Two Book Tuesdays

     It occurred to me earlier this week that I have become quite lax in my literary endeavors. I can recall my years in high school when I still managed to read a full book (not a play, mind you), often in addition to those required by JC Smith's English curriculum. I have disappointed myself of late. With work, auditions, grad school applications, and the like I have found ample excuses to leave the books on the shelves, opting for a sitcom rerun on Netflix or a flip through the glossy pages of a magazine instead. And yet I miss devouring a good book, creasing the binding for the first time, dog-earring the page to keep my place, writing in the margin if I find a phrase amusing or interesting.
     In an attempt to inspire a good read, I will keep up with Oprah's book club, the NYTimes latest reviews, and suggestions from friends or the lovely folks at my local bookshop.
     Earlier today, NPR featured a segment called "Three Books". Today's, a special for Valentine's Day, featured books for the lonely hearts out there - those of us tired of the sappy love stories in which boy and girl meet, fall madly in love, and live happily ever after. Exeunt the betrothed! Enter the independent!
     And so, with a tip of my hat to NPR All Things Considered, here's to Two Book Tuesdays. The rules: the first book will be one I have finished (either a favorite from years ago or one more recently completed) while the second will be one I have only just picked up (either that I've stumbled upon in a bookshop or one I am reading on the Metro, the Northeast Regional, or in the late hours as my head struggles to hit the pillow).

The Giver Lois Lowry
I have to say this is one of my favorite books of all time, and so is an appropriate first book for this post series. I first picked this up in 5th grade, assigned reading for Mr. Stankiewicz, and have been absolutely in love ever since. Winner of a 1994 Newbury Medal, The Giver follows a twelve year old boy names Jonas through his coming of age, of sorts, in a dystopian society. The book presents the profound notion that with great knowledge comes great power but also great responsibility. Though I certainly did not appreciate the finer nuances of this quick read in 5th grade, I have reread The Giver several times since and have found new ideas in it every time. It was particularly interesting to read in my freshman year of college alongside Foucault and Marx essays. 


Up In The Old Hotel Joseph Mitchell
I picked this one up earlier today in a secondhand bookshop near DuPont Circle. Here's what the back cover says:
"Saloon-keepers and street preachers, gypsies, and steel-walking Mohawks, a bearded lady and a 93-year-old 'seafoodetarian' who believes his specialized diet will keep him alive another tow decades. These are among the people that Joseph Mitchell immortalized in his reportage for The New Yorker and in four books...that are still renowned for their precise, respectful observations, their graveyard humor, and their offhand perfection of style. Now some thirty years later, these masterpieces (along with several previously uncollected stories) are available in one volume, which presents an indelible collective portrait of an unsuspected New York and its odder citizens - as depicted by one of the great writers of the or any other time."
High praise, no? I am definitely looking forward to cracking this one open later tonight. I'm fascinated of late by literary, performative, or visual portraits of real people. I suppose its the anthropologist in me breaking through after almost a year's hiatus from formal, thorough cultural study. Whatever the case, I will be sure to give a thoughtful review of the stories in Up In The Old Hotel very soon.

** And, yes, I do know this was posted on a Wednesday. I did, however, originally write it yesterday during my very quiet shift at the restaurant.