We Have Always Lived in the Castle

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Most readers know Shirley Jackson’s chilling short story, “The Lottery,” or her gothic novel, The Haunting of Hill House. Her masterpiece, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, is not as well known. 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a murder-mystery that combines Gothic elements with psychological suspense. 

Though it gives the routine of two seemingly ordinary women, it also peers into the mind of a deranged young girl:

“I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had…I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in our family is dead.”

Merricat, eighteen, lives in the past along with her sister, who is about 28, and her ailing Uncle Julian. For some reason, Merricat excludes him as a member of her family in the opening paragraphs of the novel.

Merricat, who believes in magic and protection spells, lives wholly in her own imagination. She believes her cat, Jonas, can tell stories. She thinks that burying objects and nailing items to a tree can protect her and her sister from the villagers. She often professes that she wants to go to the moon on a winged horse.

None of Merricat’s talismans have any effect though when a relative, Charles Blackwood, visits and takes over the family’s home. The visitor alters the family in irreversible ways. Much like the events that occurred six years ago, the visitor’s actions alters the fabric of their lives. 

Merricat insists that Charles is a “ghost” and a “demon.” He is, in fact, a greedy relative who wants access to the family’s safe. Merrricat’s fanciful imagination however will not allow such a prosaic explanation. 

After the fire, and after the villagers exact terrible retribution, the Blackwood girls are more isolated than ever. 

Merricat and Constance insist, however, that they are happy even if they are deprived of their beautiful things–the italian staircase and drawing room. Without their their fancy plates and drapes, they are in a barren, yet isolated place. They are finally “on the moon.”

A Sense of Belonging in The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Netflix series of the same title, though different, has spawned new interest in this classic about a haunted house. Dr. Montague invited participants to the house that he believes are susceptible to the paranormal. Only later does he realize the enormity of his misjudgment. One of the participants, who is more fragile than the others, is driven to insanity. What Eleanor wants more than anything is to be accepted. She has taken care of her ailing mother at the expense of her own happiness. Now, in her thirties, in want of adventure, Eleanor "borrows" her sisters car and meets the group at Hill House. Poignantly, Eleanor thinks that she has made lasting friendships in less than a week. Naively, she assumes Theo would want to continue their friendship after the Hill House adventure is over. Eleanor says she intends to move into Theo's small apartment after she leaves Hill House. This is surprising at first given how much they argue. They fight over foolish things e.g. Luke's attention or being in the group's "spotlight." More than anything else, The Haunting of Hill House is about yearning for a sense of belonging. "Come Home, Eleanor," a ghostly hand writes on a wall in blood. Eleanor is mortified that the ghost has called her out by name. This isn't the spotlight that she wants. Eleanor, who acutely yearns to belong, is afraid of appearing foolish and being rejected. When Luke says she isn't welcome anymore, after her unusual behavior on the staircase, Eleanor is beyond crushed. The tragic ending coincides with her lamentations at being rejected from Hill House.

Inheritance: a Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

This memoir, which is in four parts, is Dani Shapiro's most intimate memoir to date. Shapiro who has always considered herself her father's daughter is devastated to learn that he is not her biological father.

Despite clues along the way, nothing clicks until she takes a DNA test. She expected to find that she is 100% Jewish but the test reveals something else altogether. She is biologically related to her mother but not to her father. 

Gradually, more details come to light. Before Shapiro was born, her parents had visited an infertility clinic known to mix sperm. Though she hopes her parents had not concealed anything from her, it becomes obvious they knew she was donor-conceived. 

Shapiro claims she had always known something was amiss. For Shapiro, who was devoted to her father, but always felt at odds with her family, the DNA results answer many troubling questions. 

The DNA results opens old wounds, leaving Shaprio completely unmoored. 

She describes how lost she feels in poetic language:

"I am the black box, discovered years--many years--after the crash. The pilots, the crew, the passengers have long been committed to the sea. Nothing is left of them. Fathoms deep, I have spent my life transmitting the faintest signal...I am also the diver who has discovered the black box...I had been looking for it all my life without knowing it existed."

Eventually, she has a meeting with her biological father whom she strongly resembles. They are brought together through the magic of social media.

Shapiro digs deeper, investigating the way cryobanks currently operate. She interviews dozens of donor-conceived individual who feel just as exiled and lost as she does.

As she forges deeper relationships with her biological family, however, Shapiro begins to see everything in a new light: as a blessing.  

Shapiro, who was raised as an orthodox Jew, is peppered with Jewish phrases and expressions. Her identity is still firmly Jewish, even if she is half Christian.

She puts all of her previous writings in perspective, realizing nearly all of her works were about family secrets.

Though she gives her social father "kol hakavod" (all the honor), she comes to cherish her biological one as well.

Shapiro's story is so important in this age when DNA kits are becoming more and more recreational. As more and more individuals have genetic testing done, more connections will be made. The likelihood of family secrets becoming accidently unearthed--as Shapiro's had--will increase over time.

The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley

The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley is a retelling of Beowulf and a social critique of contemporary society. On some levels, it succeeds. Gated community residents label anyone who live outside their boundaries "monsters".

Dana and her ancestors have actually lived on the mountain long before it was turned into a high-end suburb. 

After serving in the military, Dana returns to a cave and an abandoned railroad station. After nearly dying overseas, she awakes to find herself six months pregnant.  

When he is born, Gren draws startled reactions. He is described as having fur and claws. 

Wishing to protect him, Dana chooses to isolate him from the world. Gren accepts isolation, at first, and then grows weary of it.

Like Frankenstein's monster, he yearns for what he cannot have--Herot Hall. For him, it all comes down to a piano and the boy who plays it, Dilly. They represent the outside world, the world that Dana has forbidden him to inhabit.

The reader can easily identify with Gren's desire. The friendship between Gren and Dylan is breathtaking. The duality of Gren, his inability to fit in either world, is beautifully captured.

The unique narration and magic realism are startling beautiful.

The saint that follows Dana and who is known as "sorrow" is brilliantly rendered.

Without giving too much away, Headley orchestrates the ending perfectly. Dana destroys what has wrecked her life. She is a devoted mother who becomes monstrous in her devotion.

The novel which is about fierce motherhood, hearth and home will give book clubs much to discuss.

I am, I am, I am by Maggie O'Farrell.

This is a new memoir by novelist Maggie O'Farrell who lived through some horrifying experiences--seventeen brushes with death. Some are more chilling than others, like the time she met and almost succumbed to a serial killer.

Other times were less dramatic like the time that she jumped off a harbor wall into the sea from a cliff. 

Being Irish, she was cognizant of the cliffs and raging seas, yet her desire to experience wildness got the better of her. Worst still, a bout with encephalitis during childhood left her with limited spatial awareness. When she dropped herself into the sea at night, she was unable to tell which way was up and which was down.

When O'Farrell is close to death, the miraculous often happens. The only one who tries to save her when she is drowning is a boy who is secretly in love with her.

O'Farrell writes about being aware that she is about to die (at age 8) from encephalitis, her near drowning in Africa, and a tropical disease she acquired while visiting China, as well as many other instances she came close to dying.

Instead of feeling unlucky, O'Farrell feels incredibly lucky that she has traveled and has escaped many horrifying situations. 

In the last few chapters, she writes poignantly of her own child and her recovery from a severe allergic reaction.

A cleverly written book, this memoir also gives readers a deeper understanding and appreciation for life. 

   

Halloween edition of American Libraries Dewey Decimal podcast

The podcast, Dewey Decimal has a fantastic episode (episode #31) about the haunted library in Peoria, IL. 

Listen to the podcast and decide for yourself--supernatural events or urban legend? 

Multiple library directors have met untimely ends. Some say the land that library is built upon is cursed land.

Some staff members claim to have heard unusual experiences while working at the library--falling books, temperature changes, lights coming on and off on their own. One maintenance worker saw an entity enter an elevator.

The current director considers the ghost stories "local lore."


The podcast also features Mary Roach, who wrote Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and John B. Kachuba, Ghosthunting Illinois.

https://soundcloud.com/dewey-decibel-703453552

Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal

Katya is an Authenticities and Antiquities dealer in the far future where the details of life are recorded on Captures. She collects items before this time for their nostalgic value, ordinary things like typewriters and dictionaries. 

She relies on her A.I. like many would really one a friend. That is why she find herself so unaccountably alone when her A.I. goes off-line.

Most of the novelette is Katya's experience of being kidnapped for three days by a strange masked man. He shows no empathy toward her during the three days she is "off line," but mysteriously he allows her to live to tell her tale.

This is one of the stories that leaves readers hunger for more, yet Kowal keeps some things shrouded in mystery.

This is a captivating SF/fantasy tale about how we construct memories and how we survive is both puzzling and thought-provoking.

Playwright Lauren Gunderson

The most widely produced playwright in the United States is Lauren Gunderson. She has written I and You, The Silent Sky, The Revolutionists. We are Denmark and many other plays. 


She writes about smart, funny women trying to make their mark in the world. The Silent Sky is about Henrietta Swan Leavitt, one of the first female astronomers.

If you're looking for a STEM inspired drama, try Lauren Gunderson.

American Theatre keeps tabs on the most produced playwrights of the year.  For more playwrights on their list,

https://www.americantheatre.org/2017/09/21/the-top-20-most-produced-playwrights-of-the-2017-18-season/

Great openings to novels

From Leif Enger's Virgil Wander: 

"Now I think the picture was unspooling all along and I just failed to notice. The obvious really isn't so--at least it wasn't to me, a Midwestern male cruising a medium altitude, aspiring vaguely to decency, contributing to PBS, moderated in all things including romantic forays, and doing unto others more or less reciprocally.

If I were to pinpoint when the world began reorganizing itself--that is, when my seeing of it began to shift--it would be the day a stranger named Rune blew into our bad luck town of Greenstone, Minnesota, like a spark from the boreal gloom." 

The City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Perfect for Halloween, The City of Ghosts is the story of Cass who nearly drowned. Ever since, she has the ability to pull back the Veil between the living and the dead. Things are already spooky but they are about to get a lot spookier in this middle grade novel. 
 

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Though its hard to believe, in the not too distant past women could be placed in insane asylums by their husbands or families if they refused to conform to norms. 

Women could be sent to psychiatric institutes indefinitely if a family member said a woman was not behaving as she should. 

The novel begins by Iris learning she has a great Aunt she never knew about, Esme, who has been in a mental institution for sixty years.  

Since Cauldstone is closing, the institution looks to Esme's nearest relative to take her great Aunt into her home.

The central mystery that propels the narrative is how and why did Esme become confined. Esme who has an excellent memory searches her past for clues--when did her life go disastrously wrong? Did it go wrong on New Year's eve in the 1930's when she danced with an attractive boy? Or did her problems begin much earlier when the family lived abroad?

Iris, who owns her own vintage clothing shop, has her own share of problems. She has a complicated love life. She nearly does not take Esme into her home. Yet there's something compelling about Esme.

Esme, who is immensely likeable for her openness and intelligence, recognizes Iris' home as her family's old home.   


Deciphering clues as a detective would do, Esme learns the reason she was imprisoned along with new secrets that Kitty, her older sister, has been keeping.

O'Farrell takes a subject which could have been depressing and infuses with humor and telling details. The blazer, the photo of Iris's father, the green wool blanket, the photo of two women--one standing and one seated--are all vital clues.

The ending comes as a surprise but well-justified in this well-plotted, psychological novel. Kathy Hepinstall's Blue Asylum explores similar themes but is set in the civil war South.

If you liked this novel, you might also enjoy the short play, The Insanity of Mary Girard by Lanie Robertson. 

Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen

Readers who likes eccentric characters and strange twists of fate will love Harry's Trees. 

Oriana and Amanda live near the woods in the Endless Mountains area of Pennsylvania. Life is ordinary until Amanda's perfect husband and Oriana's perfect father dies. 

 Dean dies sprawled out like a snow angel in a snowy field. His buddy, Ronnie, is convinced there are feather impressions in the snow. He believes Dean has become some sort of  winged creature--a red-tailed hawk--who can interact with the townspeople after his death. 

But its more than feathers that take on a larger significance. The lottery ticket Harry bought is piece of bad magic, an unlucky talisman.

Amanda Jeffers, Oriana's mother, doesn't believe in miracles, fairy tales, or magic but nonetheless she shelters Harry. She lets him rent out her tree house because they are in the same club--both having survived a year after a spouse's death.

Amanda thinks Harry is safe--that he is a "bland, levelheaded bureaucrat who understood rules." Little does she know that Harry is the opposite of what she thinks.

Harry is just like the "grum" in the story Oriana loves from Olive Perkins' library. He is the catalyst that will change everyone perspective; this is, if his brother, Wolf, doesn't catch up with him first.

Wolf is appropriately named because he is greedy and destructive--the villain of Harry's childhood. His greed is the opposite of Harry's altruism. 

Wolf is drawn to the only other character who is extremely voracious--Stu Gipner. Will Wolf and Stu bring destruction to the fairy tale world Harry and Oriana have constructed? Will Amanda, who is jaded and practical, believe in the fairy tale? 

On Writing

"Finish. The difference between being a writer and being a person of talent is the discipline it takes to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and finish. Don’t talk about doing it. Do it. Finish."

E. L. Konigsburg  (via whatsinsideawritersmind)
Photo: picjumbo.com

The Dark Side of Innocence: Growing Up Bipolar by Terri Cheney

Terri Lynn was popular--she was a cheerleader and a Mauna Loa, a popular girls' group. She sat by the tiger--her school had a statue of a tiger where the popular kids gathered. Stoners and nerds weren't allowed anywhere near it.

Despite this, Terri Lynn is deeply unhappy. She contents almost every day with something she calls "the Black Beast." Under his direction, she alternates between being an people-pleasing overachiever and a teen who drinks, runs away from home, and wrecks her beloved car. She also writes till her fingers cramp, makes out with boys, and cuts herself with knives and pins.

She doesn't know it at the time but later she learns that "the Black Beast" is bipolar disorder. Cheney, who has also written Manic about her adult experience with bipolar disorder, writes eloquently about her childhood and adolescent battle with the disorder.


During a manic phase, Terri discards the graduation speech she had practiced and creates a new one on the spot. Luckily, her speech is well-received though it does raise eyebrows. 

Terri believes her drive is the catalyst for the "Black Beast." She vows not to strive for perfection at Vassar. As she explains in the afterward, though, and in Manic, her manic phases return with a vengeance.

Few books are written about mental illness and even fewer are written as well as this one. 

Powerful words--Octavia Butler

All that you touch
You Change.

All that you Change
Changes you.

The only lasting truth
is Change.

God is Change.

Instructions for a Heat Wave by Maggie O'Farrell

While a heat wave rages in 1970s London, a charming family is in crisis. The head of the household--Robert Riordan--has disappeared. The youngest daughter, Aoife, who left for New York, returns to help her family deal with her father's disappearance.

Aoife and her sister Monica who have a strained relationship attempt to settle their differences. Monica blames Aoife for divulging a secret to her ex-husband. Aoife denies revealing anything to Rob, Monica's first husband. 

In fact, none of the Riordan's have problem-free relationships. Michael Francis and his wife have a troubled marriage. Despite believing she had a wonderful marriage, Gretta suspects her husband abandoned the family after they find money taken from their account. 

Aoife is in love with someone but she hides the fact that she is dyslexic from him. 

O'Farrell does a wonderful job of balancing the different points of view of the siblings with those of Gretta. The problems in the Riordan family are well-developed and handled with humor and irony.   

The Beast and the Hummingbirds by Madison McSweeney

A beauty and the beast retelling by Madison McSweeney is in Rhythm & Bones: A Literary Magazine.












https://www.rhythmnbone.com/single-post/2018/06/25/The-Beast-the-Hummingbirds

Sharp Objects and its subtext

Sharp Objects' subtext suggests that everyone needs mentors to guide them. Without mentors, people end up hard-edged and damaged. They can even, in some cases, become monstrous.

Mothers are a child's natural and first mentor but as the novel makes clear some people are terrible at mothering. 

As Camille wryly points out, "I just think some women aren't meant to be mothers. And some women aren't meant to be daughters."

According to Adora, Camille wasn't "good." What Adora means is that Camille wasn't vulnerable or weak the way Marian was. 

Marian dies when Camille is thirteen--a circumstance that further estranges her from her mother. Camille says, "Its impossible to compete with the dead." 

Camille has always felt unloved by her mother. She engages in risky behavior and becomes a cutter--perhaps purposely putting herself in danger to find maternal love. 

Like her half-sister Amma will find out, Camille's hometown is oppressive.

Camille decides to write about pain; that is, become a crime reporter.

After she leaves her hometown, she vows to never look back. She revels in the role of "cubby" or that of cub reporter. With her editor, Camille has finally found the mentor she needs.

But then Curry sends her back to her hometown to report on a story that he thinks will "make" her career. 

Sharp objects by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn's debut novel, Sharp Objects is mesmerizing. The protagonist, Camille, returns to her hometown, a small, suffocating town in MO, to report on a couple of horrific crimes.

Two young girls have been murdered and in both cases their teeth have been removed. Both girls are tomboys yet otherwise have little in common. 

Camille is a Preaker, one of the leading families in the town yet she feels completely alienated from her family and their sprawling Victorian home.

Beneath a veneer of hospitality, Wind Gap is beseiged by bullies. Camille's half-sister, Amma, is one of the prettiest and meanest of the blondes.

Camille develops a relationship with one of the investigators but refuses to let her guard down. Like everyone else in the town, she holds on to her secrets. 

Many are convinced that one of the deceased girls' brothers, John Keene, is the killer. 

Sharp Objects has been turned into an HBO miniseries with Amy Adams. 

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

This is an absolute stunner in every sense of the word--rich prose, tight plotting, and imaginative twists and turns. 

The Company has manufactured biotech that wreak havoc upon the City. The actions of Mord, a man-made bear-like creature, and his proxies cause the Magician and her pseudo-children to rebel. 

Even before the rebellion, however, the City has been wrecked, leaving many scavengers. Rachel, who lives in the Balcony Cliff with Wick, has learned the art of scavenging. 

Though there is a gap in her memories, Rachel remembers once living on an island. Later, as the waters rose, she became a climate refugee and moved to the City.

Perhaps she sees something of herself in the creature, Borne, who helplessly clings to Mord's flank. She nurtures him yet she doesn't know exactly what he is. 

No one does, not even Borne himself. For a time, he ponders if he is a biotech weapon created by the Company. Wick suggests that they deconstruct him to see what he is but Rachel feels outraged. He is a "person" in her eyes yet he at first seems little more than a plant with eyes. 

Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart

I took a memoir writing class at the University of Kentucky. I wish we had Beth Kephart's book, Handling the Truth.

One of the class discussions at the life writing class I took was how people react to memoir. How they react to seeing themselves portrayed in memoir?

Often their recollection is different, which is natural, but sometimes the people that populate your memoir feel affronted.

Kephart deals with this early on, "Its obvious, isn't it? Memoir making is a hazardous business. People are involved. Their feelings. Their reputations. Their relationships to you..."

Decoding the Weather

If you're showing PBS's Decoding the Weather at your public library, keep this list of eco-themed books in mind. 

These "climate change" themed books would make excellent book discussion or common reads:

Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Water Knife.
Jemison, N.K. The Fifth Season.
Mandel, Emily. Station Eleven. 
Miller, Sam. Blackfish City.  
Roberts, Nora. Year One. 
Wright, Alexis. The Swan Book.

Writers

“Writers don't write from experience, although many are 

hesitant to admit that they don't. ...If you wrote from

 experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. 

Writers write from empathy.”

Nikki Giovanni.

Attica Locke's Bluebird, Bluebird

Set in East Texas, this murder mystery looks at crime through the eyes of Texas Ranger, Darren Matthews. Darren's 9/11, as he calls it, was the murder of an innocent black man in Jasper, TX.  Sadly,  his favorite Uncle has been killed in an unrelated incident. 

Both incidents compel Darren to forsake law school for law enforcement.  Deciding to continue his Uncle's line of work, Darren works hard to become a Texas Ranger.

The more he succeeds, however, the more his marriage deteriorates. Even with his marriage in shambles, Darren cannot help investigating a pair of murders in Lark, TX. Both bodies--that of an African American man and a white woman--were found in the bayou behind Geneva's cafe.

One of his obstacles is the local sheriff who wants to limit the Ranger's role as much as possible. Darren suspects the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas may be involved but the local sheriff wants to pretend they don't exist in his county.

Lark has its share of family secrets; even Geneva Sweet, owner of Geneva's cafe harbors her own.

Darren needs to find a way to investigate both murders without upsetting the locals, the deceased's ex-wife, and Geneva, whom he comes to respect.

This tightly plotted thriller entertains as well as explores race relations in a small town in Texas.

My Real Children by Jo Walton

This is the startling story of a woman who remembers two different versions of her life. 

Pat's life takes two completely different trajectories. 

In one version she has four children. She chooses the safe but disparaging partner, Mark.

In another version of her life, where she is known as Trisha, she rejects Mark and chooses an unconventional lifestyle. She falls in love with a woman, writes guidebooks to Italy, and has children with a friend.

"Character is destiny," postulated Heraclitus. In this novel, however,  one choice changes not only a woman's life but alters world history and politics as well. 

My Real Children is an intriguing thought exercise but not really satisfying. Some of the turns of events in both realities are heartbreaking.

 
 

Whale Road Review, Summer Issue, 2018

My favorite poems are poems that teach e.g. "On the Occassion of Eating Bird's Nest Soup With Trung and Kim" by Rachel Barton.

The poem explores the notion of how everything is connected through a food chain. A woman eats bird's nest soup, a delicacy in China, and contemplates how everything is connected as the swifters rise into view.

The soup, she admits, is flavorless. She marvels that even the spit of the swifters, which the birds use to construct their nests, is a "jewel."

Another instructive nature poem, "Whale Fall Deadsong Heavenly Blues #17," by Christopher Todd Anderson compares a whale carcass to a cathedral. 

...Boneworms
humble themselves in the chapel of her heart,

decapods haunt her lungs’ cloisters. 

Later, its clear that the carcass is not a church but a universe. However, both are impressive and big so really a church and a universe are interchangeable:

...Creatures

born here, in the interstices of bone and blubber,

think this is the whole universe: cell-rot sky

and jaw-cave homeland, a history founded on decay

See the Summer issue of Whale Road Review,

www.whaleroadreview.com

Book Review: Mister Tender's Girl

Quite possibly there's no worst feeling than be watched, scrutinized or stalked. Mr. Tender's Girl captures the nightmare of being observed by a group of online "fans." 

At fourteen, Alice Hill is a victim of a horrible crime. Her father's creation, Mr. Tender, the devious hero of the eponymous graphic novel, has inspired two of her friends to stab her. 

To escape the media and the sensationalism of the crime, Alice, who is British, changes her name and goes to America. 

She thinks this is enough to protect her anonymity until a strange package arrives--the last book in the Mr. Tender series.

Her father, who died in London, never finished the Mr. Tender series. In fact, he never penned another drawing after the vicious attack on his daughter occurred. So, where did the package, postmarked from England, come from? 

The graphic novel is mostly blank but a few frames depicted her apartment in Manchester, MA convince Alice someone is watching her. 

She discovers that she is the "star" of an underground online community that have been discussing her case for years. They have been collecting and posting photographs of her, her house, her coffee shop.
But that's not all. Alice is also being stalked by an associate of an ex-boyfriend who tries to extort money from her. The associate comes to the coffee shop demanding cash or he will implicate Alice in her ex's crimes.

This is a taut, psychological thriller that was inspired by two true life events--the Slenderman stabbings and the Theo Van Gogh killing in Amsterdam.

What I liked best about this novel was the character development of Alice. Though she is a victim and isolated in the beginning, she emerges as a self-aware protagonist who is in charge of her own life.

Coding club?

We aren't anywhere near Christmas but here's a simple tutorial to make a Christmas tree using CSS.

http://www.cssviking.com/css-christmas-tree#comment-2483

Cssviking.com originally posted this in 2012 but it would make a good exercise for coding clubs.

.ctree {
    background-color: #FFFFFF;
    border: 1px solid black;
    margin: 15px;
    height: 350px;
    position: relative;
}
.ctree .trunk {
    border-color: brown transparent;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 0 14px 300px;
    bottom: 0;
    left: 50%;
    height: 0px;
    position: absolute;
    width: 0;
}
.ctree .branches {
    border-bottom-left-radius: 50% 20px;
    border-bottom-right-radius: 50% 20px;
    border-color: green transparent;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 0 100px 120px;
    bottom: -270px;
    height: 0px;
    left: -100px;
    position: absolute;
    width: 0;
}
.ctree .branches.middle {
    border-bottom-left-radius: 50% 15px;
    border-bottom-right-radius: 50% 15px;
    border-width: 0 80px 100px;
    bottom: -176px;
    left: -80px;
}
.ctree .branches.top {
    border-bottom-left-radius: 50% 12px;
    border-bottom-right-radius: 50% 12px;
    border-width: 0 60px 80px;
    bottom: -100px;
    left: -60px;
}
.ctree .band {
    background-color: transparent;
    border-color: white;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 6px;
    border-radius: 103px;
    clip: rect(152px, 260px, 260px, 82px);
    margin-bottom: 15px;
    height: 200px;
    right: -50px;
    margin-left: -165px;
    position: absolute;
    bottom: -110px;
    width: 200px;
}
.ctree .middle .band {
    bottom: -92px; 
    clip: rect(162px, 260px, 260px, 95px);    
    right: -50px;
}
.ctree .top .band {
    bottom: -77px; 
    clip: rect(172px, 260px, 260px, 110px);    
    right: -50px;
}
.ctree .star {
    border-color: yellow transparent;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 0 30px 21px;
    -moz-border-end-style:dashed !important;
    display: block;
    height: 0px;
    left: -28px;
    position: absolute;
    top: -10px;
    -moz-transform: rotate(35deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(35deg);
    -webkit-transform: rotate(35deg);
    transform: rotate(35deg);
    width: 0px;
}
.star:before {
    border-color: yellow transparent;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 0 9px 21px;
    -moz-border-end-style:dashed !important;
    content: '';
    display: block;
    height: 0;
    left: -22px;
    position: absolute;
    top: -14px;
    -moz-transform: rotate(-35deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(-35deg);
    -webkit-transform: rotate(-35deg);
    transform:rotate(-35deg);
    width: 0;
}
.star:after {
    border-color: yellow transparent;
    border-style: solid;
    border-width: 0 30px 21px;
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On What Matters

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

William Bruce Cameron, "Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking," 1963. 

Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

Did you know there is a Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction?

The prize is given to works that depict lawyers in society and their power to effect change. 

James Grippando's Gone Again won last year's award. 

Mother Mother by Koren Zailckas

Violet Hurst's family is a vortex of toxicity. Nearly everyone is a narcissist, liar, or addict, an abuser an enabler, or some combination.

After a drug-fueled night that Violet has trouble remembering, she is sent to a mental health clinic. Her mother, Josephine, insists that she has tried to hurt her brother, Will.


Though she can't remember the incident, Violet thinks she has been framed. She does not believe she would intentionally hurt Will.

What happened that night is slowly unfolded through the eyes of two of the novel's characters, William and Violet. 

Rose, who ran away from home before the incident, has her own emotional problems. Though readers never get her point of view, she blames her mother for pressuring her to have an abortion--a decision that has left her emotionally scarred. 

Trapped in lock down, Violet has a hard time discerning what is happening at home. She tries to contact Rose because she thinks her sister is on her side.  

Violet's yearns to be emancipated from her psychopathic mother, Josephine. This wish becomes even stronger when she learns the depth of her mother's deceit.

This is a novel by talented writer who writes with confidence and dark humor. While its a great read, it may not be a great Mother's Day present. 

"With Time Their Wings Fade" by Erika Swyler

This story combines loneliness with magical realism, the uncanny, canning, and longing.

El has lived with almost unbearable loneliness--visiting almost no one for twenty years in a house so far from town. Mercy is the only one who visits because she sells her canned vegetables for her in town.

Anyone, who longs for something, will identify with this woman. 

In this story, El has a stack of unused diapers in her closet and jars of tomatoes and other vegetables. Never having had the children she expected to have, she ends up with a cache of diapers.

She buries sparrows and bluebirds in unused diapers when they accidentally hit themselves against her glass window. They seem to do that frequently even after her strange house guest, a boy covered in dust, arrives.

The descriptions in this story are wonderful. The sparrow weighs less than "a breath of dust."

The boy, too, is made of dust:

"The cat was on the doorstep. Behind her was a child, brown, a layer of dirt covering every inch of his skin, making it velvet. His eyes were like his skin; soft, dark. A quick tilt of his head brought to mind hiccups or a sneeze. Four or five, she figured him, and without a stitch on but the dirt."

He appears to have wings that will not wash off:

Where skinny shoulder blades should have ended, they began, two shadows sprouting from the child’s back. Clouds, wings made of dust.

The wings are uncanny yet Mercy, El's only friend, tells her not to mind his strangeness. Children do not feel different until someone tells them they are different. 

The boy brings more and more children to the house--two little girls and a boy. El and her husband, Davis, a mason, contact the Sheriff but no one has reported missing children.

The mysterious boy clings to El's legs. He is mostly non-verbal but seems wiser beyond his years. He says "not yet," when she asks him his name. 

El finds homes for the other children; these children bring brightness to the people who have led dull lives like Mercy and Jeanne. 

The story tells readers that grief , like the uncanny wings, fade over time. 

Even though El loses Davis, she finds this unnamed boy who takes his rightful place beside her.

https://catapult.co/stories/fiction-with-time-their-wings-fade

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Dark Matter is an unforgettable novel with a horrifying premise. Kidnapped at gunpoint by an unknown assailant, Jason Dessen is forced to drive to an abandoned power station. He is given a drug that knocks him unconscious.

Later, Jason wakes to find that his assailant has hijacked his life.  Jason finds himself questioned by a room full of strangers. 

Years ago, Jason had abandoned his scientific research to become a professor at an average university and have a family. Waking up in this aberrant world, Jason realizes that none of the life he knows and loves has ever happened. 

In this parallel world, Jason pursued scientific research. He ended his relationship with his girlfriend before she had his son, Charlie. 

Using a device (a "box") his alternate self created, Jason escapes. He hopes to find his previous life, even if it means looking for one life among infinite lives. While taking a trip through the multiverse, Jason is met with danger, heartbreak, and surprises.

The novel asks several philosophical questions that are chilling in their implications. Overall, this is an entertaining thriller, even if there are a few quibbles and unanswered questions.  

Dark Matter will soon become a feature film. 

If you like Dark Matter, you may also like Connie Willis' Cross Talk, Audrey Niffennegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, or Ursula LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven. 

Lariat Reading List

Lariat Reading List

This past Thursday I attended the Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List Author Section at the Texas Library Association conference. Authors Benjamin Ludwig, Matt Goldman and Lisa Wingate were there.

Each of the presentations was warm, funny, and inspirational. Ludwig who has won many awards for Ginny Moon said he wanted to write about a kid looking for her own voice. 

Ludwig is a teacher and he comes across many kids who don't speak in class because of their troubling circumstances. 

For reasons that make sense only to her Ginny tries to get her biological mother to kidnap her from her foster family. 

The second presenter used to write television screenplays for Seinfeld but has since turned his attention toward murder mysteries. 

His mystery, Gone to Dust, features Nils Shapiro who is faced with an enigmatic situation--a body covered in vacuum dust.

Goldman admits that one of the main reasons he added this detail to his crime novel was he hope to baffle fans of CSI.

Though he no longer writes comedies Goldman makes his characters relatable and quirky.

Before We Were Yours has been on the New York Times best seller lists since August 2017. Lisa Wingate explained that she first ran across the story of Georgia Tann while watching a history documentary. 

Wingate brings the character of Rill and the other "river rats" to life as only she can. Since Rill is the oldest, she feels responsible for the plight of her siblings. She feels doubly devastated when she and the others are taken to the Tennessee Children's Home Society.

The story of these siblings and the later generation that reconnects with them is a rare achievement.

For more books on the Lariat Reading list, please go to,

http://www.txla.org/Lariat