly enjoy your comments and will reply to them soon.)

Am Back . . . in Body if Not in Spirit . . .

Yes, I am back.  Sort of.  I mentioned earlier that I was having connectivity issues with my internet at home?  Well, it's gone completely kerflooey.  My problems began in earnest at the beginning of the month and I quickly asked my internet provider if a technician could come to my home to set things to right, but they wanted to continue to troubleshoot via phone.  Not good customer service if you ask me (to ignore a long-time customer's request).  And now several phone calls later, guess what they are finally going to do?  Yes, someone is going to come out tomorrow to hopefully fix the problem (still as yet undiagnosed).  My frustration levels were high yesterday, which is a pity since I just came home from a really great break!  Now I have to take yet more time off from work.  I'm not very pleased with my ISP to say the least. 

So, all problems aside, I am really looking forward to getting back to bookishness.  I had a really wonderful time in San Francisco and am sad to come back to reality.  But if I must, I'm happy to be coming back to a stack of books (which I will share with you as soon as I can).  I have lots of bookish news.  I spent far too much money (spend in haste and repent at leisure?).  I bought loads of books and a few other miscellaneous items.  Visited lots of cool spots.  Took masses of photographs.  Ate many excellent meals and a fair few number of sweet things.  DId lots of walking, too, to help use up those calories.  The one thing I (sadly) did very little of, is read.  I wanted to, but with so many distractions it was really hard to concentrate.  Happily, too, I even came home to a stack of book-shaped parcels.  Some planned and an few surprises, too.  I will be sharing them soon.

Many thanks for the comments left while I was away.  I will reply as soon as I can.  You have been busy  out there, I see.  I have had a look at my feed reader and see lots of things of interest to read later.  I have lots of catching up to do.  I sort of like having little breaks from being online, but I hate to say I am very dependent on the web and after a few days away begin to notice a serious disconnect with my friends and favorite places online. 

Back to bookishness soon.  So, what have you been up to?  Read any good books lately? :)

San Francisco Bound

I'm San Francisco bound.  One of the first stops will be the ocean.  I can't wait to hear the crashing of the waves and looking out over the endless expanse of water!  The idea sends tingles up my spine!  The weather is forecast to be in the 70s during the day and mid-50s at night (21/12.7C) and partly cloudy.  Sunday should be the best of the days--a little warmer and clear blue skies.   

The books that have found their way into my backpack are Herman Wouk's Marjorie Morningstar,  Mary Stewart's Madam, Will You Talk?, and Elizabeth Bowen's The Heat of the Day, though it is entirely possible another book might end up stowing away! 

Hopefully there will be lots of good food, relaxing afternoons (spent walking the beach, or visiting museums, or maybe even shopping) and some good adventures.  I'll tell you all about them when I return next Tuesday.

Have a great week everyone!

San Francisco: Last Minute Advice?

Really last minute!  I have just discovered that one of the places I was planning on visiting on my first day in San Francisco has been affected by the government close down (I already knew about Alcatraz . . . sigh . . . will be getting a refund on my already purchased tickets).  I was so very looking forward to going once again to the beautiful Cliff House and eating in the restaurant there--overlooking the ocean.  The photo above is one that I took when I was there last year!  Alas, that plan is now ruined, too. 

I am determined to have a good time and find new places to fall in love with and have new adventures.  I am going to be doing some last minute searching, but if anyone out there has been to San Francisco or lives there and can recommend a nice place on the ocean to eat and enjoy the view, could you please leave the information in the comments?  If all else fails I have been told there are many great restaurants on the Bay side, so I'll be looking there as well.  Suggestions would be much appreciated. 

I am hoping that my other plans--visiting museums and such will not be affected as well.  I am sure I will still have a great time, but must admit this is all very disappointing.  For me this is all just a minor inconvenience, however, but my heart especially goes out to those who are really hurting from this craziness.

Vacation Reading, version 1.0

Two weeks from now I will be away on a much needed vacation.  Since it is too soon to start packing (though daydreaming moments have been filled with list making including what to take with me . . . ), I'm daydreaming of reading possibilities instead.  I feel like my life has been filled with the same refrain over and over this year--the feeling of being continually overwhelmed, behind and out of sorts in general.  I don't expect my vacation to solve many problems, but gosh it's going to be good to get away and see a different view.  I already know it is going to be disorienting, but in a good way.  I'll have eyefuls of an entirely different place and geography and coming home to the same old house will make me 'see' how shabby and samey it all is.  Does that happen to you, too?

I keep going through mental lists of books that would be nice to read on vacation.  My only desire is to choose books that will be absorbing and entertaining.  Don't be shocked by my pile.  Truly, they aren't all going with me.  This is only the first iteration, there will be more as I see how my mood changes between now and then.  I will 'only' be taking three books with me--one for the plane ride there, one for the plane ride back and one for the days I am there.  I realize that is still extremely optimistic.  But, hey, this is vacation we're talking about.  Indulging is perfectly acceptable. 

I know I will take a Mary Stewart novel (still not entirely sure which) and I think I want a good spy story.  That leaves one more, the type as yet undecided.  A novel?  A mystery?  Maybe some nonfiction?  Hmm.  Whatever frustrations that might arise these days are being alleviated by thinking about good stories and (that new view . . . which will most certainly include ocean views.  Sigh.).

So, let's see.  Mary Stewart is a shoe in.  Right now am leaning towards Madam Will You Talk? which has been recommended by a few of you.  It has a French setting, and I think takes place in part in Marseille.

Gregory Hall's The Dark Backward is a book I started a while back but has been relegated to the bedside pile of--I really want to read this but have too  many books started so am setting it aside temporarily.  It's a story of suspense about a woman who's husband goes missing.

I have owned a stack of books by Belva Plain for many, many, many years.  She writes (wrote?) sweeping family sagas.  One begins with Evergreen and is the first of three or four books.  This begins at the turn-of-the-century in America.  It's probably not the most practical book to take along since it is chunky with small print so I am unlikely to finish it while on vacation, but it does look pretty absorbing.

One of those Cornell Woolrich books I found over the weekend would be good.  I've pulled Deadline at Dawn from the pile, but any would do very likely.

I've heard many good things about Jane Rusbridge's, Rook, plus is sounds quite descriptive of the Sussex landscape which is very appealing at the moment.

Last year I bought Simone St. James's first book while on vacation.  It would be fun to read her second, An Inquiry into Love and Death while on vacation.  Plus there is the added benefit of it being a RIP read.

Possible spy stories include William Boyd's Waiting for Sunrise and Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth, which I suppose are not exactly traditional spy stories but both books have been picked up and perused and put down by me numerous times (of late especially the Boyd).

If I take a hardcover I will only take one and then any other books will have to be on the small size (mass market editions).  I'm very tempted by Alice McDermott's newest book, Someone.  I loved the book by her I read earlier this year and have wanted to revisit her work ever since.

Anticipation and planning and thinking about vacations is half the fun, right?  I'll need to do a little dipping into my pile (it's quite a hodgepodge, isn't it?) of books to see which "fits" my mood.  (And that will be part of the fun, too).

A Grave Talent by Laurie R. King

With mystery novels it is often a toss up which I like best (or which works best in a particular story)--the mystery, the atmosphere and setting or the characters.  Of course the best mysteries have all three elements working together to create a really compelling story.  Laurie King's A Grave Talent is an impressive first novel, and it won her an Edgar Award for her efforts.  It has all the right elements in just the right combination, which is what I've come to expect from King's writing generally and she usually knows just how to deliver. 

Although she is probably best known now for her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries, which I have been slowly reading and enjoying, she wrote five mysteries featuring Kate Martinelli, a rookie detective paired with a more seasoned cop.  Although I've had this first book in my mystery collection for years, the timing was finally right as the setting is San Francisco, where I'll be going in just over a month now.  Mood reading I guess you might call this.  And it certainly did put me in the mood!

When the bodies of several children are discovered in a small, closed community outside of San Francisco, the clues point in the direction of the residents whose homes cluster loosely around an area known as Tyler's Road.  California and certainly San Francisco is known for its diversity and open-mindedness, and the individuals who populate the neighborhood (which I visualized as less a small town than a more rustic area set in the countryside, dirt track roads with lots of natural space between dwellings) are if anything eccentrics and free thinkers.  Which of them would be capable of such atrocities?

When it comes to light that one of the residents, an artist, was convicted and served time for murdering a child, naturally all eyes turn in her direction.  When she's questioned about the murders, she's calm and collected and mostly resigned to the attention falling her way.  As a matter of fact the detectives are surprised by her reaction--no nervous exaggeration, only a vague amusement, but no fear, which in a woman who had spent nine years in prison was a strange thing.

It turns out that she isn't just an ordinary artist, but she's world famous, known for the barriers she's broken and the waves she's made in the art world.  Her works are admired, studied, and make the viewers uncomfortable with their raw intensity.  An artist of international renown who is driven by her talent, which is not always seen so much as a gift but as a burden.  Living under a changed name, she stays well out of the limelight and her history is not generally known by most of the other residents on Tyler's Road.

This investigation is Kate's (Casey's) first chance to prove herself as a detective, a recent promotion from the ranks, and she's paired with Alonzo (Al) Hawkins who's not terribly pleased to deal with someone with so little experience.  She's driven, however, in both her personal and professional lives.  And she's determined to keep them well separate from each other, too. 

"It was no easy job, being a police officer.  For a woman it is an impossible job, fitting into the masculine world of the station while retaining her identity as a woman.  For a woman to be a street cop she must, from the first day in police academy, create a clear picture of what is required of her, and stick to it without wavering: she must be tough but not coarse, friendly but not obsequious, unaggressive but ready without a moment's hesitation to hurl into a violent confrontation."

Al comes to have a deep respect for her work and abilities, though the two are fairly cautious around each other initially. Al has his own baggage he carries with him and Kate is determined to show no vulnerabilities keeping a hard shell around herself emotionally.  But their working styles click and the move along at a nice pace ferreting out clues and evidence, which sheds light on just who the murderer really is.  When Vaun Adams nearly dies, is it an obvious suicide due to a guilty conscious or is she being set up by someone with something awful to hide. 

This is an impressively intricate mystery with a moral underpinning to the crime and solution.  As well, Kate and Al, and Vaun for that matter are all well developed and nicely rounded characters with many layers of psychological complexities to them.  There's a lot going on in the story but it's all tightly woven together, and when you finish reading you really feel as though you've been somewhere, if that makes any sense at all.  I like Kate, she's an interesting character and one I can see who has the potential to grow and flower. 

And yes, the setting.  While most of the action takes place outside of San Francisco, there are just enough references to set the scene and set the tone.  There is also a marvelous chapter that takes place on the island of Alcatraz, which I visited last year (and am planning on returning to in October) and King perfectly captures the mood of the place.  What better than to move the story along (and this is one that takes its time to build but then picks up the pace and the momentum at the end takes over) by setting climactic scenes on an Alcatraz which saw so many incarcerated.  Very atmospheric indeed.

I've got To Play the Fool on my reading pile and the question is only whether to read it now in anticipation or save it for when I am in San Francisco.  This second mystery is set in Golden Gate Park.  I'm happy to see that the first book is being reissued with a new jacket design (much nicer and more fitting) early next year.  It's only a pity that there are only five books in the series, but I've got lots still to explore and then there is always Mary Russell, who I (as fictional characters go) very much admire.  I'm also waiting for The Bones of Paris to be released next month, which is set in Paris in 1929.  I'm ot sure if it is a standalone or the first in a new series, but I am already in line for it at the library. 

A Thursday Mishmash of Things

Guess where I might be going later this year?  I had all but written off taking a (proper-go-away-somewhere-exciting) vacation this year, but things are sort of falling together.  I might be going to lovely San Francisco in October.  I am still in the thinking/planning/fantasizing mode but as I am looking into accommodations I guess you could say I am closer to being sure about it all than unsure.  I loved (no really, really loved) San Francisco when I went last year.  If I could afford to live there I would happily pack my bags and go.  Alas, I can barely afford a short stay there (which this will be--but better than nothing), so a mini-vacation is still very welcome.

So this post is going to be on the abbreviated side, since I can't concentrate enough to write a proper book post.  I do have all sorts of bookish bits to share still (when can I not talk about books?).

Since I am most likely going to San Francisco, I'll be reprising my reading list from last year. Hopefully I'll get to read more than I did than last summer.  Reading about a place is (almost) as good as going there. I've already decided I need to read Dashiell Hammett who lived in the city and set his stories there.  Not sure what else will pique my reading curiosity, but I'm on the lookout for some good, atmospheric stories.  If you have any suggestions they would be most welcome.

I'm down to the last forty pages of Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room, which I hope to finish tonight (as I come down off my vacation-planning high).  I'm not sure I have a good handle on what I've read so will be pondering it for a few days before trying to write about it (and will go in search of a little criticism).  Guidance is always welcome with writers like Woolf, though I am so glad I have finally had a chance to read her again.  After reading Renate Adler, I was thinking that Virginia Woolf would be a cakewalk, but now I am not so sure.

Not to be thinking ahead, but thinking ahead--I have several new novellas to choose from when I finish the Woolf novel.  I am leaning towards Jane Austen's Lady Susan, which I think I read a number of years ago (epistolary novel I seem to remember?).  All of a sudden I am having this overwhelming desire to read classics.  My eyes begin glazing over when I turn to my rather massive pile (they get the top shelf of a small bookcase in my bedroom) of unread classics.  Oh the anticipation.  I've done a poor job the last few years of classics-reading.  Not that this year will be much of an improvement considering the year is swiftly approaching the halfway mark. 

I've been reading Barbara Pym's Crampton Hodnet, which I think I am going to try and race to the finish before the end of the month (sheesh, just one more day?  that may be wishful thinking).  You know, I am really, really enjoying it.  It  makes me wonder why I waited so long to read another Pym novel (after her most excellent Excellent Women).  The novel was published posthumously but was the first novel she wrote, and it seems I saw somewhere that it is listed as juvenilia?  Interesting.  So far it seems like it is in firm Pym territory--there is an elderly spinster, her companion, a handsome vicar who is trying to avoid romantic entanglements, a possible love affair between a young woman and an Oxford student, the young woman's parents are long-married--her mother having given up helping her husband with his book--for fear he will finish it!  All totally delightful!

I have finally decided on a beach read.  It won't be my sole beach read, but it is the first and a good one I've chosen, too.  Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun.  I read it years ago, though I couldn't for the life of me find my copy so had to go off and buy a new one.  I have seen the film adaptation with Peter Ustinov numerous times, too.  The film doesn't quite follow the book, but that's okay.  I liked them both.  I remember who the perpetrator is, so it won't be a surprise, but instead I will concentrate on "how" Christie pulls her story off and simply the pleasure of island life--all the little details, which I so enjoy in an Agatha Christie novel.  It's a Hercule Poirot story by the way.  Though I have been reading the Miss Marple's in order they were written, I have no qualms about reading the Poirot's in a haphazard fashion.  This reminds me I need to pick up another Miss Marple soon.  I love vintage crime novels.  They just hit the spot. 

One more find to share.  I can't remember where I came across Constellation of Genius: 1922: Modernism Year One by Kevin Jackson, but it is a promising looking book.  I just brought it home from the library, though I had to request it specially from interlibrary loan.  It's a diary of sorts.  It goes  month by month through the year 1922.

"Ezra Pound referred to 1922 as Year One of a new era. It was the year that began with the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses and ended with the publication of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land: respectively, the most influential English-language novel and poem of the century. To this day, these two works remain the titanic figures of modern literature—some would say, of modernity itself. And it was the indefatigable Pound who played a significant part in the launch of both writers’ careers."

"In Constellation of Genius, Kevin Jackson puts the accomplishments of Joyce and Eliot in the context of the world in which their works first appeared. We see the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the end of Dada, and the death of Proust. Meanwhile, Hollywood transformed the nature of fame, making Charlie Chaplin the most recognizable man on the planet. Hitchcock directed his first feature, Kandinsky and Klee joined the Bauhaus, and Louis Armstrong took the train from New Orleans to Chicago, heralding the start of modern jazz."

I've not read Joyce or Eliot (or Pound for that matter), but Virginia Woolf published Jacob's Room in 1922.  How fitting is that?  Doesn't the book sound good?  Rather hefty but a fun way to get a taste of the world in 1922.

I'm actually reading lots of other really good books, too, but I think I'll save talking about them for another day.  See, even without being able to concentrate I can yammer on about books!

San Francisco: Holiday Highlights, Part 2

Ready for part two?  Just a few more photos, I promise.  It's nice to have them to bring back fond memories of my time in San Francisco.  This is the Bay side of the city.  It was pretty brisk there--around 55-60F (12.7-15.5C) while I was there, which is about ten degrees cooler than normal according to the weather forecast.  Most days were pretty sunny, but a couple were foggy and overcast (some days clearing in the afternoon and some days not).  The view is from Fisherman's Wharf looking out at the Bay Bridge.  I could never tire of a view like this!  (You can click on the photos to enlarge them for a better look).

Outside the city, however, it was sunny and warm--around 80F (26.6C).  We spent a day in Napa Valley visiting four different wineries.  This is the V. Sattui Winery.  It is very beautiful in the valley, but again my photos don't do the view justice.  V. Sattui, by the way, had the most delicious deli! 

There were acres and acres of grapes growing all over the valley.  It was interesting learning about how wine is made and the differences between the varieties.  The drive up was beautiful and felt very European at times!

Muir Woods was really amazing.  It was another highlight of my time in California.  I have always wanted to see the Redwoods, and while there are even larger and older trees than these, I found Muir to be pretty spectacular. 

We didn't have a car, so we went on a small tour with a Sierra guide, Tom Martell.  He only takes six people into the park at a time.  We arrived early, just as the park was opening and well in advance of the crowds.  We went on a hike through part of the park, off the beaten track by the way, that lasted nearly three hours.  It was a great experience.  We saw very few tourists as we were walking through the forest.  It was only at the end when we got back on the main trails that the crowds began to materialize.  It was a really great experience--such peacefulness there. 

And then back to the hustle and bustle of the city.  I loved Chinatown, which is such a unique and busy place.  We ate dim sum, which was a new experience for me (and a tasty one, too).  Have you had it before?  Waitresses push around these carts of bite-sized portions of traditional Chinese food.  You point to the things you want to try.  I'm not entirely sure what I ate, but one of my favorites was red bean paste sesame balls.   

Of course we had to check out the famous Painted Ladies.  They sit right across from a lovely little park.  Imagine living in one of those! 

We did a little window shopping in the downtown area around Union Square, where they seemed to have every store imaginable (including Ghirardelli--had to bring back chocolates for my coworkers...and maybe save back a square or two of chocolate for myself).

You already saw my bookish finds from City Lights Books.  It sits in a really cool area called North Beach, where we spent lots of time walking and eating (great restaurants there).

Our last night was spent at Alcatraz, where there is yet another stunning view of the San Francisco skyline.  It's an interesting place to visit, but I wouldn't want to be left on the Island alone at night!  The birds that live there (do you see the little guy sitting on the wall?) are all protected as this is a bird sanctuary--they greeted us loudly as we disembarked from the ferry.

All in all this was a great vacation.  I saw and did lots.  Ate lots of great meals, and visited some very cool places (and I didn't even get around to telling you about the museums!).  I can't wait to go back.  For my next trip, however, I'm thinking of traveling to the east coast for something a little different.  Now it's back to saving.

And tomorrow it's back to the books! Thanks for letting me share my vacation--it's nice to let it linger in mind for a while.