First I have to say wow…totally not what I expected from the blurb on the jacket. Incredible writing and I have to admit that I wish I could read Croatian to have the experience of reading this in the original.

I wanted to read this prior to reading the postings in the Book Group at Words without Borders or any of the interviews with Dubravka Ugresic. I didn’t want others’ comments to affect how I read the book, which is my general practice when reviewing a book.

There is so much going on in this book that I need to digest. I hope to have a review up here shortly – in the meantime I can suggest is that you go and grab a copy of this book and read it as soon as possible. It’s well worth your time.

After so much posting on Tuesday, I went into a dry spell. I’ve been writing so many reviews lately that I had lost any words to put here.

Today’s a new day and the start of the weekend that I always think of as the beginning of summer. I’m not sure why other than warmer weather beginning and this being the first long “party” weekend…which so does not go with it being the celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday. Yet this is traditionally a party weekend. The name most people call it by is the “May 2 – 4” weekend (a two – four is what we call a case of beer in Canada) since May 24 is the office Victoria Day.

All this rambling leading to one point. It’s a long weekend, Monday is a holiday, summer is officially starting here at the Eclectic Closet – party on!

Found this interesting exercise on A Work in Progress and just had to fill it out myself. Taken from A Passion for Books: The Ten Books One Would Save in a Fire (If One Could Only Save Ten)

So this raised an interesting question for me – do I save the books it would be difficult to replace (i.e. those that are out of print or terribly expensive to replace in hardcover) or those I truly love.

I decided to do two lists and see how they compare.

The Ten Books One Would Save in a Fire (If One Could Only Save Ten)- based on books I love:
1. Persuasion by Jane Austen
2. A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books by Nicholas A. Basbanes
3. Make Way for Lucia by E.F. Benson
4. The Jeeves Omnibus: No.2 by P.G. Wodehouse
5. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
6. Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
7. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
8. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
9. Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
10. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

The Ten Books One Would Save in a Fire (If One Could Only Save Ten)- based on the difficulty to replace the books in hardcover or at all:
1. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
2. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
3. Bloodsmoor Romance by Joyce Carol Oates
4. Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
5. Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
6. Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality by Paul Barber
7. The Comedians by Graham Greene
8. English Eccentrics by Edith Sitwell
9. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Great Grandma received this as 3rd prize in one of her classes in 1931.)
10. Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen

Not sure what to think after completing the two lists. Any thoughts?

Today’s reading item is Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugresic. It got bumped up the queue since the discussion groups started today at the Words without Borders Book Club.

For an interesting interview with Ugresic, visit the House of Mirth (thanks to the Literary Saloon for the link).

And check back, my review will be posted soon.

Lately my reading appears connected. This week I was reading an advance copy of the new biography of Jane Jacobs (Jane Jacobs: Urban Visionary) and learning a great deal about the bulldozing “urban renewal” schemes of the 60s in major US cities. Then today I picked up Firmin by Sam Savage and it is sent in 1960s Boston, in a part of town (Scollay Square) designated for demolition and “renewal”.

Makes me wonder what is going to connect next…

Would someone please help me understand how I missed this? And not just this year but last year also! The mind boggles…

From their website -> Reading the World 2006 is an exciting collaboration between booksellers and publishers to help bring international voices from around the world.

So even though it’s already part way through this year’s event, I’m going to try and do my part. Interestingly enough, I’m already reading The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugresic (Translation by Michael Henry Heim), published by Ecco for review at Curled Up with a Good Book. I’ll have to see what other international authors I can read yet this month.

Thanks to Chekhov’s Mistress for promoting this important concept.

I knew I should try the sock on before now…but in a classic case of avoidance I was ignoring the potential problem. It’s my first sock and I didn’t want to jinx it prior to the gusset reduction. The thing is, it looked too big for my foot, but I was chalking that up to not having a clue about what the sock should look like.

Last night, halfway down the foot of sock one, I slipped it on and – you guessed it – it’s too loose. So I face a dilemma, continue on, make sock two and just wear them around the house or rip back to the end of the slouch ribbing and start over on smaller needles.

I’m inclined to rip back so that I actually wear my first socks out of the house. Any recommendations?

I love being an aunt, honourary or not. So when I get photos of the wee ones, I have to proudly share! Is the blog the equivalent of pulling photos out of one’s wallet?

This is Isobel Mae – 4 months old and absolutely gorgeous. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly their personalities begin to show.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 2006 Knitting Olympics so when I found out Chris had joined The Amazing Lace KAL I thought why not? The Knitting Olympics taught me just how much I enjoy lace knitting so here is a chance to expand my scope as a lace knitter.

I will have to ponder what lace project I’ll pick for my teammate on this adventure. Will it be Convertible from the new issue of Knitty.com, Ella from Knitty’s Fall 2005 issue, the Yarn Harlot’s Snowdrop Shawl or something else that will highlight the beautiful, deep red alpaca lace-weight yarn I picked up recently.

Just in case you don’t read Bookslut every day, check out this article from The Morning News. We need more words like schadenfreude in our daily lexicon.