Monday Tally is a weekly link round-up of some of my favorite posts discovered over the week. If you have suggestions for Monday Tally, please e-mail sophisticated [dot] dorkiness [at] gmail [dot] com. Enjoy!

Page One: Inside the New York Times

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I am geeking out about a new documentary, Page One: Inside the New York Times, by Andrew Rossi. It looks like a lot more than just “a day at the newspaper” — more of a look at the transformation of old media in a new media world. Here’s the trailer:

I also have the companion book, published by Public Affairs, on my TBR list, and I can’t wait!

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Wallace (Unpoutdownables) had a post earlier this week where she talked about having a well balanced reading diet, and I really liked that idea, especially since for the last several months, my reading diet has been anything but balanced.

In the last two months I’ve read 12 books, and of those only two were fiction (and one was an audio book, so I’ve only “read” one fiction book in two months)! While that’s not entirely surprising given that I love nonfiction, reading Nina Sankovitch’s Tolstoy and the Purple Chair last week put me in the mood to switch up my reading diet a little bit and get some variety of the fictional sort.

I also haven’t had a really, truly stunning reading experience in awhile. I’ve read some great books, that’s for sure, but I haven’t grabbed on in awhile that twisted my heart and latched into my brain for the long haul in several months. Sankovitch writes about this in the book, using a character from a book to ask,

“Have you ever been heartbroken to finish a book? Has a writer kept whispering in your ear long after the last page has turned?” — Constance Fenimore Woolson in Elizabeth Maguire’s The Open Door

Yes, that has happened! The Book Thief, The Blind Assassin, The Weird Sisters, Nothing to Envy, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Warmth of Other Suns… all books that have whispered to me after I finished. I want to find another one of those.

But how to find one? That’s always the tricky part, isn’t it? With obligations and recommendations and whatnot, it’s easy to lose track of just reading to read. I think that may be part of my problem as well. There was one other piece of advice that Sankovitch quotes that I think offers an answer to this anxiety:

“Be serious, earnest, sincere in your choice of books, and then put your trust in Providence and read with an easy mind.” — Personality Development: A Practical Self-Teaching Course

I really like that idea… think carefully about what you read, but once you decide on the next book just immerse in experience. Don’t think about it so much. Just read.

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For this month my Madison-area book club decided to do a book and movie night centered around Tom Perrotta’s 1998 book Election, which was made into a film starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon in 1999. I’d seen the movie at least once before, but honestly couldn’t remember much (anything, really) about it, so I think I went into the book without many expectations. And sadly, I wasn’t especially impressed with the book. I didn’t dislike it, but I wasn’t in love with it either.

Election is the story of a high school student council election. Tracy Flick, the favorite, is a consummate over-achiever with a bit of a dark side — she recently was involved in a sexual relationship with a teacher for which he lost his job. Mr. M. is a high school civics teacher and in charge of running the elections. Because he dislikes Tracy, Mr. M. convinces Paul, an affable football player, to run in the election as well. And to spice things up, Paul’s sophomore sister Tracy, as a way to get revenge, decides to run as well.

The book uses multiple narrators, which is one of my favorite narrative techniques. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was executed well in the book. If a book is going to use multiple narrators — and switch between them frequently — I really need them to sound different. I need to be able to identify who is telling me a story from the prose, not just from a label saying the point of view changed. I struggled with Election because everyone sounded the same. Most other people in the club agreed with me on this point, but one person said she never had any problems. I guess take that critique for what you will.

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“Off the Stacks” is a weekly-ish feature where I highlight a nonfiction book I’m curious about but will probably run out of hours in the day to actually read. I’m hoping that by highlighting titles this way, I can encourage other people to give the book a try, and, if it’s great, consider nominating it later this year for the Indie Lit Awards. Consider these books stamped with the “Sophisticated Dorkiness Seal of Curious Approval.”

Title: My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir
Author: Noelle Hancock
Publisher: Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins
Nonfiction Type: Memoir
Topics Covered: Losing your job, turning 30, doing things that scare you, Eleanor Roosevelt

What It’s About: Twenty-nine and recently unemployed, Noelle Hancock felt lost and anxious. Then one day she saw a quote on a coffee shop blackboard that convinced her to make a change:

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Inspired by good old Eleanor Roosevelt (and in the spirit of other trendy, “year in the life” memoirs), Hancock decided to spend the rest of the time before she turned 30 doing a “Year of Fear” — trying the things that scared her most.

Why I Want to Read It: I am a SUCKER for change your life for a year memoirs… it’s like a disease, I swear. What appeals to me about this one is that it’s about fear — trying to live a life less dictated by things that seem too intimidating to try. Plus, this one is by a woman close in age to me, which I find appealing. I’m pretty sure I’m going to burn out on these sorts of memoirs soon, but for now I can’t seem to stay away.

Plus, I think that cover is all kinds of adorable.

Who Else Might Like It: Fans of “do something for a year” memoirs (like The Happiness Project or The Year of Living Biblically or Moonwalking with Einstein or Word Freak…), twentysomething females, readers who are scared of things.

Reviews: