Holiday Book Shopping Suggestions/Tips

I had thought I would do an end of the year book wrap-up of sorts, but then I started thinking – books make great holiday gifts? So I decided, instead, to try and make some book suggestion lists for those of you shopping for book lovers or for book lovers with the all wonderful present of a gift card.

First, some tips on shopping for your book loving friends.

1. Gift cards are terffic. But why not go an extra step and try to get a gift card/certificate for an independent bookseller online or an independent bookseller in the neighborhood where your friend/family member lives? The biggest online indie bookseller is Powell’s (they also have used and take paypal) and if you are looking for used I love Better World Books. You can find out about more sellers at Indie Bound.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask them to give you a list. Most book lovers will have a ton of authors or specific book titles they want so you can go on the hunt for a specific book for them.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask you booksellers for suggestions or look for “Also Bought” suggestions on Amazon and Goodreads. If you know that your book reading friend likes sci-fi get a tip on some specific books.
4. One more thing to say about Indie bookstores is that they are really out there to help you. They opened their own bookstore because they love books. Many of them will order specific books for you and will often help with getting those items shipped. It might be an extra step but you are supporting a small business owner so give it some thought.

Now on to some books. It was very difficult for me to go through my collection and to narrow down suggestions but I’m gonna do my best!

Poetry

Full Length Collections

• Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow (verse novel with werewolves, come on you’ll love it!)
• A Day in Boyland by Jessy Randall (grrrrrl poetry to the max!)
• Beyond the Bones by Neil Carpathios (really good example of how you can structure a fantastic poetry read)
• Mount Clutter by Sarah Lindsay (just a fantastic read)
• Pre-order Paternity by Scott Owens (it may not be out yet but when it ships you or your reader will have a terrific treat. His 2nd book Fractured Word is already available)

Chapbooks

• Bright Burning Fuse by Melanie Faith (This would be  a perfect stocking stuffer at only $5 each you can provide very accessible and well-written poetry!)
• Anything by Emma Bolden (seriously, all 3 of her chapbooks are great reads so I’m linking you to her very fun and informative blog)
• After the Fairy Tale by Maureen Sherbondy (fairy tales with a modern twist! Another great accessible read)
• The Serial Killer’s Daughter by Pat Rivere-Seel (if the title alone doesn’t tell you you should read then what else can I say?)
• Bride of Frankenstein by Carolina Morales

Books on Writing

• Poem Crazy by Susan G Wooldridge  (a fresh take on a writing “manual”)
• Steering the Craft by Ursula K Le Guin (mostly for fiction writers, I think, but could be used for all genres)
• Writing and Enjoying Haiku by Jane Reichhold (what got me back into writing)
• On Writing by Stephen King (seriously, he should write more non-fiction)
• Poet’s Companion by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux (a classic)

Misc related somewhat to poetry

• Best American Poetry 2009 Anthology
• Pushcart 2009 Anthology
• Subscription to Crazyhorse lit mag
• Subscription to Iodine Poetry Journal
• Subscribtion to SENTENCE

Non-fiction

• Invisible Sisters by Jessica Handler (this memoir just blew me away. If you have ever dealt with loss…)
• Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose (good for people from all religions to read)
• Universe in a Single Atom by the Dalai Lama (nice to see a non-science person explaining scientific theories)
• Know-It-All by AJ Jacobs (he read the entire enclyopedia in a year, follow his journey and get lots of useless trivia)
• Something to Declare by Julia Alvarez (just a terrific collection of essays about the writing life and life in general)

Fiction (multi-genre)

• Springtime on Mars by Susan Woodring (short story collection)
• Woman Up on Blocks by Mary Akers (another fantastic short story collection)
• Couch by Ben Parzybok  (novel with a bit of a fantasy flair)
• The Color of Earth by Dong Hwa Kim (graphic novel, female coming of age, beautifully written and drawn)
• Paper Towns by John Green (YA)

Have too much to do today and running out of time to finish this so I’ll try to come back to update more links but feel free to google! Or if you have a specific genre you want a suggestion on just email me or leave me a comment Ok so I came back to update links but still so many books and authors I could have suggested but ran out of space. Perhaps for each new comment I get I’ll suggest another book!

Poem a Day from 11/19/2009

Namaste

After I fooled around with Yoga for a while, I felt guilty. Short, fat, white American who was roughly raised Christian embracing such an Eastern thing. Many just call it exercise, don’t look past the Reverse Twisting Triangle or Crocodile. They don’t even both to learn the Indian names for the moves. Not really believing it is ancient. I mean, what if it predated the 6 to 10 thousand years that some very conservative mono-theists believe is the life span of the Earth? I’ve met people, in the South where I live, who haven’t tried it but denounce it because of where it is from. In defiance, I went further. I read books like “Are you a Hindu?” and I learned different definitions for Namaste. I even thought I could shape up further by reading “The Yoga of Eating.” But, I’m not a Hindu. I don’t believe in gods with thousands of arms or mouths or heads of elephants. I can bow to the God inside you with my hands in prayer position but I can never be lithe, limber and hennaed because I am short, fat, white and American. I have so many adjectives for myself that I concentrate too hard on each of them individually instead of joining them, yoking them, to something more to the flow of an asana or to acceptance.

Friday Wrap-Up

Did you get some work sent out this week?

S: 3

A: 0

R: 6 – another week with a large number of lit mags I sent to that never responded back after 6 months. 4!! This week. I have another one pulled that will be the same issue as of Sunday *sigh* but at least I get the poems back so I can send them out again since I try hard not to simul submit.

Why don’t we chat about that for a minute? To simul submit or not?

When you shouldn’t:

1. If the journal says they don’t allow them. Seriously. Don’t do it then. You are playing with fire. Although, I have to say, I have deleted places to submit to if they say you can’t simul submit. I don’t feel it is a fair policy with how long it takes them to get back in many cases.
2. If you don’t have a good system for keeping track of when and where you sent your work. The last thing you want is to have a piece accepted for pub and not even remember where you had submitted it to!
3. If you have quite a few pieces to circulate why bother with the confusion?

When you should:

1. If you only have a few pieces of writing you may want to simul submit to have your work out to as many places as possible instead of potentially waiting 6 months for every story, poem and essay to come back.
2. I think themed issues of magazines and anthologies are a good opportunity to consider simul submit, of course if they allow it!
3. Anytime if that is how you like to do things and you keep good records and are following the journals guidelines!

To me the danger with doing it is:

1. It can be difficult to keep track of.
2. That uou might have a piece accepted by two places and then how to choice who gets it?
3. What if you have it accepted by a really small press and then a major press, do you really want to have to be mean to the little guy or to pass up on a big name pub?

So, I’m asking today if you sent work out and if so how many? Any rejections, acceptances? Did you simul submit and if so why and how do you keep track? I’d love to hear some discussion.

In quick fun news I mailed copies of my chapbook to Canada and England today! And the e-version on Mobipocket is now only .99!! If any of you read the print or e-copy I’d love to know if you review it anywhere even if it is on Amazon or Goodreads!

And from NaNo/Poem a Day Challenge from 11-18-09 I present a poem! Have a great weekend everyone!

Mat Work

 

Lying on the floor feels like a guilty pleasure. Sometimes I think I only take yoga to get to this part so I can begin to move slowly. While lying on my back, I bring my right knee up to my chest as I extend my left leg out. I pretend I am pushing through water. The give of air. I bring my right knee towards the left side of my body, crossing over my other outstretched limb. My head faces left. My left hand grounds to the floor as my right hand just holds my right knee. Spinal Twist. A shift as I am just muscle and floor, mat and frame. If it wasn’t for a want of balance, I wouldn’t even switch to stretch the other side.

Thursday Poem Share

Yep, it is that time again. Thursday Poem Share so where am I compared with last week? Well, last week at this time I was going through 10 different documents to decide what I wanted to work on. Now, I am down to five projects:

1. Ology is my 2nd manuscript. One of my two readers has gotten back to me with some very helpful comments and I have a better idea of what I need to do to finish it. I’m looking forward to seeing what thoughts my 2nd reader has.
2. Artifact is the working title for my 3rd manuscript. I wasn’t sure if I was going to work on the individual poems anymore but then one of them was accepted for publication. I went back and read through the 4 that have been accepted for pub to see the links and I had a better handle on which poems to remove from it and which I could start revising. I’m still not ready to write more poems for it yet although I’ve finished most of my research. At about 30 poems it rests, waiting.
3. I have a potential chapbook called Amateur Marriage. I need to write a handful of poems to get it to about 24 before I decide if I am going to send it out. Has like 6 poems published already though! Crazy.
4. My first manuscript, Paper House, is still with my editor. I am waiting on comments back on the edits I sent in last month and then hopefully we’ll be moving through the final edit so that pre-orders can start sometime early in the year. Been working on trying to get readings, signings, talks etc lined up for next yearso I can share the book!
5. My Fat Girl chapbook has been retired, but in the very best of ways. When I started the Poem a Day challenge for November I had decided to write “yoga” poems. What surprised me as I started writing them is that the voice that was appearing in the yoga poems was very similar to the Fat Girl voice. Then, as good ieas sometimes do, it hit me that I was working on a manuscript currently titled: Short Fat Yoga! I’ve been trying to write some of the Short Girl poems but they are much harder to write than I thought they would be! I’m not revising the Short Girl or Yoga poems, however, until I finish the Poem a Day/NaNo challenge.

So, I’m loving the poetry I am working on! And if you have ideas for short girl poems I should write, leave them in comments. Yoga poem below. If you’d like to read one of the published Fat Girl poems you can read Fat Girl: The Superhero at Wild Goose Poetry Review.  I have 15 finished poems with several published from that series. 18 Yoga poems done and about 5 for Short Girl. Long work ahead of me but enjoying the ride!

Love to hear what everyone is working on?

From 11-17 Poem A Day/NaNoWriMo

Butterfly

The workout is almost over. Whenever we get down onto the floor we are moving into the stretches. The instructor introduces the Butterfly. I pull my knees towards my chest and then I let them fall open, bringing my soles together. I hold onto my ankles and bring my chest down towards the diamond shaped space of mat and floor underneath my legs. I seem to remember this. Maybe from the two track practices and one meet I managed to attend the spring of my freshman year in high school. When I had a friend who was on the team and would give me a ride. Before the required physical when they said my tonsils were so large and infected they would not suggest I run. I would not suggest I run for other reasons but I thought maybe I could learn. I still don’t run but I can do this stretch. My chest can make it to the floor. I can see the cracked skin on my heel and then I implode. Why now? Why ever? Tears unbidden. I try to breathe them back in. I sound like a child sniffling after she’d lost some doll to a stronger playmate or when she didn’t get the crusts of her bread cut off just so. Maybe, to everyone else, it sounds like – what do they call it? – a dragon breath. I wipe my face on the rolled cuffs of my yoga pants before lifting my head. Everyone else is moving on to the next position.

Odds and Ends

Well the book purge was satisfying. Here is the LIST which I am updating as books are selected for new homes. It was nice to look through my books and to feel a sense of recognition for each one. As the list indicates, I am not getting rid of books just because maybe I didn’t like them (although that could be the case) but often because I had more than one copy of a book (had some signed but had an early copy and such) or because I think it is a book that would be better served in other hands.

If you are interested please feel free to email me jessie.carty(at)gmail.com if you see something on the list you’d like. I’m asking for donations to help offset some of the shipping costs but otherwise they are free.

Also in the category of odds and ends is that I tried threading yesterday. Those of you with dark, thick hair (well at least the women) may have heard of this but may not have tired it. I have had waxing done, and actually, I only started that in the last few years, mainly after I stopped wearing glasses. I will say, it is not without pain but I am not sure if it is more or less painful than the waxing which happens so fast but hurts like *@#$, but I didn’t tear up quite as much and my skin is definitely not as read or sore. I’d recommend trying it if someone in your area offers it. I also spent about $10 – $15 less than what I paid at the waxing place.

This has been a pretty productive week for me so far with taking terrible passport photos, updating things for Shape of a Box, starting book reviews and working on marketing stuff for The Wait of Atom and the spring 2010 release of my full length collection (looking for places to read/sign or to possible give talks etc) but still so much on my list to do such as: make another video for Shape, finish book reviews, start an essay, apply for passport (mine is expiring next year and I’m trying to be proactive), send out poems and piddle around with the job hunt again *sigh*.

Oh yeah, and i still have a lot of stuff to clean in my house and exercise to do but that is like an everyday thing right? Along with a daily dose of reading.

I know, my life is O so exciting, but it is mine and it makes me pretty happy. Hope you guys get over the hump of today!

NaNo/Poem a day from 11-16-09

Cloud Commute

 

Once I tried to do yoga outside, on my pallet like wooden deck. Assuming, everyone else would be at work or school or certainly not in the back yard. I was in triangle pose and I was staring up at the sky, surprised at how fast clouds can move, remembering my old commute to work, thinking we never moved that fast. That really large cloud was an SUV and changed lanes without signaling. Next to him an old sedan, probably an Oldsmobile but I can’t tell from this distance, driven by a tiny old man – see the puffs of his hair? – is going well below the speed limit. Someone honks. Not a car honk but more like the horn you might add to your bike, one that is on a bright blue bike being ridden through my neighbors back yard. Their grand son. Maybe 6. He is turning in circles and I can’t bring myself to go back down to complete Triangle on my other side. I stretch my arms above my head, act like I am done. I don’t even take the time to roll up my mat. Instead, I step back into the air conditioning of my house, blinking away the floaters in front of my eyes as I re-adjust to being inside.

Video Tuesday

First up is this week’s issue of Shape of a Box with poems by Timothy Gager (for text of the poems with video box click here:

And then how about some material from my personal YouTube site? Which has 53 subscribers now! Now, I’m not sure how many of those people actually ever watch my videos but still nice to have some people who follow you and comment from time to time as I enjoy doing on other sites. I’m user /charlottepoet

This first video is really short. It is when I received my copise of The Wait of Atom which I needed to sign and then ship out to happy customers:

The next video is from one of the two open mike’s I regularly attend where I read from Folded Word’s unfold as well as from Atom.

And finally (this one gets load about 10 seconds in. Just some fun I did with YouTube audio swap on a video we took of one of our silly kitties. Hope everyone is continuing to have a good week. One of my NaNo poems will be down at the end:

NaNo/Poem a Day from 11-15

Shoulder Stand

Whenever the instructor announces the advanced moves like the shoulder stand, I feel like rolling up my mat and sneaking out the door. I do tend to set up near the back of the room, but so far I’ve stayed. The first class, I tried it. My body shaped like an L. My feet straight up but already straining as they hang against the air. I put my hands underneath my buttocks and I tried to push them up. No go. It is supposed to help your abs and your back and you are supposed to be able to do it through the power of your glutes and abs. My muscles are lacking. At home, before bed, I sometimes try it by lying down like a corpse and then trying to just throw my feet over my head. Hoping for momentum. It doesn’t work, but there are times when I feel like maybe my feet got a little bit closer to my head. I can remember when I was in grade school that I could do hand stands, cartwheels, thought – if I’d had the money and parents to drive me to practice – I could have been a gymnast, an Olympic contender. I can’t even picture that girl now. In my memory, she has dark hair, pink camo shorts from Family Dollar but the inscription on her shirt, even the color is like a black hole. She has no face.

Monday Shout Outs

Over the weekend I finished The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa. This is a beautifully drawn memoir-esque manga/graphic novel type book and it is also wonderfully written. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. Highly recommend this one!

More good stuff over at Folded Word this week! They will be launching their first fiction chapbook by Mel Bosworth via a Ning multimedia chat party. 9:30 EST on the 18th.

Elizabeth Strout, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and Queens MFA faculty member, will be reading Thursday night on campus – Sykes Auditorium – 7pm. Doors open at 6pm. I am gonna try to be there early to make sure I can get in!

Also finished When God was a Woman by Merlin Stone last night. I had heard of this book years ago (think it was published in 1976). I had been wanting to read it for a while because I love history and the study of religion so a book focused on the history of goddess religions? Yep. Excellent read. It can be quite chronological at times and I think I would have liked more commentary and a little less listing of facts but it is still a ground breaking book. Finally, got around to ordering it and reading it because I have a feeling it is going to be essential to the writing of my 3rd manuscript which is about 30 poems written (well, that is if they are all keepers!)

I got turned onto Zen Habits by January O’neil’s blog. No this isn’t just a Buddhist site, but very helpful hints on how to do things like: de-clutter your life, find your passions etc.

–

And here is a NaNoPoem from 11-14-09. Have a great day everyone! Video Tuesday is back on its regular scheduled day tomorrow

From That Guy in Yoga Class

I try not to tell too many people I take yoga, well other guys. I don’t want them trying to cash in on my perfect pick up location. See, I’m almost always the only guy in class, and almost certainly the only straight one. How do I know that? Come on pink crocs? Well, not even that, whenever a guy shows up and his eyes go “down” on me and not the beautiful ladies in class, ya just know. That’s never bothered me though. So what if they think I look good. All I have to do is turn them down if they try to pick me up. They never do. I don’t think I put off a gay vibe and, besides, yoga pants don’t have any pockets. No hankies to hang. Learned all about that from a guy at work. Guess he could pick up on the fact that I was the only non-homophobe in our whole office. Get with the times people? But, I don’t want to debate and argue about any of that. I just come to yoga to meet women. Although, if I am being completely honest, it is a good workout especially for my abs and shoulders. Holding your own weight up is why so many gymnasts have good bodies. Yeah, I can admit it, male gymnasts look great. I’d kill for those kinds of shoulders and biceps. They look natural, not like body builders who just look freakish. Why would you want your junk to look so much smaller than the rest of you? Overcompensation, maybe? Sometimes, I get so relaxed in class I forget all about picking out one of the girls to hit on. I just soak up the heat, let myself sweat and go home to have a beer and maybe even a salad. Why ruin a good workout by eating a bunch of steak? Besides, if you can just play the vegetarian once in a while, that is like getting bonus points.

Book Purge?

Hey Hey that is my chapbook! (e-version cover)

I love to buy books. Whether it is the fun of strolling through a bookstore, new or used, or the thrill of locating a hard-to-find book online, I love a new-to-me book.

I also, however, love to give away, trade-in, and exchange my books with used book stores and/or my writerly friends. Well, most of the time. I easily trade in plays, graphic novels, fiction and non-fiction if I have something I don’t think I am going to use again but I’ve been holding onto ALL of my poetry whether I liked it or not.

As I look over the two shelves of poetry books, I wonder, should I start getting rid of the ones that do not interest me? Should I keep cluttering my book cases with books I don’t necessarily enjoy?

What do you guys think? Since poetry is my “field” should I just keep all of the books I’ve bought or been given or should I start paring down the forest to make room for new books?

Nothing like thinking about books on a Sunday.

Oops forgot to post my NaNo/Poem a Day. This one is from Friday 11-13.

She Wants

Alright. I will renew my commitment by renewing my membership. I originally signed up for a month after taking a free yoga class, just to see if I would like it – or not even so much if I would like it – but if I would actually go. See, I’m the kind of girl who signs up for diet plans but only last two weeks. I’m the kind of girl who joins a gym and moves away but is too ashamed to cancel her card even though it is a justifiable way to get out. It wasn’t always that way. When I was a kid, I could save dollar after dollar in the back of my underwear drawer, knowing, some day I’d have enough for a new tape – ya know the kind with music? Or maybe a T-shirt that wasn’t just white or yellow, but something with words. There was a me that would plan, who joined the BMG music club and stuck to the program.  Even a me who planned to read at least a book a month for a year and did and then some. But, this me, this girl, wants to only eat when she is hungry, wants to put exercise before everything else on her constantly updated to-do list. She wants her heart and her brain to get to know each other. She wants her stomach to just SHUT THE HELL UP. She wants.