Giving Memories

By Catherine Weller

Different things make the holidays meaningful to each of us. Some of us worship, others gather with family and friends, still others travel or recreate, and some do all of the above. I think it’s fair to say what stays with one year upon year are the memories that form over time. They become the stories and traditions we pass along to younger generations. They are the moments we reflect upon this time of year, when decorations and recipes come out of boxes and music takes a turn to the sacred and nostalgic. 

My Bestamor, my grandmother, gave me the same things for Christmas every year. And yet each November I would eagerly await the box that would arrive in the mail from New Mexico packed with Advent presents– special treats of which my Utah friends were at first ignorant, then jealous– and pecans, often a ristra for the kitchen, and several beautifully wrapped rectangular objects. They were books, of course. Bestamor was a high school English teacher with excellent taste in literature. She exposed me to many authors I never would have read on my own. Some, such as Eudora Welty, I have enjoyed through the years; others, not so much. But at least I have read them and I know who they are, a fact for which I have thanked my grandmother more than once or twice. Many of the books are still on my shelves. 

Bestamor used to say she’d never given a book she hadn’t read. Since she was a phenomenally well-read woman I took her at her word. Only when I was an adult did I realize the humor in that statement. Some of the books I received, though new, were obviously to my more educated eye, gently read. Sneaky! When I figured that out, I was delighted that she gave herself little gifts when she purchased ones for me. Each and every book she gave me was inscribed, “For Catherine from Papa and Bestamor. Christmas,” followed by the year. It was her tradition. Now the memories make me smile when I see one of those books on my shelves or when I get out the decorations. She gave me the best gift of all, a lifelong love of books and writing.

I hope you will all find yourselves the recipients of such wonderful gifts as that, as well as all of the hope and joy you will need to sustain you in the New Year. 

– Catherine

November-December

Best Wellers’ Pick

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Ever since Sam Weller, my dad and WWII man who cared not at all for rock ‘n’ roll, brought home for me Beatles albums he bought with some used books circa 1968, I have been an enthusiastic listener of music. My obsession continues to this day. I nearly worship at the stereo. My music collection (vinyl, CD, digital) contains numerous musical genres yet I claim fealty to none. My taste is more aligned with musicians. The music I love raises me to ecstatic heights but is seldom popular. I listen to hit tunes and sometimes can’t figure out the appeal. I try to understand what characteristics make excellent music so seductive, if only to discern the next transcendent sound.

This Is What It Sounds Like is co-authored by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas. Rogers has a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, is a professor at Berklee College of Music and she produced Prince’s Purple Rain. Ogi Ogas, PhD is a computational neuroscientist. The book is written in Susan’s voice. In it, she breaks music into its components and delves into how each of these affects arrays of listeners, frequently leaping outside the music paradigm to secure her points.

Personal and social principles that affect us are a sense of authenticity, and a piece of music’s relationship to tradition or novelty. In measurable traits we find pitch and melody; amplitude; rhythm; and timbre. All the musical traits we perceive are influenced by subconscious elements too complex to get into here. For depth, you must read the book. It contains a fun picture of a child throwing a cup to the floor and, all in a moment demonstrating timber, melody, rhythm, and mom’s lyric, “Baby!”

I am not trying to become a music critic, I just want to continue discovering great music. From Susan Roberts I learned some things about listening. Popular music is usually found, on the apex of the tradition-novelty continuum which appears as a bell curve. Apparently, commercially successful music contains a magical balance of what we expect and what we don’t. My taste is not found there. I listen on the novelty side of the slope, but never unless the authenticity feels sincere. Most listeners sense authenticity but what it sounds like to one is different than what it sounds like to another. When a new authentic sounding song hits my ears, I first hear timbre. It is the most mysterious of the measurable traits of music and our attraction to it begins in infancy. Another listener might sooner respond to rhythm, melody, or lyrics.

I don’t yet know what my listening preferences mean about me. I read this book to deepen my listening and refine my understanding of music and my own taste. Susan’s book has shown me how many parts of a brain music touches. No wonder it feels so magical. This Is What It Sounds Like was an informative and fun read. When we refine our perception, I believe we increase our capacity for joy. Now I can face the musical frontier better equipped to understand the pleasure I receive and possibly, to jack it up another notch, maybe to eleven.

Bookseller Reviews

Dim Sum Palace

By X. Fang

Tundra Books

Hardcover

$18.99 

Review by Claire Margetts

Have you ever drifted off to sleep with the sound of a pleasant conversation lilting in another room? Perhaps you’re a fan of catnapping while dinner is simmering? Reading Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang gives you that same calm, dreamy, sleepy feeling. 

Liddy and her family are going to a place called Dim Sum Palace tomorrow. She has never been there, and is too excited to sleep– wondering what this magical sounding place could be. In the vein of Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen, Liddy wakes up in a dream, surrounded by the enticing aroma of a feast. Drawn by the rich food flavor, she makes her way into a gigantic palace, where she is met with life size ingredients for an even larger meal. She frolics in bao, buns, dumplings, and tasty treats as far as the eye can see. It’s all fun and games until she rolled into a dumpling herself!

This is a lovely book inside and out. The artwork is absolutely scrumptious, and the words are gentle and soft– perfect for a goodnight read. One warning I will give you (and this is important), is to never read it on an empty stomach. All of the food in the book is so enticing. I’m not sure how X. Fang did it, but every treat looks so delicious you can almost reach into the pages and steal a bite. Really, your mouth will water thinking about all the delectable delicacies Liddy gets to try. Indulge your appetite and get Dim Sum Palace!

Weird Girl Winter

It starts biblically, before Eve's Garden of Eden. The unhinged, monstrous woman is cast down to rot in a fiery pit of evil. Yawn. This narrative has been told through the centuries, a tale as old as time– as they say. Woman must not do wrong, woman must be perfect or she will be punished, but what happens when the woman is allowed to be unhinged, psychopathic, even downright monstrous? You get some weird, weird books. This list is for the weird girls, the unreliable narrators, and for anyone that just wants a touch of madness in their day. Be sure to check all trigger warnings!

Paradise Rot

By Jenny Hval

Key word is “ROT”. An unsettling, bizarre little book packed to the brink with biological secretions. The best way to describe it– a surreal, damp fever dream. If you like Ottessa Moshfegh this might be for you. 

Maeve Fly

By CJ Leede

Disgustingly visceral and unnerving, this book isn’t for the soft of heart. Best described as American Psycho if Patrick Batemen went off the rails. A pulpy horror to the extreme. 

Boy Parts

By Eliza Clark

Perfect example of the unhinged, monstrous woman. Clark explores sexuality and gender in this dark, violently funny debut novel. Uncomfortable and unreliable with razor sharp edges that will leave you reeling.

Carmilla

By Sheridan Le Fanu

Can’t get more classic vampire than the sapphic story that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It explores feminine sexuality against the gothic backdrop of 1800’s Austria. A lovely, bloody little gem.

Bunny

By Mona Awad

What girl doesn’t dream of joining a sacrificial cult with an Alice in Wonderland theme to it? Very weird, very strange, and a little bit of satire to round it all off.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy

& Other Stories: Holiday Edition

“Unwisely, Santa offered a teddy bear to James, unaware that he had been mauled by a grizzly earlier that year.”

Leave it to the creator of Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas to serve up a holiday treat that’s dark, gloomy, and deliciously gruesome. This collection of poems with illustrations by the author tells tales of unusual children and their even more unusual fates. Stick Boy. Voodoo Girl. Melonhead. The Pin Cushion Queen. Mummy Boy. Junk Girl. These are just some of the unfortunates whose short lives and macabre deaths fill the pages of this strange little book. 

Lest you think this might be a fun book for kids like some other of Burton’s (marginally) family-friendly offerings, a word of caution. These tales and their accompanying illustrations are not really appropriate for kids, in this uncle of young nieces’ opinion. The title character is a good example: Oyster Boy is conceived after his father consumes an inordinate amount of shellfish in an attempt to improve his sexual prowess following complaints from his wife. Stick Boy finds his attraction to Match Girl fatal when the heat of his arousal ignites her and burns him to a cinder. The Boy With Nails In His Eyes is another (self-explanatory) example. Most of the characters in this book die ignoble deaths of varying degrees of depravity that might be disturbing for young readers. But for adults this bizarre little tome is amusingly toxic fun. 

Burton was an artist (at Disney no less!) before he became a filmmaker. His ability to create characters who simultaneously engage your empathy, sympathy, pity, and sense of humor is on glorious display here. Seuss-esque poetry provides priceless accompaniment to the drawings. 

🚨Holiday Gift Alert🚨

This edition of The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories has been handsomely repackaged for the holiday season. It’s a perfect gift for any Tim Burton fan, goth enthusiast, or weary person who wants an antidote to the oppressive cheerfulness the season forces on us all. Ebeneezer Scrooge would’ve been pleased to find Oyster Boy in his stocking Christmas morning.

Prince & Knight

Once upon a time, two men fell in love and lived happily ever after.

In Daniel Haack and Stevie Lewis’ lovely picture book for young readers, the King and Queen of a Disneyesque realm decide it’s time for their son, the Prince, to marry. The three of them search the kingdom and neighboring lands for a suitable maiden for him to wed. But none of the potential suitors spark the Prince’s heart or mind. While the royals are away, a dreadful dragon lays siege to the kingdom. Hearing the news, the Prince races home to save his people. He engages the fierce beast, but luckily isn’t alone – a noble knight joins him and together they subdue the creature. After saving the kingdom, the Prince realizes that he’s found the person he wants to marry: the handsome knight. Seeing how happy the knight makes their son, the King and Queen bless the union. The two men marry and the whole kingdom celebrates. The End.

Told in lyrical rhymes with beautiful fairytale styled illustrations, this book is a charming and delightful reimagining of a tale as old as time. As a gay man in my 50’s, the impact Prince & Knight has on me is immense. A lifelong lover of fantasy, fairy tales, and Disney animation, I’m not used to seeing myself represented in those worlds. One of the primary functions of art is to be a mirror. Being able to see yourself in art reinforces that you’re part of the larger culture, that you’re seen, heard, included, and even welcomed. Positive LGBTQ+ representation is more important now than ever, as all over our great nation ignorant fearful persons relentlessly try to silence minority voices with their disgusting book bans and immoral restrictions on teaching the truth. Prince & Knight is a book I wish I had had when I was a young gay kid feeling alone and scared. This book is for queer kids now, a book that says “You are part of the human race. You are special. You are beautiful. You too can have a happily ever after with the one you love. And fight a dragon!”

🚨Holiday Gift Alert🚨

Although listed as a book for readers ages 4-8, Prince & Knight is a fantastic gift for anyone in your life who’s LGBTQ+ of any age, anyone who enjoys beautiful picture books, or anyone who wants to support minority voices and representation.

The author of Prince & Knight, Daniel Haack, also collaborated with different artists to create an equally wonderful book for young female-identifying people. Take a look at Maiden & Princess!

Jim Henson's

The Dark Crystal Creation Myths

The Complete 40th Anniversary Collection

When single shines the triple sun, what was sundered and undone shall be whole– the two made one, by Gelfling hand or else by none.

Jim Henson’s classic fantasy adventure film The Dark Crystal is my favorite movie of all time. I saw it in the theater on opening day, December 17, 1982. I was twelve years old. The impact the film had on me is immeasurable. Henson’s stunningly realized vision of an alien world, entirely populated with strange and magical creatures, created in live action without the benefit of computer-generated imagery and only a few visual effects, is a work of art that is breathtaking in its scope and purity. Henson and his army of collaborators’ achievement was never recognized in Henson’s lifetime and despite the film’s reassessment in the decades since has never received the appreciation or accolades it deserves, in my opinion.

In 2015 the Henson Company authorized the publication of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Creation Myths, a trilogy of graphic novels that returned readers to the planet Thra and told some of the stories that happened before the events of the movie. Brian Froud, the conceptual designer of the original film who was responsible for creating its unique look, returned to guide and supervise these new works to make sure they were consistent with his and Henson’s vision.

Just in the time for the original film’s 40th anniversary, Archaia has collected these three books into a gorgeous hardcover single-volume set. With fantastically beautiful artwork and compelling stories, the reader experiences Thra’s earliest beginnings– the Crystal of Truth, the beating heart of the planet; the awakening of Aughra, Keeper of Secrets, and her love for the Gelfling race; Aughra’s mysterious and mischievous son Raunip; the arrival of the urSkeks, visitors from a distant galaxy whose ambition to master the Crystal’s power will lead them to being catastrophically split into the two new races of Mystic and Skeksis. Their folly, conducted during the millennial astronomical event The Great Conjunction, plunges the planet into a thousand years of strife. The book captures the look and feel of the original film. Returning to Thra has been a gift to all those who love The Dark Crystal. 

🚨Holiday Gift Alert🚨

This beautiful volume is an elegant gift for anyone who likes the original Dark Crystal film, is a fan of graphic novels, or enjoys stunning fantasy storytelling and artwork.

Dead of Winter

"It would be a mistake to believe too much in anyone's innocence."

A thrilling locked-room mystery with grisly murders and relentless weather in the Rockies. Dead of Winter follows strangers trapped together while being targeted one by one with no easy way out. Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan, along with eight other guests and a guide, travel through the Rocky Mountains for a retreat at a remote hotel. Deteriorating weather conditions and a fallen tree stall their progress and Kiernan and Christa get separated from everyone. The next thing Christa knows, she is hypothermic and injured in a cabin with the others. The guests try to come up with an exit plan until, one by one, their group dwindles in horrifying ways. 

The deaths are not for the faint of heart and the who-dunnit will chill you to your bones. The story is also a worthy tribute to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, one of my favorite Christie mysteries. Coates makes this story her own and does not try to copy the classic. So, even if you've read Christie's, it won't spoil this book. The narrative unfolds with past and present timelines from/in Christa's perspective. She is a strong female lead that depends on her wits and instincts, making it easy to root for her character. After an exciting prologue, readers get a steadier pace akin to breaking trail through the snow. This switch is great for Coates to build tension, atmosphere, and to develop the eleven characters. Usually, a large cast of characters like this group can be daunting. Yet, Coates handles everyone so distinctly and with signifiers that I never felt overwhelmed by who was who. The author deftly creates the trust-no-one tension and the claustrophobic setting. The brutal weather, several twists, and the cliff-hanger-chapter breaks help drive the compulsion to turn pages. The danger and suspicion seeping from the writing makes solving the threat along with Christa that much more vital. Perfect for fans of Taylor Adam's No Exit, (which I also highly recommend).

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