The Blood Doctor

What better to read over the Christmas holidays than one of Barbara Vine's Victorian flavoured novels? This is a book about blood, history and genetics. Martin Nanther, an hereditary peer in the British House of Lords, embarks on writng a biography of his great-grandfather, Dr. Henry Nanther, an expert in blood diseases and a consultant to Queen Victoria. He is also facing the passage of a bill which will end his and other hereditary peers' entitlement to a seat in the House and the prestige that accompanies it. His second wife, Jude, is facing severe challenges in her attempts to conceive. Martin is conflicted about the loss of his inherited peerage and about the possibility of parenthood.
This is a great read although I had to flip back to the family tree at the . I learned a lot about British parliament, hemophilia and the royal family in the time of Queen Victoria. I feel obliged to say, though, that I found the denouement to be a bit of a letdown.

Pictures of Writers

Pictures of Writers
via presurfer

The year in books quiz

Some of these were a tad too British centric for me. Who knows squat about UK supermarkets? Not I.

Guardian Unlimited Books:

"It's been a busy year in books, and not all of it revolving around JK Rowling, believe it or not. Were you paying attention, or wasting your time reading? Take the definitive test and find out"

Auggie Wren's Christmas Story

Paul Auster's Auggie Wren's Christmas Story
courtesy of Christmas Magazine

On this day in Literary History

Great Stories, People, Books & Events in Literary History:
"On this day in 1848 Emily Bronte died at the age of thirty. Of all the death and drama in the Bronte household over the surrounding eight months -- events which now stand as famous and poignant as any in the Bronte novels -- none seems to impress or import more than Emily's."

Twilight of the Books:

I know this is true and it saddens me:

In 1937, twenty-nine per cent of American adults told the pollster George Gallup that they were reading a book. In 1955, only seventeen per cent said they were. Read more at A Critic at Large

The Optimists

Clem Glass, the central character of The Optimists, is a photojournalist who has recently returned home from an assignment in Africa, I guess it's Rwanda, where he witnessed the aftermath of unspeakable atrocities. He discovers that his sister is in the midst of a psychiatric crisis. He opts to care for her when she is released from hospital although the two have not been close in recent years and he is a bit of a basket case himself. Andrew Miller does families well as I discovered in his earlier novel, Oxygen, and I really enjoyed the passages dealing with Clem's extended family. They are an endearingly interesting clan. Both Clem and Clare are suffering from awful fears, hers are psychiatric in nature but Clem understands that they are every bit as terrifying as the nightmare he is living with.
He visits a colleague, Silverman, who has retreated to Toronto and is trying to work things through and to make the world a better place by operating a soup kitchen for refugees. Clem wants to confront the architect of the genocide; he eventually does but gains nothing through the interaction - not satisfaction, not relief of the anguish he endures, certainly not revenge. He's left feeling even more impotent and, I think, guilty. He takes responsibility for a crime he did not commit, hoping for the punishment he feels he deserves for not being able to prevent the slaughter.
Clem doesn't find any easy answers to his dilemma but he is a good man and a moral one and the reader can only hope that he is able to continue living having looked absolute evil in the eye.

Literary map of Manhattan

Via Grow a Brain

Gift ideas for the foodie on your list,

Slate Magazine asked notable food writers, chefs, cookbook bookstore owners, and food editors to share their current favorites—offbeat cookbooks they've loved for ages, or gems they've discovered among the hundreds published more recently. Dan Barber, Barbara Fairchild, Ming Tsai, Mimi Sheraton, Ethan Becker, and many more offer their thoughts on inspiring cookbooks and reference books that can be relied upon for great recipes and clearly explained techniques.

I have several of them in my extensive cookbook library:
River Cafe Cookbook
Zuni Cafe Cookbook
World Vegetarian
The Professional Chef

Intelligent Travel

Rolf's Very Subjective Guide to Bookstores

"In 15 years of near-constant global travel, I've found bookstores to be both a psychic sanctum and a destination in themselves in faraway places. I seek out bookstores not just to find more information on the host destination, but to take a 'time out' from that destination, and enter into a more cerebral zone. Below is a very subjective list of some of my favorite bookstore locations and destinations around the globe"

There's a certain Slant of light, - A poem by Emily Dickinson - American Poems

There's a certain Slant of light, - Emily Dickinson
There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons --
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes --

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us --
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are --

None may teach it -- Any -- '
Tis the Seal Despair --
An imperial affliction Sent us of the Air --

When it comes, the Landscape listens --
Shadows -- hold their breath --
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death --

Book Nook

Bookshelf Chair Combines Comfort, Design and Efficiency
'The Cave' bookshelf by Japanese furniture designer Sakura Adachi offers booklovers a comfortable space in which they can really become one with their reading material."\

The Wonder Spot

This book was everything I hoped it would be, as bright and funny and entertaining as protagonist Sophie Applebaum herself. I chuckled through all of The Wonder Spot and now I want to re-read Melissa Bank's first book, A Girl's Guide To Hunting and Fishing. About the only thing I remember about it is that it also made me laugh. Sophie's friendships, romantic relationships and her work situations are fraught with angst and are short-lived but her family remains there for her (at least most of the time). Those Applebaums are quite the crew and we get to see them evolve over two decades. Sophie has a wry sense of humour about her own shortcomings that is appealing; she knows she's a bit of a loser but it ain't no big thing. Is it chick-lit? In my view it's much better written and less cliched than most other examples of that genre. To put it simply, if you are looking for a witty, character-driven novel about someone you can absolutely relate to, The Wonder Spot hits the spot.

Sleuth Travel Fiction

I love to read and couldn't live without a book on the go. However when I'm traveling I can't handle anything too intellectually demanding as there are often too many distractions to contend with. Mysteries set in the locale I'm visiting are ideal. When I was in Sicily last spring I took along Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen Omnibus and enjoyed these novels immensely. Cara Black's Amy Leduc mysteries invoke the spirit of Paris, albeit the grittier corners of the City of Light - perfect for reading in a cafe or the Parc Monceau.
New York Magazine's A Guide to Sleuth Fiction is a list of books for travelers and armchair travelers alike.