She should be ...

Another Sunday, another book review -- this one ran in another of my alma maters, Solares Hill, and it's a review of Committed, Elizabeth Gilbert's new memoir/consideration of marriage as an institution. I liked it, maybe even more than Eat, Pray, Love just because the spiritual self-examination, while handled deftly in the earlier volume, just isn't my thing. This one is both memoir and layperson sociology, examining the institution of marriage in different cultures and times. Needless to say, the volume is in the collection of the Key West Library. Audiobook and large print, too!

What else am I reading? Besides the continuing journey through Foundations of Library and Information Science, I am continuing my fascination with all things Tudor by moving from Tudor Trash (e.g. Philippa Gregory) to Tudor Crime. My first foray into this genre was Martyr by Rory Clement, which I read and enjoyed last year. I tried one of Karen Harper's books with Elizabeth herself as the crimesolver but that was too implausible even for me. Most recently I've read Firedrake's Eye by Patricia Finney -- very good -- and am in the middle of Dissolution by C.J. Sansom. Finney's book is a bit more complex -- it's narrated by a madman -- but the Sansom is entertaining so far.

Speaking of Tudor obsessions, I was delighted to see that Wolf Hall, winner of the Booker Prize, has received another accolade as best work of fiction by the National Book Critics Circle. Another winner, the nonfiction Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes, has been on my to-read list for awhile. Both of those works as well as Blake Bailey's Cheever: A Life, which won for biography, and Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill (autobiography) are in the library's collection.

New nonfiction

In today's Miami Herald I have a review of a new book by David Grann, author of last year's excellent The Lost City of Z. This one, called, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, is a compilation of his magazine work and it is really good. Some of them I had read, fairly recently even, in The New Yorker (because for awhile there I was about six months behind in New Yorker reading until I finally decided to give up and admit that I was not going to read every single avant-garde artist profile and Afghanistan takeout all the way through. I feel bad about it, though). Anyway Grann's work is good. Really, really good. Calvin Trillin/Tony Horwitz good. So read it and support good nonfiction! Speaking of good nonfiction, if Wordpress and/or my wireless cooperate -- I don't want to be paranoid but it seems that since I reduced our landline service our internet has ... slowed ... way ... down -- I'm adding a new link on the blogroll -- Hank Stuever's blog, Tonsil. It's a great chatty blog about Stuever's doings and readings and thoughts in general. He's been one I've been keeping an eye on since I reviewed his book Offramp for Solares Hill back in 2003 or so (and even better, got blurbed in the paperback! Woo hoo!). I'm ashamed to say I haven't read his new book, Tinsel, about the weird ways Americans celebrate Christmas but I just downloaded it to the Kindle so I hope to get to it soon.

One Island One Book

Ever been curious about Big Read type programs, where a whole community reads the same book then gathers for discussions, etc.? We're giving it a try at the Key West Library in a program called One Island One Book -- and our choice for this inaugural year is "To Have and Have Not" by Ernest Hemingway. It's not considered one of Hemingway's best works -- but it was written here, it's set here and it takes place in the 1930s, a time that has special resonance for us in these uncertain economic times. The events take place during the first two weeks of March -- you can pick up a schedule at the Key West Library, check out our blog or join the One Island One Book group on Facebook. There will be movie screenings (including the film of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall), documentaries about Hemingway and the Federal Writers Project and talks about the book and the WPA in Key West. The grand finale will be Sunday, March 14, at 2 p.m. when the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum is dedicated as a Literary Landmark. Writer Les Standiford will speak. Please join us for any and all events.

Lucky eight times

[gallery] These are images of six of the eight works of art that will be won by entrants in the Lucky Street Gallery's Lucky Eight Raffle to benefit Partners In Health -- the artists are Rebecca Bennett, Deb Goldman, Roberta Marks, John Martini, Carol Munder, AD Tinkham and Rick Worth. Tickets cost $10 and can be found at Lucky Street Gallery or with a bunch of folks including me (Nan). If you are having trouble finding them, email me at nklingener (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll find you. Thanks everyone and hope to see you Sunday -- 6 p.m. at The Studios of Key West, where we'll hear from Madison Smartt Bell and have the chance to bid on a lot more art and some great signed books.

Buy Art (And Books!), Save Lives

It turns out that Madison Smartt Bell, of all people, is in Key West this week for a residency at The Studios of Key West. When my husband Mark heard that he immediately launched plans for a fundraiser benefiting Partners in Health. Bell is the author of a trilogy of novels on the Haitian Revolution -- All Souls Rising, Master of the Crossroads and The Stone That the Builder Refused -- and a biography of Haitian Revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture. He also had a piece in Sunday's New York Times, introducing different writers on Haiti.

The fundraiser is on: It's this Sunday, Jan. 24, at The Studios, 600 White Street, starting at 6 p.m. Bell will speak and it will feature a silent auction of donated works of art and signed books by writers including Annie Dillard, Robert Richardson, Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Robert Stone, James Gleick, Valerie Martin, Margaret Atwood and Stuart Woods.  For more information email soulsnotlost@gmail.com.