Fiction Review: The Little Prince

Can you believe I have never read the classic The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery? Not in school nor in all my 52 years. I was moved to finally read it after reading a chapter about it in Books for Living by Will Schwalbe, a wonderful book where each chapter features a book and a lesson learned from it (this one was titled, appropriately, Finding Friends). I wasn't sure how to title this review (children's? classic?) and settled on simply “fiction,” for this small but powerful tale of an alien and a pilot that has been inspiring both children and adult readers for decades.

In case you, like me, have somehow missed this ubiquitous classic, it is a unique story of a pilot stranded in the Sahara Desert who encounters a little prince who turns out to be from another planet. The two gradually become friends as they talk and get to know each other over the course of a week. The little prince asks the pilot to draw him pictures and also asks him questions, though he rarely answers questions himself. Gradually, the pilot comes to understand that the little prince is from a tiny planet, that he has planted and nurtured a very special flower there, and that he is interested in bringing a very small sheep back with him, though he is concerned that the sheep may eat the flower.

The little prince made several stops on other planets and asteroids before arriving on Earth. He encountered an authoritative king of a very small planet, a vain man who insisted on constant admiration, a drunkard, a businessman who was so caught up in his daily tasks that he'd lost sight of the bigger picture, and a geographer who had never explored his own planet. The little prince learns something from each of these people, though his overarching lesson seems to be that grownups are strange.

Yes, this is a very bizarre plot for a story! I had no idea at all that The Little Prince was about an alien visitor. Of course, the story is about much more than its plot, and the slim book is filled with insightful quotations that have become well-known since its publication in 1943, accompanied by delightful illustrations. It is about friendship, beauty, the difference between children and adults, and nothing less than the meaning of life.

The little prince meets the fox - original illustration by the author

Here, the little prince tells the pilot about meeting a fox that was looking for a friend:

“The only things you learn are the things you tame,” said the fox. “People haven’t time to learn anything. They buy things ready-made in stores. But since there are no stores where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends. If you want a friend, tame me!”

Of course, taming him requires time and patience, but the little prince follows his instructions, and they become friends. When they part, the fox says:

“Here is my secret. It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

This little book is filled with astute passages like that. The lessons here are just as applicable to life today as they were in 1943 (perhaps more so, in this new digital world we live in). It took me 50 years to finally read it, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the little prince and learning from him, alongside the pilot narrator. I wish I’d known about this charming little novel sooner so I could have read it aloud to my sons when they were young. I thank Will Schwalbe for introducing me to it now.

83 pages, Harcourt, Inc.

(this was the version translated by Richard Howard, with original art by the author)

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Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint ExuperyTrade Paperback

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The Little Prince

   

Fiction Review: How To Be Human

Another of my reviews for Shelf Awareness has just been published: How To Be Human by Paula Cocozza. You can read my full review at that link (and sign up for the Shelf Awareness newsletter in the upper-right corner of that page).

So, a quick background and bit of intro on this novel and its review. I have to admit, this is a weird one! But it grew on me.

It's about a woman in London who falls in love with a fox that visits her backyard (aka garden). Yup, you read that correctly. Like I said, it's a weird one, and at first I struggled with it a bit. This fox does all kinds of bizarre things, though sometimes you're not sure whether the fox really did something or whether the main character is just losing it (which she definitely is, to some extent, after a bad breakup). Ultimately, though, I ended up liking the novel. Shelf Awareness only publishes recommendations, so I had to decide whether I enjoyed it enough to review it, and I did. You can check out the review for more on the plot and what I thought of it.

Interestingly, one problem I had at first was that I thought it wasn't believable. We have LOTS of foxes in our backyard and the woods behind our house, and I've never seen one get that close to the house - or come in the house - or do any of the other things the one in the novel does. Again, I assumed that at least some of that was the main character's overactive imagination and state of distress. But when I typed "fox london" into a search engine, this article from the LA Times came up (don't ask me why the LA Times is reporting on foxes in London). It explains how foxes are all over urban London. They've been spotted on the subway, on a high floor of a skyscraper under construction, and yes, have even come into people's homes, with two reports of foxes dragging babies out of cribs! (which may or may not have happened in the novel).

So, it seems that the novel is actually realistic from that perspective, in addition to being a captivating story about human nature and healing.

Photo from L.A. Times

Nonfiction Review: The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History

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My neighborhood book group’s selection for last month was a nonfiction book, The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph M. Marshall III, a descendant of the same Lakota community as Crazy Horse. It was fascinating and eye-opening, though also quite depressing, as I knew from the beginning how it ends.

Most of us have heard of Crazy Horse as a part of U.S. history in relation to General Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn, but here Marshall delves into a fuller history of the man behind the legend, based on oral histories passed down within his tribe. He spent a lot of time talking with the elders in the Lakota community and hearing the stories that their grandparents told them, as well as doing extensive research of a more typical kind. He tells Crazy Horse’s story, beginning with his childhood and moving through his coming-of-age and his leadership within the Lakota to his early death.

Born to Crazy Horse and Rattling Blanket Woman, the small baby who would later receive his father’s esteemed name was first called The Light-Haired One (or just Light Hair, for short) because of his unusual brown hair. He was raised as any Lakota child was, nurtured by his mother, grandmothers, and other female tribe members in his early years and then gradually taught life skills by his father, grandfathers, and other male members after the age of five. Lakota boys were taught that men’s roles were to provide for (hunt) and to protect the rest of the tribe. Light Hair was quiet and introspective, with a few very close friends, and was well liked by most in the community.

The story of Crazy Horse is also the story of the Lakota people, and it is told here in fascinating detail. Marshall describes the homes, food, and culture of his people at that time. He delves into Lakota customs, from celebrations to courting to hunting rituals, as well as the relationships between Crazy Horse and others in his community.

Of course, at this time, in the 1840’s – 1850’s, Lakota life was changing drastically and irreversibly due to the new presence of white people in their territory. The U.S. set up military forts on and near Lakota (and other tribes’) lands, and a steady, growing stream of people passed through this area on what the whites called the Oregon Trail, in covered wagons. Where there had once been a narrow trail along the North Platte River shared by bison and humans, this new, different kind of human left in its wake a wide, rutted road, littered with dead carcasses, shallow graves, and discarded metal and wood parts. As dismayed as the Lakota were by this destruction, it became life-threatening when the bison, the lifeblood of the community, began to move away from the area.

As we all know from standard history lessons, things escalated horribly from there. Whites not only scared away the bison, they also hunted them: shooting them with powerful guns, a hundred or more at a time, stripping their furs, and leaving the carcasses behind to rot. They moved further and further into Lakota territory, in spite of treaties signed with the Indians (which they barely understood). These territorial incursions and threats to the Lakota way of life eventually resulted in battles between whites and Indians. When the Indians saw that the whites even fought differently than they did, with a goal to kill as many as possible and often leaving maimed bodies of women and children in their wake, the Lakota had to defend their lives and their livelihood.

We all know how it ended, but the battles that occurred in between are described here very differently than what we all learned in history classes. In fact, I didn’t even recognize the Battle of Little Bighorn (which the Lakota called The Greasy Grass Fight, after the river where it occurred) when I read about it. Custer is barely mentioned.

My entire book group felt that this book was interesting and informative. We all felt it was a very different perspective than what we’d known before, an important one to learn. We even saw parallels with events occurring in the world today. Unfortunately, some in my group didn’t finish reading it. Though the subject matter was thought provoking, the writing was sometimes sluggish and repetitive. Ratings ranged from 3 to 9 (I think I gave it a 7). I’m not typically a nonfiction reader, so it was perhaps even slower reading for me, but I was only about two-thirds of the way through the book when we discussed it, and I did decide to finish it.

I learned so much from this book. It was especially interesting to me because we often visit and vacation in this region, the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have family there and also love the area for its natural beauty and many amazing parks. It’s easy to see why the Lakota considered it a sacred place. We have been in the Pine Ridge Reservation, one of the places where the author conducted his interviews. It may have taken me a while, but I am glad that I finished reading this book. It was a fascinating and enlightening side of history that I had never heard before.

298 pages, Viking

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The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History
by Marshall, Joseph M.Trade Paperback

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The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History

   

TV Tuesday: Anne with an E

As I posted a few weeks ago on TV Tuesday, the spring shows have all wrapped up now, the summer shows are just starting this week, and so we have been searching for new shows to watch on the streaming services. I was thrilled to hear about the new Netflix series Anne with an E, which is based on the classic children's novel Anne of Green Gables by H.M Montgomery (my review at the link). I just read Anne of Green Gables for the first time two summers ago, as part of my Big Book Summer Challenge, and I absolutely loved it, so I was excited to hear about this new adaptation. It's wonderful so far.

In case you haven't read the novel, Anne Shirley is an orphan who has had a very tough life. She's been mistreated and brought into homes only to act as unpaid labor for housework and childcare. In the first episode, Anne is traveling by train to the town of Avalon, located on Prince Edward Island, to be adopted by an elderly brother and sister, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. The problem is that Matthew and Marilla had requested a boy to adopt because they need help with the chores on their farm, Green Gables. Despite the mix-up, Anne herself wins Matthew over quickly at the train station.

Anne is an exuberant, imaginative child brimming with energy and enthusiasm. She has bright red hair (which she detests) and a hard life, but she doesn't let anything get her down. She just plows forward, with a smile on her face, talking a mile a minute. Reticent Matthew, who rarely speaks to anyone except Marilla, is taken aback at first but soon enchanted with this bubbly, kind girl who is so full of life. He brings her home, despite the fact that she isn't the boy they asked for. Of course, this is a problem, and Marilla is more prepared than Matthew to hold the line and get this mistake corrected. The first episode is 90 minutes long and deals with this first very significant conflict in the story. It's no spoiler to say they eventually work things out, since the book is called Anne of Green Gables!

Each episode follows Anne through another new experience filled with potential stumbling blocks: meeting a new friend, passing muster with the judgemental neighbor, and starting at school for the first time in her life. Anne's determination and exuberance often get her into trouble, but there are also conflicts due to her upbringing and background. This small, insular town is not very tolerant of those different than themselves. Some feel sorry for Anne, but many judge her and look down on her. However, for the first time in her short life, Anne has a real family who care about her and a real home.

I have watched 3 episodes so far, including that first 90-miute long one, and am loving the series. Young actress Amybeth McNulty does a fantastic job of bringing the joyful, bursting-with-energy Anne alive on the screen, and Geraldine James and R.H. Thomson similarly seem like the perfect Marilla and Matthew. The casting is excellent, as is the script, some of which I recognize directly from the book. All in all, it's a wonderful production, filled with warmth, humor, and all kinds of issues that are just as important today as they were in the 19th century when this story takes place. It's a great show to watch with your kids, but I am enjoying it fully all on my own, too!

As a Netflix original program, Anne with an E is only available on Netflix.

It's Monday 6/5! What Are You Reading?

Busy week here, and I wasn't feeling great. Not a full-blown "crash" or flare-up but just run-down and worn out all week. I probably should have listened to my body and rested more, but I kept pushing on. We helped our son move from one apartment to another last week in his college town nearby. I'm doing a bit better this morning, and we actually got some things done around the house this weekend, with our son's help - removed every screen in the house, washed them and the windows, and put everything back together. It looks great, and we are hoping this will cut down on the dust and pollen in the house. Cleaning windows & screens is a very satisfying job because you can see the results so clearly!

And, of course, we all enjoyed our books this week. Here's what we've been reading:

• I got about halfway through my first Big Book of the Summer, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, a teen/YA novel. I'm enjoying it so far, though it is a bit violent. I'm a huge fan of Stiefvater's novels, but this one has been sitting on my shelves for way too long. For me, the Big Book Summer Challenge also gives me the chance to make a sizeable dent in my TBR shelves, for the Read My Own Damn Books Challenge. Unfortunately, I had to set it aside half-read (which I hate to do) when I realized my time to read a review book due this week was running out! 
• So, now I am reading The Atlas of Forgotten Places by Jenny D. Williams, my next review book for Shelf Awareness (you can check out my first Shelf Awareness review here). It's a good one so far that gripped me right from the first pages. It takes place in northern Uganda, where a young American aid worker who left on a 3-week vacation in the area goes missing. Her aunt, who also worked for an aid organization in Uganda, comes from Germany to look for her. It's excellent so far, and the setting is fascinating to me, since I know nothing at all about Uganda or its culture or history.
• I finished listening to Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz, a teen/YA novel, in record time. It came out last fall, but I'd been postponing listening to it because I kind of OD'ed on WWII stories. That turned out to be irrelevant, as this is a completely original story about a young boy who joins the Hitler Youth in order to be a spy for the Allies. It was compelling and chilling from beginning to end, with plenty of fast-paced suspense (and also a lot of violence, obviously). I also enjoyed Gratz's YA novel Code of Honor.
• Now, I have started listening to Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart on audio. It's a middle-grade novel about a boy sent to a creepy reform school set on a rocky island by itself. I've only just started it, but supposedly some sort of accident is coming up that leaves the boys without adult supervision...so I am expecting a sort-of Lord of the Flies situation. I really enjoyed Gemeinhart's Some Kind of Courage and especially The Honest Truth.
• My husband. Ken, is reading his first Big Book of the Summer, Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. This is a kind of spin-off novel from the classic Dune series, written by the original author's son and a co-writer. Dune is one my husband's favorite novels, so he's enjoying this one so far.
• Jamie, 22, is continuing to re-read the Tunnels middle-grade series by Roderick Gordon, in preparation for finally reading the last book of the series (#6, Terminal).  Last week, he finished book 3, Freefall, and book 4, Closer. He is now reading book 5, Spiral, so he's almost done! These are all Big Books - Jamie laughed about my Big Book Summer Challenge because he said he only reads books longer than 400 pages!

Blog posts last week:

Movie Monday: Hidden Figures - a triumphant story based on real-life events

Teen/YA Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - a powerful, compelling, important novel that should be required reading for every American - don't miss this one!

Fiction Review: The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron - my first Shelf Awareness review and a wonderful novel!

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can also follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page. 

Remember to sign up for my Big Book Summer Challenge! It just started, so you have plenty of time (until September) to read just 1 book (more if you want) with 400+ pages. Everyone has a chunkster like this (or dozens of them, like me!) on their shelves or TBR list, I hope you'll join the fun! (you don't need a blog to sign up - see the challenge page for details)

Fiction Review: The Last Neanderthal

At the start of this year, I started a new reviewing job with Shelf Awareness, a wonderful publication that I have read myself for years. They feature great reviews of new books, plus interviews, articles, and other bookish fun. So far, I am very much enjoying writing for them, and best of all, I can now share my reviews here with you after they've been published (my last reviewing job published anonymous reviews, so I couldn't link to them or say that I'd written them).

Back in March of this year, I read my first book for Shelf Awareness: The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron, which has now been published. It was a great way to start my new job because I really enjoyed this unique novel. It follows the parallel worlds of a modern-day female archeologist working in France and the Neanderthal girl/young woman whose skeleton she is unearthing who lived there 45,000 years ago.

The narrative moves back and forth between the modern story and the ancient one, with the reader seeing through the eyes of the Neanderthal while the archeologist finds evidence that tells her that same story. Both characters are pregnant, so they are experiencing similar things as the story progresses. The Neanderthal portions of the story are very well-done and reminded me somewhat of The Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel (remember those best-sellers from the 80's?).

You can read my full review of The Last Neanderthal at this link, and you can sign up for Shelf Awareness' newsletter in the upper right corner of that same page.

Last Neanderthal
by Claire CameronHardcover

Purchase The Last Neanderthal from Book Depository.

Teen/YA Review: The Hate U Give

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Like most book lovers who read YA literature, I have been hearing nothing but rave reviews of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas since its release in February. I had a chance to listen to it on audio last month, and I found out that everything I’d heard was true. The Hate U Give is an original, powerful, moving novel that should be required reading/listening for every American. Not only that, but it is also a stunning, compelling story that I finished in record time.

Sixteen-year old Starr is happy with her family and friends, though she feels like she is living two different lives in two different worlds. Starr lives in a poor urban neighborhood that is filled with gang violence. Her own father used to be the head of one of the local gangs, The Kings, but he left that life behind when Starr and her two brothers were born. Now, he runs the neighborhood grocery store, where Starr often works. Starr’s mother works as a nurse in a local clinic.

On weekdays, though, Starr’s parents make the long commute to take her and her brothers to a private college prep school in the suburbs, where they attend thanks to scholarships and their parents’ hard work and diligence. Starr is one of only two black kids in her entire class, and though everyone asks why she doesn’t go out with the black boy, she is happily dating Chris, a white classmate (though her Dad doesn’t know that). She has good friends both at home and in school.

Starr’s happy though divided life is shattered one evening when her childhood friend, Khalil, is driving her home from a party. Neither of them had been drinking, and they left the party because they heard gunshots. Khalil is trying to make sure Starr gets home safely, but they are pulled over by a police officer. In a flash, Starr’s world is turned upside down when unarmed Khalil is shot by the white officer, and he dies in front of her.

Devastated at the loss of her oldest friend (Starr already lost a best friend to a drive-by shooting when she was just 10 years old), Starr is even more shattered by all that happens next. The news media are saying that Khalil was a drug dealer and a gang-banger. The police don’t seem all that interested in Starr’s eyewitness account of what really happened. The police officer’s father goes on TV and garners sympathy for his son. To make everything so much worse, Starr’s white friends at school really don’t seem to get it. As the sole witness to what happened that night, it’s up to Starr to speak up, but she is worried about what will happen to her family and her community.

As you can see from this brief recap, this novel is “ripped from the headlines” and echoes some of the shootings that have occurred in communities all over America in recent years. What’s different is that this fictional story gives you a complete account, a sort of behind the scenes peek, of the events from the people who we rarely hear from first-hand. It is not just about the shooting itself and its repercussions (from all sides – Starr’s uncle is a police officer) but also about the impact of these events on Starr, her family, her friends, and their community. This novel highlights the disconnect between the way that different people from different backgrounds see an incident like this shooting.

It’s more than that, though. This is also simply a good story, well told. Starr is a very likeable narrator, with a complex life, yes, but also the life of a normal teenager. She texts her friends, meets her boyfriend at her locker, and loves old episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and old-school sneakers. The rest of the characters – her friends, her family, her neighbors – are all well fleshed-out. They feel three-dimensional and real. Thomas is an excellent writer who pulls you right into the story from its very first pages. There is plenty of suspense, wondering what will happen and how Starr will cope, and even a sense of humor. The audio production was perfect. Hearing the story told in Starr’s voice from the talented narrator made it all the more compelling, and I felt like I knew her family and friends.

Although this novel is a good read, it’s also a very, very important story to tell. It’s not only fascinating to see behind the scenes of an incident like this that we hear about so often in the news, but these are also voices that we seldom hear represented on the news. In addition to the shooting, there are issues of gang violence, drug dealing, and the very real conflict between Starr’s parents about whether to stay in the neighborhood and help make it better or leave so that their kids will be safer. I certainly had never thought about that before; I think most of us just assume that people in the ghetto are stuck in the ghetto. This novel shows the whole of this urban neighborhood – not just the gang members and drug dealers we might hear about on the news but the elderly, the children, and the way that neighbors take care of each other. Finally, Starr puts a very personal face on racial divides, straddling the “poor black world” and the “wealthy white world,” as she does.

This is already a long review, but I want to convey how deeply this novel moved me and how much it made me think. It’s an important story about racial tensions in our world today, a story that puts a face on the Black Lives Matter movement for those of us who don’t face these issues every day. And it’s also an excellent YA novel, about a likeable character facing challenges that no teen should have to face, about friendship, and especially about family. The Hate U Give is a powerful and engrossing novel that I hope will become required reading for high school students.

HarperAudio

(you can listen to an audio sample at the Audible/Amazon link below)

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

The Hate U Give
by Angie PetersHardcover

Purchase The Hate U Give from The Book Depository.

Movie Monday: Hidden Figures

Yes, I know it is Tuesday...but it FEELS like Monday because of the holiday yesterday. Besides, I have a backlog of movie reviews to write and nothing new to review on TV, and I already wrote a TV Tuesday post on the summer shows I am looking forward to. So, it's Movie Monday, despite what the calendar says!

Last weekend, my husband and I rented Hidden Figures from Redbox, a movie I've been dying to see since it was released in theaters this winter. It was just as good as I'd heard and earned every one of its many awards and nominations.

Hidden Figures is an adaptation of the book of the same name, based on the real-life story of the team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in the space program in its early years, despite rampant discrimination. Never heard of them before? That's the whole point of this wonderful movie!

As the story opens, we see Katherine Johnson, played beautifully by Taraji P. Henson, as a young girl in West Virginia who is a math whiz. Her crazy skills get her a place in a prestigious school, years ahead of her peers and supported by her proud parents. Katherine grows up to work at the new government agency NASA, as a "computer," one of a roomful of black women who toil away in the basement doing the mathematical calculations necessary to support a whole team of engineers trying to conquer the space race. Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monae, and Dorothy Vaughan, played by Octavia Spencer, also work as computers with Katherine.

Dorothy is the de facto leader of the group, though her superior, the white Mrs. Mitchell, played by Kirsten Dunst, won't recognize her as such, so she doesn't get the title - or the salary - of supervisor. Mary is tapped to assist a group of engineers and yearns to be an engineer herself, but she's not allowed to take the necessary night classes because the local high school where they are held is for whites only. Katherine - still just as brilliant as in her childhood - gets moved up to the main group of scientists and engineers who are working to catch up with the Russians in getting a man into space and back. The supervisor of the group, Al Harrison, played by Kevin Costner, requested the best mathematician available and was surprised to see Katherine, a black woman, show up.

All three women are portrayed in the movie - their personal lives, their careers, and their struggles - but Katherine is at the center of the film. Her calculations of flight trajectories, launch windows, and return paths were critical in getting John Glenn back home safely from the first Mercury mission that put a man into orbit and dozens of other missions during her long career with NASA. Despite Katherine's brilliance, she encountered huge obstacles at work, including horrible discrimination from her white male co-workers, from not being able to drink from their coffee pot to having to walk for miles across campus and back to use the only black women's restroom. Her co-worker, Paul Stafford, played by Jim Parsons, is particularly hesitant to give her credit where due, though her supervisor, Al, eventually sees her talent and supports her.

This is a stunning, horrifying, glorious story of overcoming obstacles and achieving your dreams. All three of the main women (and, I'm sure, the rest of the computers as well) faced significant challenges, not the least of which was being invisible to their white coworkers, but their strength, perseverance, and dignity are inspirational. Though Katherine is at the center of the movie, we also see Mary and Dorothy deal with their own struggles and climb their own mountains.

It's a wonderful movie, all the more powerful because it is true. In 2015, the real Katherine Johnson, at age 97, was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. The open discrimination these talented women faced is stunning to see, especially since these events occurred only about 60 years ago. It is uplifting and moving to see each of them break through barriers to achieve her goals. The acting - as you might guess from the all-star cast - is outstanding, and the three lead actresses are especially affecting in their performances. It's an incredible story, ending with a joyful feeling of triumph.

Hidden Figures is currently out on DVD or you can rent it (streaming) on Amazon for $4.99 (link below for both). It is only available on DVD through Netflix, not streaming.



    

It's Monday 5/29! What Are You Reading?

Happy Memorial Day! Here in the U.S., that means the unofficial start of summer, so the big news is that I kicked off my annual Big Book Summer Challenge this weekend! Woohoo! I love this challenge - it gives me an excuse to finally read some of the bigger books that have been languishing on my shelves. It's super-easy going, like summer - you only need to plan to read 1 big book (though you can read more) of 400 pages or more sometime between now and the first Monday in September (Labor Day). That's all there is to it, so I hope you'll join the fun! Details and link-ups are on the Challenge page. You don't need a blog to join the challenge - you can participate through the 2017 Big Book Summer Goodreads group or even just by leaving a comment on the challenge page. I even got my husband to do it this weekend!

So, here's what we've all been reading this week:

• I finally finished The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph M. Marshall III, a nonfiction book I read for my neighborhood book group. It was fascinating, especially since we have family in South Dakota in the Black Hills region and visit the area frequently, but it was slow-paced and a bit repetitive. Still, I am glad to have read it and learned a lot, though it was pretty depressing - I knew from the beginning how it ended!
• Next, I zipped through a couple of short books. I read Newsprints by Ru Xu, a middle-grade graphic novel. It's a steampunk story with manga-inspired colorful artwork, about an orphaned girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can work as a newsboy. There is also a kooky inventor, a city newspaper, and a long-time war ongoing. It was good - fun and entertaining - and there will be a sequel.
• Next, I read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Can you believe I'd never read this classic before? I was inspired to get it from the library after reading a chapter about it in Books for Living. I had no idea it was about an alien!! I am very happy to have finally read another classic for my Classics Challenge (which isn't going very well this year so far).
• And, now, I am turning my attention to my first Big Book of the Summer! I'm starting The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater today, a middle-grade novel. I'm a huge fan of Stiefvater's novels, but this one has been sitting on my shelves for way too long. For me, the Big Book Summer Challenge also gives me the chance to make a sizeable dent in my TBR shelves, for the Read My Own Damn Books Challenge.
• On audio, I finished The Baby by Lisa Drakeford, a YA novel about a teen girl who unexpectedly gives birth on the bathroom floor at a party. It starts as one of those stories you hear in the news once in a while about a young woman who didn't even realize she was pregnant, but it's quite in-depth emotionally and tells the story from five different points of view. I enjoyed it.
• Now, I am listening to Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz, a middle-grade novel. It came out last fall, but I've been postponing listening to it because I kind of OD'ed on WWII stories. Despite that, I am totally hooked on this novel, which is entirely unique, about a young boy who joins the Hitler Youth in order to be a spy for the Allies. It's completely compelling so far. I also enjoyed Gratz's YA novel Code of Honor.
• My husband. Ken, finished Little Green by Walter Mosley, one of his Easy Rawlins mysteries. I got Ken hooked on Mosley after I read one of his novels for our All-County Reads program a few years ago. He enjoyed this one, too.
• Ken is now reading his first Big Book of the Summer, Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. This is a kind of spin-off novel from the classic Dune series, written by the original author's son and a co-writer. Dune is one my husband's favorite novels.
• Jamie, 22, is continuing to re-read the Tunnels middle-grade series by Roderick Gordon, in preparation for finally reading the last book of the series (#6, Terminal).  He finished book 1, Tunnels, and was reading book 2, Deeper, last I heard, but he just got home from the weekend and told me he is reading book 3, Freefall, now. These are all Big Books - Jamie laughed about my Big Book Summer Challenge because he said he only reads books longer than 400 pages!

Busy week on the blog last week:

TV Tuesday: Occupied, a Norwegian thriller

Booktopia 2017 - my recap of this unique & amazing book event

Fiction Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, classic dystopian novel

2017 Big Book Summer Challenge - all the details - join the fun!

My Big Book Summer - check out the Big Books I plan to read this summer

Saturday Snapshot: Summer Lushness - big changes in our neighborhood

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can also follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page. 

My Big Books for summer 2017!

 

Saturday Snapshot: Summer Lushness

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Last Saturday, with a salute to California and southern Oregon, I finished my National Park photo series - click the links to take a look. I guess we need to start traveling and visit more National Parks now!

So, back to a more local focus for my Saturday Snapshot. Between travel, illness, and just being busy, I hadn't walked around my neighborhood much in the past few weeks, and I was able to get out for a couple of short walks this week. Wow, what a change! The blooming trees of spring are mostly gone now, replaced by green, green everywhere, plus some early summer blooms:

Our own purple irises in bloom

One of my poor, sickly azalea bushes - don't know what is wrong

Green trees and blue sky

Rhododendron in full bloom

Lush greenness everywhere!

Not sure what these are but they look nice!

Anyone know what these are? We had them when I was a kid.

Another pretty flowering bush I can't identify!

Hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend!

If you like to read, be sure to check out my Big Book Summer Challenge - it's the perfect way to kick off your summer!

My 2017 Big Book Summer

I have just announced the 6th year of my challenge, Big Book Summer Challenge, so I guess I should be the first to sign up!

I really enjoyed tackling some big books the last few summers, and I'm looking forward to doing it again and finally reading some of these bricks that have been collecting dust on my shelf (NOTE: for this challenge, a Big Book is defined as a book with 400 pages or more).

I don't know if I will get to all of these, but I like to have some options to choose from.  These are all currently on my shelves, waiting patiently to be read (along with many others!). I chose 6 this year because none of them are 700-1000 pages long, as in some years - these are mostly in the 400-600 page range:

My Big Book Summer!

• The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner (538 pages)
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (409 pages)
• Shift (Silo Trilogy, Book 2) by Hugh Howey (570 pages)
• Overpowered by Mark H. Kruger (423 pages)
• Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (599 pages)
• Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (562 pages)

I like to alternate between grown-up books and kids/teen/YA books, so I have three of each on this list.  Most of these have been collecting dust on my shelf for many years, so all of these qualify for my Read My Own Damn Books Challenge also.

I'm so excited for summer now!

How about you? Are you up for tackling a Big Book (or two or three) this summer?  Join me and sign up for the 2017 Big Book Summer Challenge! The rules, details, and link-ups are on that page.

Now, which one will I start this weekend...?

(Note: You don't need a blog to participate - you can either leave a comment on the Challenge page or sign up in the 2017 Big Book Summer Goodreads group.

2017 Big Book Summer Reading Challenge

About 6 years ago, I came up with the idea to use the relaxed freedom of summer to tackle some of the biggest books on my TBR shelf that I'd been wanting to read but never seemed to have the time for.  One of my book groups takes time off during the summer, so with fewer interfering commitments, I declared it The Summer of the Big Book and really enjoyed delving into some hefty tomes, like The Passage and Pillars of the Earth.

It was so much fun that five years ago, I created this challenge so that YOU can join me! And here it is Memorial Day weekend again and the unofficial start of summer 2017. So join in the fun!

The Details:
Hey, it's summer, so we'll keep this low-key and easy!

• Anything over 400 pages qualifies as a big book.
• The challenge will run from Memorial Day weekend (starting May 26 this year) through Labor Day weekend (Labor Day is September 4 this year).
  
• Choose one or two or however many big books you want as your goal. Wait, did you get that?  You only need to read 1 book with over 400 pages this summer to participate! (though you are welcome to read more, if you want).
• Choose from what's on your shelves already or a big book you've been meaning to read for ages or anything that catches your eye in the library - whatever peaks your interest.
• Sign up on the first links list below (or on Goodreads if you don't have a blog).
• Write a post to kick things off - you can list the exact big books you plan to read or just publish your intent to participate, but be sure to include the Big Book Summer Challenge pic above, with a link back to this blog (no blog? No problem - see below).
  
• Write a post to wrap up at the end, listing the big books you read during the summer.
• You can write progress posts if you want to and/or reviews of the big books you've read...but you don't have to!  There is a separate links list below for big book reviews or progress update posts.

That's it!  Go check out your shelves and your TBR list and sign up below!

(Don't have a blog? No problem! You can still participate in the challenge - just leave a comment in the Comment section below, stating your goals for the Big Book Summer Challenge or sign up in the Goodreads group.)

Check out my own list of books to read for the challenge.

I also started a group on Goodreads for the 2017 Big Book Summer Challenge, where we can talk about Big Books and our progress on the challenge. If you don't have a blog, you can also use the Goodreads group to sign up for the challenge, post updates, and show which Big Books you are reading!

At the end of the summer, there will be a Big Book Giveaway! After Labor Day, I'll select one name from among the participants (bloggers who leave a link below as well as those without a blog who leave a comment to announce their participation or participate through the Goodreads group) and will offer the winner a choice from a selection of Big Books from my own shelves - probably most of the titles I read this summer and perhaps a few others to choose from.

And help spread the word on Twitter with #BigBookSummer (you can follow me at @suebookbybook).

Be sure to include a link to your kick off blog post (not your homepage):   




   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   


Come back to this page during the summer to add a link whenever you review a Big Book or post a progress report:


   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Fiction Review: The Handmaid’s Tale

I know it’s hard to believe, since I like science fiction, but I have never read a novel by Margaret Atwood (only her nonfiction book on science fiction). At the top of my must-read list was The Handmaid’s Tale, and I bought a copy in our local used bookstore many years ago. I couldn’t wait to read it, but like so many books at my house, it was soon overshadowed by review books, book group books, books given to me as gifts, and books lent from friends and family. So, I was thrilled when one of my book groups chose it for our May read, and I finally had an extra push to read this modern dystopian classic.

The novel jumps right into the story, as an unnamed narrator, a young woman, remembers her days in some sort of training center with other scared young women, as she sets out to go shopping from her current home. We soon learn that she, who has been renamed Offred in her new home, is a Handmaid in a world where fertility has become a crisis. The head of her household is the Commander, a man of high standing in the community. He is married, and his Wife runs the household, which includes two servants, known as Marthas, in addition to Offred.

As a Handmaid, Offred’s job – and entire function in society – is to bear children for the upper-level Wives who are unable to on their own. Despite this strange set-up with two women in one household, it is a curiously Puritan society, run by men. The Commander is only allowed to have sex with Offred during a Ceremony, a horrible experience where the Wife holds the Handmaid in her arms while her husband “plants his seed.” The Handmaids, dressed in red, are only allowed to go out for the daily shopping, paired up with another Handmaid.

Amidst this very controlled and limited life, Offred remembers her old life in flashbacks, what life was like “before.” She had a college education and a job she enjoyed and was happily married with a five-year old daughter. There were signs of the changes that were coming, but most people failed to take them seriously or take any action. By the time they realized that their family was in danger, it was too late.

Offred’s story in the present day moves forward, with monotonous routine but plenty of surprises along the way for the reader. Meanwhile, we learn of her previous life and her time at the Red Center (training for Handmaids) bit by bit, through her memories. Finally, at the very end of the novel, some of the “history” of this period is revealed in a clever way so that we finally get some information about how all this came about.

If you haven’t read The Handmaid’s Tale before (many people read it in school or when it first came out in 1985), you have probably been hearing about it lately. Hulu recently launched a new TV series based on the novel that has gotten rave reviews and has helped to boost the original novel to the top of the best-seller lists (along with most other dystopian classics). The story is peppered with phrases and events that have parallels in today’s world, making you wonder whether Atwood was prescient, having written this novel in the 1980’s.

We had a very interesting discussion in our book group. Normally, we avoid talking about politics, but it was pretty impossible in this case, and our discussions of the novel often came back to what is happening in the world today. The group was split in their overall opinion of the novel. Some, including me, enjoyed reading it and thought it was well-written. Others didn’t enjoy it as much, either because they found it depressing or because they didn’t like the narrative style. One thing we all agreed on, though, was that it was incredibly thought-provoking and especially relevant today. 

This passage particularly struck me, as Offred reflects on her life “before,” and how things came to change so drastically:

“Is that how we lived, then? But we lived as usual. Everyone does, most of the time. Whatever is going on is as usual. Even this is as usual, now.

We lived as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”

I know that I am guilty of ignoring, just because I get so worn out by the relentless bad news. Despite the differing opinions in our book group, we had a lively and in-depth discussion on a wide range of topics that are introduced by The Handmaid’s Tale. This dystopian classic from the 1980’s not only holds up today but is especially relevant – and chilling – in its picture of a society bent on regulating morality and subjugating women, all in the name of religion. I’m glad to have finally read the novel, and now I wish I could see the new TV show – we might just have to sign up for Hulu!

311 pages, Fawcett Columbine

Audible Studios

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

P.S. Has anyone seen this 1990 movie adaptation (link below)? Is it any good?

The TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale (my review and a trailer at the link)is available on Hulu or for purchase on Amazon.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audio book here, narrated by actress Claire Danes, and/or download it from Audible. In the sample, Offred is describing her handmaid's room (winner of Audie Award for Fiction, 2013).

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     

 

Or you can order The Handmaid’s Tale from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.