Lemuria is excited to welcome visiting writer Glenn Taylor! Today he will be in the store at 5:00 p.m. signing copies of his new book The Marrowbone Marble Company.

The novel is set in Taylor’s home state of West Virginia and focuses on the life of the lead character, Loyal Ledford. The storyline traces the progress of Mr. Ledford through three decades of change in American history, from World War II to the civil rights movement. Upon his return from military service in WW II, Ledford affiliates with the upstart Marrowbone Marble Company, and from there the novel catapults the reader into the world of civil rights and a war on poverty in rural West Virginia during the late 1940s and 1950s. I am really looking forward to hearing Mr. Taylor read from the book tonight.

I am always interested in authors who chose to write about their home states. Legends and stories from hometowns that are passed down through generations of town gossip always evolve beautifully into stories, and from the looks of Taylor’s debut novel The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart, (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award), he has a way of turning folklore into fiction. Taggart is the story of Trenchmouth Taggart, also set  in the author’s native state of West Virginia. The novel tells the story of a mysterious backwoods fellow with a troubled past. Although Taggart is also a work of fiction, Taylor acknowledges his local inspiration in the author’s note at the beginning of the book, writing, “This novel is a work of fiction. The places are real, and some of the events and individuals depicted herein were in fact real, as can be further studied in any of the excellent historical sources listed in the acknowledgments.”

Mr. Taylor dropped in a moment ago to get acquainted with the store before his signing tonight. We have already set his books up in our big signing booth, and Mr. Taylor browsed through the main store and fiction section checking out our books and cool t-shirts. We are excited to see his handsome smile return this evening!

Nell

wow.  i’m not too sure what to say about this one.  i know that i can’t get enough of chelsea handler.  i’ve read her two previous books and laughed my ass off the whole way through.  i truly hope that she doesn’t make this stuff up and at the same time can’t imagine a life in which these nutty things happen constantly.  if ever in need of a good belly-aching laugh, pick up any of her books and turn to any page and read for a line or two, i promise at the least a chuckle with be soon coming.

by Zita

Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery

by Chögyam Trungpa

edited by Carolyn Rose Gimian

Shambhala (2009)

When the stronghold of the ego is threatened, fear is one of our strongest mechanisms. A lonely ego is constantly defending itself with an aggressive attitude. By trying to understand our fear, we can use it to find ourselves, free ourselves and give up inhibitions.

The idea is simply facing the facts with honesty. By being honest with yourself, you develop a genuine gut level of truth. By discovering what’s there you can begin to see the traps and stop yourself from falling into them. Being aware that you are aware helps to relate to life constantly, directly and very simply. Emotional character and strength comes from connecting to reality.

If we weren’t struggling, we would be lazy and accepting the manufactured reality. Action with discipline, uniformity and gentleness toward ourselves helps separate our experiences from confused to wakeful. By controlling ego produced fear, we are able to see situations more clearly and are then able to deal more effectively.

Putting effort into becoming aware helps to overcome doubt. Fearlessness keeps the mind from being enclosed by the walls of the ego, giving us a more personal connection with reality.

Through genuineness and confidence, you create a psychological base to fall back on when you experience a consciousness gap. A constant process of growth gets us to the other side of fear. Fear becomes our study material casting away depression and doubt. Genuineness is actualized while consuming the jungle of ego.

Reading Trungpa helps me to grow and understand myself better. I have enjoyed all three of his books that Carolyn Rose Gimian has edited.

Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (1984)

Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala (1999)

I have not read much in the past few days. Sometimes you just have to let your mind empty out. Once emptied, it can be used  and filled up again. Emptiness is often thought of as a negative condition, but I am thinking of it in the positive sense. It seems to me that Kay Ryan’s poem relates to the condition I am describing.

“Emptiness”

Emptiness cannot be

compressed. Nor can it

fight abuse. Nor is there

an endless West hosting

elk, antelope, and the

tough cayuse. This is

true also of the mind:

it can get used.

(from The Best of It: New and Collected Poems)

See my previous blog on Kay Ryan, our national Poet Laureate. Also somewhat related is John P’s posting about Reader’s Block.

Actually, this post would be more accurately titled, “What I’m doing on my summer vacation…” As you read this, I’m 4,644 miles away in the picturesque French village of Verrines (pop: about 200). When my wife and I decided to take a trip to visit my paternal grandparents, one of the first things I did was start making a list of books to take. Having the right books on vacation is of critical importance. This is not a decision to be made standing in an airport newsstand. After careful consideration, the books I’ve taken with me are:

The Big Short by Michael Lewis — Probably the best nonfiction writer in the world. He made baseball front office management and football offensive line play interesting and engaging to non-sports fans. When Joe gave it his thumbs-up the other day, it made the vacation list. I prefer taking paperbacks on vacation (for obvious reasons), but I’m making an exception for Michael Lewis.

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Airships by Barry Hannah — One of the humbling things about working in a bookstore is the constant realization of how many great writers I’ve never read. The sad reality is that it’s often not until a writer’s death that I’m motivated (to my great shame) to move him from the “To read in the future” category to the “To read right now” category.

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Gilead by Marilynne Robinson — I read Housekeeping (see Ellis’s review) in college and while I enjoyed it, I think the experience was somewhat impoverished by the necessity of absorbing the “pertinent” information for exam time. I wanted to take another shot, and figured this was a good time.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein — I think I too quickly dismissed this book as just a dog novel, but multiple recommendations from car buddies convinced me it’s worth a read. It didn’t hurt that I found out the author is a former Spec Miata series driver. Pat reviewed this book back in 2008.

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The Lost City of Z by David Grann — After reading a great new book about cave divers (review coming next month — watch this space), my appetite for a good “adventury” book was rekindled. I skipped this book when it first came out, but good reports have continued so it made the vacation list. It also made the 2010 Indies Choice Book Award list.

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Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter — I finished Michael Connelly’s Nine Dragons the other night and needed something to fill the void until his next Harry Bosch novel comes out. Stephen Hunter was here in January to sign I, Sniper and I really enjoyed his talk. Joe recommended Hunter’s Bob the Nailer series highly and it was Joe who got me reading Michael Connelly, so it seemed like a safe bet.