The Passion of Artemisia

The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland tells the story of Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi, a talented woman whose life has been full of disappointments and difficulties. Her early life consists of humiliation and betrayal. Her father eventually arranges her marriage to other painter. Artemisia thinks that she will finally be able to put her past behind her and start fresh, but her husband soon becomes jealous of Artemisia’s talent and is unforgiving of the fact that Artemisia was the first woman to be elected to the esteemed Academia dell’ Arte in Florence, before he becomes a member.

This novel abounds with detail of the Renaissance in Florence and contains beautiful descriptions of painting. It is a moving portrait of a woman who makes sacrifices but never looses sight of what she wants for her career, her daughter, and her dreams.

2008 Genre Challenge

I have mapped out what genres I need to read for 2008 to meet my goal of reading one of everything. Here are the genres I need:

Western
Adventure
Inspirational
Gentle Reads
Fantasy
Thriller
Suspense
Literary Fiction

I have also decided to start reading all of the Newbery and Caldecott winners. I have read a lot of the Newberry winners over the years since I was a teacher. I think that this should be a lot of fun. I can get through at least one Caldecott a week and hopefully one Newbery each month. I'll let you know how I do.

Right now I am reading a couple of books to review for the Historical Novel Society. The reviews should be out in the March issue of their magazine. The three books I have read so far for 2008 have all been excellent. I will definatley read more of Robin Maxwell. I loved The Secret Life of Bees. It reminded me a bit of To Kill a Mockingbird since it was a coming of age story set in the South.

Update on Genre Challenge

I can't believe that three months has gone by since I last posted. I am ashamed!! Well, I have been doing a lot of reading. September thru December was a whirlwind of reading books for reviews. I reviewed a few books for Library Journal Xpress and a few for the Historical Novel Society.

I have been trying to stick with my goal of reading different genres. Here is a quick update on how this has been going:

Children's book- Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Science Fiction- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2 Biographies- The Glass Castle and If I am Missing or Dead
Young Adult- Uprising
Romance(Regency)- The Viscount Who Loved Me
Classic- A Christmas Carol
Modern Classic- The House on Mango Street
Mystery- Plum Lovin'

All of the above books were good. At first I wasn't so sure about The Viscount Who Loved Me but after thinking about it, I did enjoy it. I had to reread Dickens' A Christmas Carol because of the season. What a great story. I finally can now say that I know what people are talking about when they say that Janet Evanovich is such a great author. I loved Plum Lovin' and have already reserved a copy of her new one, Plum Lucky that is due out soon. She has recruited a new fan!

I am going to do some better planning so that I read some different genres and don't double up on anything in 2008. Happy Reading!

The Color Purple

The Color Purple is the story of two African American sisters growing up in Georgia. Celie has not had an easy life- she is abused and taken advantage of by her father, and her two children are taken away. She is then forced to marry a man who abuses her as well. Her younger sister, Nettie, flees, and is able to escape the life that Celie must endure. Nettie promises to write to her sister, but Celie never hears from her.

As Celie gets older, she meets other black women and begins to build relationships with them. Her life takes on new meaning, and she begins to open up and find a power within herself that she didn’t know she had. The Color Purple is a story of survival, the story of a person who is up against seemingly insurmountable odds and perseveres. This powerful story won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and should not be missed.

The movie The Color Purple starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey is a classic as well and should not be missed!

ALA: Future Friends Generation X

Future Friends: Marketing Reference and User Services to Generation X

This was another fantastic program that had some really great ideas on programming for Generation X. The panel started out with giving some statistics about Generation X which were very interesting. The next set of speakers talked about their successful programming for this generation at their library. See handout for TnT- Twenties and Thirties at the St. Charles Public Library. Some of these types of events would be cool to try out here.

The next group presenting was from Kansas City Public Library. They talked about a group they formed called Young Friends aka BookEnds for young professionals to socialize and network. This group provides unique events in which adults aged 21-40 can participate. You have to pay an annual fee of $40, but most of the patrons have been fine with the fee and feel its money well-spent.

ALA: He Reads...She Reads

He Reads…She Reads: The Booklist Adult Books Reader’s Advisory Forum

This one was another excellent Reader’s Advisory program. Again, David Wright from Seattle was one of the speakers along with Kaite Mediatore Stover from Kansas City (MO) Public Library. The two of them write a column called He Reads...She Reads in Booklinks. List of titles they recommended will be coming soon.

ALA: Off the Chain

Off the Chain: Reader’s Advisory for Exploding Genres

This program was a panel of speakers. Highlights were the author Zane talking about her fiction and David Wright from Seattle Public Library (moderator). The purpose of this program was to talk about new genres, especially those popular among twentysomethings, the library’s “lost generation.” Edgy fiction, cult authors, urban fiction and graphic novels were the main genres discussed. The following is a list of popular authors that, according to the panel, libraries should have:

Charles Bukowski
Mark Danielewski
Haruki Marakami
Kelly Link
Douglas Coupland
Bret Easton Ellis
Chuck Palahniuk
Iceberg Slim
David Goines
Vickie Stringer
Zane

A magazine that was mentioned that more libraries should own in order to be in touch with emerging literature is Believer. An RA book that would be extremely helpful is The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction.
It was interesting to hear Zane talk about her life, writing, and publishing career. All I really knew about her was that her books were extremely popular when I worked at Phoenix Public Library. They were always either checked out or stolen. Years ago she started writing stories and emailing them to family and friends. Word got around that she was a good writer and then she started putting her work on the web. Eventually, she started her own small press. Her work is mainly popular erotic fiction geared toward women.