It’s that time again.  Time for New Year’s resolutions.  I always look forward to this time. I think it’s the whole idea of having a clean slate that I love so much–I feel free to push any unfinished business from the past year out of my mind and get excited about setting new goals for myself.  So, what does that have to do with Lemuria and books and this blog, you ask?

Well, let me tell you.

They say that publicly announcing your resolutions (on say, perhaps, a blog?) helps you stick to them. So, here’s my public announcement: One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2011 is to read fifty books this year–that roughly equals one book every six days. I made this resolution because, quite frankly, it’s  torture to be surrounded by so many wonderful books every day at work and then find myself with hardly any time to read everything I’d like to.  Now I’m forcing myself to make time for reading.  Happy New Year to me.

First up is Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I’m already about 200 pages in, and so far I’m having a hard time putting it down.  It’s a 600 page novel about a young man named Toru Okada who suddenly finds himself with a missing cat and then with a missing wife.  Okada’s search for his wife (and cat) finds him encountering some rather strange characters including a cheerfully cynical 16 year old girl, an old war veteran who is still haunted by the horrid things that he saw in Manchuria, two mysterious psychic sisters, and a monstrous politician.  In my opinion The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (if it was set in contemporary Japan and written for only an adult audience), and I am quite happy that it’s the first book on my quest to read, read, read this year.

Happy New Year to everyone! I wish you all the best with your own resolutions.  -Kaycie

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (Random House)

“This austere novel could be seen as a satire on technology taken to its ultimate extreme, depleting and horrific. All human beings wear “apparrats” which hang from their necks, constantly recording multiple amounts of data of everyone walking by, even their cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Equally shocking is the fact that their sexual desirability, personality attributes, and all sorts of physical  sustainability quotients are also projected for the entire wireless connected world to view. So, actual human contact, or even normal conversation, rarely occurs since basically everything one wants to know about another human being is literally at his or her finger tips. Actual love between one person and another, a dying art, rarely occurs.” -Nan read more

Linchpin by Seth Godin (Portfolio)

“Linchpins leverage something internal and external to create a positive value. There are no longer any great jobs where someone tells you precisely what to do. Successful organizations are paying people who make a difference: A group of well-organized linchpins working in concert to create value.”

“A linchpin brings passion and energy to the organization, resulting in getting the job done that’s not being done. This is essential. “Not my job” is not in their vocabulary. Being pretty good is extremely easy; Just meeting expectations is not remarkable.” -John read more

Distant Hours by Kate Morton (Simon & Schuster)

“Attention all you readers out there who love a good story, I have one for you. I’m talking no fancy-shmancy writing techniques; nothing experimental. I mean a good yarn. A story that can transport you to a different place even if you have no frame of reference to this place . . . I am about 265 pages into The Distant Hours and I can’t put it down.” -Ellen read more

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Random House)

“It’s an alarming story that raises confounding questions about race, class, science, and bioethics.  Author Rebecca Skloot writes with authority and sensitivity, and so far I can’t put the book down.  As I said, it’s on our women’s history month display, but it also goes beyond that – it’s a science book, a history book, and a civil rights book too.  I don’t think I’ve ever read anything so fascinating.” -Susie read more

Share your favorite book of 2010 in the comment section.

Lemuria’s Best of 2010: Part 1

Lemuria’s Best of 2010: Part 2

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Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

August 13th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Fiction ·Edit

As I was driving home one night last week, Mississippi Public Broadcasting was replaying the morning edition of “Fresh Air”, so I got to hear the excellent review of Gary Shteyngart’s new novel Super Sad True Love Story. Readers will remember him from the 2002 publication of Russian Debutante’s Handbook and the 2007 release Absurdistan, both of which Lemuria readers liked, according to our computer files.  I’m predicting that Super Sad True Love Story will be a big hit as well.

Since the review on MPB had already piqued my interest, I wasted no time in opening this novel. At the start, the protagonist, a thirty-nine year old Russian immigrant to America, is playing out his last days of a year long sojourn back in his home land, where he has been unsuccessfully trying to recruit clients for his business, “Post Human Services, which specializes in immortality. Yes, I did say, “Immortality!” So, I have let the cat out of the bag. Yes, this is a dystopian novel, but not like Margaret Atwood’s. Perhaps think of the impression you, reader, had of the near future as you once read George Orwell’s 1984, or maybe Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

Back to Super Sad True Love Story………The business which Lenny Abramov tries to market and recruit for only wants those best specimens of human beings who have not only the intellectual, but also the physical attributes,  to endure forever. A one night stand with a 22 year old  gorgeous Asian girl named Eunice Parks, a selfish, totally contemporary global prototype, throws Lenny into a helpless state of love. The word itself “love” rarely exists  in this almost apocalyptic America. Once back in New York, Lenny texts and emails Eunice, whose luck is running out in Russia, and who feels compelled to return to help her physically abused mother and sister, offering Eunice a place to stay.

This austere novel could be seen as a satire on technology taken to its ultimate extreme, depleting and horrific. All human beings wear “apparrats” which hang from their necks, constantly recording multiple amounts of data of everyone walking by, even their cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Equally shocking is the fact that their sexual desirability, personality attributes, and all sorts of physical  sustainability quotients are also projected for the entire wirelessly connected world to view. So, actual human contact, or even normal conversation , rarely occurs since basically everything one wants to know about another human being is literally at his or her figure tips. Actual love between one person and another, a dying art, rarely occurs

Earth by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Grand Central Publishing)

“Jon Stewart takes readers through a clever look at various aspects of earthly living.  With an Alien Preface, this guide is a handbook for post-human existence.  Stewart and the writers of the Daily Show take these planetary outsiders through the gamut of all things Earth: from our of understanding of planetary geography to weather to evolution to the human body to reproduction. Our views of politics, science, and social practices, such as religion and weddings, are explained.” -Peyton read more

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

“Jonathan Franzen has created the typical, dysfunctional, American family. However, they are not so dysfunctional as to not be believable or seem forced. This book is not horribly plot driven. It is all about character development on this one. So even though this book is not overflowing with huge calamities at every turn it still manages to be a page turner. I loved this book.” -Ellen read more

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (Doubleday)

“It’s the day before your ninth birthday and you mother is baking a practice birthday cake in preparation for tomorrow. You take your first bite and instead of tasting your all time favorite, lemon cake, you taste your mother’s sadness. Thus begins a lifetime of being able to taste peoples emotions in the food that they prepare.  Imagine being able to taste your mother’s affair in the dinners she cooks, your brothers disappearance in the toast he fixes for you. Aimee Bender has grabbed my attention and my heart.  This was the first book of hers that I have read and I am now on a huge Bender kick.” -Zita read more from John P.

Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant (Random House)

“Survival and sustenance, high adventure in one of the most ecologically diverse regions in the world where both tropical and alpine conditions co-exist is the setting of this book. It is 1997 and the place is the very farthest Far East right above North Korea, to the east of China and bordered on the east by the Sea of Japan, a place called Primorye. The area is all Russian. This is where men and women escaped the ravages of boom towns that disintegrated almost as quickly as they were formed after perestroika, men and women who would rather live off the land than try and amass paper money devalued to almost nothing overnight. The area was and is ripe in game, pine nuts, forests and the amur tiger, a god-like beast revered and feared. Unfortunately poachers from within and beyond the country had been killing this tiger to near extinction for its bones, organs, flesh and blood and its very spirit . . .

The author has written for Outside, the New Yorker and National Geographic. He has an obvious talent for bringing individual adventure driven events in the Jon Krakauer mode into the warp and weave of a total cosmos (the Russian Far East) rendered in many different perspectives. If it weren’t for his amazing story and his ability to tell it, we might be overwhelmed with so much information. But the facts and the story flow and feed off each other (no puns intended here) as he welds animal and human lives together.” -Pat read more

Share your favorite book of 2010 in the comment section.

Lemuria’s Best 0f 2010: Part 1

Lemuria’s Best of 2010: Part 3

As 2010 has drawn to a close this week, Lemuria booksellers have been assembling their favorite books of 2010. Next time you’re in the store check our display of favorites along with comments we wrote throughout the year on our blog. We recently found out that we were included in Southern Living’s Best Bookstores of the South. Why do they think so? We’re were proud to learn that we earned the honor through the blog. Click here to read about other featured bookstores. Thanks for supporting us on the blog and Facebook this year! Share your favorite book of 2010 in the comment section.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxis (Nelson)

“This is an amazing biography that reads like a novel.” -Pat

“There is bravery and self sacrifice on every page of this book. There is faith and forgiveness and redemption shown in the words and the lives of ordinary people. There is raw evil and indescribable beauty. There is greatness shown forth in all its glory and there is proof that one man can make a difference.” -Norma read more

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Knopf)

“I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.” -Nan read more

“This is a remarkable book, about as good as a book can get.” -Pat

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The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (Random House)

“Honestly, I’m just not sure I have it in me to properly criticize a book by an author in possession of such a vast imagination/brain. I don’t think that with his latest book, Mitchell has created something perfect, but it sure is a beautiful (!!!), original, great story.” -Susie read more

“Great works, the likes of which this book is moving towards, in any artistic medium usually leave me with my mouth open only wishing to express my gratitude for their hard work and time they spent to give me this experience. READ DAVID MITCHELL.” -John P read more

Year of Our Lord by T. R. Pearson and Langdon Clay (Mockingbird)

“Year of Our Lord is about so many things: the amazing journey of Lucas McCarty and his decision to join an all black church and leave behind his Episcopalian upbringing, a little church out in the Delta with no signage but a heart bigger than you can imagine. It is about hope and community and loving others just the way they are.” -Lisa read more

Lemuria’s Best of 2010: Part 2

Lemuria’s Best of 2010: Part 3

My reading of late has been about as scattered as everything else going on in the holidays. I have a host of books that I am picking up and reading for a little bit and then picking up another one. The holiday grind seems to have significantly shortened my attention span, and courage as I am only reading books that have proven themselves and I know that I will enjoy them. This has left me with only snippits of several books. So here are the little quotes that I liked, taken out of the context for which the authors worked so hard to build. They are still good though.

“The good of a book is in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs which in their turn speak to things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts, therefore it is dumb”

The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco

Probably my current favorite quote about writing

“He was a ritual tea smoker and very puritanical about junk the way some teaheads are. He claimed tea put him in touch with supra blue gravitational fields.”

Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs

This book was put into my hands by one of my favorite customers, I am finally working into it. It will put hair somewhere on your body…probably the bottom of your foot or something.

“The hidden life of love is in the most inward depths, unfathomable, and still has an unfathomable relationship with the whole of existence. As the quiet lake is fed deep down by the flow of hidden springs, which no eye sees, so a human being’s love is grounded, still more deeply, in God’s love.”

Works of Love, Soren Kierkegaard

Lately I have liked learning that I don’t know.

“The consciousness of having something to say as the consciousness of nothing: not the poorest but most oppressed of consciousness.”

Writing and Difference, Jacques Derrida

-John P.