Polysyllabic Spree – November 2010

Books Purchased:

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
As Always, Julia edited by Joan Reardon
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin
Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace
Carney’s House Party by Maud Hart Lovelace

Books Read:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (re-read, audio)
Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace (re-read)
Betsy in Spite of Herself by Maud Hart Lovelace (re-read)
Betsy Was a Junior by Maud Hart Lovelace (re-read)
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (re-read, audio)
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace (re-read)
As Always, Julia edited by Joan Reardon
The Trouble With Poetry by Billy Collins

November turned out to be the month of re-reading! I finished listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in November, which completed my completed “re-reading” of the series – my first time through on Audio. I absolutely adore the audio books – Jim Dale is amazing. I know I will be listening to the books many times more in the future. It was also the fourth time I’ve read HP7 in the past 4 years – once per year. I’m not sure there’s ever been a book I’ve read every year for 4 consecutive years. I’m planning on listening to it (or reading it) again before part 2 of the movie next summer, so that will be 5 times in 5 years.

After finishing the Harry Potter series on audio, I had to find new audio books to start. I tried the audio book edition of The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine. Aside from the fact that I’m not sure the book itself was for me, the narrator’s voice was sharp and sounded like a dull computer voice from phone tree answering services. I barely got through one chapter before deleting the entire audio book from my computer. Instead, I decided to listen to The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, since I want to re-read the five Thursday Next books before the new one comes out next spring. I loved the narrator, Susan Duerdan, who (appropriately) has a lovely British accent. After listening to it, I decided to try a membership to Audible.com, and my first purchase was the second Thursday Next book – Lost in a Good Book, which I’m planning on starting soon. For some reason, each book in the series is narrated by someone different. But presumably they are all British, so I think I’m likely to enjoy them all (fingers crossed).

Michelle’s review of Betsy in Spite of Herself reminded me of how cozy the Betsy-Tacy high school years books are, and made me crave a re-read of at least one of them. I started with the first one, Heaven to Betsy, and then I couldn’t stop – I re-read all four high school years books in November. They were the perfect books to read in November – very cozy, and they go so quickly, which is perfect for a busy month full of holiday activities and my family’s visit. I brought the last two Betsy books with me to Michigan for the holidays and I’m planning on reading them on my Aunt’s cozy couch on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. While eating Christmas cookies. They’ve got 3 feet of snow already and the house is full of family & Christmas cheer. It’s such a cozy picture I almost keel over with coziness just thinking about it. I’m so incredibly excited!

My family visited over Thanksgiving, and we got tickets to see Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice on Broadway. I wanted to read the play before we saw it, but I hadn’t read any Shakespeare since high school and for some reason I was a little intimidated. Fortunately, there was no need to be. With the help of the notes in the Barnes and Noble edition, I found Shakespeare to be just as readable as I did in AP English in high school. I enjoyed reading the play, but I loved seeing the performance. It was fantastic overall, but Al Pacino as Shylock was truly spectacular. It was amazing to see the words come alive on stage, and I’m very glad I read the play first. It left me craving more Shakespeare – definitely on the 2011 bucket list!

As Always, Julia is a collection of letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. We learn about their friendship and her role in publishing Mastering the Art of French Cooking in Julia’s book My Life in France and the movie of Julie and Julia, but it’s really interesting to read the letters first hand. It’s so cool to read about the book evolving, and details of their lives during the post-war era. If you’re a fan of Julia Child, this book is definitely worth reading.

I finished another Billy Collins poetry book this month too – The Trouble With Poetry. I enjoy every one of his books – in my opinion there’s no better way to end or start your day than by reading a Billy Collins poem. I got to see him read some of his poems a few weeks ago when he was a guest start on the taping of Prairie Home Companion I went to at Town Hall. He read 5 or 6 poems, and one of them was called Horoscopes for the Dead, which I’m guessing is the title poem from his new collection coming out next spring.