When I first started reviewing for Booklist I went through a period with my editor, Donna Seaman (read her book!) where we got to know each other through books. In the early couple of months Donna would send me a book or two that they needed reviewed right away and also ask me some questions about myself. I told her about my college, the kind of things I studied, and that I had a degree in Northern Studies, which is pretty unusual. Slowly, I began to receive cold themed books as I clearly had a background in that sort of thing. But even while I liked them, Donna warned me that sooner or later a book or two would arrive that was so perfect for me it would be scary. I didn't believe her at first but sure enough, that's what has ended up happening.
The first wicked weird book was The Ice Museum, a nonfiction book about the author's search for the actual location of the mythical land of Thule. I never learned much about Thule in school but my father was stationed there in the USAF in the 1950s and it had a huge impact on his life. (He fell out of airplane on takeoff and landed on a snowbank - try to top that story at parties!) I grew up on stories of Thule, photos of Thule and have in my office right now a picture of "Our Lady of Thule". To say I was thrilled with this book is an understatement and thankfully, it ended up being a cakewalk to review. I liked it so much that after reviewing it for Booklist I included it in an essay on Arctic books for Eclectica. And then I started getting a bit more wary about what comes my way from Donna.
A few months went by with some fun books, some horrible books (that went unreviewed as per Booklist's recommend only standard) and then Ending in Ice: The Revolutionary Idea and Tragic Expedition of Alfred Wegner showed up. I never heard of Wegner but the fact that died in Greenland on a scientific expedition was enough to get me interested. I freaked while reading the first few chapters though. It turns out Wegner came up with the one continent idea and thus the concept of continental drift - he's the guy who said all the continents were once joined and broke apart due to natural forces. (And the whole idea isn't even 100 years old btw.) The wild part for me was that Wegner was the guy who coined the name Pangaea for that one continent. And literally, while I was reading that part of the book, my 4 year old was engaged in a heavy conversation with his father about Pangaea and the dinosaurs. Turns out one of his dinosaur DVDs from the BBC is all about when Pangaea was the only continent. I'm reading about Wegner's struggle to convince geologists that he's right while listening to my son talk about his discovery.
Surreal does not even begin to explain the experience.
Ending in Ice is another well written science book (especially the parts in Greenland) and after very happily reviewing it for Booklist, I'm hoping to include it in another arctic essay early next year.
Then three books arrived today and while this was only a tiny bit weird, still, it was weird.
The last two books I read for Booklist weren't all that great. One was horrible (and not reviewed) and the other will have an audience and thus I gave it a decent review, but it wasn't a party for me to read or write about. (One of the reasons I like reviewing for Booklist is that it forces me to judge a book based on its appeal to others - it forces me to think of readers other than myself and thus makes me a better reviewer. But it's not always easy!) Donna said she was sending a treat and boy did she ever! One of the book is about Louisa May Alcott, an all time favorite writer of mine, and I can't discuss it much until my review appears in the magazine (those are the rules) but in the intro the author talks about how she had been completely absorbed in Jane Austen until a sudden shift in priorities made her think about American authors.
But wait - Jane Austen. Just yesterday I wrote about a wonderful YA book about Jane Austen, First Impressions. I also just watched Pride & Prejudice. Life has been quite Austeny around here lately in fact just as it was for my new author. And then now it is very Alcotty. Funny how that happened, don't you think?
Sometimes I think that books land in our hands because of the book gods or book fairies or divine book providence. I remember my friend Lisa Hoff handing me a copy of A Wrinkle in Time while we were standing in our elementary school library way back in the 1970s. She loved it and thought I might too. It has turned out to be one of the most significant books in my life and I've often wondered if the book meant anything to her at all or just passed through her on the way to me. (Just saw Lisa at my high school reunion - she ended up our senior class president and is as wonderful as ever.) What makes certain books come our way? And because I read these "perfect" books - with a higher sense of urgency perhaps then another reviewer - will my reviews thus be stronger and more favorable? The Ice Museum ended up with a starred review by me in Booklist and that had to help the book's sales a bit among libraries. So does the author's life change a bit now just because her book found me?
Is there a master book plan in all of this?
Back to One Kingdom and Caddy Ever After. Tomorrow, the long overdue 75 Books for May.
