BINGO!

BINGO!  I finally completed a "black out" on my Library Bingo card.  Library Bingo is similar to regular Bingo, except the numbers are replaced by book categories.  The contest began November 1st and runs through March 31st.  If you would like information on hosting your own book bingo, or copies of the bingo cards and instructions I created, leave a comment or send me an e-mail.  Here's what I read:

Audio Book:  The Cat Who Went into the Closet by Lilian Jackson Braun

Teen Book:  Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

Western:  Flint by Louis L'Amour

Biography:  Gunn's Golden Rules by Tim Gunn

Historical Fiction:  Soaring Eagle by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Staff Pick:  Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Mystery:  Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop, edited by Otto Penzler

Non-Fiction:  Trauma Junkie: Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse by Janice Hudson

Fiction P-T:  A Christmas Snow by Jim Stovall

Foreign Setting:  In the Company of Others by Jan Karon

Kansas Author/Setting:  Mad Dog and Englishman by J. M. Hayes

Romance:  Chesapeake Shore's Christmas by Sherryl Woods

Free Pick:  Is it Just Me? or Is It Nuts Out There?  by Whoopi Goldberg

2010 NYT Bestseller:  Painted Ladies by Robert B. Parker

New (to You) Author:  Snow Day by Billy Coffey

Classic:  Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

Fiction U-Z:  The Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason F. Wright

Male Author:  The Confession by James Grisham

5 or More Words in the Title:  The Burgler on the Prowl by Lawrence Block

Fiction F-J:  I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg

Female Author:  The Snow Globe by Sheila Roberts

Science Fiction:  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

New Book:  Prostitutes' Ball by Stephen J. Cannell

Fiction K-O:  Murder by the Book by Frances and Richard Lockridge

Fiction A-E:  Make Out With Murder by Lawrence Block

The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger

This story is one of the most creative concepts I've ever read - The Night Bookmobile tells the story of a wistful woman who one night encounters a mysterious disappearing library on wheels that contains every book she has ever read.

Isn't that just the coolest idea?  How I would love to have my own personal library, to be able to review old favorites long forgotten, to wander through my growth and transformation as a reader. 

I turned to the books.  The section I was standing in was full of children's books.  I drifted along, noticing textbooks mingled with pictures books, and an assortment of books you don't usually see in libraries:  family Bibles, photo albums, telephone books.  Some of the books had catalog numbers on their spines, some didn't.  The books weren't arranged by subject, and some of the numbers seemed to belong to different systems.  In fact, the books seemed to belong to many different libraries.

Later in the story, a young library patron begins her own collection.  Holding a copy of Good Night Moon, the librarian says, "She just read this today, all by herself.  It's the first item in her collection."  Doesn't that just make you swoon?  The story also involves a dark twist, reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode. 

Now for the bad news.  Publisher's Weekly described the artwork this way: Niffenegger’s full-color art has a naïve tone, with sometimes stiff figures, and text written in childlike script. The simplicity of the images contrasts with sophisticated page layouts in which she plays with panels and perspective.  That's much more polite than I would have been. I found the drawings, the layout and even the writing, at times, to be very elementary.

 

I really wish Ms. Niffenegger had abandoned the graphic novel concept and developed this brilliant idea into at least a short story or novella.  I felt cheated to be finished reading in under thirty minutes and still have such a longing for more of the story.

Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs

Usually, when someone mentions graphic novels I turn into the Wicked Librarian of the West and grumble on about how they are not "real" books, they are the Cliff Notes of pleasure reading, yada, yada...  When Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys came out in graphic novel form, you probably heard my tirade in whatever part of the world you live.  How DARE they convert classics into "funny papers"!  So look who's recommending a graphic novel now. 

I'm putting all the blame for this embarrassment on Margot at Joyfully Retired.  (If you aren't reading her blog, you really should.  Especially if you are nearing retirement, thinking of retirement, dreaming of retirement... Her photos and blogging about her travels and what she reads along the way will make you want to hurry it along.)  If she could try something new at this stage of life, I figured I could, too.  And I'm glad I did.

Ethel and Ernest is the true story of the author's parents and their life in England.  This is the perfect tale to be told in a graphic novel because the illustrations add all the detail without adding pages of descriptive text that could become boring.  And the illustrations themselves are a joy.  Beautiful colors and details truly bring the story to life.

The story begins with the couple's engagement in 1928 and follows their married life through purchasing a home, World War II, raising a child, retirement, to their deaths in 1971.  The depiction of their life during the war was especially fascinating to me.  Stories of that era from the U.S. involve many of the same situations, but not the daily up-close threats that they experienced. 

I was surprised by the amount of emotion displayed in such a brief book and with so few words:  the excitement of getting married; disbelief at the purchase of their first home; joy at the birth of their child; fear during the war years; the mix of relief and longing from sending their son to a safer location; shock at the death and destruction; joy and heartache of raising a child and watching him choose his own path; intimacy of a life-long companionship; sadness of aging and illness; and finally, grief - all told through intricate pictures and sparse words.

As in any life, there's also humor along the way.  When Ernest brings home their first refrigerator, Ethel reacts with disbelief.  When Ernest explains that they can now have ice and ice cream, she exclaims, "Ice in our drinks!  Whatever next!"  When he later comes home with a bigger surprise, their first car, she refuses to get in because she's not dressed properly and her hair isn't done.  Having two kids of college age, I got a kick out of their worries over Raymonds choice of art as a career - "He'll grow out of it and get a proper job." - and Ethel's constant concern about his 60's hairstyle - "He'll never get a proper job with hair like that." 

I can't promise that I'll be searching for more graphic novels, but perhaps I'll temper my opinion and give them another chance. 

This book fulfills entry #7 of the Take Another Chance Challenge - Break a Prejudice.