by Lynn Wienck, The Chisholm Trail Bookstore

It’s now winter in southern Oklahoma, complete with freezing temperatures and occasional snow. Frost forms on window panes; I’ve traced elegant, branching designs with my fingers. There is such surprising, amazing beauty in frost
patterns.

I always enjoy the Newbery Medal and Honor Books, although sometimes it takes me several years to read them; I usually just depend on serendipity to locate them. Over the last several weeks, I started and finished The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, a 2010 Newbery Honor Book.

The protagonist, Calpurnia, is a precocious 11-year-old girl who aspires to study natural history. However, in Texas in 1899, women have lives mapped out for them in such domains as deportment, knitting, embroidery, recipes, marriage, and minding babies. Calpurnia, despite her mother’s traditional frame of mind, receives support from an unexpected source; her grandfather proves a staunch and learned ally in her nontraditional quests. It is he who offers her Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of Species (first published in 1859 as On the Origin of Species) as an aid to her research; he also provides guidance and encouragement regarding scientific investigative methods and serves as an example.

And so Calpurnia’s real learning begins; she experiments and observes and records. Her scientific endeavors are sandwiched between sewing, music lessons, cooking instruction, and family squabbles. Her domestic skills are abysmal; her scientific discipline exceptional. She gradually realizes her own strengths.

For an element of surprise and beauty, step outside and take a moment to view winter’s frost closely. Then enjoy a book for the same reasons.

by Lynn Wienck, The Chisholm Trail Bookstore

It’s autumn in Oklahoma, it’s winter in Oklahoma, it’s autumn, it’s winter… The weather doesn’t quite know whether it’s autumn with red leaves on trees, but with winter’s frost in the early morning. Some days, it’s cold and crisp and other days it’s warm and playful. It’s rather like potluck supper – take what comes, in any form dished out.

Like the weather, my reading has also been similar to potluck supper. I had planned to peruse several biographies, but hadn’t considered more literature nor more science fiction. The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a literary classic, by Daniel Defoe was on temporary hold to be resumed at some future date. The science fiction books, All about Emily by Connie Willis, and John Varley’s Mammoth were not in the plan at all. Potluck supper.

The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe as penned by Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) recounts the tale of a lone survivor shipwrecked upon an island. Robinson Crusoe was industrious, using everything he rescued from the ship — tools, firearms, and grain to build his future life. When supplies from the sunken ship were exhausted, the island provided him with many required necessities. Robinson Crusoe learned to craft furniture, produce candles from goat tallow, plant crops, and make clothing. The shipwreck built the man; as he mastered his circumstances, he also mastered his own life. The book is simultaneously profound and practical.

All About Emily by Connie Willis is a novelette loosely based on the 1950 film, All About Eve. This literary approach is a switch as many films are based upon short stories or novels. A young lady, Emily is an adoring fan of well-known and cynical actress Claire, but who or what is Emily and who or what does Emily aspire to be? As a suggestion and although it’s not necessary, start with the film and then read this book. (A little research revealed that the film, All About Eve had as a basis Mary Orr’s tale, “The Wisdom of Eve” and so we come full circle.)

I’ve always liked mammoths; they look so wildly improbable with those huge tusks. I’m sorry to have missed them by only about 14,000 years — give or take a few thousand years; it’s rather difficult to pinpoint the date of disappearance. John Varley, in his book, Mammoth, discusses the woolly mammoth, the Columbian mammoth, and the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. Although the tale is science fiction and I haven’t finished it, the mammoth information is based upon fact and makes a nice introduction to a mammoth pun-intended science.

Have a reading potluck supper; who knows what exciting books you may discover. Enjoy, too, the last days of autumnal confusion. Is it winter or is it autumn? No one, including me, knows for sure.

by Lynn Wienck, The Chisholm Trail Bookstore

Autumn has clearly come to Oklahoma. Much cooler temperatures have arrived, and while it’s not quite frost on pumpkin in the early morning, it is quite close. Red and gold leaves have fallen from trees, although some foliage remains green. Soon winter will be here, the days have that flavor.

Several time travel science fiction novels have been started and completed. The first two, Blackout (2010) and All Clear (2010), are, according to the author, Connie Willis, one book which became two books. The first book, Blackout, opens in the year 2060 to set the stage for all that follows, and then leaps to 1939 war-torn England. World War II history is revealed in detail as time travelers swap between future and past and take on various tasks. Polly works as a shopgirl and quotes Shakespeare – an unlikely combination; Eileen, competent and knowledgeable, manages children who have been evacuated from London; Mike is hauled off to Dunkirk in a derelict boat; Colin, young, impetuous and forbidden time travel, remains underfoot. By the book’s close, situations look rather hopeless.

The second book, All Clear, is a continuation of the tale. If the first book presented complicated plots, characters, and situations, the second book is much more complex. The time travelers miss connections, and time travel drops don’t open. Gradually and over time, situations resolve themselves, but not necessarily as characters envisioned the results. It’s “all clear” with a satisfying, gentle, and complete conclusion.

Published 40 years earlier than Blackout and All Clear is the classic Time and Again (1970) time travel book by Jack Finney. A young man travels back to 1882 New York City as part of a top-secret project. As he works between then and now, time-travel researchers pursue the question: Can the past be changed? Only time and the protagonist, Simon Morley, will tell. Simon Morley balances his own agenda against those of his employers. The plot soon becomes complicated, but all time travel seems to be complicated. The descriptions of the then New York City are vivid, incredibly detailed, and somehow very fresh.

So, complicate your life, and try a little book time travel. Reading is a timeless pursuit, you know. Enjoy autumn, too, with its golden glow, not quite frozen chill, and the hint of winter to be.