The Weekly Wrap: January 11-17

Adjusting to the New

I wrote awhile back about our impressive new Barnes & Noble store that replaced the old standby located nearby. However, I didn’t mention that it just didn’t feel like–well, home. I have to confess that there have been times when I just felt bewildered. Not only that, there were several times I walked out without any books.

That old store just felt so familiar. I knew where everything was and was accustomed to the way they displayed books. Basically, the store was laid out with rows of shelves with a center aisle with a help desk. There was a separate area for children’s books. The new store seems a bit more like a maze of sections.

We ended up there the other day when a scheduling mix-up gave us a couple hours to kill. And for the first time, it began to feel a bit more like home. For one thing, it was the slowest day in terms of business I’d seen. There was time to linger and read the shelves without feeling you were in someone’s way. I explored some new sections to see what they had. And my wife and I enjoyed a lovely time at the cafe, something we always enjoyed at the old store.

I’m wondering if I’m the only one who has experienced the feeling of displacement when a new bookstore replaces an old favorite. One expects everything to be novel at a new store one is exploring. But when the new store becomes one of your “defaults,” I think that is different. But I’m always reminded that every store was new to us at one time. And I’m glad that there is a new store, and not simply an empty reminder of what was once there.

Five Articles Worth Reading

This week, three of the articles feature reviews I thought interesting.

First, imagine Moby Dick with a female narrator. Xiaolu Guo has done just that with Call Me Ishmaelle. William Giraldi reviews this audacious attempt in “A Retelling of ‘Moby-Dick,’ With a Young Woman at Its Center.”

Second, imagine a novel based on the online life of a family and its real-life repercussions. In “The Unhappy Literary Families of the Internet Age” Gideon Leek reviews Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash. Leek thinks the novel need a few wolves.

The third review is of a book on my “to read” pile, The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s by Paul Elie. My friend Byron Borger, at Hearts and Minds Bookstore recommended this book, an analysis of the crypto-religious modern art of the 1980’s. I won’t get around to reading it for a while, so I thought I’d pass along Stephen Westich’s review: “Jesus in the Junk Shop.”

On a different note, Ted Gioia contends we are witnessing the rise of a new Romanticism. He defends that idea in this article which offers “25 Propositions about the New Romanticism.”

Finally, did you know that Wikipedia just turned 25? In “Happy Birthday, Wikipedia: We need you now more than ever,” Troy Farah argues why, amid the advent of AI and Elon Musk’s “Grokipedia,” an attempt to replace Wikipedia, Wikipedia is a uniquely valuable resource.

Quote of the Week

Essayist and novelist Susan Sontag was born January 16, 1933. She explains why I have never liked taking photographs at events:

“The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.”

Wonder what the implications of this insight are for our Instagram age.

Miscellaneous Musings

Another of Byron’s recommendation is Beth Macy’s Paper Girl, a memoir of growing up in Urbana, Ohio, an hour west of me. In her opening pages she introduces us to a tenth grade dropout and to a high school grad, a young trans male weighing suicide when his plans for welding training fell through because his car blew a head gasket. She asks how her community has changed so much since the 1980’s. Riveting so far.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I walked out of Barnes & Noble with 1929 and Gemini. The latter book reminded me of my love for the Gemini program back in the 1960. I even built a model of the Gemini capsule that I had in my room. As for 1929, I approach this one with some trepidation because I sense the author will argue that it can happen again.

After a lull over the holidays, five more books for review have arrived this week at my doorstep. Not only that, at least a couple more are due to arrive today. Well, I’m more than ready in the reading department for the next snowstorm or cold stretch to come our way!

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Michael B. Shepherd, How Did They Read the Prophets

Tuesday: Gregory Boyd with M. Scott Boren, God Looks Like Jesus

Wednesday: Justin Whitmel Early, The Common Rule Youth Edition

Thursday: Daniel K. Williams, The Search for a Rational Faith

Friday: Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap  for January 11-17.

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