Who knew Meg Cabot reads Betsy-Tacy?

My friends at B&N.com just sent me their weekly email about new releases, including a link from Meg Cabot, which says she is reading Maud Hart Lovelace (you have to scroll down)! I am not a fan of the Princess Diaries; that genre has been done better by Gwendoline Courtney in A Coronet for Cathie, A Royal Pain by Ellen Conford and others. However, I have enjoyed her 1-800 and Mediator series and other YA titles, as well as her adult novels. And clearly if she likes Betsy-Tacy, her heart is in the right place.

As you may know, the most famous Ruritanian story is The Prisoner of Zenda, in which dashing Englishman Rudolf Rassendyll, vacationing in an imaginary Balkan-like imaginary country, unexpectedly meets the local king, Rudolf the Fifth. They are similar enough to be twins (but they're cousins!), due to a long distant ancestor, but the Englishman is brave and honorable while the king is well intentioned but weak. When Rudolf learns that the king's life and throne are in danger, he has no choice but to impersonate him. Rudolf steps in gallantly to save his double's throne but does not bargain for falling in love with the king's betrothed, the beautiful Flavia. Ultimately, he must give her up - the honorable thing to do - and return to England with only his integrity for company, leaving the flawed Rudolf as king. This story has been filmed several times (and spoofed also; one of my favorites is a Get Smart episode called The King Lives).

More Grammar (or lack thereof in Junie B. Jones)

Count me in with those who feel that Junie B. Jones is Talking Trash when author Barbara Parks has her heroine (cheerfully) prattle ungrammatically. I understand that children do not speak in perfect English, and sometimes their errors are cute and amusing but frankly if such glitches are the fabric of your plot Parks has work to do as a writer. How will children ever learn the difference between good and bad grammar if they can't rely on books recommended by teachers and librarians? Not every parent can provide correction at home, and many children learn by reading as well as listening.

Normally I agree with the school of thought that feels any books beloved by children are worth supporting but I must make an exception here. While Ramona Quimby's malapropisms are charming: "Turn on the dawnzer's lee light," for example, this series leaves me cold! There are lots of other books with more likeable characters than the verging-on-obnoxious Junie, and I am sure booksellers (although perhaps not Random House, publisher of this series) and librarians can help these readers find something better!

Grammar Police

Someone is correcting the grammatical errors on signs in public places and no, I am not the culprit (although frequently tempted). I did used to cringe when I read the emails and other documents disseminated by my former boss but at least he would let me edit when it was something for a major presentation involving other people (I'd like to say this saved us both embarrassment but he never let anything bother him so I was effectively only protecting myself). He had a good heart and he meant well.

Run for president of Red Sox nation!

Have you ever dreamed of becoming president of the most enthusiastic, obsessive and loyal (yet at times the most unforgiving) fans in the world, those of Red Sox Nation? If for no other reason, the perks sound great:

• Four tickets to 10 games in 2008
• A ceremonial first pitch before a game in 2008
• A suite for one regular season game in 2008
• A trip to Spring Training with a guest
• Official business cards
• A credential to allow entry for all 2008 regular season games
• Periodic appearances on NESN/WRKO
• Periodic meetings with Red Sox senior executives
• Official spokesperson reacting to Red Sox news

And maybe I would get to meet my favorite players, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek!

What was your favorite book as a child?

The New York Times asked today what was *your* favorite book when you were a child and it is interesting to see all the comments. Many mentioned favorites of mine such as The Phantom Tollbooth, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series, Narnia, The Lord of the Rings but I was also interested to see an early comment listed the Malory Towers and St. Clare's books of Enid Blyton, which very much influenced my early (and lasting) love of English school stories. Many of the books I loved as a child were books that were already published so I tried to remember books that my sister and I eagerly anticipated coming out in the same way we now await HP VII tomorrow night.

Police Excuse Angry Computer User for Outburst

As the police observed, who *hasn't* wanted to toss her computer out the window in a fit of frustrated rage? I completely sympathize. In fact, in this day and age, it would almost be abnormal not to have become so enraged at least once...

Find Out Your Harry Potter Personality!

Distressing to find that my Harry Potter Personality reveals that I am the Weasley Twins! My law school friends thought I was much more like Hermione and I could hardly argue.

And here is a great article from the Washington Post on Pottermania. While I have been a fan since November 1999 when Joe Monti summoned me from the hallway outside his office and said he had a treat for me, then carefully handed me my own copy of Sorcerer's Stone, I know others came to the books later or through their children. Thank you, Joe!

Maida's Little Island

On Thursday, Carolynne Lathrop (visiting Betsy-Tacy listren from Iowa, who is also a Maida fan), my mother and I set out to visit Spectacle Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands, the setting for Maida's Little Island (1939). The island has been expensively restored after 6 million tons of dirt and gravel from Boston's Big Dig were dumped on it, creating an 80 foot mound of trash. A friendly and helpful park ranger drove us to the island's north drumlin, the highest point in Boston's Harbor, where we were 157 feet above sea level (I had not worn appropriate shoes and was delighted to have scored us a ride in the airport-like people mover since the day was hot and the road to the top was long and dusty).

North Drumlin, Spectacle Island

This vista towered over neighboring islands and boasted a view spanning Boston's skyline and the 40 miles between Salem to the north and the Blue Hills Reservation to the south. The island itself was named by early colonists because of its resemblance to a pair of eyeglass spectacles shaped by two hills, with what is called a bridge in the middle. See map.

Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge, Book 1

I began with Charlotte's Rose by A. E. Cannon, juvenile historical fiction which I had read a very positive review about years ago and noted for future reading, either for myself or my nieces. It is exactly the sort of book I read by the armful as a child. Charlotte and her father are Mormons who have left England in 1856 for the religious freedom and better economic opportunities of Utah. While Charlotte is the archetypal heroine in some ways - impulsive, quick tempered, imaginative, determined - however, she seems surprisingly young for her age given the era and the recent loss of her mother. For example, she does not seem to suspect that her animosity for family friend John, a boy her own age, is the precursor to adolescent romance (John seems more aware of it than she does).

New Outfielder

Although Friday was the one weekend game the Red Sox did not manage to win (and it probably cost Josh Beckett the start at next week's All Star Game), it was fun to attend the game with the Duke Club of Boston and my fellow clerk/fellow alumna Felicia. It was also the debut of the much heralded Red Sox rookie, Jacoby Ellsbury. He reached base that night, and on Monday he managed to score from second on a wild pitch, to the joy of all spectators who have watched our lack of base running prowess/speed for years. So far he is displaying becoming modesty, which will further ingratiate him with the Nation...

Chocolate Reduces Blood Pressure

Why am I not asked to be a volunteer in such a study, I ask you! Volunteers for the study were asked to eat over 6 grams of dark chocolate daily for almost five months. Just so you know, I really prefer milk chocolate but I would have sacrificed myself for a good cause.

Please let me know if you hear that See's is asking for volunteers, although it is really just their Scotchmallows I adore.

A bygone era

The Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge

I saw this mentioned on Kate Sutherland's blog and it sounds fun. The challenge originates with Lesley of A Life in Books, and the rules require the participants to read six books that connect with the ‘armchair traveling’ theme between July 1st and December 31st. The books need not be limited to conventional travel writing. Fiction or non-fiction will fit the bill so long as the location is integral to the book. Participants are asked to post their list of six at the outset, although making substitutions along the way is cheerfully permitted.

I do not usually like travel memoirs but I think I can find some novels that fit the bill just from the armful I brought home from the library today or my TBR pile.

1. That Summer in Paris, Abha Dawesar (this might not have been my choice but my friend Mandy selected it for our next book group) (Paris)
2. Charlotte's Rose, A.E. Cannon (Mormon trail, Iowa City to Utah)
3. The Sparks Fly Upward, Diana Norman (Paris and, I think also, England)
4. Fever Hill, Michelle Paver (Jamaica)
5. Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky (France)
6. It's Perfectly Easy, Mary Scott (New Zealand)

Hmm, more France than I would have expected but perhaps I will add some variety later on.