My Personal Canon

This is an interesting topic to noodle on. Many years ago - maybe around high school - I wrote a top ten list of my favorite books. I can't find it now but I remember it had the following books on it:

• The Once and Future King by T. H. White
• The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

About five years ago, we did a display at work called Librarian's Favorites. Each of us had to pick five children's books for said display. Mine were:

• The Wizard of Oz
• Peter Pan
• A Wrinkle in Time
• The Golden Compass
• Anne of Green Gables

My gut reaction is that books on my personal canon are books I own. I have a very slim book collection at home for a great many reasons. For a book to earn a spot on my shelves, it has to be one I read over and over. So when I started thinking of my canon, I was going to make that part of the criteria for consideration. But there are books that fall on my canon that I don't own. Yet. I have plans to buy them once I find the right edition. And there are authors who fall on my canon whose books I don't own. But I work at a library and can (usually) get them. So ultimately, owning the book is not part of the criteria. Here's what I've come up with. You'll find many similarities to the above lists.

Authors:

    These are authors who I will read essentially anything they've ever written. While I don't universally love all their stuff, nor have I read everything they've written, I do tend to enjoy their style of writing, their handling of language, and their storytelling ability. 

• Jane Austen
• Pride and Prejudice
• Persuasion
• Mansfield Park
• Northanger Abbey
• Charles Dickens
• A Tale of Two Cities
• Nicholas Nickleby
• A Christmas Carol
• Charles De Lint
• Jack the Giant Killer
• Dreams Underfoot
• Erin Morgenstern
• The Night Circus
• The Starless Sea

Trilogies/Series

• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman 
• The Golden Compass
• The Subtle Knife
• The Amber Spyglass
• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (specifically the first three books)
• Anne of Green Gables
• Anne of Avonlea
• Anne of the Island
• Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
• Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix 
• Sabriel
• Lirael
• Abhorsen

Standalones

• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - first classic I ever read
• The Once and Future King by T. H. White
• Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel by Susannah Clarke
• Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Movies Based on Books

    So, there are a few movies that have been part of my identity forever. The book versions don't do much for me. I'm grateful they exist for the movie to happen, but the movies are the more important part for me

• Mary Poppins
• Mary Poppins Returns
• The Wizard of Oz

A Room With a View by E. M. Forster

Title: A Room With a View

Author: E. M. Forster

Pages: 196

Finished: April 14, 2020

First Sentence: "The Signora had no business to do it," said Miss Bartlett, "no business at all."

Summary: Lucy and her cousin Charlotte visit Italy where they meet all manner of characters. Namely a rector named Mr. Beebe who they both know previously and who will be taking up the position at Lucy's hometown, a novelist named Miss Lavish who apparently writes terrible novels, and the Emersons, a father and son who society doesn't entirely find appropriate. Oh boy was that a run-on sentence. Anyway, while on an excursion, Lucy and George kiss and Lucy must hastily leave Florence to avoid scandal.

The second half of the book takes place back in her place at Windy Corner where she has just accepted the hand of Cecil Vyse in marriage. However, through all sorts of machinations, the Emersons end up there as well and Lucy finds herself torn between doing what is socially acceptable and following her heart.

Thoughts: For such a slim volume, this book took quite a bit of time to sort through. The main issue I had with it was, while I felt I understood the surface plot just fine, I felt I was constantly missing subtext clues. Not reading closely enough. It felt like the book was trying to say much more than I was picking up. Some of the social commentary I did understand quite nicely, but there was plenty more that just felt like, I knew Forster was making a point, but I didn't know what that point was.

Now, to be fair, this is my first ever Forster, and I'm fairly unfamiliar with Edwardian times. Also, I'm reading this in a really weird time in the life of our planet much less my own. I'm sure I could go look up notes and the like, but at 38 weeks pregnant in the middle of a pandemic... I have to admit I'm disinterested in doing that much work.

It's also important to note that my first experience with this story was watching the 1985 movie with Helena Bonham Carter as Lucy. And I seem to remember feeling much the same way, that the plot was fairly simplistic but there was much more going on that I was aware of.

Read for basically all my challenges. Let's see where it fits in...
- Beat the Backlist
- Virtual Mount To Be Read
- Classics Club List
- Reading Classic Books New To Me Author
- Back To the Classics - 20th Century Novel

Classic Club Spin #23

EDITED TO ANNOUNCE! Spin #23 is going to be Book number 6. In this case, that's Anna Karenina. Wish me luck! How'd your spin turn out?

1. Anna Karenina - dread
2. Peter Pan - neutral
3. Sanditon and Other Tales - neutral
4. Persuasion
5. Pride and Prejudice
6. Anna Karenina - dread
7. Peter Pan - neutral
8. Sanditon and Other Tales - neutral
9. Persuasion
10. Pride and Prejudice
11. Anna Karenina - dread
12. Peter Pan - neutral
13. Sanditon and Other Tales - neutral
14. Persuasion
15. Pride and Prejudice
16. Anna Karenina - dread
17. Peter Pan - neutral
18. Sanditon and Other Tales - neutral
19. Persuasion
20. Pride and Prejudice

Classic Club Spin two weeks out from my due date? Classics Club Spin when I have no access to my library other than ebooks which I hate reading? What could possibly go wrong?

So I cheated. I only kept the three books that I physically own at home and added two more classics from my shelf that I'm hoping to read this year. Then put it on repeat. And I'm going to be super forgiving of myself because new baby and preschooler at home and all the other stuff... yeah. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and read ebooks at some point, but I'm really hoping I can get through this quarantine without going that route yet.

Quarter 1 Goal Check in

Total Books Read: 9
Beat the Backlist: 6
Virtual Mount To Be Read: 6
Classics Club: 1
Austen Challenge: 1
Newford Challenge: 1
Reading Classic Books: 1
Library Love Challenge: 8
Back to the Classics: 1


Top Three for the Quarter:

1. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
2. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Thoughts:

I averaged out three books a month. Of course, I would have loved to be able to read more, but with how this year has gone so far, I feel like three a month is about right. And for the most part, I've enjoyed what I've read. In fact, it was really difficult choosing my top three for the quarter. I finally decided to go with books I'd never read before, but Austen was definitely hanging out as a top contender as well.

As for next quarter, I'm not entirely sure how things are going to go. Because of the Covid19 Pandemic, I'm working from home which means reading for work is happening from home as well. So I need to balance that out with my regular reading. I'm also going to have a baby within the next four weeks which will affect my reading a ton. Not sure how, just know that it will. And we had to put our cat down which I was not exactly expecting. I have a bunch of books I've been looking forward to, but I'm considering ignoring them all and rereading Harry Potter. I don't know. I'm just done with this whole year.

Currently I have Anna Karenina and Room With a View going at the same time. I'm also working my way through the campaign guide to Storm King's Thunder for D&D, and I have a number of ARCs on Netgalley to read for work which I'm looking forward to.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Title: The Starless Sea

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Pages: 491

Finished: March 29, 2020

First Sentence: There is a pirate in the basement.

Summary: Zachary Ezra Rawlins finds a lost book in his University Library. It's an interesting enough read, so he takes it home, only to find himself in existential crisis when one of the stories ends up being about him. How can that be? He begins to research the book and finds himself on a journey to the Starless Sea weaving in and out of stories, myths, and Time.

Thoughts: I recall reading The Night Circus while pumping in the supply closet at work 4 years ago. It had been a surreal time. The birth had been traumatic due to some serious complications. Maternity Leave was three months of unpaid time at home in the middle of summer. And then I was back at work hoping to pump out enough milk to feed my baby when I was at work. The Night Circus really fit in with the surreal feelings through all of this.

It seems fitting that I read The Starless Sea a month before my second child is born while sheltered at home during a worldwide pandemic. It's another incredibly surreal experience that I don't know how to explain. And the book was just the type of book to fit with it.

This is a book where you really have to just let it take you and trust you'll get where you're going. You think you know what's happening... but you're wrong.

This is a book about stories. About books, and libraries. About fantastical worlds and beginnings and endings. Of myths and tropes. Of language.

This book stole my breath away. It's rare for me to get in a post-book hangover, but this was one of those times. I spent my entire afternoon in a bit of a funk after finishing it.

I wish I could write more coherently about it. Perhaps I'll be able to later. But mostly, this is a book that I know will have to be read again (as will the Night Circus) and digested.

Counts for challenges Beat the Backlist, Virtual Mount to be Read, and Library Love

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Pages: 241

Finished: March 9, 2020

First Sentence: No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine.

Summary: Young Catherine Morland gets a chance to travel to Bath with her neighbors the Allens. There she meets all sorts of people including the greedy, false Thorpes as well as the good, gentile Tilneys. Due to a misunderstanding, General Tilney invites Catherine to visit them in Northanger Abbey where Catherine mistakes everything for one of her beloved Gothic Novels.

Thoughts: I really enjoy this novel. I know it's considered one of Austen's weakest, likely due to it being her first full written novel, but that doesn't make me like it any less. The tone of the story is incredibly light and sarcastic which is really fun.

Of course, her characters are all a little heavy handed, yet somehow they still feel quite real. I feel like every woman knows a man like John Thorpe who refuses to listen to what a lady says as he practices his designs on her, inflates her worth, and generally makes her life miserable. Still too, many women know the Isabella Thorpes who say one thing as they mean another.

I also appreciate that Catherine is one of the few heroines who really acts her age. She's 17/18 in the novel and absolutely reads as an impetuous 18 year old. She's very naive and completely taken in by those who show her early friendliness. She finds things in novels that she conflates in real life - things I KNOW I did as a child and teen. And her immediate crush on Mr. Tilney is super believable.

Mr. Tilney himself is an interesting hero. I'll admit, I feel the reason I like him so much is due to J. J. Field's portrayal of him in the 2007 film adaptation. Still, he's kid and attentive. I like the aspect of him being more flattered of her attentions which then turn into a real regard.

Definitely a fan and this still ranks high in my esteem.

Northanger Abbey Counts for the following challenges: Beat the Backlist, Virtual Mount To Be Read, Austen Challenge, and Back to the Classics (Classic with a Place in the Title.)

Cribsheet by Emily Oster

Title: Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool

Author: Emily Oster

Pages: 291

Finished: February 29, 2020

First Sentence: Regardless of whether you had the childbirth you always imagined or, in the words of a colleague, "got a little panicked at the end," you will find yourself in a recovery room a few hours later.

Summary: Economist Emily Oster takes a look at data for common questions about raising infants and toddlers. She explains what makes a good study, and shows how the data supports some basic conclusions, even when those conclusions go against common practices.

Thoughts: My spouse and I are fairly relaxed parents. That being said, with baby 2 only nine weeks out, my brain is starting to work in overdrive and I just needed some reassurance on decisions we are making.

I really liked this book. With our first child, I fell hard into the attachment parenting, no cry ever sleep methods etc. Here's the thing, I like most of how we raised our first kid, but I won't deny there was a level of stress. I think we calmed down somewhat over the first year, but now I find myself thinking, "Am I going to harm my second child if I put her down for five minutes to spend some time by herself at 4 months old?"

Oster looked at as many studies, surveys, and other information gathering resources for various things like benefits of breastfeeding, sleep training, day-care vs stay-at-home mom, etc. And the data overwhelmingly shows for just about everything you likely won't harm your child provided you're making the best choice for your family.

Take breastfeeding - one of the biggest mommy war fights. There's a huge campaign for breast is best. Woman are shamed for formula feeding. Yet the data shows there's really only a short term benefit for kids and not nearly as huge as the breastfeeding community claims. I breastfed my first and I plan on breasfeeding my second because, for me, it was ultimately more convenient. But it was really nice to see that if I do need to formula feed my child, I'm not going to cause harm.

The only exception to this whatever you choose likely won't harm your child was the chapter on vaccines. The evidence is overwhelming that vaccines work, vaccines are safe, and you should vaccinate your child.

My favorite part of the entire book, however, was the passage on illnesses. Perhaps it's because we just went through the cold from hell that took out the entire family. But I will quote the entire passage here because it's just too god to not share. I read it out loud to my partner, and we laughed so hard, our cold ridden bodies had long coughing fits.

As the parent of a young child, you will spend the period from October to April drowning in a lake of snot. To many of us, it may seem that our child has a cold, or possibly some other illness, literally all the time. If you have two children or, god forbid, more than two, the winter months are a haze of repeated illnesses: you, kid 1, kid 2, your partner, back to kid 2, now kid 1 again. Usually there's a dose of stomach flu somewhere in the middle (you all get that, obviously). 

This can naturally leave you wondering, Is this normal? Is everyone else spending their life savings on tissues with lotion, too?

Basically, yes.

Kids younger than school age get an average of six to eight colds a year, most of them between September and April. This works out to about one a month. These colds last on average fourteen days. A month is thirty days. So in the winter, on average, your kid will have a cold 50 percent of the time. On top of this, most kids end their cold with a cough that can last additional weeks. It adds up.

Part of me wants to say this book is a must read, if for no other reason than it will hopefully help end the mommy wars. Seriously moms! Can we stop being so freaking judgmental of each other? It's also really helpful in relieving some anxiety. For example, we were an absolute no cry sleep family for my first, and it was exhausting. From what I'm reading here, sleep training does not actually harm your child, and it does help prevent things like depression, or other sleep deprived mood issues which make things better for everyone. The author is funny. the book is a quick read.

That being said, a lot of it is common sense. By the time you have your second kid, you've likely figured a lot of this out for yourself. It's worth noting, she has another book called Expecting Better for during pregnancy. I've not read it, nor do I plan to ever be pregnant again, but it sounds like it could be worth checking out.

Counts for the Library Love challenge.