3M's Booklist

Moved again!

2008-07-14T15:41:00.000-04:00

This time it's permanent (I hope)!

I'm still using wordpress, but it's on my own domain:

http://www.1morechapter.com

Hope to see you there!

Moving Day! (not what you think!)

2007-07-23T21:51:00.000-04:00

I guess I've decided to go with wordpress. My new site is the following:

http://3m3am.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there!

testing wordpress

2007-07-23T07:05:00.000-04:00

I'm testing out wordpress and have disabled comments here for now. I'll let you know if this becomes permanent:

http://3m3am.wordpress.com

The Saturday Review of Books

2007-07-21T03:00:00.000-04:00

Semicolon hosts a weekly Saturday Review of Books. Please participate if you've written a review this week, or just get some great ideas for your next read!

http://www.semicolonblog.com

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

2007-07-20T15:17:00.000-04:00

Stardust
by Neil Gaiman

1999, 248 pp.

Rating: 4/5

I was excited to read this after absolutely loving Coraline earlier this year. I also wanted to read it before the movie comes out in August. I did like the book quite a bit, but I didn't love it, and I wanted to love it. I'm not sure what happened--maybe I just expected too much.

Tristan lives in a village where there is a hole in the wall. It's guarded by the villagers because it leads into a fairy land. No one is allowed through. Once every 9 years, however, there is a festival where the fairy people and villagers do mingle.

Tristan is in love with the prettiest girl in the village, and wants to prove his love for her by getting her a star that they both see fall in the night sky. However, it has fallen in fairy land. His adventures in trying to obtain the star are magical, to say the least. We meet some very interesting characters from fairy land as well. Does he get the star and/or the girl? Read the book or see the movie to find out. Caution: Parents should read the book first as it's not for children. I wouldn't recommend it for under 16. These sections were few and far between, though.

Claire Danes plays one of the leads in the movie, and I knew this going into the book. She was TOTALLY right for this part. I could just imagine her saying her lines from the book.

I'll probably see the movie in the first night or two. Can't wait!

Newbery Challenge--COMPLETED

2007-07-20T13:57:00.000-04:00

COMPLETED--July 18, 2007!!

May 15 through December 31, 2007

This was an easy challenge to join as I love children's literature.

My choices:

1. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (2007)
2. Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates (1951)
3. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (1950)
4. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (1938)
5. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (1963)
6. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1990)

Other Newberys I recommend:
The Giver by Lois Lowry (1994) (A must read!)
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (1987) (My boys loved this, too)
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (1981)
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1978) (My boys really liked this one also)
The High King by Lloyd Alexander (1969) (I have not read, but my kids highly recommend)
The Bronze Bow (1962) (All 3 of us loved this one)
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (1961)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George (1959)
...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (1954)
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Gray (I have not read, but my kids enjoyed this)
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (1936)

The Higher Power of Lucky

2007-07-20T13:41:00.001-04:00

The Higher Power of Lucky
by Susan Patron

2006, 134 pp.

Newbery Medal

Rating: 4

This book created a little controversy when it won the Newbery Medal because it contains the word 'scrotum' in relation to a snake bite on a dog. I'm almost conservative as they come, and I don't see what the big deal is. I really liked this book and found it to be very charming.

Lucky is a girl whose mother has died and who lives with a Frenchwoman. They live in the desert of California in a very small (population 43) community. Also in her life besides her French guardian Brigitte are Miles, a cute little boy whose favorite book is Are You My Mother?, and Lincoln, a boy her age who is obsessed with knot tying.

These relationships and the longings of this little girl form the heart of the novel. I really cared about these characters and found myself rooting for all of them.

The White Stag by Kate Seredy

2007-07-19T23:54:00.000-04:00

The White Stag
by Kate Seredy

1937, 94 pp.
Newbery Medal

Rating: 4

This Newbery winner tells the legend of how the Huns and Magyars migrated westward into Hungary. Descended from Nimrod (yes, the one from the Bible), Attila and his ancestors follow a white stag that shows them the way. If you like myths and legends as I do, you will appreciate this book.

My only caution is that Christian parents should read this first to see if it appropriate for their family. Although I love folklore, legends, and mythology, I was a little uncomfortable with the setting up of Nimrod as a hero. Usually I treat mythology solely as fiction with entertainment value. In this case, however, because this book does use passages and references in the Bible, I am a little more cautious.

Books Read in July 2007

2007-07-19T23:00:00.000-04:00

47. The Sea** by John Banville (2005,195 pp, Booker)
48. The Door in the Wall **** by Marguerite de Angeli (1949, 121 pp, Newbery)
49. Gathering Blue ****1/2 by Lois Lowry (2000, 215 pp.)
50. Messenger **** by Lois Lowry (2000, 169 pp.)
51. The White Stag **** by Kate Seredy (1937, 94 pp.)
52. Stardust **** by Neil Gaiman (1999, 248 pp.)
53. The Higher Power of Lucky **** by Susan Patron (2006, 134 pp, Newbery)
54. The Blind Assassin ***1/2 by Margaret Atwood (2000, 521 pp, Booker)

Unread Authors Challenge

2007-07-19T19:17:00.000-04:00

Hosted by Pour of Tor at Sycorax Pine

Read at least 6 unread authors.
September 2007 through February 2008

1. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
2. Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather by Gao Xingjian
3. Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
4. History of Love by Nicole Krauss
5. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
6. Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos

Alternates/Extras:

Middlesex--Eugenides
Blue Like Jazz--Miller
Bookseller of Kabul--Seierstad
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books--Zane
Half of a Yellow Sun--Adichie
Never Let Me Go--Ishiguro
A Scanner Darkly--Dick
The Yearling--Rawlings
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Arthur and George by Julian Barnes
Zorro by Isabel Allende
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Winter Wheat--Walker
Stargirl--Spinelli
Interpreter of Maladies--Lahiri

Book to Movie Challenge

2007-07-19T19:07:00.000-04:00

Read at least 3 books that have been made into movies.
September 1 through December 1, 2007

Three of the following:

1. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
2. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
3. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
4. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

I may add extras/alternates later.

Fall Classics Challenge

2007-07-19T18:47:00.001-04:00

Read 3-5 books from July 1 through November 30, 2007

1. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
2. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
3. The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings

Alternates/Extras:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Turn of the Screw by Henry James
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens

PersonalDNA

2007-07-19T11:19:00.000-04:00

Click on the colors to see what they indicate.

Which Author's Fiction Are You?

2007-07-19T09:38:00.000-04:00

Which Author's Fiction are You?

Jane Austen wrote you. You are extremely aware of the power of a single word.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Just Wild About Harry (Booking through Thursday)

2007-07-19T03:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, love him or loathe him, you’d have to live under a rock not to know that J.K. Rowling’s final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, comes out on Saturday… Are you going to read it?

If so, right away? Or just, you know, eventually, when you get around to it? Are you attending any of the midnight parties?

If you’re not going to read it, why not?

And, for the record… what do you think? Will Harry survive the series? What are you most looking forward to?

Answers: Believe it or not, I haven't read ANY Harry Potter books, nor seen the movies. I do plan to someday; I just don't know when.

For the record, I tend to think that Harry WILL die.

Reading Schedule

2007-07-18T18:58:00.000-04:00

This is just to keep me on track with my challenges.

By July 31
God of Small Things (SRC, BAC)
~~Blind Assassin (SRC, BAC)~~
~~Stardust (SRB)~~
~~The Higher Power of Lucky (Newbery, BAC)~~
~~The White Stag (Newbery, BAC)~~
1 title from lists below

By August 31
The Known World (SoRC, Pulitzer, BAC)
A Death in the Family (SoRC, Pulitzer, BAC)
The Secret Life of Bees (SoRC, SAM)
Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons (SAM)
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (DC, RAB)
3 titles from lists below

By September 30
Middlesex (Pulitzer, BAC)
Blue Like Jazz (NF5)
The Travels of Marco Polo (NF5)
Bookseller of Kabul (NF5, RAB)
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books (NF5)
Half of a Yellow Sun (NYT, BookAwards)
2 titles from lists below

By October 31
Lisey's Story (NYT, BAC)
Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho (RAB)
Never Let Me Go (DC)
A Scanner Darkly (DC)
4 titles from list below

By November 30
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (FC, SRB)
O Pioneers! (FC, Pulitzer, Decades)
The Yearling (FC, Pulitzer)
The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer, BtM)
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (2nds, BtM)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (RAB, BtM)
2 titles from list below

By December 31
Arthur and George by Julian Barnes (NYT)
Zorro by Isabel Allende (RAB)
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (NYT, RAB)
Kristin Lavransdatter by Ingrid Undset (RAB, BAC)
Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather by Gao Xingjian (RAB)
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (SRB)
History of Love by Nicole Krauss (SRB)
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (SRB
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (SRB)
Tears of the Giraffe (2nds)
Lost in a Good Book (2nds)
Winter Wheat (SAM)
The Amateur Marriage (SAM)
Stargirl (SAM)
The Little Prince (SAM)
Interpreter of Maladies (Pulitzer, BAC)
X Stands for Unknown (A-Z)
Queen of the Tambourine (A-Z)
Ishmael (A-Z)
Psalms & Proverbs
Mr. Ives' Christmas

Wordless Wednesday #15 (Our new house)

2007-07-18T03:00:00.000-04:00

I had a feeling I was. . .

2007-07-17T21:40:00.000-04:00

You Are: 0% Dog, 100% Cat

You are are almost exactly like a cat.

You're intelligent, independent, and set on getting your way.

And there's no way you're going to fetch a paper for anyone!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Monday's Moon #2

2007-07-16T23:09:00.000-04:00

Click on the photo for more information.

Celluloid (Booking through Thursday)

2007-07-12T20:37:00.000-04:00

1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?
2. The worst?
3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.)

And, by all means, expand this to as long a list as you like. I’m notoriously awful myself at narrowing down to one favorite ANYTHING. So, feel free to list as many “good” or “bad” movie-from-books as you like. (Heaven knows that’s what I’ll be doing….)

Answers:
1. I LOVE the "Colin Firth" Pride & Prejudice. Is there anyone who doesn't? Even Mr. 3M enjoyed it! Though I enjoyed the 2006 version of Jane Eyre, my favorite is the one with Ciaran Hinds and Samantha Morton. I also really liked Wuthering Heights with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, although it was very depressing.

Some people will absolutely shoot me for this, but I LOVED the DiCaprio/Danes Romeo & Juliet as well as Ethan Hawke's Hamlet. I loved the modern setting while keeping (most of) the original wording. I've probably seen them at least 10 times each.

Of course, The Lord of the Rings trilogy was absolutely brilliant. There was only one thing I didn't like at all in that movie: the change in Faramir's character.

2. I haven't seen it, but my kids didn't like the film adaptation of Eragon at all. That's too bad, because the cast looked so great! I don't know if this is a "worst" but thought it worth mentioning.

3. I rarely read the book after I see a movie, but I did read Wuthering Heights after seeing the film. I tend not to read the book if I liked the movie, though. Like most people, I usually prefer the book to the movie.

This was a great question this week!

Book Quiz

2007-07-12T18:02:00.000-04:00

You're To Kill a Mockingbird!

by Harper Lee

Perceived as a revolutionary and groundbreaking person, you have
changed the minds of many people. While questioning the authority around you, you've also taken a significant amount of flack. But you've had the admirable guts to persevere. There's a weird guy in the neighborhood using dubious means to protect you, but you're pretty sure it's worth it in the end. In the end, it remains unclear to you whether finches and mockingbirds get along in real life.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Messenger by Lois Lowry

2007-07-11T15:40:00.001-04:00

Messenger
by Lois Lowry

2004, 167 pp.

Rating: 4

It's very hard to describe Messenger without giving away parts of The Giver and Gathering Blue. This is the third book in that trilogy. So I'm not going to say anything about the book, other than I enjoyed it very much but consider it to be the weakest of the three. It was nice to have a sequel that wrapped up (somewhat) the other two titles.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

2007-07-11T15:14:00.001-04:00

Gathering Blue
by Lois Lowry

2000, 215 pp.

Rating: 4.5

This book is the second in the trilogy which also includes The Giver and Messenger. I read The Giver, a Newbery book, earlier this year and absolutely loved it. This book doesn't really continue where The Giver left off, but Messenger takes place after both stories and with characters from each.

Kira is a girl who has just lost her mother to sickness. She is very distraught as it has been her mother who has protected her from the community. Kira has a bad leg, and everyone in the village with any kind of defect or deformity must leave the protected area and contend with "the beasts" outside of it.

As she goes back to her small house, the women around her make it known that they want her property as a place for their own children and animals. A legal proceeding takes place which decides the matter. Will she have to leave the community and contend with "the beasts", or will an exception be made?

Recommended highly, but make sure you read The Giver before you read Messenger.

Books in translation, anyone?

2007-07-10T03:00:00.000-04:00

I've started a new Yahoo reading group that will be reading literature in translation. Anyone interested in joining me? It's only 5 books a year!

The first three books are:

September 1: We by Yvgeny Zamyatin (Russian, 232 pp.)
November 1: Veronika Decides to Die by Paolo Coelo (Portuguese, 240 pp.)
February 1: Independent People by Halldor Laxness (Icelandic, 512 pp.)

We by Yvgeny Zamyatin
In the One State of the great Benefactor, there are no individuals, only numbers. Life is an ongoing process of mathematical precision, a perfectly balanced equation. Primitive passions and instincts have been subdued. Even nature has been defeated, banished behind the Green Wall. But one frontier remains: outer space. Now, with the creation of the spaceship Integral, that frontier -- and whatever alien species are to be found there -- will be subjugated to the beneficent yoke of reason.

One number, D-503, chief architect of the Integral, decides to record his thoughts in the final days before the launch for the benefit of less advanced societies. But a chance meeting with the beautiful 1-330 results in an unexpected discovery that threatens everything D-503 believes about himself and the One State. The discovery -- or rediscovery -- of inner space...and that disease the ancients called the soul.

A page-turning SF adventure, a masterpiece of wit and black humor that accurately predicted the horrors of Stalinism, We is the classic dystopian novel. Its message of hope and warning is as timely at the end of the twentieth century as it was at the beginning.

Veronika Decides to Die
Twenty-three-year-old Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for. She goes to popular night spots, dates attractive men, and has a caring family. Yet something is lacking in her life. So on the morning of November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die.

After she awakens from an overdose, Veronika finds she has only days to live. The story follows Veronika through those intense days as, to her own surprise, she finds herself drawn into the enclosed world of the local hospital she is staying in. In this heightened state she experiences things she has never allowed herself to feel: hatred, fear, curiosity, love, and sexual awakening. Gradually she discovers that every second of her existence is a choice between living and dying. Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die, based on his own moving personal experience, is about people who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. It is about madness and the need to find an alternative way of living for people who face prejudices because they think in a different way. In Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho invites the reader to discover the world that lies outside the routine and addresses the fundamental question asked by millions: what am I doing here today?" and "why do I go on living?"

Independent People by Halldor Laxness
From Publishers Weekly
Originally published in 1946 and out of print for decades, this book by the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author is a huge, skaldic treat filled with satire, humor, pathos, cold weather and sheep. Gudbjartur Jonsson becomes Bjartur of Summerhouses when, after 18 years of service to the Bailiff of Myri, he is able to buy his own croft. Summerhouses is probably haunted and is certainly unprepossessing, but Bjartur is a stubborn, leathery old (whatever his age) coot, and he soon has his new bride and few head of sheep installed in a sod house. When his wife dies cold and alone giving birth to the daughter of the Bailiff's son, Bjartur takes the child on almost as another test of his independence. Bjartur survives another wife, three sons that lived and several dead ones, all with his "armour of scepticism," which "endowed him with greater moral fortitude than that possessed by the other men." Through hard times (in the guises of worms and a cow that threaten his precious sheep), Bjartur maintains his ferocious and self-destructive independence, one aimed not so much at bettering his condition as being able to tell his former employer where to get off. Laxness is merciless with the hypocrisy of the upper classes, as exemplified by the Bailiff's poetess wife, who applauds the simple life of poor country people, or the Bailiff's son, whose social-welfare schemes help him but undermine the crofters. Laxness is not easy on Bjartur, who is bloody-minded in the extreme, but he is tender enough to compose a poem to his exiled adoptive daughter, and bold enough to engrave a simple marker in honor of the misunderstood ghoul who has haunted his farm and family. He's a figure that Snorri Sturluson would have recognized.

Armchair Traveler Challenge

2007-07-09T20:31:00.000-04:00

July 1 through December 31, 2007
6 books where location is integral to the story.
Click on the icon for more info and to sign up.

What? Another challenge you say? I was going to read these anyway! Truly, I was!

My choices:

1. The Sea by John Banville (Ireland)
2. Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)
3. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (Norway)
4. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (France)
5. Veronika Decides to Die by Paolo Coelho (Slovenia)
6. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (Botswana)
7. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (Czechoslovakia)

Alternates/Bonus:
The Bookseller of Kabul (Afghanistan)
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (Nebraska)
A Girl Named Zippy (Indiana)
Anne of Green Gables (PEI)

Pay It Forward Book Exchange

2007-07-09T11:36:00.000-04:00

Sign up for a book exchange! Click on the picture for more details.

Lucky, by Alice Sebold is the book title this week.

Monday's Moon #1

2007-07-09T03:00:00.000-04:00

Click on the photo for more information.

Give a Friend a Book Week--Updated

2007-07-08T15:33:00.000-04:00

Update: And the winner is. . . . . Amanda! Congrats!

I have an extra copy of The Red Tent by Anita Diamant to give away. If you HAVEN'T READ this title and would like to be in the running for it, comment on this post. I'll draw a name on Sunday.

The New 7 Wonders

2007-07-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

The New 7 Wonders

and the still remaining ancient one. . .

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

2007-07-06T15:58:00.000-04:00

The Door in the Wall
by Marguerite de Angeli

(1949, 121 pp.)

Newbery Medal

Rating: 4

My favorite passage sums up this book nicely:

"Fret not, my son. None of us is perfect. It is better to have crooked legs than a crooked spirit. We can only do the best we can with what we have. That, after all, is the measure of success: what we do with what we have."

Robin is a boy whose father expects him to be a knight. When his father goes off to war, Robin is left alone and falls ill. His legs are slightly crippled afterward. Some monks come to his aid and he learns to "do the best with what he has." Recommended.

The Sea by John Banville

2007-07-06T03:03:00.000-04:00

The Sea
by John Banville

2005, 195 pp.

2005 Booker Prize

Rating: 2

This was not my cup of tea. I don't need an exciting plot to enjoy a book. I don't mind older men looking back on their lives. In a similar vein, I loved Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, although I hated Roth's Everyman. This was closer to Everyman.

Max is a widower that is overly sensitive to smells who is grieving (I guess?) over his wife. He calls her the "c" word and admits he really didn't know her because he preferred not to know her.

Not one character in the book was likable. I guess I was lucky this was short.

Booking Through Thursday--Great American Novel

2007-07-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

What with yesterday being the Fourth of July and all, I’m feeling a little patriotic, and so have a simple question:

What, in your opinion, is the (mythical) Great American Novel? At least to date. A “classic,” or a current one–either would be fine. Mark Twain? J.D. Salinger? F. Scott Fitzgerald? Stephen King? Laura Ingalls Wilder?

It doesn’t have to be your favorite book, mind you. “Citizen Kane” may be the “best” film, and I concede its merits, but it’s not my favorite. You don’t have to love something to know that it’s good.

Now, I know that not all of you are American–but you can play, too! What I want from you is to know what you consider to the best novel of YOUR country. It might be someone the rest of us haven’t heard of and, frankly, I think we’d all like to get some new authors to read.

In fact, while we’re at it–I’m curious about the geographical make-up of this meme. So, while you’re leaving your link to your post, tell us where in the world you are! (For the record, I’m in New Jersey, USA.)

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Answer: I live near Cinci right now but will soon be moving near Omaha.

Several choices come to mind. To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn, Gone with the Wind, and Grapes of Wrath would be the leading contenders.

If I had to choose only one, I would say To Kill a Mockingbird. I haven't read Gone with the Wind, or I might choose that one. I did love the movie. I've read the others, but yes, I think my choice is To Kill a Mockingbird. I rated it 5/5 earlier this year and loved it.

Thursday Thirteen #14

2007-07-05T03:00:00.000-04:00

My top 13 reads for the first half of 2007--in order with ties noted.
Click on the title for review.

1. New Testament *****

2. The Book Thief *****

2. To Kill a Mockingbird *****

2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan *****

5. Heart of Darkness *****

6. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde *****

7. Fahrenheit 451 ****1/2

7. The Road ****1/2

9. The Handmaid's Tale ****1/2

9. The Stone Diaries ****1/2

9. The Giver ****1/2

12. Silas Marner ****1/2

13. Coraline ****1/2

Saturday Review of Books Challenge

2007-07-04T22:33:00.000-04:00

Challenge runs from July 1 through December 31, 2007
Click on button for more info.

Read 6 books reviewed in the archives of The Saturday Review of Books.

1. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Reviewed by Moomin Light
Reviewed by Stephanie
Reviewed by Framed
Reviewed by Quixotic
Reviewed by Petunia
2. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Reviewed by Bonnie
3. Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Reviewed by Small World
Reviewed by At a Hen's Place
Reviewed by Mindy
4. History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Reviewed by Framed
5. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Reviewed by HeidiJane
Reviewed by Joy
Reviewed by Jen Robinson
6. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Reviewed by Miss Erin

Alternates/Extras:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Reviewed at Between the Covers

Happy 4th!

2007-07-04T21:24:00.000-04:00

Spell with flikr

2007-07-04T21:20:00.000-04:00

Spell with flikr

2nd Quarter Report 2007

2007-07-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

Books read:

23. Grendel **
24. March ***1/2
25. The Princess and the Goblin ****1/2
26. The Inheritance of Loss ***1/2
27. The Memory Keeper's Daughter ****1/2
28. The Translator ****
29. Eat, Pray, Love ****
30. The Handmaid's Tale ****1/2
31. The Stone Diaries ****1/2
32. Amos Fortune, Free Man ****
33. Broken for You ****
34. The Color Purple ****
35. My Sister's Keeper ****
36. Phantastes ****
37. The Eyre Affair ****
38. A Severe Mercy ****
39. A Wrinkle in Time ****
40. Number the Stars ****
41. Wide Sargasso Sea ****
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell ****1/2
43. New Testament *****
44. Coraline ****1/2
45. The Bone People ****
46. Wild Swans ****1/2

Pages read: 13,473 (for the year)

Books read: 24
New authors: 21
Male authors: 5
Female authors: 17
Rating of 4 and up: 21
Rating 3.5 and below: 3
TBR Challenge: 12 of 12 completed
Chunkster Challenge: 10 of 10 completed
By the Decade Challenge: 11 of 16 completed
Spring Reading Thing Challenge: 5 of 5 completed
Banned Book Challenge: 7 of 7 completed
Reading Across Borders Challenge: 6 of 14 completed
A-Z Title and Author Challenge: 33 of 52 completed
Once Upon a Time Fantasy Challenge: 5 of 5 completed
Pulitzer Challenge: 6 of 12 completed
NYT Notable Book Challenge: 6 of 12 completed
Non-Fiction Five: 1 of 5 completed
Summer Reading Challenge: 1 of 4 completed
Newbery Challenge: 3 of 6 completed
Dystopian Challenge: 1 of 5 completed
Southern Reading Challenge: 0 of 3 completed

Chunkster Challenge Completed!!!!

2007-07-02T23:30:00.000-04:00

Completed!!!!!

From January 01, 2007 through June 30, 2007
(books over 400 pages)

~~1. Kristin Lavransdatter 1124pp~~(Changed title to #1 below)
1. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang 508pp
2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell 782 pp
~~3. Possession 555pp~~(Changed title to #3 below)
3. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 445 pp
4. Angle of Repose 569pp
5. My Sister's Keeper 423pp
6. The Woman in White 569pp
7. The Book Thief 550pp
8. The Memory Keeper's Daughter 401pp
9. The Echo Maker 451pp
10. Inkheart 544pp

Banned Book Challenge Completed!

2007-07-02T23:15:00.000-04:00

Completed!!!

1. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

2. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

4. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

5. Grendel by John Gardner

6. The Giver by Lois Lowry

7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

2007-07-02T22:31:00.001-04:00

Wild Swans:
Three Daughters of China
by Jung Chang

1992, 508 pp.

Rating: 4.5

1994 British Book of the Year

This is a long, fascinating book that I'm really glad I finished. I got this after reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I absolutely loved. I didn't know it was non-fiction until it came in the mail. I saw that it was a banned book, so I used it for the Banned Book Challenge as well as the Chunkster Challenge.

The book tells the life stories of Jung and her mother and grandmother. Along the way I learned quite a bit about China under Mao as well. I love history when it is presented this way. I've always felt that history was more about how people's lives were affected by their rulers than just names, dates, and events that occurred.

The book is told chronologically. The first story is about how Jung's grandmother had no choice in being a concubine to a Chinese general. The "marriage" was arranged so that her grandmother's father would have more privileges of his own. Jung's mother was born from this union.

Next, we learn of her mother's life growing up under Japanese occupation in Manchuria, and then after the Japanese surrender, the fight between the Kuomintang and the Communists for power in China. Jung's parents become Communist officials who very much believe in the Communist ideals. Their "faith" is eventually shattered by Mao's thirst for power and his "Cultural Revolution."

Although her parents were still receiving their salaries from the government, they were also being detained or being made to go to denunciation meetings where they were yelled at and/or beaten. The Red Guard and the Rebels were encouraged to rise up against the old Communist officials and take control. Even young children were encouraged to beat up their teachers. School days consisted of reading Mao's works, punishing anyone who was a "class enemy", and tearing up the grass and flowers in the courtyards as they were too "decadent."

As Jung grows up, she is at first enamored with Mao, but is eventually disillusioned with what has happened to her family and to herself. She is a bright young woman who is required several times to be "reeducated" by the peasants or factory workers. After Mao dies, eventually China changes for the better. She is able to go to the West and study, but she never permanently returns to China.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in history in general or Chinese culture. It is also a "wake-up" call to us softies in the West. Books like these really make me appreciate American freedom!

The Bone People by Keri Hulme

2007-07-01T03:03:00.000-04:00

The Bone People
by Keri Hulme

1984 , 445 pp.

Rating: 4

1985 Booker Prize

I didn't think I was going to like this book at first, and I didn't love it, but it definitely kept me reading and I did care about the characters.

Kerewin is an artist who lives in a Tower by the sea. She likes living by herself and even likes the isolation. She is estranged from her family.

Joe is a factory worker with an adopted son who is always getting into trouble. Joe has a bit of a drinking problem and doesn't keep good tabs on his son. The boy ends up at Kerewin's place, and the three end up becoming friends, if not a quasi family unit. Secrets, lies, and violence lie beneath the surface, though, and threaten to tear them all apart.

The story takes place in New Zealand with Joe and Kerewin being part Maori. Some of the myths, culture, and history of the Maori are also part of the book.

This is a different kind of book that is written in almost a "stream of consciousness" style. I thought this was a bit distracting at first, but then I got used to it and even enjoyed it. I also don't like it when authors use the present tense rather than the past tense. This aspect bothered me for about 3/4 of the book, but then I didn't notice it anymore.

For instance (p. 34) "She picks up the curious pendant one last time, to fondle and admire before she goes downstairs," rather than "She picked up the curious pendant one last time and fondled and admired it before she went downstairs." I guess it's a preference issue.

If you've already read this book and would like to talk about it further, we are discussing it right now at BookAwards.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

2007-07-01T03:00:00.000-04:00

Coraline
by Neil Gaiman

2006, 163 pp.

Rating: 4.5

I listened to this on CD with my kids. It was narrated by the author, and I must say he did a fantastic job. I will definitely be reading more by Gaiman. I hope to read Stardust before the movie comes out.

Coraline is an only child who lives in an apartment with her work-at-home parents. She's a bit bored and is always looking for something to do. One day she unlocks a door that has a brick wall behind it--only the brick wall isn't there anymore. She goes through the door and finds what looks like an exact replica of her apartment--including her parents. I will stop here because I don't want to spoil the plot. Let's just say I highly recommend it! Thanks to those in the Once Upon a Time Challenge who recommended it as well.

Spring Thing Challenge Completed!!

2007-06-30T03:33:00.000-04:00

1. New Testament *****
2. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken ****
3. March by Geraldine Brooks ***1/2
4. Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates ****
5. Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos ****

New Testament

2007-06-30T03:03:00.000-04:00

I listened to part of the New Testament read by Max McLean and found it to be a nice break from reading. The books that I recommend reading first if you are not familiar with the New Testament are John, Romans, and 1 John. If you're a Christian but haven't read the entire New Testament, I highly recommend it. You're really missing out if you just get bits and pieces from church only. I DON'T recommend reading the Bible for challenges, though. I listed this as one for the Spring Reading Thing, and I don't think I'll be listing parts of the Bible for challenges ever again. I will continue to read it, though, of course!

Books Read in June 2007

2007-06-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

37. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde ****
38. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken ****
39. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle ****
40. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry ****1/2
41. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys ****
42. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ****1/2
43. New Testament *****
44. Coraline by Neil Gaiman ****1/2
45. The Bone People by Keri Hulme ****
46. Wild Swans by Jung Chang ****1/2

Pages read in June: 3364
Pages read in 2007: 13,473

Thursday Thirteen #13 (Leaving Home)

2007-06-28T03:00:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday #14

2007-06-27T03:00:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday #13 (Our Pool)

2007-06-20T18:29:00.000-04:00

TBR Challenge Completed!!

2007-06-20T17:39:00.000-04:00

Completed on June 20, 2007!!

12 books I already own that I will read in 2007

1. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
2. Atonement by Ian McEwan
3. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
4. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
5. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
6. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
7. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
8. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
9. Silas Marner by George Eliot
10. The Birds by Aristophanes
11. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
12. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
13. Possession by A.S. Byatt
14. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Once Upon a Time Challenge Completed!!

2007-06-20T17:35:00.000-04:00

Completed on June 20, 2007!!

1. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
2. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
3. Phantastes - George MacDonald
4. The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
5. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke (also for the Chunkster Challenge)

Bonus: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

2007-06-20T15:33:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Susanna Clarke

2004, 782 pp.

2005 Hugo Award
2005 World Fantasy Award

Rating: 4.5

I chose this book as one of my 5 Once Upon a Time Challenge books because I also had it on my TBR Challenge and my Chunkster Challenge list. Because the hardback is almost 800 pages, I think it qualifies for 3 challenges! I thought surely I would be able to complete the book if it were on *3* of my lists. When I started it, I honestly didn't like it much at first. It took about 80 pages before I was "into it", and then I was hooked. The next 700+ pages were very easy to read.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are two English magicians who collaborate at first but then find they have very different philosophies of how magic should be viewed and performed. Mr. Norrell wants to be the foremost authority of magic and keep Strange under his tutelage. Jonathan Strange realizes he is just as good a magician as Norrell and is much more open to teaching anyone his art. This battle of wills frames the story, but there is also romance, a tiny bit of comedy, and history interwoven into the story as well. Napolean, Duke Wellington, and Lord Byron make small appearances as do a gentleman with thistle-down hair and a magician called The Raven King. I won't tell much of the plot here because I wouldn't want to spoil the story for those who haven't read it yet! I will say that the ending hints that there might be more books to follow.

The book is written in the style of a Victorian novel. There is no bad language and not much, though a little, violence. The violence that is present reminded me a little of Edgar Allen Poe's stories. I was worried about what the book would contain when I started it, but the content was mostly accepable to me. I'm a little more conservative than most readers, so this concerned me a little. The only objection I do have is that there are a few places in the book that are a bit condescending to the Church and religion. It wasn't enough for me to downgrade the book's rating, though, and I'm very glad I read it. It looks like there will be a movie in 2008, and I will really look forward to seeing that as well.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

2007-06-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

Wide Sargasso Sea
by Jean Rhys

1966, 192 pp.

Rating: 4

The Wide Sargasso Sea is listed in the top 100 novels by the Modern Library. I wouldn't go that far, but I did enjoy it. A warning though--some fans of Jane Eyre may hate it. Most members of my face to face book group felt like it ruined their idea of Mr. Rochester's character. I felt the same way when I read March by Geraldine Brooks earlier this year. Little Women is a favorite book of mine, and I didn't like how Mr. and Mrs. March were portrayed in Brooks' story at all.

However, in this book, we learn how Mr. Rochester became the dark, brooding figure in Jane Eyre. We not only feel sorry for him, though, we also feel sorry for Bertha as well. At least I did. We learn how and why she had a mental breakdown. We learn that both she and Mr. Rochester are victims. While I won't go so far as to integrate this story into my feelings about and fondness for Jane Eyre, I am able to take this as a separate story altogether and appreciate it.

Wednesday Morning Update

2007-06-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

Just finished Wide Sargasso Sea. It only took me 3 hours this morning (5:30-8:30am) to read. I'll put up a review later.

Less than 100 pages to go in Jonathan Strange.

NT--a few books left. I hope I didn't leave the impression in my previous post that I had the entire NT to read. I've been reading bits and pieces all along.

Hopefully I'll make my first June "leg" after all!

Challenges, Challenges

2007-06-17T03:33:00.000-04:00

To complete all the challenges I've joined that end in June, I have to:

by the 21st
1) complete the New Testament (Spring Thing Challenge)
2) finish Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (halfway through a 800 page book!)(Once Upon a Time Challenge & Chunkster Challenge)

by the 30th
3) read The Bone People (Chunkster Challenge)
4) read Wild Swans (Banned Book & Chunkster Challenge)

I'd also like to finish The Wild Sargasso Sea by Wednesday for my face to face group. I know I can read it in a day as it's rather short.

I've already read 7 Chunksters but I really wanted to complete 10. I don't know if reading 3 Chunksters in 13 days can be done, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

I now have HIGH SPEED!!

2007-06-17T03:03:00.000-04:00

Words cannot describe my joy. We've waited for 8 1/2 years to get high speed in our neighborhood, and it's finally here. Of course, now we're moving whenever our house sells.

I think high speed will be a requirement for our next one. . .

2nds Challenge

2007-06-17T03:00:00.002-04:00

Joy at Thoughts of Joy is doing another challenge after The Non-Fiction Five. The 2nds Challenge will be from October 1 through December 31, 2007. The idea is to read a second book from an author you enjoyed the first time around. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to read some books that I have wanted to get to but haven't had time for yet.

My choices are the following:

1. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

This book is a sequel to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency which I enjoyed very much.

2. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

Another sequel--this time to The Eyre Affair. I can't wait to see the further adventures of Tuesday Next.

3. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

I absolutely loved the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead and hope to enjoy this book just as much.

Bonus/Alternates may be added until October 1st. Thanks, Joy!

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

2007-06-16T12:58:00.000-04:00

Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry

1989, 144 pp.

Newbery Medal

Rating: 4.5

This was an excellent children's book. I read it in a couple of hours while the rest of my family was at the movie theatre.

Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen live in Copenhagen. They are neighbors and best friends. Ellen and her family are Jewish and World War II is going on; consequently they are in very real danger and Annemarie's family does everything they can to help them.

I can't really say much more without giving the whole story line away. This book fascinated me because many of the details are based on factual evidence. Books like these truly make history come alive and make the reader eager to do more research on the subject.

Highly recommended.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

2007-06-16T03:00:00.001-04:00

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle

1962, 224 pp.

Rating: 4

Newbery Medal

I listened to this book on CD with my sons on a short road trip. All three of us enjoyed it very much. Meg Murry is a girl whose parents are both scientists. Consequently her family is a little different than others. She and Charles Wallace, her littlest brother, get made fun of at school because everyone thinks they're either stupid or not living up to their potential. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Her twin brothers are more normal so they fit in.

Their father works for the government and has been missing for a few years. The search for Mr. Murry, with a little help from Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, takes them on a journey too incredible to imagine. Three sequels follow that each of us plan on reading this year or next.

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

2007-06-09T11:58:00.000-04:00

A Severe Mercy
by Sheldon Vanauken

1977, 238 pp.

Rating: 4

National Book Award Winner

This memoir is a book about life, marriage, friendship, and faith. Vanauken tells the story of how he and his wife's relationship changed from an intense, romantic love to one controlled by their Christian beliefs. That is not to say that their love wasn't intense or romantic after their conversion, but it did change significantly. He also details his wife's illness, death, and his own grief process afterwards.

Most interesting to me were the letters exchanged between the Vanaukens (mostly Sheldon) and C.S. Lewis. The couple met Lewis while at Oxford and kept up a healthy correspondence with him after they moved back to the States. Lewis is my favorite author, so it was interesting to hear his viewpoints on a much more personal level. These exchanges were my favorite parts of the book.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

2007-06-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde

2002, 374 pp.

Rating: 4

Literary allusions, time travel, a mystery to solve, and a protagonist named Thursday Next--what more could you want in a mystery/fantasy novel? I really enjoyed this book. There is just the right amount of mystery, fantasy, romance, and even comedy to suit just about anybody. With people named Jack Schitt, Braxton Hicks, and other punny names, I found myself laughing quite a bit through this book.

Thursday Next is a LiteraTec--a sort of literary detective. She reads, time travels, investigates lit crimes, and still finds time to pine over a man at the end of the day. I definitely look forward to reading more of Ms. Next's adventures.

Phantastes by George MacDonald

2007-06-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

Phantastes
by George MacDonald

1858, 185 pp.

Rating: 4

This was one of C.S. Lewis' favorite books, and it is obvious that Lewis borrowed quite a bit from MacDonald's ideas. I found several passages that were very similar to passages in Lewis' books. There is also a lengthy introduction to the book by Lewis that is well worth reading.

This 1850's fantasy novel involves a man whose grandmothers were descended from the fairies. Because of this, he is granted access to a fairy land where he encounters several strange and wonderful creatures--some benevolent and some malevolent. Both he and the reader learn lessons in his journey through this land and back again to his home world.

"Yet I know that good is coming to me--that good is always coming; though few have at all times the simplicity and the courage to believe it. What we call evil, is the only and best shape, which, for the person and his condition at the time, could be assumed by the best good."

Although I prefer Lewis' books to MacDonald's, I did enjoy this older fantasy tale. Earlier this year I read The Princess and the Goblin by MacDonald and enjoyed it very much. I plan to read the sequel The Princess and Curdie and also another adult tale, Lilith, in 2008.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

2007-06-02T03:00:00.000-04:00

My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult

2004, 423 pp.

Rating: 4

My Sister's Keeper is about a family with a deathly sick child and how that illness colors every decision they make. How far would you go to keep your child alive? Would you have another baby--even make it a "designer baby" that would be a perfectly matched donor for your sick child?

These questions are explored in the novel from all sides. There are multiple narrators. We get to hear from the mother, father, each sister, the brother, and others important to the story. I really liked the multiple points of view. Picoult takes a tough ethical issue and represents each side quite well. This was my first Picoult novel, and I look forward to reading more.

Books read in May 2007

2007-05-31T03:03:00.000-04:00

29. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert ****
30. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood ****1/2
31. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields ****1/2
32. Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates ****
33. Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos ****
34. The Color Purple by Alice Walker ****
35. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult ****
36. Phantastes by George MacDonald ****

Pages read in May: 2466
Pages read in 2007: 10,109

Book Awards Reading Challenge

2007-05-31T03:00:00.000-04:00

Are you interested in the Book Awards Reading Challenge? The rules for this challenge are as follows:

1. Read any 12 award-winning books from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008. Please look on the sidebar for eligible books from the Pulitzer, Booker, etc. prize lists. Also feel free to pick non-fiction books or other prize winners not listed.

2. Books may be cross-posted with other challenges.

3. You may post your challenge books just on your blog, or you may also contribute to the BAC blog by giving your email address in a comment to this post. I will email you an invitation to be a contributor. Please write your email address in a manner similar to the following: janedoe AT hotmail DOT com. You must be a blogger member in order to contribute.

4. There will be prizes.

1st prize: 5 credits or in-stock books from paperbackswap.com
2nd prize: 3 credits or in-stock books from paperbackswap.com
3rd prize: 1 credit or in-stock books from paperbackswap.com

Everyone who completes 12 books for the challenge will be entered once into the drawing. For every book over 12 completed, you will receive one more chance for the prize. For example, if you complete 14 books, you will receive 3 chances.

5. Anyone may participate, but to be eligible for the prize, you must sign up by November 1, 2007. To participate in the BAC blog, you must sign up before January 1, 2008.

6. This is NOT required, but if you would like to discuss prize-winning books with others, you are encouraged to join any or all of the follow yahoo book groups:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bookawards
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pulitzer_literature
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookerPrize

7. Have fun reading!

I only have a partial list so far, but the titles were easy to come up with because of The Newbery Challenge and the reading groups listed above.

I'll probably have at least the first 12 titles below finished before the end of 2007. I'd like to complete 18-24 books for the challenge. My list so far:

1. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker 2000)
2. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Booker 1997)
3. The Sea by John Banville (Booker 2005)
4. A Death in the Family by James Agee (Pulitzer 1958)
5. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery 2007)
6. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (Newbery 1950)
7. I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (Newbery 1966)
8. Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska (Newbery 1965)
9. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (Newbery 1938)
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Pulitzer)
11.
12.

Award winners I read in the first half of 2007 (not counted for the challenge):
Angle of Repose **** (Pulitzer)
Atonement ***1/2 (NBCC)
To Kill a Mockingbird ***** (Pulitzer)
The Echo Maker **** (NBA)
The Road ****1/2 (Pulitzer)
Everyman * (PEN/Faulkner)
The Giver ****1/2 (Newbery)
March ***1/2 (Pulitzer)
The Inheritance of Loss ***1/2 (Booker/NBCC)
The Handmaid's Tale ****1/2 (Governor General)
The Stone Diaries ****1/2 (Pulitzer/NBCC/Governor General)
Amos Fortune, Free Man **** (Newbery)
The Color Purple **** (Pulitzer)

8 (Not So Random) Things About Me

2007-05-25T23:31:00.000-04:00

Everyone has been doing the 8 Random Things About Me, and I thought I would play along. I guess it's not random, though, because all of these happened the summer of 1990.

1. I was in the Middle East when Iraq invaded Kuwait.

2. I've been horseback riding at the foot of the pyramids.

3. I've been in King Tut's tomb.

4. I was baptized in The Red Sea.

5. I saw a dead human body floating in the Nile.

6. My wallet was miraculously returned to me hours later by a taxi driver in Cairo when I left it in the cab.

7. I knew enough limited Arabic to direct taxi cabs to my destination without telling them my destination (so they wouldn't go the long way).

8. I climbed what some people believe to be Mt. Sinai.

Summer Reading Challenge

2007-05-23T03:00:00.000-04:00

I just had to join this challenge, too! This is only the 16th! challenge I'm currently participating in.

I have decided to read 4 books that have won the Man Booker Prize. My choices are:

1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme (for BookAwards reading group)

2. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (for BookAwards reading group)

3. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (for BookAwards reading group)

4. The Sea by John Banville (personal TBR list)

Bonus/Alternates:

5. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (personal TBR list)

6. Possession by A.S. Byatt (personal TBR list)

Jealous? You should be!!!

2007-05-22T19:19:00.000-04:00

I have 230+ book credits at PBS!! As of today, I am #2 on the 7 day AND the 30 day swapper chart. I have been a very busy girl. I mailed almost all of them before the postal rates changed. I won't be mailing much out from here on out until I get settled in the Omaha area.

Remember to comment with your PBS i.d. if you haven't already. I'll be getting a "few" books after I move! I'd like to get them from people I "know."

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

2007-05-22T03:33:00.000-04:00

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

1982, 289 pp.

1983 Pulitzer Prize/1983 NBA

Rating: 4

I read this for the Banned Book Challenge, and I can definitely see why people would be against it. Some of the themes include incest, rape, lesbianism, language, and drug and alcohol use. I'm not saying it should be banned--just that if I had a teenage daughter, for instance, I would want to read and discuss it with her.

All of the above (and more) happen to Celie, the main character in the book. By contrast, Celie tries to protect her sister Nettie, and Nettie ends up going with a missionary family to Africa. We see Celie and Nettie both grow in different ways through what happens to them. They are separated for 30 years but do keep in contact through letters. It is appalling, really, what men can do to women. This type of novel is always hard for me to read, but sometimes I do think it is necessary for me to venture out of my protected little world into the very unprotected world of other women. If only to appreciate and thank God for what I do have and to pray for and help other women whenever I can.

Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos

2007-05-22T03:13:00.000-04:00

Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos

2004, 364 pp.

Rating: 4

Margaret is an older woman who has lived alone in a mansion for a very long time. She finds out she has cancer and then decides to start taking in boarders. Wanda is her first boarder. Her boyfriend has broken up with her and she needs somewhere else to stay. The women hit it off and slowly reveal their secrets to one another. Margaret starts taking in other boarders and soon a surrogate family is developed.

I really liked this first novel by Kallos--especially the first and and last parts of the book. The middle section I didn't much care for, or I would have rated this a 4.5. Also, there was quite a bit of s * x and language that I didn't like. I did like how Margaret and Wanda not only forge a strong friendship but also start "really living" for the first time after they meet each other. There is much more to this novel that I don't want to give away. I really did like the storyline, but it did seem like there were a few too many coincidences at the end. Overall, a fantastic first effort!

Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

2007-05-22T03:03:00.000-04:00

Amos Fortune, Free Man
by Elizabeth Yates

1950, 181 pp.
1951 Newbery Award

Rating: 4

This book tells Amos' story from his capture in Africa to his years of being a slave and finally to his final years as a free black man. Amos was the prince of his tribe in Africa, and it is a shock to him when he is captured for slavery. He is very lucky, though, as his owners treat him very kindly. He serves them well, saves his money, and is able to "buy" his freedom. He also buys his wives' (he was twice a widower) freedom. Amos is a gentle and kind man who respects both God and others. I highly recommend this story to both children and adults.

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

2007-05-22T03:00:00.000-04:00

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

1993, 361 pp.

1995 Pulitzer/1994 NBCC Award

Rating: 4.5

I loved this book. I loved the writing. It isn't a heartwarming book, but it is a thoughtful one. These "diaries" chronicle Daisy Goodwill's life from her birth in 1905 to her death in 199? (we aren't told the exact year). Each chapter of her life is told from her point of view, although in the book (and sometimes even in a single sentence) she switches back and forth between 1st and 3rd person. We learn of her childhood, her marriages and children, loves and losses, work and leisure, and finally her old age and death. The "chapters" made me think of my own life stages so far and the ones that are to come. All of us have a similar beginning and ending, but it's the middle that makes life interesting.

There were many, many beautiful passages in this book. I'll leave you with one as an example of the excellence of Shields' writing:

Something has occurred to her--something transparently simple, something she's always known, it seems, but never articulated. Which is that the moment of death occurs while we're still alive. Life marches right up to the wall of that final darkness, one extreme state of being butting against the other. Not even a breath separates them. Not even a blink of the eye. A person can go on and on tuned in to the daily music of food and work and weather and speech right up to the last minute, so that not a single thing gets lost.

Carol Shields died of cancer in 2003. She was a gifted writer, and I definitely plan on reading more of her works.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

2007-05-12T06:16:00.000-04:00

The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood

1986, 311 pages

Rating: 4.5

What a thought-provoking book!

Offred (Of Fred) is a woman who had her child and all her money taken away from her by the government. Her money was taken away just because she was female. Her daughter was taken away because her marriage was declared invalid. Why? Because it was the second marriage for her husband. The government has "religious" motivations for these acts. (Something I was a little uncomfortable with because I am a Christian, yet I realize there are always extremists. I took this as a cautionary tale.)

Spoiler alert! (Don't read if you like to be in suspense during a book.)
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Things only get worse from there. She is forced to become a handmaid, or surrogate mother, for a man of high position in the government. However, the conception is to occur in the normal way--with the wife present! This was a little shocking to me! Somehow Atwood pulls this off without offending my prudish sensibilities. The life of Offred is certainly not enviable.

I found this book to be a jolt to my system. Atwood is a gifted writer, and I definitely plan on reading more of her works.

Digital camera recommendations needed!

2007-05-07T12:05:00.000-04:00

If anyone LOVES their digital camera, and it is easy to use, please let me know. I'm in the market for one and selecting one is difficult. I'd love to hear your recommendations!

I'm a top pbs swapper in both 7 and 30 days!

2007-05-07T06:51:00.000-04:00

I just looked, and today is the first day I got to the top 25 list in the 30 day category--at #25. I'm #8 in the 7 day category, but I have been as high as #5.

If you'd like to help me have fewer book boxes to move, my inventory is here. I have mostly children's books that my kids have grown out of. It's very painful to see some of them go! If you need to join pbs, you can do it here.

Congratulations to Lisa, Laura, Mercy's Maid, Suey, Daphne, and Amy for getting the free credits that I gave away. I also gave Carrie, my sister IRL, some credits.

I'm going to have a lot of credits for books after I move, so if you'd like to comment with your id, I'll put you on my friends list to see if there are any books I want for my new home. Also comment if you have a bookmooch id. Mine is 3m there as well.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

2007-05-05T14:38:00.000-04:00

Eat, Pray, Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

2006, 352 pp.

Rating: 4
Caveat! I didn't like the book much. I'm giving it a '4' because of the brilliant writing.

Subtitled One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, Elizabeth Gilbert's book about "finding herself" after a divorce is, well, interesting to say the least. She is frank, candid, brutally honest, and bares all in this travel memoir. I do give her this: she is a brilliant writer and narrator (I listened to the audio CD). The problem was, though, that after finishing the book, I found I really didn't like it much. It is an easy read/listen, with a little 'too much information' sometimes, if you know what I mean. I also didn't agree with almost any of her decisions or with her conclusions about God and spirituality, though I'm sure she's not asking me to, either! Still, I rated it a '4' because I want to recognize her writing talents.

She goes through a messy divorce and travels through the three "I" countries listed above. She learns Italian and eats a lot of pasta in Italy (the Eat in the title), she "finds God" in India (the Pray), and she finds love (the Love in the title) in Indonesia. She makes it all very interesting, that's for sure. I do recommend this book because it is always fascinating to take a peak at other women's lives and their viewpoints, and as I said, the writing is excellent. In some ways, though, books like these always reinforce my own beliefs and viewspoints as well.

The Translator by Leila Aboulela

2007-05-05T12:08:00.000-04:00

The Translator
by Leila Aboulela

1999, 203 pp.

Rating: 4

Sammar, (I believe it was pronounced 'Summer'), is a young widow working as an Arabic translator at a university in Aberdeen, Scotland. She has been grieving for several years over the loss of her husband who was killed in a car accident. She has a little boy but feels she is unable to care for him and leaves him with her mother-in-law in Sudan.

Faith plays an important part in Sammar's life, so when she starts to fall for Rae, her boss, she realizes it could never be. That is, unless he converts to Islam. Their relationship starts off slowly, just by talking on the telephone. I found this to be very real and touching. Many of my best conversations with my husband have been on the phone, and this was the first time (that I could recall, anyway), that I had found it portrayed in such a way in a book. The progression of the relationship and the issues of faith and belief are explored in the rest of the novel.

I really enjoyed Aboulela's writing. It was very tender and poignant. I found it easy to feel Sammar's grief. There were a few things I did dislike about Sammar's character, though. I really cannot imagine leaving a child behind like that for such an extended period of time. A few weeks perhaps, but not a few years! The writing was beautiful. However, in the last few pages of the book there were a few too many sentence fragments for my taste. I don't mind some, but it seemed a little excessive. I would definitely read another book by this author, though.

This is the author's first novel and was first published in the UK in 1999.

100 Credits and Counting (PBS)

2007-05-04T09:38:00.000-04:00

I just reached 100 book credits on paperbackswap.com. For those of you that don't know, I'm moving to the Omaha area soon, and some books just had to go. Let me tell you, it's been a very painful process to cull from my library. I'm glad I'll be able to add to it (gradually) when I get settled in, though.

To help me celebrate my 100th credit, I plan on giving away 10 credits to some fellow booklovers. The first 6 people to comment with their PBS ID will get at least one free credit. The very first person to comment will get 3 credits, the next two will receive 2 credits each, and the next three posters will receive one credit each for a total of 10 credits given away.

You MUST give me your paperbackswap ID in the comment to be eligible. If you need to sign up for PBS, you can do it here.

If you're a winner, I'd love to know what you've chosen to get at PBS. It's not required, though!

Mother's Day Giveaway

2007-05-02T14:33:00.000-04:00

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away an i-Pod nano and other cool prizes. Check it out!

Books Read in April 2007

2007-04-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

23. Grendel by John Gardner **
24. March by Geraldine Brooks ***1/2
25. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald ****1/2
26. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai ***1/2
27. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards ****1/2
28. The Translator by Leila Aboulela ****

Pages read in April: 1610
Pages read in 2007: 7643

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

2007-04-26T14:56:00.000-04:00

The Memory Keeper's Daughter
by
Kim Edwards

2005, 401 pp.

Rating: 4.5

I was impressed by this book, and especially so as it was the author's debut.

The following paragraph isn't really a "spoiler" as it happens in the first few pages of the book.

Dr. David Henry and his wife Norah can't get to the hospital in time to have their baby, so they go to his own doctor's office. The birth goes fine and a healthy baby boy named Paul is born. However, they unexpectedly have twins (it's 1964), and there is a "problem" with their daughter--she has Down's Syndrome. Due to his own family background of having a chronically ill sister, David tells the nurse Caroline to take it to a "home". Meanwhile, he tells his wife that their daughter Pheobe has died. The rest of the book goes into their marriage and family relationships in the aftermath of this "secret".

I loved the story for several reasons. First, it was very well written and was a very easy read. I read the book in a 24 hour period. Also, it is mostly set in Lexington, Ky, and I live only an hour from there. Many of the descriptions of the bluegrass area were things I recognized and appreciated. I related to almost all the main characters for personal reasons. In fact, this book was one I chose to offer about myself for the Something About Me Challenge. David feels like an "imposter" in his professional life, Norah has postpartem depression, and Paul is kept from the knowledge that his sister is alive. These were all issues that I have experienced as well.

The book is a little sad and explores the consequences of family secrets, but it is also hopeful. I look forward to Kim Edwards' next novel.

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

2007-04-26T08:14:00.000-04:00

The Inheritance of Loss
by
Kiran Desai

2005, 318 pp.

Winner: Booker Prize, NBCC

Rating: 3.5

While this book has garnered much critical acclaim, I found it very difficult to complete. It took me over two months to get through it. Once I put it down, I just wasn't compelled to pick it up again. It sort of felt like a school assignment. Luckily, the last 1/3 of the book went by much faster than the first 2/3. Before reading, I would highly recommend doing a little research if you are ignorant (like I was) of Indian culture or history. One link that shed a little light on the subject for me was here.

There are two settings for the book--America and Kalimpong. Sai lives with her grandfather, a former judge, at the foothills of the Himalayas. She falls in love with Gyan, her tutor, who is sympathetic to the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). The clash of ideals between the Indians who want change and those who wish to retain aspects of British colonialism is one of the two main conflicts in the novel.

The other conflict is that of the Indians who emigrate to the United States and the conditions of their lives once they live there. Biju, who is the son of the Judge's cook, is one of the lucky few who get a visa to go to America. But once he is there, is he really better off? The novel asks the question -- how much does each person care about their individual culture, nationality, and family. What does our "inheritance" mean to us?

While I appreciate these themes and do think the writing was brilliant at times, I wouldn't recommend this book for most readers.

Booking through Thursday 4/26

2007-04-26T01:18:00.000-04:00

Seasonal reading

Does what you read vary by the season? For instance, Do you read different kinds of books in the summer than the winter?
If so, do you break it down by genre, length of book, holiday, or...?

Answer:

The only seasonal reading I do is at Christmas. In November, I try to read a Christmas-related book. Last year I read A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg and enjoyed it very much. This year I hope to read Mr. Ives' Christmas (Hijuelos).

If Carl does a RIP Challenge, I may participate in that. I wasn't blogging last year, but it looked like fun.

Thursday Thirteen #12

2007-04-26T00:09:00.000-04:00

13 Newberys on my TBR List

The top six I will definitely be reading for the Newbery Challenge .

1. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (2007)
2. Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates (1951)
3. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (1950)
4. I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (1966)
5. Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska (1965)
6. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (1938)

Bonus/Alternates

7. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (2002)
8. Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1928)
9. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary (1984)
10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (1963)
11. Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (1946)
12. Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray (1943)
13. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1990)

Update: By the Decade Reading Challenge

2007-04-25T00:07:00.000-04:00

I have updated the challenge site a bit. I have listed the participants' books here, and I've listed books by decade here. Check out what everyone else is reading for the challenge!

Thanks again for participating!

Wordless Wednesday #12

2007-04-25T00:06:00.000-04:00

Dystopian Challenge

2007-04-21T19:44:00.000-04:00

April 6th through November 6th

If you can call this a "genre", it is one of my favorites. I've hesitated in joining the challenge, though, because this year I've already read:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

and in the past I've read 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell.

However, I did have two or three potential titles that were on my TBR list for this year: Never Let Me Go and The Handmaid's Tale; and Oryx and Crake had been on my list, but I moved it to 2008. As I was looking at some of the possible titles at Wikipedia, I found A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. I've been meaning to watch the movie, so this is the perfect opportunity to read the book first. I also found The Messenger and Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, which are seqels to The Giver. So my choices became a little clearer.

I have chosen:

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
The Messenger by Lois Lowry
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Never Let Me Go by K. Ishiguro

Bonus/Alternates that I probably won't find time for but would like to read are:

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Children of Men by P.D. James
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Mooching and Swapping

2007-04-20T03:09:00.000-04:00

I've been fairly successful with paperbackswap lately. I now have 50+ credits to use after I move! I just started my inventory on bookmooch, but that looks like a nice site as well.

I have quite a few children's books listed if anyone's interested.

My bookmooch inventory is here.
My paperbackswap inventory is here.

National Library Week April 15-21

2007-04-19T14:11:00.000-04:00

This week is National Library Week.

I celebrated by giving 64 books to my small local library that they didn't have in their system. I'll probably give at least 100 more to the bigger library that I frequent for their library sale. I'll also probably give over 100 to my homeschool co-op group.

Why? So I don't break the movers' backs when we move. Don't worry--I have thousands left for my new home!

Thursday Thirteen #11

2007-04-19T00:41:00.000-04:00

Thirteen TV shows that I watch. Thankfully I have TiVo.

1. Battlestar Galactica
(No new shows til January 2008--I can't wait that long!)
2. Stargate Atlantis
3. Stargate SG-1
4. Doctor Who
5. Survivor
6. American Idol
7. Gilmore Girls
8. Masterpiece Theatre
9. LOST
10. Dancing with the Stars (this season only--see post below!)
11. Ebert & Roeper
12. Passport to Europe (when there's a new episode)
13. Mystery!

Wordless Wednesday #11

2007-04-18T16:12:00.000-04:00

I like to move it move it

2007-04-17T23:24:00.000-04:00

Okay, for the past 2-3 weeks I have been watching Dancing with the Stars. Why? I have never watched it before this season. I have always loved dancing, but the real reason is because someone in my household actually went to high school with (and knew fairly well) one of the contestants. Strange, but true. The first time this famous person was seen on TV by said member of this household, was a lay down on the floor, gut busting laugh at the familiar. Anyone want to guess? Not sure I'd even tell you if did guess, but it's fun messing with people!

Orange Shortlist

2007-04-17T15:18:00.000-04:00

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
The Observations by Jane Harris
Digging to America by Anne Tyler

The official announcement is here.

Southern Reading Challenge

2007-04-17T01:01:00.000-04:00

Maggie at Maggie Reads has proposed a 3 month Southern Reading Challenge. The challenge runs June 1st through August 31st.

I really was going to resist this challenge, but I realized (once again) that I had books already on my TBR list that would very nicely fit.

5/20/07 Update: I read The Color Purple in May, so I am changing my list.

My 3 choices are (I may add alternates later):

1. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
2. The Known World by Edward P. Jones
3. A Death in the Family by James Agee

Original List:
1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
2. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
~~3. A Death in the Family by James Agee~~
3. The Known World by Edward P. Jones

Bonus/Alternate:
4. A Death in the Family by James Agee

Pulitzer Prize goes to THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy

2007-04-16T16:23:00.000-04:00

Winner: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Shortlisted were Alice McDermott's After This and Richard Powers' The Echo Maker.

Details here.

This is the book I was rooting for to win the Pulitzer. I'm excited that 1) I loved this book and 2) I completed it before it was announced the winner (and before Oprah)! I don't have an "official" review of it yet because I listened to it on audio and wanted to re-read the print version. The only reason I rated it a 4.5 instead of a 5 is because I can't stand the lack of punctuation (one of the reasons I listened to the audiobook).

The Road is a very deserving winner!

The Princess and the Goblin

2007-04-15T21:19:00.000-04:00

The Princess and the Goblin
by George MacDonald

1872, 241 pp.

Rating: 4.5

This is a delightful story about eight year old Princess Irene, her great-great-great-great grandmother, and a miner boy named Curdie. Together they fight to foil the goblins' sinister schemes. Little Irene is a true princess and acts like a little lady, while Curdy is a very brave and heroic boy.

Highly recommended for all ages. I will try to read the sequel, The Princess and Curdie, sometime this year as well. I am also set to read Phantastes by MacDonald for the Fantasy Challenge. I can't wait to get to this more "adult" fantasy tale. I really enjoyed MacDonald's writing, and I am not at all surprised that he was an inspiration to both Lewis and Tolkien.

March by Geraldine Brooks

2007-04-14T17:48:00.000-04:00

March
by Geraldine Brooks

2005, 273 pp.

2006 Pulitzer Prize

Rating: 3.5

I really wanted to love this book, but I ended up only liking most of it and despising parts of it.

March tells the story of Mr. March. You know, the father in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. We didn't know much about him from Little Women, and really, maybe we were better off that way than reading Brooks' reimagined version. I did not like her "version" of Marmee, either.

Some of this book is extremely well done. The civil war scenes and the descriptions of the plight of the slaves were excellent. The characters of Mr. and Mrs. March were not. Although they both do have their admirable moments, their "reputation" is severely tarnished in this book and neither is very likable at all. Their "conflicts" felt like they were from a soap opera. I am not one who cares for soap operas and certainly do not wish to feel like I'm "reading" one in a Pulitzer Prize winning book.

I recommend it solely to those who like to read "prize winners" or to those who are Little Women enthusiasts. But be warned: you may wish you did not have these new visions of the Marches competing with the original.

Grendel by John Gardner

2007-04-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

Grendel
by John Gardner
1971
174 pp.
Rating: 2

I didn't like this book. AT ALL. I absolutely love Beowulf, and I highly recommend reading or listening to Seamus Heaney's version. Whereas Beowulf could almost be considered a Christian work, Grendel is nihilistic. Enough said.

Thursday Thirteen #10

2007-04-12T23:45:00.000-04:00

Thirteen reasons it took me 12 days to finish my first book for April.

1. I'm stressed. We're 95% sure we're moving because of a job change.

2. I'm tired. When I'm stressed, I can't sleep.

3. I can't read when I'm stressed and tired. My concentration powers have been deactivated.

4. We had company and had a lot of fun, but it is hard to read when playing hostess.

5. I don't like the books I'm reading, but I am one who finishes them anyway. It just might take longer.

6. We've been out to Omaha twice in the last month for a job opportunity. This is the one we'll probably take.

7. My husband has been home all the time trying to put me to work!

8. I have a million things to do because we're moving. Some of which are listed below.

9. I have to go through my thousands and thousands (I'm not kidding!) of books and "weed" the ones I'm taking from the ones I'll give away.

10. Ditto my closets.

11. Ditto my paperwork (yuck!)

12. I still have other local commitments that I must tend to for at least 3 more weeks.

13. I'm a person who does not like change, and everything around me is doing just that!

I know everything will turn out okay--I'm confident of that. It's just stressful along the way!

No books completed yet?!

2007-04-11T13:57:00.000-04:00

We're over 1/3 of the way through April, and I have no books I've completed yet! Life has gotten in the way of my reading. I do have 4 books that I'm 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through, so hopefully, I'll have some progress to report soon.

Wordless Wednesday #10

2007-04-11T00:08:00.000-04:00