Change of Heart

Change of Heart
by Jodi Picoult
audio book (12 cassettes: 15.25 hours)

This is my book club's pick this month. The waiting list for this book at the library was about 30 people long so I ended up getting the cassettes since no one had them on hold.

I'm sure that I'm going to offend some people with this review and I'm sorry about that, but I well and truly hated this book. I debated whether or not to be completely honest in my review, whether to tone down my hatred, but I decided against it. Maybe if this had been a book sent to me by the author I could have held my tongue a bit better, but I'm not sure ...

*** The Plot ***

Shay Bourne is convicted of the murder of 7 year old Elizabeth and her police officer step-father, Kurt. June, Elizabeth's mother and Kurt's wife, is pregnant with baby Clare at the time of the murder. Shay is sentenced to death by lethal injection. Eleven years later, Shay's appeals have all been denied and his execution date is set. He's moved to a new part of the prison and suddenly strange, almost miraculous, things start happening (think The Green Mile, sort of).

In the 11 years since the trial, one of the jurors has become a Catholic priest and Clare has been diagnosed with a heart condition that requires a transplant. Fr. Michael becomes Shay's spiritual advisor and begins to think Shay has some special connection to God. Shay decides that he'd rather be hung than die by lethal injection, that way he can donate his heart to Clare. Shay's new lawyer works with Fr. Michael to try to make this happen. The story ends with the resolution of all these varied plot lines.

*** The Narrators ***

As with (most? all?) Picoult's books, the story is told from various points of view.

• Fr. Michael - the former-juror-turned-priest who is against the death penalty
• Lucius - the convicted murder who has AIDS and who is in the cell next to Shay's
• June - mother and wife to Shay's murder victims, and mother to Elizabeth
• Maggie - the ACLU attorney working on Shay's case
• Clare - the heart patient (she gets one section at the very end)

*** What I Didn't Like ***

This is a long list but there was so much wrong with this book that I simply can't condense it. Some of my bullet points may include spoilers but I will clearly note that at the start of each bullet.

My first points are about the writing style. These alone would have made me dislike the book but not more so than any other poorly written novel.

• All the characters are flat - they have no personality, no voice. When the point of view changes, Picoult leads off by stating the character's name then continuing the story. If she didn't do that, you'd have no idea who is telling the story. Open up to a random page in Barbara Kingsolver's THE POISONWOOD BIBLE and you can tell exactly which character is speaking simply by reading a few sentences - and she has 5 different narrators! The only reason I was able to keep Picolt's characters straight was that each was narrated by a different person.
  
  
• Shay's character is supposed to have trouble speaking. He's described as having difficulty stringing words together to form complete sentences. However the readers only know that because Picoult TELLS us; when Shay is speaking, he sounds pretty normal. The only thing that comes across is that he sometimes rambles on about random topics, but even that doesn't happen often. It's like the author is saying "Shay has trouble speaking - just take my word for it, even if you can't tell when he does actually speak."
  
  
• Big Spoiler Alert! Don't read this bullet point if you don't want to know the ending. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  When Shay is being hung the witnesses can "conveniently" see through the curtain above the platform but they just as "conveniently" can't see through the curtain below the platform. This may be a small thing but it really bugged me. Wouldn't the curtains both be made of the same material? It's a blatant plot device and doesn't make any sense except that it allows the author to let the reader see what she wants seen. Oh, and the use of the circus tent to cover the gallows was a bit of over-the-top symbolism too.
  

Now for the rest of what I didn't like about this book. This is the part where I can tell you why I truly hated it.

• Minor spoiler alert! This doesn't give away anything huge though.
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  After hearing about Shay's "miracles" Fr. Michael starts questioning his own faith. He goes so far as to believe (consider believing?) that Shay is God or Jesus. SERIOUSLY?! They guy is a priest - he's spent years in seminary and more years working in his parish - and you're telling me that he changes his entire belief system just like that?! This was so far beyond believable for me that it tainted my opinion of the rest of the book.
  
  
• Then there's Maggie, the overweight Jewish atheist ACLU lawyer with a rabbi for a father. I don't think it is possible for her to be any more stereotypical. And she just happens to meet a gorgeous doctor (with a British accent no less) who loves her for who she is. Did I mention that this love story totally does not fit with the rest of the book? [In case you don't know, ACLU is the American Civil Liberties Union.]
  
  
• And on the topic of the ACLU, the first case we see Maggie win is on behalf of a punk high school kid who decides he doesn't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance just to irritate his teacher. I'm sorry, but I don't see any reason to admire that "victory". It's not like the kid had some religious belief that was being violated - he was just being a punk, and his defiance of his teacher was rewarded. That is supposed to be a GOOD thing? *blech*
  
  
• The thing that bothered me the most about this book is the fact that no one was allowed to have a firm belief in anything. I know it is politically correct to say "I believe this way but whatever you believe is right for you" however I don't know many people who ACTUALLY believe that way. All the people in this book do though. Fr. Michael questions his faith and decides that there are many truths. Maggie is pretty convinced there is no God but she doesn't remain firm all the time. Her rabbi father doesn't seem to mind that his daughter is an atheist, nor does he think Fr. Michael is all wrong either. *gah* Can't we please have a character who believes something and actually STICKS TO IT?!
  
  
• You know a book is bad when you get to the very end and you should out loud "Oh come on! You have GOT to be kidding me!" That is exactly what I did at the end of the last cassette.
  

*** What I Did Like ***

There were only two things that I liked about this book, and they were minor plot points.

• Maggie is talking to the doctor (before they are dating) and he says "I'm Christian." She thinks this is an odd statement but she replies by laying out her own religious beliefs. His reply? "No, I mean my NAME is Christian." ~LOL~
  
  
• June is often with Clare in the hospital and at one point Clare is having surgery. The scene where June is with Clare in the operating room and Clare is being put under anesthesia is VERY accurate. I've been there with kiddo many times* and Picoult really got it right. Other than the fact that I didn't have to wear a surgical mask every other part of that scene was a direct reflection of my experience with kiddo.

*** The Book Club Problem ***

My book club is getting this Saturday morning to discuss this book and I'm dreading it. That's really the reason that I wrote such a long post; I wanted to clarify my thoughts before our meeting.

I know I'm not the only one who didn't like it (one gal didn't finish it because it was so bad, and at least one other hated it) but there are two gals who mentioned that it was getting better with every chapter. WHAT?!?! I can sense a big clash in the making ...

UPDATE: So, the meeting wasn't that bad after all. You can read all about it at my book club's blog.

*** Your Thoughts ***

Have any of you read this? If you have and you liked it, please forgive me for ranting so much. And after you forgive me, post a comment and tell me what you liked about this book. I promise not to jump all over you - I really want to know!

And as always I'm happy to post links to your reviews right here.


* Kiddo has multiple severe food allergies and also a rare condition known as Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE). Because of his EE he has to have endoscopies done every few months. I think he's done 4 or 5 now and there are more planned in the coming year.

1% Well Read Challenge '08 - Recap

It is COMPLETE!!! Due to poor planning on my part, I had to make several last minute changes to my reading list. I happily made a list of what to read when I signed up for this challenge but I failed to plan ahead and find time to actually read the books I chose, so I ended up substituting several short stories.

I was supposed to read 10 books from the "1,001 Books to Read Before You Die" list by Feb. 28th. In the end, I read seven books and three short stories from the list (the links take you to my reviews) but I DID complete the challenge.

• Cannery Row - I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed this book. The writing is beautiful, and it is very short. Unfortunately it was removed from the 2008 revised 1,001 Books list.


• King Solomon's Mines - For those who've seen The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, this is where Alan Quartermain comes from.


• Dracula - Thought I'd hate it, but I LOVED it. And I'm not a horror fan either.


• Midnight's Children - This one I did hate. I know some of you loved it, but I just don't get it.


• Some Experiences of an Irish RM - Worth reading for me, but not worth talking about.


• Phineas Finn - Quite good! A classic from a series that I may continue reading.
  


• Delta of Venus - Not at ALL what I expected but very good in parts (and creepy in parts).
  


• A Modest Proposal - Yes, I understand that it is satire; no, I still don't like it.


• The Pit and the Pendulum - This story encompasses some of my worst fears. *shiver*
  


• The Fall of the House of Usher - Creepy in a very good way.
  

On the whole I really enjoyed this challenge. It introduced me to books that I otherwise would not have picked up. Here are some "challenge stats":

• Favorite: It's a tie between Dracula and Cannery Row - both were great reads!


• Worst: Again a tie, this time between Midnight's Children and A Modest Proposal.


• Do it next year?: Absolutely. There are some great books on this list and I'm looking forward to picking out ten more.
  

I'm still thinking that I need to get a copy of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die book ... I'd love to know the story behind the inclusion of each book on the list.

Whew, I barely finished this challenge before the deadline. Now it's time to sign up for the next one!

The Pit and the Pendulum

The Pit and the Pendulum

by Edgar Allan Poe
22 typed pages

Yet another of Poe's stories that I thought I'd read but definitely had not. Boy, is this one creepy. The narrator has been convicted by the Spanish Inquisition (of heresy we presume) and sentenced to death. He faints, then awakens in a pitch black prison. The rest of the story details the various form of psychological torture he is afflicted with while awaiting death.

I don't want to say any more than is absolutely necessary about this story because part of the terror you feel as a reader comes from not knowing what will happen to this poor guy next. Suffice it to say that I read it during the day at work because I was afraid it would invade my dreams if I read it by myself at home in the evening.

And ... this is my final review for the 1% Well Read Challenge - YEAH!

Friday Finds 02/27/09

Welcome to Friday Finds! Here's what I've added to my TBR list this week ...

1. The Kingmaking, by Helen Hollick - Medieval Bookworm loved this new and more realistic take on the King Arthur legend, and I have to say that is sounds very good to me to.
   
   
2. The Leviathan Chronicle, by Christof Laputka - according to tor.com, this contemporary fantasy novel is currently a serialized podcast and is "top notch podcast drama"

I've added a few books to kiddo's list too ...

1. Baseball Saved Us, by Ken Mochizuki - this story takes place in the Japanese Internment camps of World War II - kiddo loves learning about anything WWII-related
   
   
2. Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story, by Ken Mochizuki - if you've ever thought that the Japanese didn't do anything good during WWII you must go read Maw Books' review - this book it at the top of my list for kiddo right now

For more Friday Finds drop by Miz B's blog. Have a wonderful weekend all.

Delta of Venus

Delta of Venus: Erotica
by Anias Nin
320 pages

I picked this book from the list of 1,001 Book To Read Before You Die because I liked the title "Delta of Venus" - it sounded like something out of Greek mythology or the like. Imagine my surprise when the book arrived and I found out that the entire title was "Delta of Venus: Erotica" ...

Author Anias Nin (I'd never heard of her before) is famous for her published journals. She began writing them at age 11 and continued for 60 years. According to wikipedia Nin's journals "provide a deeply explorative insight into her personal life and relationships" over her very Bohemian lifetime.

The author's introduction to the book sheds light on the stories in this book. In the 1940s, Nin and a group of writer-friends were contacted by an anonymous client who offered to pay $1.00 per page for erotica. Nin and her friends took the job, but not without a sense of humor. The wrote wild stories, thinking that their employer would be put off and cancel his order. But the wilder and less realistic the stories, the more he seemed to enjoy them.

Since this is erotica and since I don't want you to know all THAT much about me, I won't tell you which stories appealed to me the most. (You're thanking me for that, I know.) I will tell you that the language is very creative when it comes to describing the "scenes" and that this book is very hot and steamy. Most of it was very appealing but other parts were very disturbing.

Disturbing how? Well, like I said, Nin and her friends wrote some really far-fetched stories simply to see how their client would take them. Those stories include pedophilia and sado-masochism - NOT pleasant to read about, let me tell you, and it often appeared out of no where (I didn't see it coming and I was unpleasantly surprised by it). The problem is, I didn't know at the start of the story how it would turn out in the end, or else I would have skipped those particular tales ...

Fair warning: If you don't enjoy reading details about "adventurous" sexual escapades then do not read this book. On the whole (minus the creepy parts) I quite enjoyed it. And reading it certainly added some spice to my marriage over the past month ...

Alpine Americas

Alpine Americas:
An Odyssey Along the Crest of Two Continents
by Don Mellor (author) and
Olaf Soot (photographer)
256 pages

What a beautiful book this is! It is a large book, 14" wide, with thick glossy pages and brilliantly colored photographs. It was a pure joy to view the majestic scenes showcased in it. Some of the photos are so amazing that I'd like to frame them to hang on my walls.

The book is split into sections detailing the major mountainous areas from the northern-most reaches of North America all the way down to the southern tip of South America. Each section focuses on the mountains in one area, their accessibility to climbers, their natural and human history, and their "personality" - what is it about them that makes them unique. I loved reading the essays, learning the history and uniqueness of places I will (likely) never go ... it was fascinating.

Although this book was put together by mountain climbers, you don't have to like climbing to appreciate this book. I am not only terrified of heights (not simply scared, TERRIFIED) but I also can't stand to be cold ... a climber of anything I will never be. However that didn't affect my enjoyment of this book in the least. It is not "about" climbing - it is "about" the mountains themselves.

One thing that I loved about the very last section was the challenge to the reader to take a world map and hang it upside down. Keep it that way until you get used to it, until you can see the major differences between the two hemispheres. I'm on the lookout for a good map to do this with - I want to hang it in my office and see the world differently for a while.

I only have one criticism of this book: I wish there was a map included that showed the mountain ranges across the American continents. It would have been helpful to me to see the ranges, to see the space between the ranges, and just have a better idea of where I was in the world. Other than that, there is nothing I would change about this fabulous book.

Learn more about the book and see some of the gorgeous photos at the book's website - you'll be glad you did.

PS. This large book has taken me forever to read simply because it is so big. The book is gorgeous and I really enjoyed it, but it is meant to be a coffee table book and not to be carted about with you.

The Ark, the Reed, & the Fire Cloud (My Review)

The Ark, the Reed, & the Fire Cloud

by Jenny Cote
448 pages
(review by me)

Kiddo reviewed this book earlier today - click here to read his thoughts. Fair warning ... this review is long. But since it is a children's book I wanted to give you a bit more information so you can decide if this is a book you might want to give to a child in your life.

*** About the Book ***

This book is the first in a planned series called THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF MAX & LIZ. The story follows two main characters, a Scottie dog named Max and a small black cat named Liz. They are among the animals called by God to Noah's ark. Animals all around the world are being called; the first part of the story covers their journeys. The next big section covers the time the animals spend aboard the ark. The last portion shows what happens once they finally make landfall.

*** What I Liked ***

• This book was lots of fun for kiddo. I mean, what child doesn't like a story told by animals? And because kiddo is very familiar with the story of Noah's ark, he really identified with what happened in the story.
• It reinforces the concept of faith and the fact that we must continually rely on God and not on ourselves. It was a wonderful Christian story to read together, and there was nothing objectionable in the content. I'd be happy to read more books like this with kiddo.
  
• The way the animals get to the ark and the way the ark "adapts" to their needs are both lots of fun. The author's note at the end clearly states that this stuff is not in the Bible but that something like it "could" have happened - we just don't know.
  
• Many of the characters speak with accents. Since I read this aloud, I did my best to get the accents correct - kiddo loved it. (Of course, hubby walked in once when I was reading and he hasn't stopped teasing me about my very poor Scottish accent ... that was embarrassing to say the least.)
  
• It is part of a series, so there will be more books with the characters kiddo loved that he can look forward to reading.
  

*** What I Didn't Like ***

Although I really liked this book for kiddo's sake, there are some things that bothered me as an adult reader.

• The writing is ... ok. I'd like to point out that sometimes it is perfectly acceptable for a character to simply "say" something; they don't always have to "sigh expressively" or whatever. That got a bit irritating after a while. Another thing about the writing (and this is the same complaint many of us had with Stephenie Meyer's books) is the repetitive use of descriptions. I get that Liz is a petite black cat but do we have to repeat it every time we talk about Liz? Hmm, then again, kids like repetition so many it works for that.
  
• The book is VERY adamant in promoting Christianity. My preference is for more subtlety but the bluntness was good for kiddo; there were no gray areas for him to be confused by, unless they were put there intentionally. I don't know how an older child would feel about this - would he feel he was being preached at? All I can say is that it bothered me but kiddo didn't mind it at all.
  
• This next complaint is simply my opinion and reflects the fact that I don't really like reading books with animals as the characters: Dogs and cats don't have arms, and they can't hug each other. The same goes for lots of other creatures. Kids love that stuff but it drives me crazy. I know, it IS a children's book after all - like I said, this is simply my opinion.
  

*** Additional Thoughts ***

This part of my review includes some spoilers however if you plan to read this with your child I suggest that you do read this section. If you plan to read this on your own, you might like the surprises so feel free to skip to the next section.

• There is some death in this book. The wise old goat dies of old age, the people on the earth (not in the ark) die in the flood, and the two main characters die temporarily (more on that later). Kiddo got teary eyed over the goat. The book is not all about death though - in fact, it is mostly light-hearted and fun. I just think that parents need to be aware of what their kids are reading so they can deal with any emotions their kids may experience. This book raises some very important issues - definitely a good way to start a conversation with a child.
  
• The really cool snake that you meet on the ark turns out to be Satan. The snake's name is Charlie and he befriends one of the main characters. Kiddo and I really liked Charlie. It was only after we knew him for quite a while that I started to suspect who he really was. I clued kiddo in and he was NOT HAPPY - Charlie was one of his favorites. Charlie's actions get decidedly different later in the story so kiddo did eventually understand, but it led to a big discussion of how sometimes things are not what they seem to be. (As a side note, kiddo loved Charlie in part because of his name - Charlie was kiddo's favorite character on the show LOST ... and we all know what happened to THAT Charlie. Kiddo wasn't happy then either.)

*** In the End ***

Despite the flaws I pointed out I would definitely recommend this book. Kiddo LOVED it. He even wanted to email the author (which we did in kiddo's review). We will most certainly be purchasing the next book in the series once it becomes available.

If you'd like more info you can visit the book's website: www.maxandliz.com. For those of you in the Alpharetta, Georgia area, author Jenny Cote is available to visit school groups - what fun!

Mom & Son Book Club #10: The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud

The Ark, the Reed, & the Fire Cloud

by Jenny Cote
448 pages
(review by kiddo)

I received this book from the publisher and have really enjoyed reading it to kiddo. I'll let kiddo do his review first (with my comments in italics, as usual) and post mine later in the day(update: here's the link to mine). Kiddo's review comes with a spoiler warning though - he gives lots of things away in his answers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Did you like this book? I liked it except for two parts. Why did you like it? Because it had lots of exciting parts and lots of "what's gonna happen next?! what's gonna happen next?!" - those kind of parts. Ah, suspense - its like a drug to us book addicts!

2. What was your favorite part? All of it except for two parts. Any thing specific? Oh yeah! When Max was fighting the snake and when the four animals got eternal life.

3. What was your least favorite part? When they had to leave Gillamon and when we found out that Charlie was bad.

4. What did you think of the illustrations? The pictures were ok. The frog singing was not so good but the one with Henriette is good. I'd like the pictures better if they had color. I was going to - if you say ok - I was going to color in some of the pictures. No kiddo, I'm sorry, you can't color in books. I'm such a mean mom, I know. Do you think the book needed more pictures or did you do ok with imagining things? I did ok imagining but most of the animals, since I didn't know what they looked like, it was hard to imagine them. Actually, I think kiddo did really well with this. Often when I was reading and I thought things might be a bit confusing, I'd tell him to close his eyes and imagine what was happening. I'd read one sentence at a time then ask it he could "see" it. Sometimes he could and other times he needed some additional explanations. But always, when he opened his eyes, I could see the excitement, the light that went off - he "saw" it happening in his head. It was so cool to watch!

5. Would you recommend this book to your friends? YES. As long as they read it quickly. Why? Because if they didn't read it quickly they might forget what happens or they might lose the book. Did we read it quickly? Kind of, except for parts. We started it then stopped then started another book then came back to it. Um, yeah, kiddo's sense of time is a bit off here. We started this book way back in October and we finally finished it earlier this week. But I will say that the story did not drag nor did we put it aside because we tired of it. It took so long simply because we read only 1 or 2 chapters every couple days. And we only picked up another book because kiddo got WIZARDOLOGY for his birthday and really wanted to read it. And for the record, kiddo didn't forget anything that happened in this book..

6. Is there anything else you'd like to say about this book? These are the animals I liked: Max, Gillamon, Kate, Al, Liz, Jaques, Georgio, and Don Pedro. And these are the people I liked Noah, Shem, Japeth (kind of) and Ham (kind of), and out of the girls, Noah's wife and Shem's wife. Japeth's wife and Ham's wife were ok. What did you think about the author adding to the story in the Bible? I liked that. Do you think it's ok to add to the Bible story when the Bible story doesn't give you the details? YES. In fact, I might add something to it. What would you add? Well, I'd like to have the story of Jesus when he died on the cross with Max and Liz and Kate and Al and Gillamon and God speaking would be in it as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiddo also wanted to send an email to the author, Jenny Cote. He thinks that since I get signed books from authors and that some authors comment on my blog, I can talk to any author I want whenever I want. I wish! But anyway, here's kiddo's message to Ms. Cote: The book was a very nice book. I would love to read it again and get the new book that you are writing, The Dreamer, The Schemer and The Robe. I'm happy to help you make more stories when you are ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you'll come back later today for my review. There are lots of things I'd like to discuss about this book!

Mom & Son Book Club #9: Wizardology

For his birthday in January, one of the gifts kiddo received from us was the book WIZARDOLOGY: A GUIDE TO WIZARDS OF THE WORLD, as told by Master Merlin. Although it took a while to read (because we only had a short time each day) kiddo really enjoyed this book. Below are my questions and his answers, along with my commentary in italics.

1. Did you like this book? Yes. It is a very good book. Good to learn how to become a wizard, which I've always wanted to do. Me too kiddo, me too.

2. What was your favorite part of the book? When they showed about the dragon. Why? Because dragons are very cool and I've seen one, it's called a Hungarian Horntail. Hmm, do you think we watch Harry Potter much at our house?

3. What was your least favorite part? I don't have a least favorite part. Except that they didn't tell us if Dumbledore was Merlin's friend. Ah, Harry Potter references again ...
4. What did you think of the illustrations? That would be a MAJOR WINNER. The dragon illustration was awesome.

5. Would you recommend this book to your friends? If they want to become wizards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the whole, this is a fine book for kids interested in magic. It talks a bit about the various magical traditions around the world (from India to China to Western Europe and many other places) and includes info on several magical creatures. There is a list of supplies required for all apprentice wizards too. But perhaps most importantly for kids there are repeated warnings that magic should only be used to help other people, not to harm anyone or get things for yourself. Kiddo has a wild imagination - as many other kids do - and I appreciate that even fantastical books like this remind him to reign in that imagination and to use it for good.

As a side note, this book sparked a discussion of the difference between an "epilogue" and an "appendix" in a book. I love when I can teach kiddo little things like that.

Book Review Carnival Reminder

Reminder: There are just a few days left to submit a review for the Book Review Carnival that I'm hosting here on March 1st!

Want your book review included? Here's what you do:

• go to http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_5161.html
  
  
• scroll down to near the bottom (right above the ad) and click on SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
  
  
• fill in the required fields and click SUBMIT
  
  
• and that's all you need to do - the rest is up to me.
  

One request though ... please don't wait until the last minute to submit a review. I have to organize them all into a coherent post (and that takes some time!) so the sooner I have your links, the better.

Thanks!

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
by Sherman Alexie
242 pages

This book is the first collection of short stories by Native American author Sherman Alexie. The stories are mostly autobiographical* and focus on life on the Reservation. This book was the basis for the movie SMOKE SIGNALS which I loved. The movie clip below incorporates parts of at least three different stories found in this book:

*** My Thoughts ***

I've said before that I'm not a fan of short stories but after my wonderful experience reading INTERPRETER OF MALADIES, by Jhumpa Lahiri, I decided to give them another try. I also figured that there might be some similarity in the way Lahiri and Alexie each dealt with the ethnicity of the characters in their stories. I'm not sure if I could have been any more wrong!

Whereas Lahiri's writing is fluid and soft, Alexie's is sharp and choppy. While Lahiri's stories are linear and move in an ordered direction, Alexie's stories jump from one place/time to another and sometimes back again. There is also a strong sense of ... something ... mysticism, maybe? ... present in Alexie's work that is not found in Lahiri's. The two authors are so completely different that I can't even begin to compare them.

I'm very glad I read this book but I can't say that I really liked it or understood it. It hasn't turned me off from Alexie's work though - I'm still very interested to read THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN and several of his other books.

Oh, and I have no idea why the book has the title that it does. I read the story with that title and I just didn't get it. If you've read this, can you please explain it to me?

*** A Bit About This Edition ***

I read the 10 year anniversary edition of this book. It includes an introduction by the author as well as two additional stories. The introduction was quite necessary for me - without it, I may have quit reading early on. In it, Alexie talks about how he got his start as a published writer and which parts of the stories are "true". His personality really shines through in this introduction, much more so than in the stories that make up the rest of the book. It was the introduction that made me want to read more of his work.

The final story in the book was one of the two added to this edition, and it was by far my favorite. It is a much more traditional story in that is has a definite plot. For me, the characters in this story seemed much more real and much more relate-able than those in his other stories. It could be simply because I don't have a Native American background (although I really don't think that is it) but I found it hard to relate to most of the other stories.

One more thing about this particular edition is that it included a Discussion Guide at the end. Now I'm all about Discussion Guides. They can make you think about a book in a new way, notice something you didn't notice before. I always read the questions even if I'm not reading the book for book club. HOWEVER ... I'd like it if the questions got the facts of the book right. Maybe it was simply a proofreading thing or maybe this question-writer didn't actually read the stories, but there were two distinct mistakes in the questions that really bothered me. Have you ever had that experience before?

*** Your Thoughts ***

Has anyone else read this book? What about some of his other books? Am I right in thinking that his writing style is different now than it was in this first book?



*According to the introduction, Alexie at first denied that the stories were based on his own life but later retracted his denial.

Phineas Finn

Phineas Finn

by Anthony Trollope
776 pages
first published in 1869

I picked up this book having no idea what to expect, not really knowing what it was about, and ending my reading with a big smile on my face saying (out loud, no less) "Oh, how lovely!"

*** The Plot ***

It is the 1860s. Our hero, Phineas Finn, is an Irishman living in England studying to be a barrister (aka lawyer). He is very interested in political life and finds himself, through a series of interesting circumstances, elected to the House of Commons. Once there, he begins to socialize with the wealthy and powerful men and women of the day and his life changes drastically.

The novel follows his experiences in Parliament and in society for the next several years.

*** My Opinion ***

From the plot summary you may think this book is rather boring, but it really isn't! It is "old-fashioned" in language and tone, but it is fun and lovely as well. This book has it all - politics, romance, drama - all the things classic literature does so well. I loved it!

The book is written as if someone were telling you the story of Phineas Finn, but the narrator also has inside information from time to time. The narrator talks to the reader, interjecting opinions here and there, often refering to Phineas as "our hero". In other places the narrator speculates about the motives of other characters as if to clue the reader in or give some extra information. This made the book very easy to read, very "personable".

The character of Phineas is unique. He is a genuinely likable fellow but there is nothing outstanding about him. His greatest gift is his amiability, the ease with which people come to like him and wish the best for him. It is only the narrator who makes him into a "hero", I think, and only the narrator who makes us interested in him.

My only complaint is that sometimes there was too much information about the inner workings of parliament for my liking, but those were easy to skim through and they didn't detract from the story. Actually, they usually helped the story along, but they were still a bit boring to me.

*** Miscellany ***

~ This is the 8th book I've read for the 1% Well Read Challenge that ends on 2/28/09. I have one short story and half of a book to go, then I'll be finished the challenge.

~ As with most books written during this time period, racism is inherent in the social system. It is not blatant but it IS assumed. There was one use of the N word but that was the only direct reference to racism.

~ After I finished the book I did a bit of digging around and found the following:

• This is the 4th of 6 books in the PALLISER NOVELS series. The books were originally serialized. Most characters in this book appear in earlier and later books as well. However, I read this book not knowing that is was part of a series and had no trouble understanding any of it. It could easily be a stand-alone novel.
• After learning that, I looked up the following book, PHINEAS REDUX, on Amazon. In the review section they gave the entire plot away - I'm ticked!!! Part of the fun of reading this book was having no idea how things would turn out in the end. Now, even though I really wanted to read the next book, I likely won't.
• The PALLISER NOVELS are alluded to in ANNA KARENINA.
• The books were made into a TV series by the BBC in the 1970s.

~ Near the end of the book I found myself laughing out loud over the name of a lake in Ireland. The lake mentioned is Lough Derg, which would be pronounced Lock Durg by an American like me. Why is that funny you ask? The newest bad guy on kiddo's favorite cartoon, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is voiced by George Takei (of STAR TREK fame) and his name is ... Lok Durd. ~LOL~

~ I decided to read this book for no other reason than the title. It was part of the list of books for the 1% Well Read Challenge and the name Phineas reminded me of Phileas Fogg from AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. That's my whole reason right there.

*** Your Thoughts? ***

I've never seen another blogger's review of this book, have you? Have you read it? Heard of it? Let me know!

Friday Finds 02/20/09

Here are the books that made it on to my ever-growing-TBR list this week ...

1. Drowning Ruth, by Christina Schwarz - I went back and forth on this book. On the one hand, it doesn't sound like my kind of book, but on the other hand, the story sounds VERY intriguing. Jill's review gives a great summary but the part that caught me was where the man comes home from the war to find his wife dead and his wife's sister raising their child and running their farm. Whoa, that's a shocker for sure.
   
   
2. Mazallon Book of the Fallen (series), by Steven Erikson - there is this cool sci-fi/fantasy review linkage meme going on over here and I found this series through it. Neth Space's review (of the 8th of 10 books) got me very interested when he talked about the complexity of this series and the abundance of characters. I read more about the whole series over at Amazon.com, and I'm definitely going to pick this one up sometime.

In the category of books for other people, I have one entry this week:

1. Sisters: Catholic Nuns and the Making of America, by John J. Fialka - I trust Bybee's reviews and she really enjoyed this book. I'd like to get it for my mom as a gift. She is Catholic and went to parochial school (where nuns were her teachers). Although she does have some horror stories to tell, for the most part she loved the nuns and she has great respect for them still today. I'm certain she'd love reading this book.

For more Friday Finds head over here. Have a great weekend all!

Do you cry in books or movies?

Do you cry when watching movies or reading books? What about during songs or certain commercials? Go vote in my poll – in the right sidebar – then come back here. Inquiring minds (mine) want to know!

*** Me ***

Ever since being pregnant with kiddo (back in 2001) I’ve been extra-emotional about some things. Tears well up in my eyes whenever certain songs come on, or when there is an especially touching commercial on (thanks to DVR I can fast forward through most commercials now though), or when I’m really involved in a movie or tv show. (It is the exact opposite in everyday life; I hardly ever cry even when faced with tragedy.)

However, I have never in my life been brought to tears by a book. Why? Well, I have a few theories. First, I think I read too quickly to be emotional. It’s hard to get worked up over something when you already moving on to the next part of the story. And second, emotion for me is much for sense-oriented; I need sounds or sights to bring on an emotional response.

*** Hubby ***

Being a typical guy in many ways, Hubby is not a crier. Usually he just rolls his eyes at the movies I’m sobbing over, or gives me a hug when I tear up over a special song. He can get emotional when it comes to kiddo though (and I love that about him).

He's also not a big reader but I do know for a fact that there is one book that made him cry: Lone Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. This book really hit him hard (I talked about that here). I’ve not read it myself, but both of us have recommended it to several of the men in our lives and they have all been impacted by it.

*** Kiddo ***

As for kiddo, he is a very “feeling” child. He gets his feelings hurt easily but he also cares deeply about other people’s feelings. It has been interesting seeing how he reacts to movies and books that have emotional parts. Last week he and I watched the 3^rd Lord of the Rings movie, THE RETURN OF THE KING. [We could have an entire conversation about whether this is appropriate for a 7 year old child or not, but that’s for another day.] I’m assuming everyone knows what happens at the end of the movie, but if you don’t want to know, then skip the following paragraph.

Anyway … at the end of the movie when Gandalf was leaving to go on the Elvish ship, kiddo teared up. We talked about it and he said that he’d miss Gandalf and that he felt sorry for the hobbits. Then Frodo announces that he is leaving too, and kiddo cried even harder. Of course, the other three hobbits were crying at this point as well. After the movie ended, kiddo cuddled up in my lap and cried for a while. We talked some more and he said that he really did like the movie, but that he was sad that they’d never see each other again. So I told him that since there wasn’t another book in the series, he could make up whatever new story he wanted – the characters could all get together again in *his* story, if that is what he wanted. Needless to say, he really like that idea and he felt much better at that point.

The same thing happened in a book I’m reading to him. We’re in the middle of THE ARK, THE REED, AND THE FIRE CLOUD by Jenny Cote. There have been hints that one particular character is going to die, and sure enough it finally happened. I can always tell when kiddo is going to cry because he starts smiling really strangely – it’s his way of fighting back the tears. I assured him that it is ok to be sad, and that the characters in the book were sad as well. This time he was able to keep back all but a few tears and didn’t need too much extra cuddling.

It was amazing to me to watch kiddo, in both the movie and the book situations, to see how he reacted to the stories being told.

Strange gal that I am, I cried in the battle scenes in Lord of the Rings (I’m a sucker for heroism) and not at the end (kiddo thought that was pretty funny by the way).

*** And So ... ***

Now I want to know … am I an odd duck? What do most other people do? What do YOU do? Are you a movie crier, a book crier, a non-crier? Go vote, and feel free to expound in the comments.

Lots of Awards

In January I received several awards from different bloggers. Yes, I realize that is it now mid-February, but give me a break, ok?

I’m going to try to pass these awards to blogs that I haven’t previously noted before, but I’m not guaranteeing zero duplicates.

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The Premios Dardo Award … from Rebecca’s Reads

"This award 'acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.'"

Since there weren't any specific rules for this award, I'm going to pass it on to four blogs who, in my opinion, write about things that are worth discussing.

• Semicolon – she’s not afraid to post her opinions, even when they can be controversial
• My Friend Amy – she gets people talking about anything and everything
• Rebecca Reads - Yes, I know, she gave me the award. But she digs deeper in to books than most other bloggers and always has interesting points to make.
• War Through the Generations – I love that this challenge blog is bringing focus to “the greatest generation” by doing more than just posting book reviews.

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The Inspiration Award … from The Armenian Odar Reads

Here are the rules:

1. Please put the logo of the award (see on the left) on your blog if you can make it work with your format. 2. Link to the person from whom you received the award. 3. Nominate 7 or more blogs. 4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog. 5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

Here are the blogs I find inspiring at the moment. There aren’t 7, but I’m taking that as a suggested number ...

• Imagine Alyzabeth An – This couple has been blogging for years about their journey to adopt a daughter from China. Their dream was realized just a few months ago, and I’m so enjoying the posts about their life with their new daughter.
• The Dream Year – This couple is traveling the US for a year – what fun!
• Walking the Amazon – Yes, that is exactly what he’s doing.
• Muse – Despite the naysayers, she’s having her first book self-published and I say “more power to you!” Personally, I can’t wait to read it.

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Proximidade Award … from A Soldier’s Girl

"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes of self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Is it just me or is that a rather strange write-up? Regardless, the sentiment is a good one: promote friendly blogs.

Again, I'm taking 8 as a suggested number ... so here are three blogs I feel are "friendly" in some way.

• Subliminal Intervention - always has a kind word to say in her comments
• Moxie Mama - her posts are all over the place as far as topics go and she's always willing to engage in conversation with her commenters
• Weekly Geeks - what began as an activity on The Hidden Side of a Leaf turned into a massive community blog when Dewey passed away - it is all about community at WG

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Whew! That was rather difficult to put together. I am very grateful to all the bloggers who gave me these awards. But I'm even more grateful to all of you, my regular readers, for making this blog such a fun place to be for me. And since there is one more award ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lemonade Award … from My Friend Amy

There were no rules for this one, so I get to do what I want with it.

First I’ll say THANK YOU to Amy.

Then ...

I hereby award this to every single one of my regular readers, whether you are a subscriber, a follower, or simply a regular visitor. I appreciate each of you so very much!

It would mean the world to me if you would post a quick comment and let me know who you are (since I know that many of you don't regularly comment) so I can drop by your blog and check it out.

Thank you again!

What Kiddo's Been Reading

It has been a while since I've done a Mom & Son Book Club post, but that doesn't mean we're not reading at our house. Since today is Kid Pick's Day over at 5 Minutes for Books I figured I'd give you all an update on what we've been reading and how it is going.

Reading Together ...

• We're still working on THE ARK, THE REED, AND THE FIRE CLOUD, by Jenny Cote. Kiddo is really enjoying this book and wants to read it often. However, at over 400 pages and 60-something chapters, and considering our reading rate of 1-2 chapters every day or so, you can see why this is taking a long time to get through.
  
  
• We took a break from that book to read WIZARDOLOGY a few weeks ago. Now I just have to get kiddo to answer our book club questions and write up a post about it.
  
  

Reading On His Own ...

Kiddo is in 1st grade so he's been learning to read this year. Unfortunately he's struggling a bit. What I've figured out is that he is such a perfectionist that he doesn't want to risk failing. So when he looks at a new word, he'll sound it out in his head but rarely will he do it out loud, unless he is absolutely certain that he's got it right. If he isn't certain, he'll just stare at it and say "I don't know" and wait for help. When I encourage him to try, to just say the sounds of the letters, he is usually correct. But the problem is that he won't try.

Needless to say, this is very frustrating for me. I know that he needs to learn to read and that it would be very bad for him to fall behind at this point. I don't mind if he isn't at the head of the class, but I know that things will only get harder from here on out, and his reading skills have to improve in order for him to succeed.

I'm not too discouraged, as I know kiddo loves books (especially when I read to him). The plan is to get a tutor - starting next week - to work with him once a week. I'm hopeful that this will help him improve both his ability and his confidence level. And in the meantime I'm seeking out books that are interesting and also at his reading level, and encouraging him to read them to me.

Here are the two he really likes at the moment:

• SHARK IN THE PARK, by Phil Roxbee Cox - sharks are kiddo's favorite creatures, and this story has lots of repetition that makes it fun to read
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• NOAH'S ARK, by Linda Hayward - This is an older book, part of the Step into Reading series. It is pretty long and kiddo has been doing really well with it recently.

Earlier this week kiddo spent time with his little cousins, two boys aged 2.5 and 7 months. He helped to put the older boy to bed and read him these two books while they curled up together in the little toddler bed. I know he felt good about his reading after that!

Annoucing a Book Review Carnival!

I'll be hosting the 12th edition of the Book Review Carnival right here on March 1st!

Want your book review included? Here's what you do:

• go to http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_5161.html
  
  
• scroll down to near the bottom (right above the ad) and click on SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
  
  
• fill in the required fields and click SUBMIT
  
  
• and that's all you need to do - the rest is up to me.
  

One request though ... please don't wait until the last minute to submit a review. I have to organize them all into a coherent post (and that takes some time!) so the sooner I have your links, the better.

Thanks!

Winner of SIGNORA DA VINCI

Thanks to everyone who entered my contest for a copy of SIGNORA DA VINCI by Robin Maxwell. I loved reading your answers to the questions raised by the author's guest post.

Without further ado, the winner of the book is ...

Renee G!

Congratulations Renee! I'll get the book out to you as soon as I have your address.

Lovely Links #11

It is that time again, time for Lovely Links! Here is a short list of things I've come across lately that I thought you mind find interesting ...

• Are you a LOST fan? Then why are you not hanging out at the LOST Books Challenge Blog?! There are more than just book reviews over there, did you know that? Each week we are linking up to episode recaps at a variety of blogs, plus we're posting links to interviews with the cast and other LOST tidbits as we find them. Come on over and join us!
  
  
• Hey Lady! Whatch' Readin'? completely blew my mind with this post about whether you are an introvert or an extrovert. If you asked me (before I read that) which I was, I'd have said extrovert without hesitation. But now I'm convinced I'm an introvert ... who knew?!
  
  
• Ousted TWILIGHT director Catherine Hardwicke has a book coming out all about her experiences directing the film. The write-up at Redbox's blog, Redblog, definitely made me laugh!
  
  
• Lots of mummies, from 400 years ago up to a 2-year old girl who died in 1920, all on display in Italy - the photos in this post are amazing and creepy at the same time.
  
  
• Ever wonder when you should post the review for an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) you receive from a publisher? Reviewer X has some excellent guidelines direct from the publicists.
  
  
• 500 years ago King Henry VIII's of England took the throne. This fascinating article by author Philippa Gregory discusses the King's enormous size later in life and includes pictures of his armor and other clothing, all of which are part of an exhibit at in The Tower of London.
  
  
• Legendary sci-fi/horror memorabilia collector Forrest Ackerman died recently and his collection is going up for auction. There are some amazing things up for grabs. Personally I'd like the book pictured here but I guess I'm in the minority - of the items shown, it has the lowest price tag.
  
  
• And on a more personal note, I have another post up at ReadingGroupGuides.com. This time I recapped my book club's experience reading Jhumpa Lahiri's INTERPRETER OF MALADIES. Hop on over to read it, and leave a comment if you like.

That's all for this edition of Lovely Links ... but I'll be back with more very soon!

Sci-fi/Fantasy Review Linkup

Here's a chance to post your best sci-fi/fantasy book reviews! It's sort of like a book review carnival, but not exactly. You can read all about it here if you want. Basically you just need to copy the text below onto your blog, then add your review to the bottom. Grasping for the Wind will be collecting all the blogs that link to him and posting the complete list later on. He's done this type of meme-thing before and it has been very successful, so I'm looking forward to the end result.

Here's the list so far:

The Book Review Meme @ Grasping for the Wind
1. Grasping for the Wind - INFOQUAKE by David Louis Edelman
2. Age 30+ ... A Lifetime of Books - A COMPANION TO WOLVES by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
3. Dragons, Heroes and Wizards - ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE by Robin Hobb
4. Walker of Worlds - THE TEMPORAL VOID by Peter F Hamilton
5. Neth Space - TOLL THE HOUNDS by Steven Erikson
6. Dark in the Dark - GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY by M.R. James
7. A Dribble of Ink - THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
8. Fantasy Book News & Reviews - EMPRESS by Karen Miller
9. Fantasy Debut - ACACIA by David Anthony Durham Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Overall Review Afterthought
10. All Booked Up - THE BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley
11. Fantasy Cafe - THE BOOK OF JOBY by Mark J. Ferrari
12. AzureScape - ANATHEM by Neal Stephenson
13. The Book Smugglers - THE INFERIOR by Peadar O'Guilin
14. Besotted Bookworm - PARANORMAL FICTION FEAST by Christine Feehan, Julie Kramer, and Jayne Castle
15. Renee's Book Addiction - WANDERLUST by Ann Aguirre
16. SciFiGuy.ca - THE BLACK SHIP by Diana Pharaoh Francis
17. Literary Escapism - FOR A FEW DEMONS MORE by Kim Harrison (with spoilers)
18. Speculative Horizons - THE TERROR by Dan Simmons
19. Stella Matutina - NEW AMSTERDAM by Elizabeth Bear
20. Variety SF - MISSION OF GRAVITY by Hal Clement
21. WISB/F&SF Lovin' Blog - SEABORN by Chris Howard
22. Highlander's Book reviews - A MADNESS OF ANGELS by Kate Griffin
23. The Old Bat's Belfry - THE CROWN CONSPIRACY by Michael J. Sullivan
24. Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews - THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
25. The Sci-Fi Gene - PERDIDO STREET STATION by China Mieville
26. Against the Nothing - MAY BIRD AND THE EVER AFTER by Jodi Lynn Anderson
27. Flight into Fantasy - AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman

Feel free to copy and add this to you blog, along with your best sci-fi/fantasy review.

Friday Finds 02/13/09

Before I share my Friday Finds for this week, here’s your final reminder about my current giveaway: I’m drawing the winner of SIGNORA DA VINCI this evening. If you haven’t entered here’s the link to go to. Contest details are at the bottom of that post.


Always, you can find more finds over at MizB's blog. And now, here are my finds:

1. The Terror, by Dan Simmons – I’ve seen this book mentioned on several blogs but I wasn’t sure it was the kind of book for me. I love arctic exploration stories but the “thing” alluded to by the reviewers made me a bit nervous. After reading Ti’s review I asked her to email me some spoilers and she did. So now I know what the “thing” is and sort of what happens, and I think I might like this book after all. Whew!
   
   
2. The Polysyllabic Spree, by Nick Hornby – Chris says this book about books and words is excellent and lots of other bloggers have agreed. I’ve never read anything by Hornby and this sounds like the perfect place to start.
   
   
3. Things I Want My Daughters To Know, by Elizabeth Noble – This is another book that is getting lots of attention right now. It doesn’t really seem like my type of book, but being both a daughter and a sister (not to mention a mother), I think there might be something in there for me.You can read all about it at Julie’s blog.
   
   
4. The Better to Hold You, by Alisa Sheckley - This one is WAY outside my usual repotoire but I still think it looks really good. The review of this book over at tor.com got my attention - the plot seems really interesting (and maybe a bit steamy?!). I'm not a werewolf fan in general (other than Jacob in Twilight of course) but I do love wolves. To be honest, this is something I'd expect to see reviewed at OCD, Vampires and Rants (and I mean no offense to those gals - I love reading reviews) rather than on my blog, but I'm excited about it all the same.
   

Thanks to Chris at Stuff As Dreams Are Made On, I have a new blog in my reader … and because of that blog, I have a new book to add to kiddo’s list this week.

1. The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende – of course I’ve heard of this book, and I’ve seen the movie, but I had forgotten all about it until Matthew’s Sunday Suggestion post reminded me. Kiddo loves fantasy (just like his mamma) and I think he’ll really enjoy this one.

That's all I have for this week ... what about you?

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher

by Edgar Allan Poe
20 pages
first published in 1839

*** The Plot (without spoilers) ***

An unnamed narrator travels to the home of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher. Usher requested the visit in the hopes that it would cheer him up. Upon arrival the narrator find that Roderick, always a hypochondriac, is much changed in appearance and is complaining of various maladies. Also in the house is Madeline Usher, Roderick’s sister. She is ill as well and not expect to live long. The narrator and Roderick spend much time together over the next few weeks, and what happens during those days is the focus of the rest of the story.


*** Literary Criticism & My Thoughts ***

(I so wanted to call this section LitCrit but I figured that was overdoing it.)

Since this is such a short story, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check out what the “official” opinion of it is, and contrast that with my own. Here’s a bit of what I came up with, with links to where I found the info.

According to Wikipedia, this story was first published in BURTON’S GENTLEMEN’S MAGAZINE in 1839. It is Poe’s most famous work, but it has also been criticized for being too formulaic.

One article I read was quite informative; all the following quotes and references are from there.

“As is typical of the Gothic genre, the story is set in a dark, medieval castle, and uses a first-person narrator to instill a sense of dread and terror in the reader.” The article goes on to say the this story “has been lauded by scholars as a prime example of the Gothic short story.” Poe’s use of the first-person POV *is* very powerful and I was definitely feeling that sense of dread through the story.

The article points out the probability that Poe was attributing Roderick’s and Madeline’s illnesses to repeated inbreeding (incest!) in their family. I totally didn’t get that impression when I read the story, but it does make a lot of sense now. I'm still not sure I buy it but it *is* plausible based on the text.

That same article goes on to say that others attribute the illnesses to something supernatural rather than something natural. These dual interpretations, the ambiguity of the illnesses, and the general *feel* of the story itself, reminded me of THE TURN OF THE SCREW (which I reviewed here). I think if you liked either one of these stories you’d definitely like the other one.


*** Other Thoughts ***

On the whole I rather liked this story. It was a bit dense (word-wise) but the creepy mood was set perfectly. It's definitely got me wanting to read more Poe.

And speaking of Poe, this year is his 200th birthday. I live just outside Baltimore, Maryland, where Poe is buried, and we're having a year-long celebration of Poe here. You can go to www.nevermore2009.com to get all the details.

I'm trying desperately to finish the 1% Well Read Challenge by Feb. 28 and this story counts - yeah! Now I just have to finish Phineas Finn (776 pages, and I'm halfway through), Delta of Venus (about 150 pages left) and read one more short story ... I think I can handle that.


*** Questions ***

Are you a Poe fan? Have you read this story? Reviewed it? Please share your thoughts.

All Things "D"

There's this meme going around that's all about letters ... have you seen it? The lovely Chartroose asked me to play along, and although I wasn't planning to do this one, I got sucked in when she assigned me the letter D. There are so many wonderful things that begin with D! But I only have to come up with 10 ... so here goes:

1. Daddy - You can't have a list of D things with out that! I'm including both my daddy and my husband (who is a great dad to kiddo). The picture to the right is my daddy with my sister's youngest boy, who was named after him. And the picture below is kiddo's daddy.
2. Dragons - the first "grown up" book I ever read was THE HOBBIT when I was in the first grade. Reading about Smaug the dragon hooked me for life. If you are a fan of Tolkien, or even simply a fan of great illustration, please go visit Justin Gerard's illustration of Smaug ... it is the best I've ever seen. In high school I found the dragons and fire lizards of Pern, created by Anne McCaffery ... oh, how I loved them!
   
   
3. Dancing - This is something I'm not particularly good at but I can't help doing it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE music and simply can't stay still when it is on. Kiddo inherited that love as well. Did I tell you guys that he's taking Irish Step Dance lessons? And that is was HIS idea?! He has a recital coming up in a few weeks and I'm sure to have photos to post afterward!
   
   
4. Dagoba - It's the home of Yoda, my all-time-favorite Star Wars character. I grew up on the Original trilogy and although the newer movies aren't as good, you have to admit that Yoda is awesome in them. (If you can't tell, I'm using Dagoba as an excuse to proclaim my love for Yoda. After all, the planet itself is pretty creepy.)
   
   
5. Different & Divergent Opinions - One of the best parts of blogging is reading and sharing different opinion on books and miscellaneous other topics, don't you agree? It is no fun when everyone agrees on everything.
   
   
6. Discovery - I love learning new things, be it discovering something in a book, tv programs on The Discovery Channel, or watching kiddo discover something for the first time.
   
   
7. Digital Camera - I take photos all the time and my digital camera makes is SO very easy to take good ones. In case you're curious, I have a Sony Cybershot with a 10x zoom and 8.1 mega pixels. Oh how I love my camera! I take it (literally) everywhere I go.
   
   
8. Digital Scrapbooking - And speaking of pictures, I am not one of those people who keeps all my photos on the disk or on my computer. No ma'am. I've been a Creative Memories scrapbooker (and consultant) for 10 years so most of my photos are displayed in albums around my house. My NEW favorite thing is digital scrapbooking though. There is no mess and the complete albums are MUCH smaller and easier to display. Here's a link to the software I use if you want to check it out. I highly recommend it!
   
   
9. Dough, as in chocolate chip cookie dough - Yep, I'm one of "those" people, the ones who eat it raw. Hubby yells at me because I buy the tubes of dough then nibble at them until they are gone without ever baking a singe cookie.
   
   
10. Dublin - I've been to Ireland twice, but only to Dublin once. It is a city that I would love to spend more time in though. Not only is it beautiful and full of history, but it is fun and vibrant as well. Hubby and I did the double-decker bus tour during our few days there. Ah, the memories! Here are some photos of the city (not taken by me, unfortunately) for you to enjoy. On the left is the General Post Office (GPO) ,on the right is Temple Bar, and below is Kilmainham Gaol. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me the any historical event that took place at either the GPO or the Gaol ...

Doubtless there are delightful deluges of D words I could dump here (like diatribe, diaphanous, devilish, dionysian, dystopia, and damn) but I've delivered my donation of drudgery to your day and I'm dubious my digression can be delivered with daring dash and ... ok, I'll stop now ... after all there's nothing as detrimental as beating a dead horse. Ok, ok, I'm really done now!

And those are my 10 favorite D things! I hope you enjoyed them. If you would like to get in on the fun, post a comment and let me know - I'll assign you a letter and wait with baited breath to see what you come up with!

Movie Review: The Jane Austen Book Club

*** The Story, In Its Simplest ***

Five women and one man form a book club to discuss Jane Austen's six novels. Each person is in the club for a different reason. Four of the women have known each other for many years, but the fifth woman and the man are strangers to everyone. As they read and discuss each book, they get to know each other - and themselves - a bit better.

Here's a preview for you:

*** My Story ***

I found this book in a thrift store a few years ago and picked it up, having heard nothing about it before. It was quite enjoyable as I recall. I tried to get the girls in my book club to read it (not as a book club book, just on their own time) but they didn't go for it.

Anyway, I saw that the movie was on this week so I decided to watch it.

*** What I Think ***

The movie was really good! It seemed to follow the book, or at least what I remember of the book. Actually, I think I like the movie MORE than the book ... and that's unusual. I don't remember the book being quite so funny (I was laughing out loud watching this movie, even though I was home alone).

*** Some Specifics ***

I'll try to keep this spoiler free ...

• The token male in the club, Grigg, was hysterical (yes, it IS Grigg, not Gregg). Again, I don't remember him being so funny in the book. Of course, it didn't hurt that he was played by the very adorable Hugh Dancy.
• Prudy's character was horrible in the movie, at least during book club. I don't remember disliking her so much when I read the book. It WORKED though - she was supposed to be that way. It was quite well done.
• On the other hand, I think she has one of the best lines in any movie I've seen recently: "He looks at me like he's the spoon and I'm the dish of ice cream." Which sounds cheesy, until you know the context ... and then it is completely naughty.
  
• I love the way the romance blossoms between Grigg and ... (no I'm not going to spoil it for those who don't know what happens).
• One of the gals in the movie/book breeds Rhodesian Ridgebacks. I've wanted one of those dogs for years! Did you know that they were originally bred to fight off lions?! Now THAT is one cool dog. Have you ever seen one? They have this ridge of hair down their spine that goes in the wrong direction. Again, I say that is one.cool.dog.
• In the end, this is a movie (mostly) about the friendship between women, and it does a great job portraying the good parts.

*** Your Thoughts? ***

Have you read this book? Seen the movie? What did you think? If not, would you want to now? Tell me, Tell Me, TELL ME!

Movie Review: City of Ember

Last weekend kiddo and I went to our local Redbox to see what we could see. There were several kid-friendly movies available but we’d already seen (or didn’t want to see) most of them. Our only remaining choice was CITY OF EMBER. When this was in the theater I wanted to go see it but kiddo did not … guess who won that discussion. I figured he’s say no to it again, but I was wrong.

Kiddo: “Mom, if you really want to watch it, we can.”

Me: “No honey, it’s up to you – if you don’t want to see it we can just watch something on TV.”

Kiddo: “No, that’s ok – we can watch this one.”

And that was that. We went home and started the movie; Hubby was on the big chair while kiddo and I cuddled up under a blanket on the couch.

*** The Story ***

The world is coming to an end in some undescribed calamity. To preserve humanity, an underground city is constructed and filled with children who will grow up with no knowledge of their history. For 200 years people will live in the city, then they will return to the surface and begin creating a new world. At least, that is what’s supposed to happen. Unfortunately the truth about the city and its builders is lost and more than 200 years goes by underground. The city is beginning to fall apart and the inhabitants are at a loss about what to do. Two teenagers, Lina and Doon, are worried and they want to do *something* to help. When they are assigned to their life jobs, they both begin to learn some secrets about the city and they concoct a plan to escape.

*** What Did We Think? ***

Kiddo LOVED it. How do I know? First of all, he hardly moved during the whole movie (and he is a very, very fidgety child). And second, as soon as it ended the exact words out of his mouth were “can we watch it again?” … as in, right now (we did end up watching it the following night for a second time). He wants us to buy a copy so he can watch it any time he wants.

Hubby was bored, but that is usual – I think the last kids movie he actually liked was CARS … and since he loves NASCAR that was a given.

I really enjoyed CITY OF EMBER. I thought it was well done for a kid’s movie – fast paced, interesting story, nothing too scary or objectionable. I enjoyed watching it a second time, and I'll definitely buy a copy for us to keep.

I *did* get a kick out of one of Doon’s outfits (not the one in the picture though) … it reminded me of something my friends used to wear when they’d go to the midnight showing of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Hubby totally agreed with me on that one. Oh, and I thought that the actual city of Ember looked a lot like Wannado City in Florida. If you've been there, think of how the entire "city" is laid out almost in a circle, with business names above each door - that's exactly what Ember is like!

*** The Book? ***

Have any of you read the book? Does is differ from the movie? I see that there are three books that follow CITY OF EMBER … do you recommend the rest of the series?

*** Spoiler Alert and Question ***

After we watched the movie for the second time, kiddo asked a very good question and I didn’t have an answer for him. At the end of the movie, Lina and Doon look down a very deep chasm and they can see Ember far below. Kiddo wants to know why, if they can see Ember, can the people in the city not see the sunlight coming down the chasm? Good question. I’m wondering if the book portrays this scene differently … any thoughts?

An Author Answers My Impertinent Question (and a Giveaway)

If you read any other book blogs you've likely seen several posts about the new book SIGNORA DI VINCI by Robin Maxwell, a book that imagines the life of Di Vinci's mother. I was offered a copy of this book for a giveaway on my blog (details are at the end of this post), with the hope that I'd review it and maybe allow the author to guest post. I declined the review option because I just don't think that this is my kind of book. However I couldn't pass up the chance to ask the author a question that has been bugging me for a long time so I sent the following email to Ms. Maxwell:

I really enjoy historical fiction. I like when an author creates a character and puts him/her in a real-life historical setting, interacting with real historical figures in a way that fits into history. I also enjoy when real historical figures are the main characters, especially when there is enough known about them to create an "it could have happened this way" scenario. But what I'm not such a fan of is what you've done in this book: created a character based on (from what I can tell) the very few details known about a real life person. So much of the book is complete speculation. I'm partial to "truth" in historical fiction - I go for a bit more *historical* and a bit less *fiction.* So what I want to know is, why did you write this story in this way? What is the draw for you as a writer? What is the appeal for the reader?

Impertinent, much? After I sent it I worried that I might have offended her but luckily I did not. Ms. Maxwell was gracious enough to respond that "it was a good question" and to give me a thorough answer/explanation. Her response is lengthy but interesting and I do hope you'll take the time to read it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Response by Robin Maxwell:

In all my seven novels, I've never chosen to use an entirely fictionalized character for my protagonist, mainly because I feel there are so many real historical figures with mesmerizing stories that it wasn't necessary to make one up. That said, I have had as my protagonists, figures about whom there are mountains of biographies and histories written -- Elizabeth I, as an example. I tackled different parts of her life in four of my books (Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, ages 25-26; The Queen's Bastard, 27-54; Virgin, 13-15; and The Wild Irish, 60-67). I was meticulous about sticking to the facts, but that was easy, as there were so many of them at my fingertips.

However, in The Queen's Bastard, one of the three main voices in the story is Arthur Dudley, the young man who claimed to have been the illegitimate son of Elizabeth and Robin Dudley. Out of all the history books I scoured looking for references to him, I found perhaps five pages of documentation. He was an English spy in the years before the invasion of the Spanish Armada, and he was arrested in Spain, brought before King Phillip II, and deposed by Phillip's English secretary for five days (that written deposition still exists in the Spanish State Papers with the King's comments written in the margins). What I read convinced me that there was a better-than-even chance that Arthur Dudley was who he claimed to be. Whether he was or wasn't, I figured this person had a fascinating life and needed his story told. Cloaked as he is in shadows, he remains one of my favorite characters in history.

In To the Tower Born I took two young women -- one the 18 year old Princess Bessie (Elizabeth of York, who was said to have been Richard III's lover before she became the mother of the entire Tudor Dynasty -- Henry VIII's mom); and Elizabeth ("Nell") Caxton, daughter of the first English printer/publisher, William Caxton, and plopped them down at the center of the mystery of the lost princes in the Tower of London. Strangely, very little has been written about Elizabeth of York, but I as least had skeleton of her whereabouts during the time in question. Of Nell Caxton, I had exactly one sentence of history. That she (daughter of the most celebrated non-royal of the period) obtained a divorce from her husband in London on a certain date.

From that simple fact, and from what I learned about William Caxton (three good biographies) I was able to envision a fascinating life for Nell. That she grew up within the walls of Westminster, where her father's printing press and bookstore were located and where the royal family (including Princess Bessie) held court. William was deeply respected, patronized and much beloved by every person in the royal family, and I thought that the two girls, of a similar age, might have been thrown together and even allowed a friendship. I deduced that Nell and Bessie were two of the best educated young women in England at the time, and I knew for certain that Bessie was smack in the middle of the high drama that led to Richard III's becoming king, and the disappearance of her little brothers. From this starting point, I did a great deal of detective work and research to formulate a unique solution to one of England's greatest mysteries -- one that I am proud to say has been lauded by the Richard III Society.

With regard to Signora da Vinci, the truth is that I really wanted to write a novel about Leonardo, as I believe him to possess the greatest and most creative mind in all of history. But for some years now, publishers of historical fiction have been fixated on novels told exclusively from a woman's point of view. My proposal to do a Leonardo book was very coolly received. But I was not going to be deterred. The more I read about him and the fabulous figures of the period, like Lorenzo "The Magnificent" de' Medici, Sandro Botticelli, the groundbreaking and courageous philosophers that defied the Catholic church with their Platonic Academy of Florence (see the bonus page on my website), the more determined I was to write about the period -- and not from an outsiders point of view. I wanted to be smack in the middle of all the hoo-ha. And right inside Leonardo's head.

That left his mother. I had only a couple of clusters of facts to go on -- that her name was Caterina, and that the day after her son was born out of wedlock, his biological father and grandfather came and took the infant from his mother and brought him up in their loveless home. Much later in life, a woman named Caterina came to live with Leonardo (the only female ever to do so), and two years later he paid for her funeral. That left me with either a gaping chasm, or a delightful "hole in history" to fill. I chose to see it as the latter.

Using the voluminous materials I had about Leonardo (1,080 pages of his writings alone!) I was able to extrapolate the character of his mother, the one person who would know the man best, from the inside out. That still left me with the problem of how she would insinuate herself into the all-male society of Renaissance movers and shakers, to get the inside scoop on "The Shadow Renaissance". So I disguised her as a man. Women did cross-dress all through the middle ages and the Renaissance (see the link to my bonus page).

So while you might see the whole story as far-fetched, it is all within the realm of possibility. Clearly, a reader must be able to suspend disbelief to enjoy Signora da Vinci, but if I had not expanded Caterina's character the way I did, I would never have been able to tell the story I wished to tell. I figure that readers get a unique and richly imagined perspective on history, one that is intimate and emotional while still planted firmly in deep research.

Please visit me at my gorgeous new website RobinMaxwell.com ... it looks just like Renaissance jewel box.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway Details

If you'd like a chance to win a copy of SIGNORA DI VINCI please post a comment on this website answering any one of the following questions raised by Ms. Maxwell's post:

• Is a historical fiction novel told from a woman's point of view more or less likely to grab your attention?
• Were you aware of the compromises author must sometimes make in order to get their books published (like having to tell Leonardo's story through his mother rather than on its own)?
• Did this post change your opinion on "fictional" historical fiction? In what way?
• Or you can visit Ms. Maxwell's website and tell me one thing you liked about it.
  

I'm willing to ship this book anywhere in the world as long as I can do it for less than $20 US. That's as much as I'm willing to spend on shipping, sorry.* So if you think your mailing address fits into my budget then please enter ... and good luck! Oh, and I'll draw a winner next Friday (2/13).

* I'm shipping from Maryland in the United States, in case you're wondering.

Friday Finds 02/06/09

Can you believe it is Friday already? This week has flown by for me. Between the icy weather, kiddo coming down with croup, and the nasty cold that is stalking me, you'd think the week would have dragged ... but noooo, it just flew by. Anyhoo ...

Here's what landed on my TBR list this week:

1. The Time Machine, by HG Wells - this is a classic that I can't believe I've overlooked, and Nymeth's review reminded me of it. I also enjoy adaptations of Wells's books but I don't think I've ever read any of them. Hopefully I'll love him as much as I love Jules Verne.
   
   
2. From Seed to Harvest, by Octavia Butler - tor.com posted recently about this collection of Butler's four "Patternist" books. Their overview was EXCELLENT and really peaked my interest in this sci-fi series. It went on my PBS Wish List immediately.
   
   
3. Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen - after rewatching the movie version I simply MUST read the book. Karen Blixen (who wrote as Isak Dinesen) was a fascinating woman living in a fascinating time, and this is the story of her life. Here's a clip from the movie in case you haven't seen it before (fyi, this is a cheesy preview but a really good movie):
   
   

What new items did you add to your TBR list this week? Post a comment and let me know ... who knows, your books could end up on MY list next week!

And stop by MizB's to check out other bloggers' Friday Finds.

Island

Island

by Aldous Huxley
295 pages

When I sign up for a reading challenge that has a list of books to choose from (this one was from the LOST challenge list) I don’t do much research before making my selections. Usually I look at the titles and authors and pick ones that are appealing for some reason or another. For the most part that strategy has been a success for me … until now.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I’d put this book aside for a while and one commenter wanted to know why. Since my response to her is basically a book review in itself, I’m going to include it here:

*I* think [this book] is horrible, but it IS a classic after all so there must be some redeeming qualities. Here's my basic summary of the book:

• Will arrives on Indonesian island (called Pala) that is usually closed to foreigners
• He meets the very friendly and intelligent locals
• He begins to learn about their culture, morals, education, social life, etc., etc., etc., etc.
• He learns more about their unique belief system
• and more about it
• and more
• more

I have less than a quarter of the book left to go and I just can't bring myself to pick it up for now. I'd even been skimming the last few chapters before I finally put it aside for now.

To me, it seems like an attack on traditional society and [organized] religion thinly veiled as a book. Are you familiar with the term "info dump" in books? If not, it's where the author uses the characters to give you all sorts of background that is necessary to your understanding of the book, and usually does it through conversations between characters. That is all this book seems to me [to be] - one huge info dump about how to create the perfect society and how wrong everyone else is.

I'd really like to know what people who like this book see in it. And I'd really like to get to the end so I can find out if anything actually happens in it.

I finally did get to the end. I forced myself to read the remaining pages all in one night so I could finally say I’m done with it. And you know what? Not much happens. In fact *nothing* happens that justifies the time I took to finish the book.

The very last page of my copy of ISLAND gives a bit of info about the author. One line states “his later work reflects an interest in mysticism and the effect of the consciousness-expanding drugs.” That single sentence goes a long way to explain ISLAND.

Boy did I ever hate this book.


*** Miscellany ***

There are two random things that I want to mention here.

• First, the word "manichean" ... A while back, a guy in my office mentioned that his Spanish instructor used the word manichean in class and no one knew what it meant. The teacher was surprised because she said it is based on an English word. No one in our office had ever heard of it either. Here's the definition from dictionary.com:

  an adherent of the dualistic religious system of Manes, a combination of Gnostic Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and various other elements, with a basic doctrine of a conflict between light and dark, matter being regarded as dark and evil.

  More simply put, it is the idea of a clear dualism between two opposites. Anyway, the point is the this word is used several times in ISLAND. The Palanese belief system is very critical of what is calls the "Manichees" of organized religion. Funny where you learn these tidbits of info, huh?
  
  
• Second, the person of "Savanarola" ... As I read ISLAND, one character was repeatedly referred to as being like Savanarola. I had no idea who this guy was. Then I was reading the press release for the new novel SIGNORI DI VINCI and Savanarola is mentioned there as well. I figured that was my clue that I should look him up. Come to find out, he was a Dominican friar in the late 1400s who wanted to rid the Church of some of its vices. He was responsible for many "bonfires of the vanities" and was eventually excommunicated. I'm not exactly sure how all this ties into the guy in ISLAND though, unless they are referring to his particular fanaticism ....
  

*** Connections to LOST ***

The whole purpose of reading ISLAND was to discover something important about the show LOST. I mean, it *is* one of the books that inspired the show after all, and hence on the LOST Book Reading Challenge list. Here are the connections I found:

• The island of Pala is closed to foreigners – and so is LOST island.
• The people of Pala have a unique belief system that is threatened by the rest of the world. Yeah, this reminds me of The Others on LOST island ... do you agree?
• And I found out through Lostpedia that the ferry The Others use (docked at the pier where Michael and Walt are set free) is called the Pala Ferry. I assume this alludes to the first two items in my list as I don’t see any other connections here.
  

In the end I didn’t get much out of ISLAND but a headache.

January '09 Summary

I can't believe it is time to summarize my January reading already. Where did the month go?!

Since we're starting off a new year, I'm going to make a small change to my monthly summaries. In addition to the recap I'm also going to let you know which were my favorite reads of the month. Sound good? Ok, here we go.

Books - 5 (1,669 pages)

• Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (184 pages)


• Breaking Dawn (768 pages)


• Interpreter of Maladies (198 pages)
  


• Being Written (193 pages)
  
  
• Starfinder (326 pages)
  

Short Story/Essay - 1 (8 pages)

• A Modest Proposal (8 pages)

Audio Books - 3 (33.75 hours)

• The Man Who Loved China (9.25 hours)


• The Jeeves Collection (8.75 hours)


• The Thirteenth Tale (15.75 hours)

Books I Stopped Reading

• The Purpose of the Past (after 2 cassettes)
  


• The Mysterious Receding Seas (after 81 pages)

My favorites this month were Interpreter of Maladies and The Thirteenth Tale. I highly recommend both of those; the first will make you really think and really feel, and the story in the second will completely suck you in.

Looking back, I see that I've been listening to more audio books than usual. That's because I've been browsing the library's online catalog and ordering anything that looks even remotely interesting. I've met with (mostly) success so far so I think I'll continue with that plan for a while. Plus I'm in the car for 40 minutes each day so it doesn't take long to work through even lengthy audio books.

I've been reading "real" books a lot this month as well but I haven't finished two of them so they won't appear until February's list is compiled. Oh well, that's how it goes.

How did YOUR month go?

Wuthering Heights - the TV version

Emily Brote's WUTHERING HEIGHTS was one of those high school reading assignments that most people complain about. But even in high school I LOVED this book. I don't remember much about my first reading of it but I do remember one thing, specifically one vocabulary word we studied. I clearly recall learning this word, thinking that it was creepy and awful ... and I have never forgotten the definition.

Vivisection – noun

1. the action of cutting into or dissection a living body
2. the practice of subjecting living animals to cutting operations, esp. in order to advance physiological and pathological knowledge

The place in the novel where this appears is late in the book when Heathcliff is contemplating Linton and Catherine: "Had I been born where laws are less strict and tastes less dainty, I should treat myself to a slow vivisection of those two, as an evening's amusement." [Don't you just love Project Gutenburg? I used it to search the text for exactly the line I needed!]

*shiver* That one word embodies for me much of who Heathcliff is. That word, and "obsession".

Why is that relevant to the tv version, you ask? Well, because I think the Masterpiece Classic version of Wuthering Heights sort of missed that part of Heathcliff.

Don't get me wrong - I did enjoy the movie. I watched it over two nights and couldn't pry my eyes away from the tv. But there were somethings that I didn't like about it.

First, what I did like:

• the actors/actresses were perfect for the roles they were in
• the "love scene" with Heathcliff and his wife - he was so gentle with her when they made love for the first time, then after a minute or so he tells her not to look at him - it is so obvious that he is making love to Cathy in his mind - I felt so bad for his wife, but the scene was incredibly well done
  

Now what I didn't like:

• It has been many years since I've last read Wuthering Heights, but if memory serves, Heathcliff had sort of a bad streak right from the start. Hindley's treatment of him didn't help, but that "badness" was there all along. Does that seem correct to you? That's how I remember it - let me know if I'm wrong. Anyway, the movie doesn't show that. Heathcliff's "badness" seems to come only because of the death of his protector, Mr. Earnshaw, and his treatment by Hindley (and the neighborhood) throughout his life. Heathcliff's actions almost seem justified in the movie; I seem to recall he was less likable in the book, more disturbed.
  
• The movie starts with Catherine and Linton just before Heathcliff kidnaps her and forces them to marry. I was REALLY confused at first, thinking I was watching part 2 instead of part 1, but then it goes back in time to the start of the story. I'll admit that it allowed the movie to move more quickly but I didn't like it all.
  

Here's a clip of the version I watched. All in all, I thought it was a very good movie and I'd definitely watch it again, but it wasn't perfect. Have you seen this one? What did you think of it?

A while back I read Suey's review of Wuthering Heights (the book) and I commented that the way she summarized it made me think of John Stienbeck's EAST OF EDEN, what with the second generation getting all screwed up because of the sins of the first generation, the twisted characters, the revenge, etc. Have you ever thought about it that way?


Of course, watching the movie and writing this post have me dying to pick up the book and read it again. I think I'll have to do that sooner rather than later.

Starfinder

Starfinder

by John Marco
326 pages

*** The Story ***

The city of Calio is at the edge of the known world. Trains and airships (sort of like blimps) bring people here from the interior of the world but no one goes any farther. Just outside the city limits is a dense wall of fog known as The Reach. No one who has ever gone into The Reach has ever returned, although there are tall tales to the contrary. Some people believe the Skylords rule The Reach and whatever lies beyond it, but others say the Skylords are just a myth.

Our two main characters are Moth and Fiona. Moth, a poor orphan, is 13 years old and he longs to be a Skyknight, flying missions near The Reach. Red-headed Fiona, just a few years older than Moth, is the grand-daughter of Calio’s governor. When Moth’s guardian dies and leaves him a strange gift, suddenly Fiona and Moth are forced into hiding. The message that came with the gift leads them to head into The Reach in search of a magic they know nothing about.

Once on the other side they discover a land that is beyond their imagination, filled with mermaids, dragons, centaurs, and other mythical creatures. But there is also great danger there, and a war that is simmering beneath the surface.

*** What I Liked ***

Marco offered a preview of the first chapter a few months ago. In my email to him after I read it, I wrote, “I'm really intrigued by the ‘edge of the world’ idea and of Calio as a sort of wall between this side and whatever is on the other side. It's a good thing when the setting and basic premise of a book are captivating right from the start.” After finishing the novel I still agree with that statement. The idea of The Reach and the legends surrounding it were the best part of the story for me.

There’s nothing like reading a new author and waiting and wondering when something is finally going to happen. Thankfully that wasn’t a problem here. Within the first few pages we’ve met the major characters and the story is rolling right along. There is no hesitation – things take off very quickly.

Without giving away any of the story, I’ll just say that I liked the ambiguity. There are some characters that seem to be one way but as the story progresses you find out that they are not as clear cut as you first suspected. This goes for both the “good guys” and the “bad guys” … and it makes the characters seem more realistic despite the fantastical setting.

*** What I Didn’t Like ***

There are a few things that I didn’t like about this book, but you’ll see that they are *almost* all matters of personal taste so please feel free to disregard them.

• I’m not a big fan of mythical creatures (mermaids, talking dragons, etc.) so that part of the story really wasn’t my cup of tea. I like my fantasy to be more of the sword and sorcery type.
  
  
• The book seems to be a Young Adult novel, what with the teenage protagonists and the various problems and emotions, and I’m not really a fan of YA fantasy books.
  
  
• The pace of the tale seems very fast – things were happening within the first few pages and suddenly the plot was in full swing. Again, being a fan of more “epic” fantasy I’m used to a slower pace and much, much more character development (yeah, I’m STILL working through the Wheel of Time re-read I wrote about on the left sidebar) so this book felt rushed to me.
  
  
• Some of the names bothered me, like Moth and Skyhigh. I get that they have to do with flying and the book is very much about the privilege of flight, but I’m just not a fan.
  
  
• There are a few places where the plot could have been tightened up a bit, where things seemed to have fallen through the cracks. For example, one character knows another character’s name even though they were never introduced and little things like that. These don’t interrupt the flow of the story at all, but they were a bit irritating when I noticed them.

*** Other Thoughts ***

I’ve wanted to read this book since October when I read about it over

at Grasping for the Wind. When I mentioned it on a Friday Finds post, the author offered to send me an ARC when they were available. John – thanks for this, I really appreciate it!

STARFINDER didn’t end up being exactly what I expected but it wasn’t bad either. If you are into YA books, mythical fantasy, or magical creatures, and you want a quick and fun read, then definitely pick up this book – it will be a perfect fit. But if you’re looking for something with lots of depth, extensive characterization, or fully developed worlds, you won’t find that here.

(By the way, this is the image of the book I first saw, the one that really drew me in.)

*** About the Author ***

John Marco has a blog – which I subscribe to and comment on regularly – and I hope you’ll go check it out. He told the story of STARFINDER's creation over at Grasping for the Wind if you want to go check it out. John has also written a number of other books (which I have not read – sorry John!) that you can learn about on his website.

My Literary and Pop Culture Connections in The Thirteenth Tale

While listening to/reading THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield I kept finding connections between her book and other books/movies/etc. I intended to include them in my review but the list got too long so I'm dedicating an entire post to it.

Here are a few things that came to mind (book titles link to my review if I've done one). Enjoy!

• Vida Winter, one of the main characters, says that truth is not comforting and that people much prefer stories (aka lies). This reminded me of LIFE OF PI and how the reader is given a choice of which story to accept as truth.


• She also says that "families are webs" and that it impossible to understand a person without understanding where he/she came from. This reminded me of MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN when the main character says "to understand me you must swallow the world" (or something like that). In both cases the characters are explaining that knowledge of one person alone isn't really knowledge of that person at all.


• On a more superficial note this book is set partially in Cambridge, which was also the setting for THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA which I listened to earlier this month.
  


• The secret twin language and the twin relationship reminded me of the movie NELL starring Jodie Foster. Although thinking about it now, I think their language was different because their mother had a stroke and they imitated her pronunciation. Darn, I guess it doesn't apply after all.
  


• When Margaret questions what happened to a minor character later in life, Vida Winter says "it does not do to get attached to these secondary characters." They come and go because this is not their story, she says. How different that is from the tv show Lost! All the minor characters in that show are important, although it may not seem that way at first. But Margaret clearly *is* attached to those minor characters and she tells us all about them in the final pages of the book.
  


• "Isabelle, in the library, with the violin." The game of CLUE, anyone?
  


• Of course there are also many direct references to literature (the books that Margaret reads, the stories Hannah tells to the twins, the books on Vida Winter's shelves). I didn't make special note of those because they were stated clearly.
  

I know there is nothing profound in this list, but I did enjoy the little "Eureka!" moments I had when I discovered these as I read.

I've heard that this book reminds people of works by Daphne du Maurier but since I've never read any of them I can't say. If you have read THE THIRTEENTH TALE please comment and tell me about some of the additional connections I might have missed.

The more I read, the more connections I find between different books ... have you found the same thing happening to you?