Here comes the sun, and with it an overwhelming sense of obligation

Um, in case you haven't heard...Christopher McDougall is coming to the store this Friday to sign. Not only is this the best book for locomotion-motivation, it is also the perfect warm up read for the Boston Marathon. I cannot overstate how enthralling and fascinating this book is. My good-lord if you run (or walk) or shuffle even, this book is for you. So come in and meet the super cool Mr. Mc-D and his crazy amphiby-feet that have taken the running world by storm.

Running and reading share a similar place in my life. I feel sick when I don't practice them regularly, but I feel resentful sometimes they they are the world's best medicine. Have you ever regretted time you spent running or reading? Probably not (unless it was from the cops or the romance section.)

On a particularly pretty day like today, I always feel like an ass when I fail to jog, or pull out whatever I'm reading and sit outside. Nothing makes me feel more like I belong to the world like resonating with a killer collection of poems, good story, or an easy run. *Yet* how quickly we forget how simple little things like reading and running can entertain, fulfill, and even heal any ills you may be tending.

So- let's get out from behind our respective screens, strap on our sports bras and/or happy pants, and go for a run...and if we aren't up for that, let's read about the Ultra marathoners that do. For roughly 150 miles.

A Masterpiece!

This past week I read a great book for kids coming out in September--Masterpiece by Elise Broach. It's the story of Marvin, a beetle whose family lives under the Pompaday's kitchen sink in New York City. Marvin discovers his hidden talent for drawing when he creates a birthday present for James, the eleven-year-old boy who lives in the apartment the beetles call home. Even more important than his discovery of his talents, however, is Marvin's discovery of a true friendship with James. Marvin's talents lead Beetle and boy to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they try to help uncover who has been stealing Durer drawings.

Masterpiece reminded me of some of my absolute, all-time favorite stories from childhood-- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Claudia and Jamie are siblings who run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art--they shower in fountains and sleep on historic beds!--and try to discover the secrets of a beautiful sculpture), The Borrowers (a family of teeny-tiny people who create an entire world underneath the floorboards just like Marvin's family), and Charlotte's Web (I was reminded of the beautiful descriptions of friendships--and the unexpected talents of a bug!). That's some seriously heady company to be keeping, and Masterpiece pulls it off beautifully. Three cheers!

Picks for Kids--The Mysterious Benedict Society

Brookline Booksmith will soon be setting up a special wall in the kids' section devoted to staff recommendations. Yay!

My first recommendation is The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. My blurb: Four very clever children—Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance—come together under the tutelage of the curious Mr. Benedict to form the Mysterious Benedict Society. I loved trying to solve the puzzles and challenges presented to the children as they took their qualifying exams and then moved on to their mission—saving the world from the evil Mr. Curtain! This is a true treat of a novel that is equally fun for both kids and adults.

By the way, this is a really cool website that tells you more about the book and lets you test yourself with the types of puzzles and challenges that the Mysterious Benedict Society faced (and, if you're like me, find out you're not nearly as clever as Reynie, Kate, Sticky or Constance!).

I was thrilled to find out that a sequel will be coming out in May--The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. My Hachette rep got me an advance copy and I couldn't put it down! Just as good as the first. Yippee!

This One Goes Out To...

I'm back! Hi!

Every Monday I get an email from the folks at Publisher's Marketplace with significant and/or interesting book deals from the week before. I've been behind on my email and only got to my weekly deals today, where I found one that sounds so cool that I wanted to share it with you. It's for a book called Once Again to Zelda by Marlene Wagman-Geller and it "tells the story behind the dedications of classic novels (think Jane Eyre, The Brother's Karamazov and The Thin Man) and reveals who the author dedicated the book to and why, shedding light on the author's psyche as well as his/her historical era."

A couple things that let you know a bit more about me:

• I read the acknowledgements in a book first, even if they're at the back. (The bummer of galleys is that the dedication and acknowledgements are usually still to come. Sometimes I actually find myself thinking that I should remember to check out the acknowledgements when the finished book arrives...)
• Sometimes I wonder if part of my wanting to be a research librarian was so that I could be listed in acknowledgements, too.

My current favorite dedication is "To Ayelet, bashert," the simple opening to Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. If you don't know, bashert is a Yiddish term, one that means fate, or destiny. Your bashert is your soul mate, or the person you were meant to be with. In and of itself this is lovely, but it seems an especially apt introduction to the world Chabon creates in his book. The gravy, however, is knowing that the Ayelet referred to is Mr. Chabon's wife, Ayelet Waldman, who has written about the idea of bashert in her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (not to mention the infamous writing she's done about their relationship, such as this article).

Do you have a favorite dedication or know of an author's acknowledgements that deserve their own chapter?