Category: Reading and Books

In case you were wondering, America’s Most Literate Cities are…

1. Minneapolis, Minn. 
2. Seattle, Wash.
3. St. Paul, Minn.
4. Denver, Colo.
5. Washington, D.C.
6. St. Louis, Mo.
7. San Francisco, Calif.
8. Atlanta, Ga.
9. Pittsburgh, Pa.
10. Boston, Mass.

And the cities with the most bookstores per capita are…



Bookstore Rankings:

1. Seattle, Wash. 
2. San Francisco, Calif.
3. Minneapolis, Minn.*
3. Cincinnati, Ohio*
5. St. Louis, Mo.
6. Portland, Ore.
7. Pittsburgh, Pa.
8. St. Paul, Minn.
9. Cleveland, Ohio
10. Washington, D.C.*
10. Denver, Colo.*

via Readerville.

Title: "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World"

Author: Bill Clinton

Synopsis: Former president Bill Clinton looks at the revolution in philanthropy and how each of us can participate in it.

Assessment: Clinton speaks from the privileged position of a) being able to sell a million copies of a book of his grammar school doodlings and b) being friends with many of the world’s richest philanthropists. Nonetheless his research is thorough and the availability of opportunities to do good in the world he outlines is staggering. While his tone might be a bit triumphal at times, the revolution he describes and the book embodies is plain. Philanthropy is no long the prerogative of the wealthy and the dead. We no longer hand over a blank check to an established institution but expect philanthropy to be park of an ongoing relationship. We no longer pity the unfortunate but empower them to help themselves. Volunteering counts too, as much as the large grants. And in the end, giving should be chocolate not cod liver oil.

Verdict: Uniquely inspiring. Makes me wanna volunteer my fool head off. Website has impressive list of resources too.

"Almost everyone-regardless of income, available time, age and skills-can do something useful for others and, in the process strengthen the fabric of our shared humanity"

–Bill Clinton

Heard about this one on KALW’s Artery. Ordered it from Diesel Books and will use it as a guide to explore my neighbor to the east this coming year.

Title: "Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots"

Authors: Kevin Danaher, Shannon Biggs and Jason Mark

Synopsis: Title says it all. Why the growth of a green economy is cause for celebration. I heard about it on Your Call Radio.

Assessment: This book is a Bay Area publication so, I say with all do self-deprecation, it tends to pound a little to hard on straw houses (do we really need a smackdown of antebellum slavery practices?). But the 99% has exactly the right attitude. More citizens than ever feel empowered to shape their own destinies, that of their families, neighborhoods and world, in a mode that promotes sustainability, understanding and human potential. And it doesn’t, as we have spent every moment since the end of World War II thinking, have to be yoked to being angry, bitter and broke. There is a future in making money, doing right by each other and the earth, and living in abundance rather than scarcity. If you can’t get inspired by that message, I can’t help you. If you can, read this book immediately.

Verdict: If the words "Green Economy" get you all fluttery, get this book now.

My friend, the awesome science fiction writer Kelley Eskridge, has redeisgned her author site and the results are superb. Crisp, clear, intuitive and representative of her work.

Fellow authors, take note. This is how it’s supposed to be done.

Happy Birthdays to Tracy Kidder, Wallace Shawn and Roland Barthes (via The Writer’s Almanac).

One of the most brilliant articles I’ve read on our reading future in quite a long time.

The technology boosters think of themselves as saviors of a hopelessly
backward humanity, while grim-jawed Luddites are bracing themselves for
an apocalyptic cultural collapse involving “the death of literature”
rather than simply the death of print’s dominance. Both camps in the
Print Wars rely on a similar and false sense of crisis. Human beings
crave and adore absorption in narrative. The delivery mechanism for
thinking entertainment can be pressed into clay, carved in stone,
repeated from memory around a fire, incised on scrolls, illuminated,
printed, typed, Xeroxed, acted out, filmed, animated, YouTubed, Second
Lived, IMed, blogged, or beamed from Earth to Mars and back again on
handheld screens. The problem for short fiction is that novels grab
what’s left over after the movies, cable, and online media.

Yes, yes and more yes. Much to think about as I prepare for an upcoming presentation. Also, who is J.M. Tyree and can I be his new best friend?

Title: "Forgive Me"

Author: Amanda Eyre Ward

Synopsis: A journalist returns to South Africa, where she first worked as a younger woman, to investigate the truth and reconciliation hearing of an American murdered by a mob during the anti-apartheid protests of the 1980s.

Backstory: Amanda is a friend. Her first two novels are favorites of mine.

Verdict: Like everything Amanda touches, this book is beautifully written and breezy to read without feeling trite. Bizarrely though, I found the narrative confusing and disjointed. I didn’t quite get why I should care about which character and got lost more than once in the flashbacks/forwards. I’m a little dense when it comes to these things so it might be entirely my own fault. But since I’m always excited to read something new from Amanda, I felt a bit let down.

I eagerly await book #4.

Title: "Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came inTo Being and Why No One Saw it Coming"

Author: Paul Hawken

Synopsis: The godfather of green capitalism, Hawken did some rough calculations and found out there are more people worldwide working for social change than there are at Wal Mart.

Backstory: Hawken’s idea that business can and should be a force for social good has always intrigued me as much as the fundamentalist "money-is-evil" attitude of my leftist brothers has revolted me. When I heard him on the radio (don’t remember where) discussing how this book and how he sees this movement as an unalloyed endorsement of the progress our world is making, I had to see for myself.

Verdict: A wonder. Richly written, filled with research in history, biology and culture. Beautiful. Important. I’m just gushing now but I can’t help myself. This book changed my life and inspired me to take part in the next however many years I’m alive on this planet. I hope Mr. Hawken some day, just so I can say thank you.

Read it. Please. I think you’ll feel the same.

Litquake, San Francisco’s awesome literary festival, is in full swing. Check the schedule and find an event that works for you.

As someone whose less patient with readings that I’d like to admit, my heart leapt at this fabulous post by my friend Michelle Richmond on proper reading protocol.

Let’s face it, we’ve all been to those readings, at Litquake or
elsewhere, with four or five or six featured readers, where each person
is supposed to read for six minutes and some bozo reads for 15, or 20,
or blathers on for half an hour. No matter how wonderful you are,
unless you’re actually scheduled to read for half an hour, no one wants
you to read that long! The audience is getting antsy, and the other
authors are realizing that you think this is your event and
nobody else’s. And when people talk about it afterward, they’ll be
like, “Did you see so-and-so? I thought he was never going to get off
the stage!”

She’s so much nicer about it than I am. I just get angry at the offending reader and swear to hate them forever.

My Litquake resolution: A dose of Ms. Richmond’s light yet firm touch in dealing with tone-deaf bozos. Better than coming off as a tone deaf bozo yourself.