Fforde Ffandom

I'm finally making time to read Jasper Fforde's book, The Woman Who Died Alot. I've had it since it was released in the U.S. late last year, but just didn't make the time to read it.

This week, however, I am absolutely reading this book, and doing a little shopping next week for the other Fforde books missing from my little collection.

I also listened to Lost in a Good Book (TN2) in the car on the way from Illinois to Florida last week. I've listened to it a few times, as well as The Well of Lost Plots (TN3). And Fforde's books have given me inspiration for decorating my new, Florida office space.

There are lots of cool things in Fforde's books--particularly in the BookWorld--and I want to create a sort of Fforde Ffan Cave of Stuff for my new office. I have some initial ideas for what to include, such as the Bellman's bell, a few plot devices, and a map of Fiction Island.

I'll have a smallish space for the next couple of years, but after that I'll have a little more room to spread out and make the most of my office: library table, card catalog, lots and lots of bookshelves....

My hope is that anyone who knows/enjoys Fforde's books will find lots of fun items in my office that will remind them of specific moments in his books. And for those that don't know Fforde... well, it'll just be a weird office, I suppose. But it'll be my weird office, and that's the important thing.

Does your office space have a theme?

Coffee-Stained Pages: The Artist's Way

I've started working through The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron this week.

A friend and fellow writer, Shannon, told me she was starting it this week.  I've had the book for years and have never done it, so I agreed to go through it with her.

Coffee-Stained Pages: Shades of Grey

I've almost finished Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey.  I'm looking forward to finishing it, even though I know I'll be a little sad when it's over.

The story is weird and fun and mysterious and turns my perceptions upside down, which is what I've come to expect and love from Jasper Fforde.  Once I've finished reading the book, I'll be sharing a bit more with you.  Until then, feel free to click on either of the links above to learn more about Mr. Fforde and his works.

Coffee-Stained Nightstand: Next Up

I've decided to reread The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison for my first book this month.  March is Women's History Month, so I thought it would be appropriate to read an influential woman writer.

From the back cover:

The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison's first novel, a book heralded for its richness of language and boldness of vision.  Set in the author's girlhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio, it tells the story of black, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove.  Pecola prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beautiful and beloved as all the blond, blue-eyed children in America.  In the autumn of 1941, the year the marigolds in the Breedloves' garden do not bloom, Pecola's life does change--in painful, devastating ways.

With its vivid evocation of the fear and loneliness at the heart of a child's yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment, The Bluest Eye remains one of Toni Morrison's most powerful, unforgettable novels--and a significant work of American fiction.

Coffee-Stained Nightstand: Next Up

In keeping with my two-books-a-month goal, I'm starting another book for February, which should give me more than enough time to finish it.  It's one that intrigued me when I first saw it on the shelves, so when I saw it on the bargain books rack yesterday, I picked it up and brought it home.

This evening I'll be starting The Heroines by Eileen Favorite.  According to the inside cover:

Although a true lover of books, Anne-Marie Entwhistle perfers not to read to her spirited daughter, Penny, especially from the likes of Madame Bovary, Gone With the Wind, or The Scarlet Letter.  These novels, devoted to the lives of the Heroines that make them so irresistable, have a way of hitting too close to home--well, to the Homestead, actually, where Anne-Marie runs the quaint family-owned bed and breakfast.

In this enchanting debut novel, Penny and her mother encounter great women from classic works of literature who make the Homestead their destination of choice just as the plots of their tumultuous, unforgettable stories begin to unravel.  They appear at all hours of the day and in all manners of distress.  A lovesick Madame Bovary languishes in their hammock after Rodolphe has abandoned her, and Scarlett O'Hara's emotions are not easily tempered by tea and eiderdowns.  These visitors long for comfort, consolation, and sometimes for more attnetion than the adolescent Penny wants her mother to give.

Knowing that to interfere with their stories would cause mayhem in literature, Anne-Marie does her best to make each Heroine feel at home, with a roof over her head and a shoulder to cry on.  But when Penny begins to feel overshadowed by her mother's indulgence of each and every Heroine, havoc ensues, and the thirteen-year-old embarks on her own memorable tale.

Being a lover of Fforde, the idea of these heroines escaping their own drama definitely caught my eye.  I'm beginning this book with great interest, and hopefully, I won't be disappointed as I was with my last literary endeavor.

Currently Reading

I'm reading The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Worrall about the masterful forgeries by Mark Hofmann including an Emily Dickinson poem, but since it's a reread for me, I decided to pick something new up as well. This is something I've had on my shelf for quite some time, but I've never really gotten around to reading it. However, I feel the need to read it now.

Writing the Fire!: Yoga and the Art of Making Your Words Come Alive by Gail Sher

From the back cover:

Writing the Fire! offers writers a new and visionary practice: using yoga to release the body's inner intelligence and then support, shape, and inform the creative process.

Indeed, "writing is yoga," declares Gail Sher, introducing the "writing asana"--an invaluable new tool for every writer's routine. Her insightful and lyrical book, organized around eight thematic "immersions," plumbs yoga's wisdom heritage. As Donald Moyer, director of the Yoga Room in Berkeley, comments, "She encourages writers to approach their writing with the clarity and presence of yogis, and teaches yogis how to temper their awareness with the heat of words and images." Writing the Fire! celebrates the fullest expression of our being.

GAIL SHER is a psychotherapist, a poet, a teacher, an ardent yoga practitioner, and the author of One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers. She lives in San Francisco's East Bay.