Favorite books and what I'm reading now

Now that I work as an author people ask me what books I’m reading and would recommend. That is a tall order. I think our reading choices are very personal. Besides I’m not a very good person to ask. I seem to fall in love with the book and author I am currently reading.

 

Right now I’m reading two books chosen by my two book groups: A Regular Guy by Mona Simpson, the sister of Steve Jobs, and Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948, by Madeleine Albright. I’m not sure if I’ll finish A Regular Guy – it is a poor excuse for a story about her brother. I liked his biography (see below) much better. Prague Winter, crammed with historical details, is definitely a must read. My real interest in it is how her Jewish family survived the holocaust.

My three favorite books in 2013 were:

11/22/63 by Stephen King. I never thought a Stephen King novel would top my list. I read his wonderful book On Writing, but steered clear of his gruesome novels. This book is not gruesome. It is about time travel and preventing the Kennedy assassination.  The suspense, the love story, the history are totally believable. I couldn’t put it down.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Even though I find the character Steve Jobs someone I’d never want to meet personally – he was a little brusque to put it mildly – his story is incredibly uplifting and motivating. This man could make things happen that were not even possible. He had that kind of attitude. He’d tell his brilliant employees they could do something they totally believed they could not, and guess what? They ended up doing it. Since I grew up with computers – from the large ones that filled up huge rooms in the aerospace company where I worked, to the first cumbersome text editing systems I tested, and now to the marvels of the products Job’s created, this was definitely a book for me. I loved every word of it.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I think Foer is totally original. He uses graphics, he writes about very smart precocious children, and his story about Oskar’s search for the lock that his father’s key opens after his father dies during the September 11 attack makes me cry.  That Oskar is the narrator gives this book more poignancy.  Sure it is clever, it is gimmicky, but why not? He’s a young author of the twenty-first century. And old as I am, I can still relate.

A few years ago. I was very taken by Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking, her story about her first year after her husband’s sudden death.  I experienced magical thinking after my son died in 1999 – even though I never for a minute believed he would or could really come back to me. Didion’s book is raw, passionate, stunning. I believe nothing less should be expected in a memoir. She tells the truth and her inner thoughts and feelings. I only wish she had done the same in her memoir about her daughter’s death, Blue Nights.

Others books I gravitate to are about strong women. Even as a child I loved The Little Princess and The Secret Garden both by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Then as I got older I raided my parents’ bookshelves and read Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor and my favorite book of all time Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. Amber and Scarlett – both great names – were strong-willed feisty and outspoken women who fought endlessly and ruthlessly to get what they wanted. Other books on that list are Mrs. Dalloway and Lolita – Lolita mainly for the beauty of the writing although Lolita was a very strong-willed character. And, if you haven’t heard Jeremy Irons read the audio version, you’re really missing out.

One other book stands out on my list. It is the book I’d suggest everyone read: Remember Be Here Now by Ram Dass, in print since its initial release in 1977. It’s about spirituality, yoga and meditation. But the lasting message for me is live in the now: don’t look back, the past is over; it is little more than story, and don’t look ahead. The future doesn’t exist yet – except in your mind. Such a simple message yet so hard to achieve.

So whatever you read, just enjoy. Maybe you’ll also fall in love with the book you are reading now – until the next one comes along.

Madeleine Albright's brooch collection

I was enthralled at an exhibit of Madeleine Albright’s brooch collection at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California. Even though I had to wait in line for twenty minutes to get in the door and even though people were pushing against each other as they viewed the over 200 pins in the show, it was well worth it. If you live in the Los Angeles area, go on over. The show ends on January 13.

One of many dragonfly pins

Albright wielded her pins with expertise. People got what message she wanted to convey by the pins perched on her lapel or shoulder.

Her book, Read My Pins, also has wonderful photographs of her collection and the history behind most of pins in it. I bought a copy. It’s a great coffee table book. Here’s what the Amazon book description says:

Before long, and without intending it, I found that jewelry had become part of my personal diplomatic arsenal. Former president George H. W. Bush had been known for saying "Read my lips." I began urging colleagues and reporters to "Read my pins."

It would never have happened if not for Saddam Hussein. When U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright criticized the dictator, his poet in residence responded by calling her "an unparalleled serpent." Shortly thereafter, while preparing to meet with Iraqi officials, Albright pondered: What to wear? She decided to make a diplomatic statement by choosing a snake pin. Although her method of communication was new, her message was as old as the American Revolution—Don't Tread on Me.

The Saddam snake

From that day forward, pins became part of Albright's diplomatic signature. International leaders were pleased to see her with a shimmering sun on her jacket or a cheerful ladybug; less so with a crab or a menacing wasp. Albright used pins to emphasize the importance of a negotiation, signify high hopes, protest the absence of progress, and show pride in representing America, among other purposes.

One of my favorites

Part illustrated memoir, part social history, Read My Pins provides an intimate look at Albright's life through the brooches she wore. Her collection is both international and democratic—dime-store pins share pride of place with designer creations and family heirlooms. Included are the antique eagle purchased to celebrate Albright's appointment as secretary of state, the zebra pin she wore when meeting Nelson Mandela, and the Valentine's Day heart forged by Albright's five-year-old daughter. 

She broke the glass ceiling at the State Department

Read My Pins features more than 200 photographs, along with compelling and often humorous stories about jewelry, global politics, and the life of one of America's most accomplished and fascinating diplomats.

By one of my favorite art deco designers, Mucha

(all photos taken with my cell phone)