Nicknames

The book I started last night begins with a character calling her best friend by a series of nicknames -- ZanaBanana, Prescription Xanax, Alexander Zamilton. Zanny Boy. The Zan names go on.

While we do it less frequently now, a friend and I used to start and end every email correspondence with what I will call the incorporative nickname. I would sometimes delay responses while I looked for the perfect fit, and I'd stash away good ones when I came across them. So the fact that these were on Page 1 was a good open for this book, (from the box of books!), which I enjoyed.

Also, in the reviews, there was a comment thread about how someone almost burned down a house after trying to dry a shirt in the oven, and that made me laugh, too.

Box o' books

A friend told me to look out for a package Monday, so I was super excited when there was something in the mailbox Saturday. (It was my office, sending a plastic doohickey for pressing buttons. Perhaps useful, but not the package I was waiting for.)

Yesterday, there it was: a box of books! Three of them! All sweet-looking YA, with a lovely note.

It was so kind and thoughtful and I can't wait to dig in.

Book exchange

I've been in the same book club for nearly a decade, and one of the highlights is the twice-annual white elephant book exchange where people steal and steal and steal books and it takes forever to know what you're going home with.

That's hard in a pandemic.

While we've been able to keep having meetings on Zoom, the exchange was a different story. But tonight, we figured it out! And so if all goes to plan, I should be getting a book in the mail in the not-too-distant future.

That's pretty wonderful, as are the successes in normalcy, such as it is now.

Mail

I haven't checked the mail (or, uh, been outside) since the weekend, so I thought it would be nice to take a quick jaunt to the mailbox. (It turns out it's hot as blazes out there -- even after 10 p.m.) It was heartening that my one piece of mail -- just one! -- was a handwritten letter. I'm glad I went to look.

But now I can probably give it a few days again.

Virtual bookshelves

I just watched an author talk on Zoom with Curtis Sittenfeld and Roxane Gay (both of whom I adore). And like Curtis, I am in love with Roxane Gay's full-wall, wraparound, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

So I was so excited when they started to talk about them! And then wonderfully amused when Roxane admitted that they were a virtual background... of another room in her house. With a window photoshopped in.

How amazing is that?

Also, she's building a Little Free Library in her front yard to put the galleys of all the books she's sent, and if I didn't want to be neighbors before, I definitely do, now.

Tayari Jones

I went to an online discussion with the author Tayari Jones tonight. I'd heard her speak before in person, and she was so thoughtful and funny. I expected that today, and got it -- but got another surprise, too, when she shouted out a coworker in response to a question.

So I got to send my coworker a note to tell her she'd made the bigtime, which made her laugh. It feels good to spread happiness, especially this week, which is hard for so many.

Plus, if you haven't read An American Marriage, it's a great time to do it. It's a nuanced, thoughtful story.

I am so looking forward

To spending a little time before bed reading a book.

Check's in the mail

It never hurts to get an envelope of money, does it? This one come from FPS evaluations, even though it took me forever to send in my tax forms. Hooray for being a little richer, especially since the normal gig that would have started this weekend is taking the year off.

Reading

I'm a library kind of gal, and I've been a little thrown by the inability to check out books. True, there's Overdrive and electronic options, but without an e-reader, it seems like a lot -- to try to read a whole book on my phone.

So I'm trying something new -- audiobooks. So far, it's been really neat to hear the tone and voices change. I don't know that I'm processing as well as I would if I were reading... but I'm trying something new. And that's never a bad thing.

Home Fire

I just really loved this month's book club book, Home Fire. It was elegantly written and thoughtful and interesting and really just a joy to read and discuss. Even more amazing because it deals with serious topics and issues, which is not where my brain has wanted to go during this pandemic. But it was gorgeous. I'd highly recommend it.

Favorite teachers

I came across the name of one of my favorite teachers today -- he's on the board of an organization I get emails from (apparently). While normally the names of the board members aren't part of the correspondence, there was something about the latest COVID-19 update that got a list of names at the bottom.

I texted a friend who'd also had him, and she told me she'd been thinking about him yesterday, for unrelated reasons. It was nice to have that moment of connection.

And it made me think about the on-a-piece-of-paper lectures he'd hand out for us to read, and the one time they came with cake. Plus the time he broke a desk by banging on it to wake someone up, and the story about dyeing his hair green and plenty of instances from As I Lay Dying or The Old Man and the Sea.

Book club

I've been going to the same book club (practically) every month for nine years, so it was a bummer when it looked like that whole staying-at-home thing was going to put a damper on it. But lo and behold, Zoom. We were still able to meet.

I most appreciate the thoughtful, intellectual (and often not) conversations we have about characters and choices and motivations. And especially working alone in a room, I was really glad to be part of a long, windy conversation with a bunch of smart women.

And amazingly, we (for the most part) didn't talk over each other and conversation just flowed.

Plus, a friend (who I hope also enjoyed it -- if not the book) was able to join, too, from another state. It was great to see her face and to hear her weigh in on the book, too. So I feel a little closer to her and to the group, both.

Sharing stories

I love to read, and I love talking about the things I read (and want to read). Lucky for me, a friend has been indulging my desire for book (and other!) discussions in email chains for some time now. He sent me a fabulous short story several weeks ago, and I suggested another one in return. I was thrilled to see in an email today that he liked it.

Even more thrilling is that he's working on his own writing -- and asked me to read it. I'm so stoked to eventually see what he's been working on and really honored to have been asked. (I may have responded in all caps. I won't tell if you don't.)

The best kind of petty

A friend was lamenting that her boss is making people write up short bios for daily updates that are getting sent out. They include hobbies, something the employee is grateful for and an inspiring read.

While well-meaning, my friend reports that it's actually awkward and inauthentic.

One of her coworkers, similarly frustrated with the edict, decided to troll the boss with her book pick.

She thought about Lolita. 50 Shades of Gray. The Bible. But her ultimate pick of A Little Life was so much better than all of those.

If you haven't read it, A Little Life -- which sounds like it could be an inspiring read! -- is pretty much the darkest book I've ever read. It's absolutely gorgeous, with wonderful statements about friendship and how people grow. (Like, so good that I took pictures of paragraphs and sent them to people!)

It's also absolutely gutting, and not in a Nicholas Sparks kind of way. It's an inspired choice.

But please don't read it to feel better about anything. Unless other people's (fictional) misery somehow makes you happier.

Letters

Well, now. This blog started in the depths of the Recession, then has gotten precious little use in the subsequent years. But global pandemic and the anxiety that comes with it seems like a pretty good time to dust it off and find those things to smile about again -- no?

I can at least try to be more active here.

On day eight of working from home and day seven of not leaving the house (and if we're being honest, before that) I started to think about Billy Pilgrim, and how he came unstuck in time. I wrote an essay on that book (it was bad) and in trying to find it, I pulled out a box of letters I'd saved.

One was from a friend from high school upon my graduation, telling me about the first year of college and telling me if we didn't keep in touch, it had been nice to be friends. Luckily, we still do -- and I could send her a picture of the card so she could marvel at how neat her handwriting had once been.

I also grabbed a stack of letters from a camp friend who had become a middle school pen pal. We'd fallen out of touch in high school, but reconnected a decade later -- give or take -- when I moved back to Cleveland. I sent her some pictures, too. We may try that pen pal thing again.

It's nice not just to have the jolt of nostalgia, but also to have a reason to reach out to those friends (both of whom I'd been talking to in recent days anyway). It made me smile to see the evolution in each of them, and I hope it made them smile to see them, too.

Swearing in

I came across this tweet:
https://twitter.com/emilynussbaum/status/1082336816412454913
which asks what book one would be sworn in on, if not a religious text.

I love the variety and thoughtfulness of the answers -- from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (it says "Don't Panic" in big letters right on the cover!) to "A Tale of Two Cities" to "Everybody Poops."

Mine? "The Phantom Tollbooth." Easy.

Keys

Do you see this?

This is a tiny piece of paradise.

I spent the early part of the week in the Florida Keys on the invitation of a friend who I love to pieces, and hadn't seen in too many years. Being there made me smile, of course -- I mean, that was the back porch. Look. It's gorgeous. -- but it was the invitation that made me happiest. It's so nice to know that connections are kept, through distance and time.

We swam, and swam, and swam. We talked. We explored. We ate delicious things. And, I like to think, we refueled a friendship that I hope will last a long, long time.

Also, she shared this with me.

That's a book recommendation by Judy Blume. Who owns the bookstore. That we were standing in. (I've read the book and loved it. Judy and I are essentially BFFs now.)

We missed seeing her there, but being in her space was pretty awesome, too.

Downtown perks

My office is in the 'burbs, and though they're densely populated 'burbs, they're not very walkable. And while there are some things that can lead to grins in suburbia, you'll notice that I was a much more prolific writer when I was working downtown. (Albeit in another state.)

So a change in job duties has led me to spend more time downtown. And that's led to a couple things that I want to share with you.

First, taking public transportation to work means more time with books. And more time with books always makes me happy.

Second, I saw someone rolling a Coke machine down the street on a dolly yesterday. Just pause for a minute and imagine a vending machine walking down the road. It's a beautiful thing.

Third, I ran into two people I know on the street last week -- both in the same day, at that. One was a new friend who was also working downtown, and we'll hopefully grow closer and see each other more after running into each other. The other is my future sister in law, who was downtown to get license plates for her car.

Unless you work in the same building as someone, you're just less likely to run into them on the street in suburbia.

Books, books, books (and a bonus)

A post in three parts (and a bonus):

Today -- for the fourth time in recent memory, which is indeed a dangerous thing -- I stumbled upon Bag Day at my local library. This means that you can fill a grocery bag full of for-sale books for super cheap. In today's case, I spent $12 on two paper bags full of books. Luckily (because my shelf space is severely limited), I intend to give some of them away. I also came out with the John Green book I went in for, which was the original purpose of the library visit.

In the free book bin, I found a book of poems by Billy Collins. I was lucky enough to see him converse with Paul Simon last year, and I really loved the poems he read then. But I haven't sought out any others, despite intent. When I picked up the book, the co-worker who put it there saw my face. "It's gone to the right place," she said.

I got in the mail a book I lent out maybe two years ago. I'd forgotten just how beautiful it is. You should definitely read it. And now I have my copy back to lend again.

And! What else should come in the mail but a blue canary! For putting in the outlet by the light switch! (It's already there.) It was totally unexpected and I am super stoked!

Landline

I come to you after months of delinquency because I wanted to jump up and down with excitement at work today, and no one there understood my joy.

There's this super, fantastic, wonderful author (Rainbow Rowell) who I want to be when I grow up, and whose books I adore. (I've read two.)

We have a free book bin at work, and her latest -- which isn't in stores til July 8 -- was there. I snagged it. And now it is mine.

I'm super thrilled. So is my sister, who has devoured the two I've read and will be taking this one from me as soon as she can get her hands on it.