Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for philip graham] 

For those of you who are in Iowa City, Philip Graham (author of The Moon, Come to Earth) will be reading at Prairie Lights book store tonight. In case my review didn't hook you on Graham's book I thought I would include a link to some of his dispatches for McSweeney's online. You can get a taste for Graham's writing here. The reading is at seven p.m. and is part of the Live from Prairie Lights series. If you cannot make it, Live From Prairie Lights readings are usually posted online here, so you can probably listen to it in the next few weeks if you have missed it.

The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon

by Philip Graham is a travel book about a year he spent with his wife and daughter in Lisbon. On the surface, that is. When I began reading this book I was excited to read about Portugal, a place that has always mystified me. What I got instead was an amazing account on fatherhood, growing up, and finding yourself.

The book is a series of dispatches for McSweeney's and begins like a trip begins, how they go there. It moves to unpacking their items in their new apartment and on to exploring the nooks and crannies of Lisbon. Graham writes beautifully about the culture, inserting the Portuguese language at the most key of moments and speaking honestly about the good and the bad of Lisbon. He is definitely a narrator you can trust.

As the book moved on, for me, it became less about Lisbon and more about Graham's twelve-year-old daughter Hannah. She struggles at her first school where she knows none of the language and is bullied by other kids. After switching to a new school she finally starts to find her place and fit in, but only after a crash course in Portuguese and changing her eating habits. As a girl on the brink of adolescence she faces challenges that her parents do not face, and perhaps do not entirely see. Graham takes the blame too, he admits that taking his daughter to Lisbon might have been a bad idea. At the end Hannah does love Libson, and wants to return immediately, so there is a sense not all was lost.

Overall this was a fascinating book, one of my favorites I've read this year. It's a quick read and I truly think there is something in here for all of us.

Paperback: 168 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 15, 2009)
Language: English

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This weekend I'm joining over one hundred blogs in the Got Books? event where we are all giving away some books to our lovely readers, new and old. This is really my first book giveaway and I put a lot of thought into the books I wanted to give away. One of them is a book I continuously talk about even though I've never reviewed it here and the other is a book I read when I first started blogging and it's one of my favorite books I've read since I started blogging. So what books am I talking about?

The first book is Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss. This is the book I haven't reviewed on here since I read it over a year ago before I even had a blog. I have talked about one of Eula Biss's essays though, The Pain Scale. This is a fantastic book of essays that I think a lot of you would enjoy. It deals with race, gender, human differences, and America. I mean, I read it over a year ago and I'm still talking about it, so that has to tell you it's pretty good right?

The second book I'm giving away is another work of nonfiction, The Moon, Come to Earth by Philip Graham. This is a book that came out of Graham's McSweeney's dispatches from Lisbon, Portugal. It's a travel narrative, but different from a lot of travel narratives I've read because it's about Graham's experience traveling with his family. The story actually really comes away from being a simple travel narrative and becomes more about the experience of being a parent. I posted a review back in November when I was still trying to figure out this whole blogging business. It was the tenth review I ever wrote on here! How crazy is that. Anyway, I also posted about a reading of his, which I attended.

If you'd like to enter (and I really hope you do!) just fill out the form below. You can enter for one book or both. The contest is open until Sunday, July 25 at MIDNIGHT Central Time. You can earn extra entries by being a follower or by tweeting, but you don't need to be a follower to enter the contest. This is only open to U.S./Canada.

This giveaway is closed! Thanks for entering!

This giveaway is closed! Thanks for entering!

I was a very bad reader last week. Lots of things are to blame, it was the week before Thanksgiving break and I just wanted to relax. I did finish Philip Graham's The Moon, Come to Earth. I also attended his reading at Prairie Lights. Graham is very gregarious, I enjoyed his reading. He read three dispatches from the book though, which took quite a long time. I'm always more interested in hearing authors talk about their books than read from them.

The book that has taken up most of my time is George Eliot's Middlemarch, which I plan to finish tomorrow. If I haven't mentioned it before, I will mention it again: Middlemarch is a beast. It's a multi-plot novel with what seems like one thousand characters. It takes me a long time to read, but thanks to a couple 4-8 AM shifts at work I am almost finished with it. I'm really enjoying it too, but that doesn't surprise me. Eliot is a genius.

Today I plan on finishing The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, I am obsessed with Charlotte Bronte and I'm always iffy on books that make the authors the characters. I am happy to say that I have not been able to put it down. James has really done a great job researching all the Brontes and I like how she documents her research in the back of the book. There are footnotes in this, which I know have put some people off, but I kind of like them. Some are unnecessary to me because I know enough about the 19th century, but some of them are helpful and interesting. The character that has interested me most is Branwell. I knew that he was a drunkard but James creates a fully developed character out of a man that has always baffled me.

Next week I plan on reading A LOT because I will just be sitting at home anyway. Books I plan to read are The Last Great Dance on Earth by Sandra Gulland, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, The White Garden by Stephanie Barron, and Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm.

I've already been busy reading for most of the day, which is good because I have a very busy evening ahead of me.

I'm reading my first George Eliot book right now, Middlemarch

. I'm really enjoying it even though it is a challenging (and long) book. I've been considering hosting a George Eliot challenge. If there is anyone interested in that please let me know. It would be a light challenge, probably only one book and a movie.

I'm also reading The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon

by Philip Graham. The book is a travelog about Graham's year in Lisbon with his wife and daughter. It's a quick read with some really beautiful passages and great questions about place and travel. I'm about halfway down with it.

I spent about nine hours reading yesterday (mostly homework) so I'm kind of taking a lighter day today. I have three meetings to go to tonight so I will be very busy for the rest of the day.

This week I plan on continuing the books I've already mentioned as well as finish The Lover

by Marguerite Duras. I will probably pick up another book but I haven't decided which yet.

Find out more about Sunday Salon here.

The Got Books Event has come to an end and while I'm sad the fun is over I'm excited to announce the winners of my giveaway! I am giving away two great nonfiction books, Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss and The Moon, Come to Earth by Philip Graham. Yeah yeah, you know right! So who won?

The winner of Notes From No Man's Land is Betty! Congratulations Betty, be sure to check out her blog Reflections With Coffee.

The winner of The Moon, Come to Earth is Vasilly! Congratulations Vasilly, be sure to check out her blog 1330V.

The winners were chosen using the true random number generator. The Got Books Event was a huge success in my opinion. I learned about several other blogs and got some new visitors at my blog. Friday and Saturday were both record breaking days here! I really want to thank GMR from Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers and Danielle from There's a Book for hosting this awesome event- I can't wait until next year's!

Last weekend I was so busy with the Iowa City Book Festival I didn't get the chance to post a Sunday Salon. This weekend has been equally busy but I've managed to find a little more time. I've been in Madison, Wisconsin with my boyfriend this weekend. It's a cool city and I'm thinking about going to library school here in a couple of years so I wanted to check out the area to see if I might like living here. I think it's safe to say that I would really enjoy living in Madison. My boyfriend and I are all about biking, walking, canoeing, and "green" living I suppose you would say. It seems like Madison does really cater towards that. Plus it's only five hours away from my hometown and three hours away from where I go to school now.

The main street downtown is State Street. Yesterday we went to some places my old roommate (who is from Wisconsin) suggested like Dobra Tea and Maharani Indian Restaurant. The Indian food was superb and I have to agree with her now. The Indian food in Iowa City just does not measure up. Of course no vacation would be complete with a stop at a bookstore. There were four bookstores I saw on State Street but we only went to two and I think the first one was the best.

Bookworks and Avol's Bookstore are actually two bookstores I guess, connected by an open door. I really only checked out the Avol's said because by the time I was done in there I had already found plenty. I got Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris because I just finished Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt by Nick Hornby and he really enjoyed it, although judging by the writing the person who originally owned this book did he didn't have as high of an opinion. I also got Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and a children's book called Mathilda and the Orange Balloon by Randall de Seve and illustrated by Jen Corace. It's very cute.

To finish off the day we went to watch the sunset over the lake. It was so pretty and relaxing. I don't remember the last time I sat to watch a sunset.

So the Got Books Event is over now, but contest is still open until midnight tonight. If you haven't checked out my giveaway yet please do so. I'm giving away two books, one to each winner. The first book is Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss and the second is The Moon, Come to Earth by Philip Graham. If you're interested in winning either book please enter!