It's Monday 10/5! What Are You Reading?

October already? I''m feeling a bit like Rip Van Winkle after being so sick and housebound for the past 6 weeks. I am finally improving, bit by bit, but I'm not yet back to my "normal" baseline (normal for me). Yesterday was my husband's birthday, so I am a bit worn out today (even though it was mostly a quiet day!), but I am looking forward to a new week - the rain and wind have passed by, the sun is out again, and I am hoping to continue to feel better.

Here's what we were all reading last week:

• I am still reading my first review book for Publisher's Weekly, A Paper Son by Jason Buchholz, a novel that goes back and forth between a present-day elementary teacher in San Francisco and the story of a family who moved back to China in 1925, with some supernatural elements linking the two stories. I'm really enjoying it so far - the story and the writing pulled me right in, and I hate to set it down!
• I never did get started on a new teen/YA audiobook, The Cemetery Boys by Heather (Zac) Brewer last week, but I am downloading it to my iPod as I type this, so I will start it today. It sounds like a perfect fit for October and my R.I.P. X Challenge.
•  My husband, Ken, once again swapped books this week. He set aside The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (recommended by our son) temporarily because we got him a library copy of The English Girl by Daniel Silva which he left on a plane last week! Now he can find out how it ends. You need closure, right?
• Jamie, 21, finished Valour by John Gwynne, Book 2 of The Faithful and the Fallen series - he enjoys this fantasy series.
• Now, Jamie is reading The Blood King by Gail Z. Martin, book 2 in the Chronicles of the Necromancer series, another epic fantasy series. He really enjoyed book 1, The Summoner, so he is looking forward to the rest of the series.

I finally did some catching-up on the blog last week and posted 3 reviews (though it took me until Saturday night!) and some other fun posts as well, including a lot for Banned Books Week:

Movie Monday: The Words starring Bradley Cooper

Banned Books Week 2015

TV Tuesday: Mr. Robot, twisty & suspenseful, about hackers & conspiracies

Review of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic memoir about growing up during the Iranian Revolution and one of the most frequently banned books.

Review of Looking for Alaska by John Green, an award-winning teen/YA novel and another frequently banned book.

Saturday Snapshot - photos from my back deck and my anniversary

Review of If the Oceans Were Ink by Carla Power, a nonfiction book about one woman's quest to learn more about the Quran

As you can see, I have added weekly reviews of TV shows and movies to my blog recently, so if like me, you also enjoy TV shows and movies as well as books, check out all of my media reviews!

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.     

Nonfiction Review: If the Oceans Were Ink

My neighborhood book group read If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran by Carla Power this month. Although I missed the discussion, I enjoyed the interesting and informative book, which was just nominated for the National Book Award for nonfiction.

Power is a half-Jewish (though non-practicing) journalist who spent much of her childhood in countries in the Middle East and Asia with large Muslim populations, as her father often took visiting professorships in other countries. She grew up surrounded by the culture of Islam and as an adult, often reported on Muslims in her job. She decided, though, that she wanted to know more about the source of Islam, the Quran, and whether it really supported some of the extremist views evident in the world today. For that education, she turned to an old colleague and friend, Sheik Mohammad Akram Nadwi, an Islam scholar whom she used to work with at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, often called just “the Sheik”.

The title of the book is taken from these verses from the Quran itself:

“Say, even if the ocean were ink

For (writing) the words of my Lord,

The ocean would be exhausted

Before the words of my Lord were exhausted,

Even if We were to add another ocean to it. (Chapter 18, Verse 109)”

Part of Power’s interest was in figuring out how such widely varied groups and people around the world – from terrorists to pious mullahs seeking peace and ordinary Muslims living their lives – could all claim to be living according to the Quran. She and the Sheik embarked on a yearlong journey together, debating the meaning of various verses in the Quran, discussing how those verses are interpreted by different groups around the world, and even delving into controversial subjects like the role of women in Islam. At the same time, the Sheik introduced her to his family, his friends, and his students, so she met and had the opportunity to talk to many Muslims with different perspectives.

Much of what she learned will be surprising to Westerners who believe in the view of Islam that terrorists have tried to spread. It’s only the extremists (on both sides) who make the news and rail loudly about the chasm between “the Muslim world” and the Western world. But there are Muslims living all over the world, including in the United States, and you can’t really lump them all together. She and the Sheik look at how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam fit together, as well as what their differences are. Much of their differences simply come down to the perspectives of different prophets, though they all study Abraham, Mary, Noah, Moses, and even Jesus. As the Sheik sums up beautifully, “God wanted to be fair with everybody. He’s sent different messengers, but the real differences are just about language, or culture, or history. The main message is the same: to believe in God.”

That is a theme that threads throughout the book – that there is a difference between religion and culture. According to the Sheik, much of what we Westerners think of as tenets of Islam are actually cultural rules or norms set down and carried through history, not parts of the Quran itself. As with the Bible, different people throughout history (including modern times) have interpreted the Quran and its related hadiths (rules) in vastly different ways. The situation is even more complex with the Quran because it was written in Arabic and can be translated into English in different ways. As for women in Islam, the Sheik has been working on a project to write about women Islamic scholars – it began as a pamphlet and ended up as dozens of volumes of books – so he has a broad view of women’s roles in the religion, both in history and now.

When my book group chose this book, I was afraid it would be dry and dull, a slog to get through, but it isn’t like that at all. The book is a memoir of Power’s year spent learning about the Quran with the Sheik, so it incorporates her own life and experiences, as well as his. I was particularly moved by her experiences in losing her father and her mother, since my own dad died this summer. This is not a dry analysis of the Quran but a look at how the holy book translates into every day life.

As you can probably tell from this lengthy review, I found Power’s book fascinating and informative. I was very sorry I couldn’t make my book group discussion because this book just begs to be talked about! There is so much content here, and all of it is thoughtful and thought-provoking, as the reader goes along with Power on her yearlong educational journey. As she works to understand another person and his religion and way of life, she learns more about her own life and brings us along for the eye-opening ride. The world would be a better – far more peaceful – place if we all took the time to understand those who are different from us.

300 pages, Henry Holt & Company

NOTE: I posted this review this week to accompany my review of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic memoir about growing up during the Iranian Revolution - the two books complemented each other and each helped me to better understand the other. 

Saturday Snapshot 10/3

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

Thought I'd get back to Saturday Snapshot today, although I am still sick and still not leaving the house much...so nothing too exciting! A few more pictures from my back deck today, plus two from our 26th anniversary - we did get to enjoy a nice dinner out! The first two photos (click to enlarge) have a cool story behind them - one morning this week, there were two twin woodpeckers hanging out on my deck, pecking on the wooden rails. Unfortunately, every time I went outside, they got spooked and flew off! So, the first pic is the only one I grabbed of one of them on the deck and the second is when he flew to the metal downspout (didn't have much luck pecking there!):

Woodpecker on our deck

Woodpecker on the downspout

My favorite spot on the deck

Did my nails in my favorite color!

Ready for a nice dinner out for our 26th anniversary

Hope you are enjoying a nice weekend and staying dry! Rainy and very windy here, as Joaquin passes by.

Teen/YA Review: Looking for Alaska

I’ve wanted to read Looking for Alaska, John Green’s first and one of his best-known novels, for many years, so when I saw it was #7 on the ALA’s list of Most Frequently BannedBooks for 2013, I chose to read it this week in honor of Banned Books Week. I absolutely loved this funny novel about serious topics.

Miles has no friends at his public school in Florida, so he begs his parents to let him attend his father’s alma mater, Culver Creek Boarding School, in Alabama. He hopes that he can make the same kind of happy memories of friends, mischief, and pranks that his dad fondly recalls from his days there. Miles loves to read biographies and collects last words, and he wants what poet Francois Rabelais described as “The Great Perhaps,” a life not quite so safe and boring as the one he has led so far.

Miles’ new roommate, Chip (who says to call him The Colonel), immediately christens Miles “Pudge,” an ironic nickname since Miles is so scrawny he can barely keep his shorts up, and pulls him into his group of friends. Those friends include Takumi, an Asian boy who is a hip-hop enthusiast, and Alaska Young. Pudge is immediately attracted to the wild, passionate, unpredictable Alaska, though she has a serious boyfriend away at college. The four friends settle into routines with classes, rotten food in the cafeteria (including the hilariously named Buffritos), and sneaking away to smoke cigarettes. A Romanian girl named Lara joins their group. With them, over the course of his first semester, Pudge has his first cigarette, his first drink of alcohol, his first kiss, and experiences his first school pranks, an age-old tradition and full-time occupation at Culver Creek.

Interested in Pudge’s obsession with last words, Alaska is particularly fascinated with the same one that is Pudge’s favorite: Simon Bolivar saying, “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?” They puzzle over what he meant, as Pudge becomes interested in his World Religions class and the similar philosophical questions they tackle there. The group of friends, led by The Colonel and Alaska, plans their biggest prank ever, which works beautifully and leads to big celebrations. All of this fun comes to an abrupt end when tragedy strikes unexpectedly at Culver Creek.

In the first half of the novel, the chapters are labeled X Days Before, with the number slowly counting down. This creates a lot of suspense, as readers wonder what Miles is counting down to. Once they find out, the remaining chapters are titled X Days After. So, you know right from page 1 that something big is going to happen, but you don’t know what.

This is a coming-of-age novel, as Miles (aka Pudge) not only tries new things, enjoys his first real friendships, and falls in love but also deals with very serious issues of the type that every person will have to deal with at some point in his or her life. That is the true brilliance of John Green novels, isn’t it? He can have you laughing out loud on one page (and I laughed a LOT) and contemplating life’s most complex and solemn concepts on the next. I listened to this novel on audio and absolutely loved the audio production – narrator Jeff Woodman had those Alabama accents just right, and I was often laughing (and probably looking foolish!) with my earbuds hanging out of my ears!

If you’ve never read a John Green novel, what are you waiting for? He perfectly captures the experience of being a teen, agonizing over everything from homework assignments to the meaning of life and everything in between. His novels are emotionally powerful, thoughtful, and always filled with plenty of laughs. And that’s life, isn’t it? Ups and downs, laughing and crying, uncertainty and experiencing the “Great Perhaps.” I loved every moment of this moving, funny, and contemplative novel and can’t wait to see the movie (currently in pre-production).

Brilliance Audio

221 pages, Speak (in paperback)

Why Has It Been Banned: Looking for Alaska was #7 on the ALA’s list of Most FrequentlyBanned Books in 2013 and is likely to appear on the list again this year or next, as the movie production moves forward (the book has already begun climbing back up the best-seller list). According to the ALA, it has been banned for: “Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.” Well, yeah, that pretty much covers it (other than the last item). It does contain all of those things, but I don’t agree it’s unsuitable for teens. I think most older teens have experimented with (or at least wondered about) all of those things – I know I did at that age – and it doesn’t make sense to keep them from reading a book that delves so deeply into the meaning of life and other important issues that teens are also thinking about. Teens should see characters like themselves in books. And let's face it: if a teen isn't drinking or smoking or having sex yet, then reading about it in a novel isn't going to suddenly transform him or her into a delinquent - reading isn't going to change their core values. As I explained in my Banned Books Week intro post, I believe it is perfectly reasonable for parents to decide what their kids are mature enough for (though I think by the age of older teens, even censorship by parents becomes counter-productive) but not OK for others to decide that a book should be kept from an entire community. I have seen teachers’ comments about this book that they loved it and think it would be great for older teens but that their schools would never allow it. That’s a shame because John Green helps teens think about and work through some really important issues.

Graphic Memoir Review: Persepolis

One of the books I chose to read to celebrate Banned Books Week is Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic memoir. It is the author’s account of growing up in Iran during the overthrow of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution, a unique child’s-eye view of a specific time and place in history.

Marjane, known as Marji to her friends and family, was just six years old when the memoir begins in 1976. She lived happily with her mother and father in a modern apartment in Tehran. Her parents were Marxists and not very religious, but six-year old Marji frequently talked to God and told her teacher she wanted to be a prophet when she grew up. To that end, she began writing her own holy book, though she only shared it with her grandmother, with whom she had a wonderfully close and loving relationship. She had an ordinary childhood at that point, filled with days at school, playing outside with other kids from her neighborhood, and enjoying quiet evenings with her parents, sometimes playing games like Monopoly.

Then, in 1980, the Revolution began. Marji’s parents, like many other ordinary citizens of Iran, were in favor of the ousting of the Shah, getting rid of the puppet regime they saw as controlled by oil interests, and the Revolution in general. Her parents demonstrated in the street each day, while Marji and her friends played revolutionaries and held pretend demonstrations in the garden. Once the Islamist extremists took over, Marji’s life changed even more dramatically, as she had to begin wearing a veil and complying with the strict rules being implemented, especially for women.  Her life at home became completely different from her life in public. Once the war with Iraq began, amid massive bombing of Tehran and other cities, even her home life was invaded. Things got even more difficult as Marji entered her teen years.

This powerful and emotional memoir works on two different levels: as a young girl’s coming-of-age story and as a fascinating insider’s look at the history of political change in Iran. What makes it all the more fascinating is to see that historical and political shift from the perspective of an innocent child. Protests, violence, getting stopped in the street: these are not typical elements of a childhood. For Marji, though, they became a part of everyday life. She was a very thoughtful child, whose mind was fed by the books her parents give her about Marxism, war, and revolutions. She was forced to live a double life, as were many other Iranian citizens, though she did manage to get kicked out of school for pointing out the obvious contradictions in what her teacher said before and after the Revolution!

Image by Marjane Satrapi

Marjane tells her story in a graphic novel format, with stark black and white drawings illustrating her unusual childhood. Her simple drawings range from playful (my favorite is on the first page, of the little girls in her class at recess, shortly after the veil became mandatory, using their veils in all kinds of creative make-believe scenarios! see image at left) to horrifying, as war, torture, and executions are depicted alongside normal childhood scenes. I was riveted by this unique and powerful memoir from the first page to the last (and then immediately wanted to get her next book!) and found it both informative and very moving. I can’t wait to read more about Marji’s life in her follow-up book, Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return.

153 pages, Pantheon (a division of Random House)

Why Has It Been Banned?  I’m always curious to find out what would make people take the drastic step of banning a book. In this case, I assumed it was due to the violence depicted: executions, torture, beatings, and wartime violence. Nope. According to the ALA’s list of Top 10Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2014 (of which Persepolis ranks #2), it has been banned due to: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions”. So, maybe “graphic depictions” is about the violence, but really? Amid scenes of torture, people are offended by gambling?? (By the way, I don’t even remember gambling in the book) And how can an honest portrayal of the author’s childhood be “racially and socially offensive”? Like all reasons for banning books, this just floors me. We need more honest looks at other cultures and other political viewpoints in our books. Without that kind of diversity, we end up with a society that is intolerant of differences. I am happy to report that our own school district has not banned this book. In fact, my son will be reading it this year (12^th grade) as assigned reading for his World Literature class. I can’t wait to talk to him about it. NOTE: This is not a children's book, though it would be appropriate and educational for older teens.

  

TV Tuesday: Mr. Robot

It's TV Tuesday! Each week, I write a review of a TV show that we are enjoying.

This week, I am highlighting a new show that premiered this summer, Mr. Robot. Although its first season is over, all of the episodes are still available free On Demand or on the USA Network website. This is one of the few shows that my husband and I watched with our 21-year old college son this summer - he usually comes home once a week, and the three of us enjoy watching favorite TV shows together (our younger son doesn't have much interest in TV!)

Mr. Robot is a twisty and suspenseful show about computer hackers and conspiracies. Elliot, played beautifully and cryptically by Rami Malek, is a socially anxious computer programmer who works for a computer security firm. His childhood friend Angela works alongside him and is one of the few people that Elliot can comfortably interact with. Elliot is contacted by a mysterious anarchist hacker organization, headed by a man known only as Mr. Robot, played by Christian Slater. Mr. Robot wants Elliot to join his team, and although Elliot has some misgivings and questions, he gets involved with them because he agrees with their conspiracy goals - to bring down the ever-present E-Corp, known by Elliot and throughout the show as Evil Corp. They represent all the paranoia Elliot feels about the Big Brother-type world we live in, and they are also responsible for the death of Elliot's father and Angela's mother. Carly Chaikin, who we loved in Suburgatory, also co-stars as one of the other hackers working for Mr. Robot. In each episode, the plans to bring down Evil Corp progress, all while Elliot tries to keep up appearances in his day job and maintain his friendship with Angela. Through it all, we also see Elliot's weekly mandatory meetings with a therapist, though we don't know why.

The show is filmed in a jerky, realistic way in New York City, almost as if from a handheld camera. Elliot narrates the show in a voice-over in which he talks directly to the audience. This approach and the cinematography add to the jumpy, paranoid feel of the story. All in all, it feels more like a movie than a typical TV show, and all three of us have been hooked right from the start. We still have a couple of episodes left to watch, so no spoilers, please! We've already been blown away by some major plot twists that we never saw coming, and we can't wait to see how the season ends.

If you've seen Mr. Robot, what did you think?

What are your favorite TV shows now?

Here's a short preview of Mr. Robot:

Banned Books Week 2015

This is Banned Books Week, a week set aside to celebrate the freedom of speech and the freedom to read whatever you want. Here's more information on Banned Books Week from the American Library Association (ALA).


It's also a great time to read for yourself some of the books that have been challenged or banned. Many of them are classics or highly regarded modern books, and by reading and reviewing them, we can bring attention to some great literature that should be available for all to read.

The way I see it is that it is perfectly OK not to like a book or even to be offended by a book - if that's the case, then you don't have to read it. However, it is not OK to ban a book and remove it from libraries or schools so that no one can read it. In the case of kids, I think that it should be the parents' role to decide what books are appropriate for their kids, not random citizens whose values may be entirely different than yours.

Often, books for children or teens are banned because they deal with difficult topics - violence, abuse, homosexuality (or any kind of sexuality), racism, etc. While parents can decide what is age-appropriate for their own kids, I think it's important for kids and teens to read books that deal with these kinds of difficult topics. All of this - and more - is a part of life, and kids and teens should be exposed to a wide range of real-life issues. Books are a safe way to bring these difficult topics up and can often spark useful discussions with parents, kids, classmates, and teachers.

The ALA has published lists of the most frequently banned books by decade, including the latest decade, 2000-2009. They also have lists of most frequently banned books for each year, from 2001 - 2014.

I like to use these lists each year to choose books to read to celebrate this week. Two years ago for Banned Books Week, I read Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Both were absolutely amazing books!

Last year, I read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (last time I read it, I was only 16) and The Agony of Alice  and Dangerously Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (this series is #2 in the top banned books of 2000 - 2009).


This year, I went to the Top 10 lists at the ALA site and chose Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, #2 on the list of most frequently banned books in 2014, and Looking for Alaska by John Green, #7 on the list of Top 10 banned books in 2013. Both books were incredible - powerful and important, each in their own way.


Come back here later this week for reviews of:

• Persepolis - Thursday
• Looking for Alaska - Friday

For more information, links, and fun ways to celebrate Banned Books Week, check out Sheila's blog, Book Journey.

How are you celebrating Banned Books week?

Movie Monday 9/28 - The Words

Last week, I started this new feature with weekly movie reviews. My husband was out of town last week, so I chose a movie with absolutely no action, shooting, or car chases. This movie is perfect for book lovers, readers, and writers:

I watched The Words, an intricate story within a story within a story. The film opens with Dennis Quaid as Clay Hammond, an acclaimed author reading from his latest novel at a posh event in NYC. The action then shifts to the story that Hammond is reading, about a struggling young writer named Rory Jansen, played by Bradley Cooper, and his beautiful longtime girlfriend Dora, played by Zoe Saldana. Rory wants to be a novelist, but his father is urging him to join the family business or at least "get a real job" so he can support himself. Rory spends years working away at a literary novel and finally sends it out. It is rejected by every agent in NY, though one agent calls him into his office to explain that it's a beautiful piece of writing but won't sell. Rory finally gets a ground-level job as mail boy at a large literary agency and asks Dora to marry him. They honeymoon in Paris, where Rory admires an old leather briefcase in an antique shop, so Dora buys it for him. After returning home, Rory discovers a manuscript hidden in the old case, about a WWII American soldier stationed in Paris who fell in love with a young French woman - and at that point, the action switches again to that story, as Rory reads about the young man and woman in Paris and is brought to tears by the beautifully written story. Frustrated that he can't seem to write anything himself, Rory starts to retype the old manuscript in his computer, just to feel the perfectly written story come through his fingertips. Dora finds the file the next day, assumes that he wrote it, and urges him to submit it. The novel is published and both it and Rory became a huge success. He tries to forget his guilt over copying the manuscript, until he meets an old man who claims that he wrote the story, back in Paris decades ago.

This is a story told in layers, as Clay narrates his novel about Rory and Rory copies the story about the then-young man in Paris. But mostly, it is a story about an ethical dilemma and the aftermath of ignoring your conscience. Though its main topic is plagiarism, this movie isn't just for writers. It's about life and dreams, decisions and consequences. The acting is all top-notch, as you might have guessed from the all-star cast, and the plot is unique and intricate. Though I set out to choose a movie different from the thrillers we usually watch, The Words has its own kind of suspense, as you wonder whether Rory will get away with his crime, how he'll fix things with the old man, and what Clay's own story is. It kept me riveted - and guessing - right up until the end.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

It's Monday 9/28! What Are You Reading?

You're probably getting sick of hearing this (I certainly am!), but I spent another week sick. I had a few days in the middle where I felt a little but better then got a whole lot worse again on the weekend. This has been going on for a month now, and I've had enough of it! Here's to a better October.


The upside is that I have had a LOT of reading time this month (though I've fallen way behind on my reviews). Here's what my family and I have been reading this past week:

• I finished The Martian by Andy Weir this weekend. It was just as good as everyone said, with great suspense and a surprising sense of humor for a sci fi thriller. I can't wait to see the movie!
• I also finished reading Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic memoir, for Banned Books Week (this week!). It is a child's view of living through the Iranian Revolution, and it was absolutely stunning - very powerful. Look for my review at the end of this week.
• And I finished listening to my other Banned Books Week choice, Looking for Alaska by John Green. What an amazing book! Filled with humor but also tackling serious issues and emotions, it is my favorite John Green novel so far. I will also review that one this week.
• Now, I am reading my first review book for Publisher's Weekly, A Paper Son by Jason Buchholz, a novel that goes back and forth between a present-day elementary teacher in San Francisco and the story of a family who moved back to China in 1925, with a touch of magic linking the two stories. I'm really enjoying it so far - the story and the writing pulled me right in.
• Today, I will also start a new teen/YA audiobook, The Cemetery Boys by Heather Brewer, which sounds like a perfect fit for October and my R.I.P. X Challenge.
• My husband, Ken, started The English Girl by Daniel Silva, a novel he got from our library's summer reading program. He was enjoying it but left it on the plane on his way home from a business trip! We've requested a copy from the library (ironically) so he can finish it.
• Meanwhile, Ken is now reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, a fantasy novel about a young magician that our son loved and urged him to read.
• Jamie, 21, is still reading Valour by John Gwynne, Book 2 of The Faithful and the Fallen series - he's enjoying this fantasy series and is trying to make more time for reading this semester.

I didn't have the energy to catch up on book reviews toward the end of the week, as I had hoped, but I did manage a few posts at the start of the week - as you can see, I've been adding TV and movie reviews to my blog lately:

Movie Monday: Coherence, a mind-bending sci fi movie we loved

TV Tuesday: The Wire, an older HBO show on Amazon Prime we are hooked on!

Review of Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, a teen/YA audiobook

Summary of Books Read in August (told you I was behind!) - 7 great books

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.     
 

Books Read in August

 I am late as usual with my monthly reading summary, though I have a good excuse this time! I have been very sick and am just starting to come back to life & catch up on my reviews (among a million other things I got behind on!). I am excited to finally do this summary because I made some good progress on my reading challenges in August. Here's what I read:

• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, novel (VA)
• Crows and Cards by Joseph Helgerson, middle-grade audio (MO)
• Anne of Green Gables by H.M. Montgomery, classic middle-grade novel (Canada) 

• Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, teen/YA audio (IL)
• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, novel (MA)
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, classic novel (UK)

 

• What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott, teen/YA novel (NY) - review to come

So, I read seven books total, which is quite a bit for me! They were all fiction (pretty normal for me), but I read a nice mix of adult, YA, and middle-grade novels - some books and some audio. I enjoyed all of these. My choice for favorite book of the month is a tie between Anne of Green Gables and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I loved both of them and never wanted them to end!

Update on 2015 Reading Challenges:
For my 2015 Where Are You Reading Challenge, I added just 1 new state (Missouri) and 1 new country (Canada) to my list. I finally made some TBR progress and read 3 books from my own shelves for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2015! I listened to two more audio books for my 2015 Audio Book Challenge, and added no books to my 2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge. I read 2 classics last month - woohoo! - for my Back to the Classics Challenge. I added Canada to my Travel the World in Books Challenge (does that count?). And I read two more big books for my own Big Book Summer Challenge and met my goal of 6 big books this summer - hey, that's the important one, right?

What was your favorite book(s) read in August? 

Teen/YA Review: Bone Gap

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby was just nominated for the National Book Award. It is the only YA book on the award’s long list that I have read so far – I listened to it on audio last month. I mostly enjoyed this compelling story, though I was a bit jarred by the sudden presence of magic/supernatural occurrences toward the end.

Finn is an older teenage boy living in a small rural town with his older brother, Sean. The two live alone – their parents have been out of the picture for quite some time. Seam dreams of going to medical school, but for now, he works as an EMT in town to support their small family. Most members of the community consider Finn odd and have nicknamed him Spaceman and Moonface because he tends to stare into space and not look people in the eyes.

Finn and Sean’s quiet life is interrupted one night when they find a beautiful young woman hiding in their barn. She’s been badly injured, in what looks to Sean like a classic case of abuse, so they take her in and care for her. Roza speaks mostly Polish and is a kind, scared woman who quickly finds a place in Finn and Sean’s hearts and in their spare room. The three are happy together in their new little family when the unthinkable happens: Roza is taken away by a mysterious man in a black SUV.

Finn was the only witness to the abduction, and he’s not even 100% sure it was an abduction because Roza told him it was OK, even though it looked to Finn as if she was taken by force. Finn blames himself because he can’t describe the man to the police, but he is determined to find out what happened to Roza. His best friend, Miguel, tells him it’s not his fault, but he feels responsible. Meanwhile, Finn gets to closer to Petey, a local girl who keeps bees with her mother, and with whom he falls in love.

That’s how the book seemed to me for the first two-thirds or more: like a realistic drama with a bit of mystery and suspense to it, populated by interesting characters. I was completely pulled into this world, riveted by the story, and couldn’t wait to find out what had happened to Roza. Then, I began to notice odd things in the narrative that didn’t make a lot of sense to me. It took me a while (probably longer than it should have!) to finally figure out that there was an otherworldly element of magic or the supernatural at work here, and toward the end, that magical realm became far more clear.

I don’t mind magic or supernatural occurrences when I know they are a part of the story – a time travel plot, for instance, or a ghost within the story – but in this case, it took me by surprise and felt rather jarring to me. I felt as if I was reading one book (and enjoying it) and then suddenly was thrust into an entirely different story. Reading others’ reviews and descriptions of Bone Gap, I can see a few others who felt the same way that I did but many more readers who saw the magical signs much earlier than I did and enjoyed that aspect of the story. So, maybe it’s just me, and perhaps I would have felt differently if I’d have read a summary ahead of time and knew what to expect.

Clearly, the novel is very well-written, hence its National Book Award nomination, and everyone seems to agree that it has interesting characters and an engaging, unique plot. Beyond that, I think how much you like this book will depend in part on how much you like magical realism. Two blogging friends at My Head is Full of Books and Library Matters (their reviews at the links) pointed out to me that the novel is based on the myth of Persephone. I know nothing about mythology, so perhaps knowing that myth would have deepened my appreciation of the book and its multi-layered meaning. Overall, I enjoyed the compelling story and unique, interesting characters but definitely liked the first part of the book better than the last part.

HarperChildren’s Audio

TV Tuesday 9/22 - The Wire

My husband and I usually watch two TV shows each evening (and sometimes Jeopardy, too!). That's our time together, and we enjoy watching favorite shows. I also watch something on my own (something with no action or suspense - ha ha!) at lunchtime.

So, I thought why not add some TV reviews as well as my weekly movie reviews? So, here we go - TV Tuesday! Each week, I will highlight a different TV show. Between TV seasons the past few weeks (and with me so sick), my husband and I were searching for something new to watch, so we settled on a decade-old HBO series that we'd heard great things about (and that is available for free now on Amazon Prime):

We started watching The Wire last week, and we are completely hooked now! The show takes place n Baltimore (a city close to us) and focuses on the drug trade in the projects there. Both the Homicide and Narcotics departments of the Baltimore Police Department are interested in a particular drug dealer who controls a whole area and whom they suspect is responsible for at least a dozen murders. A judge notices this activity and requests that the Baltimore PD set up a special commission to take down this gang leader. The police department heads aren't thrilled with this order, so they reluctantly comply, donating some of their worst dead weight officers to the cause. This ragtag group is given a basement office and sets out to try to catch one of the city's most notorious and untouchable criminals.

Dominic West does a great job as Detective McNaulty, the Homicide detective that started this whole thing and is completely obsessed with catching this guy. Two of our favorite actors from Treme (another amazing show!), Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters, star as other detectives, and Sonja Sohn is excellent as the lead Narcotics officer on the case. The show alternates between the points of view of the people involved in the drug trade (some of them just kids) and the police officers investigating, so you see both perspectives, as well as the officers' private lives. The show has really grown on us, and by the third episode, we were liking it more and more. The acting is excellent, the gritty setting is very realistic (luckily, we haven't seen much of this side of Baltimore before), and the twisty, intricate plot has sucked us in completely. Given the subject matter (and its origins on HBO), there is some violence and lots of swearing. So if that bothers you, this show is probably not for you. If it doesn't bother you, then the scene where McNaulty and his partner investigate a crime scene for 10 minutes using only the f-word is pretty hilarious!

That's what we're watching this week. What TV shows are you enjoying in between the summer and fall seasons?

Movie Monday: Coherence

I was still very sick last week (perhaps finally starting to perk up a bit today? maybe?), so I watched a LOT of TV and read a lot. I really tried to rest and stop trying to get things done (tough for me!), so one day I indulged in a couple of old 80's movies: Dirty Dancing and Flashdance. What fun! Dirty Dancing is one of my favorite movies of all-time and the music and dancing in both put a big smile on my face - just what I needed.

This weekend, my husband and I watched a sci fi movie on Amazon Prime, Coherence, that I couldn't wait to tell you about! It was so mind-blowingly good. This quiet little movie has the kind of twisty plot that I love, the kind that you often encounter in time travel movies, though this was different. It starts out with a rather mundane scene - eight friends gather together for a dinner party. You gradually get to know them a bit, as they come in and reconnect and chat over wine and dinner. One topic of conversation is a comet that is passing extremely close to earth that night. Em says that she read about weird things happening the last time a comet came this close, about 100 years ago, and Hugh says that his brother, who is a theoretical physicist, told him to call him if he noticed anything strange tonight. First, a couple of cell phones spontaneously shatter, and the whole group loses cell coverage. Then, the power goes out, and the real fun starts. I won't tell you any more about what happens because that would ruin your fun, but things get really weird after that! There's not much violence - it's not like a horror movie. It's more of a cerebral scariness, as the group of friends (and the viewer) very gradually figure out what is going on. There are no huge stars in this film - it is truly an ensemble cast - but the acting is all very good. It is a clever, mind-bending movie that will have you gasping right until the very last moment (great ending).

If you liked Coherence, you might also like Sliding Doors (which is mentioned in Coherence) and The Butterfly Effect (two of my favorites).

Have you seen any good movies lately?

It's Monday 9/21! What Are You Reading?

Well, I had yet another week on the couch, still very sick, though I think  - maybe? - I am doing a bit better this morning. In any case, I had to spend the morning at Urgent Care with my son (his collarbone is not broken, just bruised!), and I am not curled into a ball crying yet...so that's progress!

On the plus side, with my efforts to rest as much as possible again last week, I had a lot of time for reading:

• I finished my book group selection (though I missed the meeting), If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran by Carla Power, about a half-Jewish journalist who grew up in several Muslim countries and embarks on a project with a good friend & Muslim scholar to learn about the Quran.This nonfiction book was nominated for a National Book Award last week, so our timing was good! It was a fascinating and enlightening book - very thought-provoking and relevant to what is going on in the world today.
• I also finished How To Wake Up by Toni Bernhard, a good friend of mine who also wrote How To Be Sick (she has the same illness I have). This book is about applying the principles of Buddhism to every day life, and, like her first book, it was excellent. Reading it while so sick (and getting impatient with being sick) was particularly timely - it helps in dealing with whatever challenges come up in your daily life.
• Now, I've started reading The Martian by Andy Weir - finally! I've heard so many great things about this sci fi thriller and gave it to my father, husband, and step-father for Father's Day last year (they all loved it). I wanted to read it before the movie came out - it's great so far and the fast-paced excitement is a nice change from the nonfiction I've been reading...though I did dream I was stuck on another planet this weekend!
• I also started Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic memoir, for Banned Books Week (next week!). It is a child's view of living through the Iranian Revolution, and it is absolutely stunning so far - very powerful, especially on the heels of reading If the Oceans Were Ink.
• I also started listening to a book for Banned Books Week (I usually choose two - one adult and one kids/teen/YA) - Looking for Alaska by John Green, a YA novel I have wanted to read for years. It is excellent so far - had me laughing right from the first minutes!
• My husband, Ken, finished The Girl on the Train, which I read this summer. He enjoyed the suspense and unique, twisty story very much.
• Jamie, 21, is reading Valour by John Gwynne, Book 2 of The Faithful and the Fallen series (he found his Kindle under his bed!) - he's enjoying this series and is trying to make more time for reading this semester.
• Craig, 17, is not reading anything at all now that he finished The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri for his World Lit class, but he has a great syllabus for the year (I think so anyway - he's not so impressed), including The Kite Runner and Persepolis, which I am reading now!

I wasn't able to do much writing or blogging last week but managed a few posts:

Movie Monday (a new weekly feature) - Hot Pursuit & Shaun the Sheep

National Book Award Long Lists Announced!

Review of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Saturday Snapshot: The View from My Deck

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.     

One last reminder -  if you signed up for the Big Book Summer Challenge, you can still add your reviews of Big Books to the review list at the link (the second links list) through the end of the month.

Saturday Snapshot 9/19

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

I haven't participated in Saturday Snapshot in a few weeks because I've been very sick and haven't left the house! Not a lot of photographic inspiration when housebound. But the weather has been lovely this week, so I have been spending a lot of time out on our back deck - it's very peaceful out there among the trees and birds. So, here's a peak at the world from our deck:

My spot on the back deck among the trees

One windy day brought down the first fall leaves!

The lovely blue sky against the green trees

Sunlight shining through the green leaves

Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend!

Fiction Review: Rebecca

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I’ve wanted to read the classic novel Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier for years, especially since Simon of the podcast The Readers is constantly mentioning it as his favorite book. I finally had a chance to listen to it on audio this summer when SYNC offered it as one of their free classics. Although it was slow to get going, I ended up enjoying it, with its many twists and turns.

The unnamed narrator begins the novel thinking back to her days at Manderley, an extravagant home in the British countryside, then takes the reader back to how her life there began. As a young girl, she was working as a companion to a wealthy woman vacationing in Monte Carlo. While there, she met an older man named Maximillan (Maxim) de Winter and fell in love with him. After a whirlwind courtship, the two of them married and honeymooned in Europe, finally returning to the renowned Manderley estate in the English countryside.

Right away, though, the new Mrs. de Winter could sense that something was amiss. The first Mrs. de Winter, a beautiful woman named Rebecca who died the year before, was still very much present in the house and in the minds of the servants, particularly Mrs. Danvers, who was obviously very devoted to Rebecca. The new Mrs. de Winter feels like a visitor in the beautiful home that carries traces of Rebecca everywhere. In addition, having come from modest means, she has no idea how to run a household like Manderley and so feels even more incompetent in Rebecca’s shadow.

Mrs. de Winter begins to notice strange things around Manderley. One whole wing of the house is left unused and has been preserved exactly as it was when Rebecca was alive. Even Rebecca’s old bedroom looks as if she is expected to return at any moment, right down to the nightclothes laid out on the bed. She becomes convinced that Maxim still loves Rebecca and that there is not room in his heart for her, too. She also feels very uncomfortable around Mrs. Danvers, who clearly is still grieving Rebecca and resents the presence of a new Mrs. de Winter. Slowly, gradually, secrets are revealed about Rebecca and her death.

The first half of the novel is fairly slow-paced, gradually building the characters and relationships and setting the scene, first in Europe and then at Manderley. Despite a vague foreshadowing of something sinister, much of the beginning of the novel reads like any period romance: the couple meet, fall in love, get married, and begin to settle into their home. In fact, my husband listened to the first half of the book with me in the car on our vacation but had no interest in continuing – there was little action or suspense, and we were both a bit annoyed with the insecure, timid Mrs. de Winter for not speaking up and just telling her new husband how she was feeling.

That all changes in the second half of the novel, as the ominous tone grows and suspicions about Rebecca and her death begin to mount. Then, the suspense builds exponentially. There is a lot of foreshadowing in the novel, which I thought was all rather obvious…until I found out that all of my guesses about what happened were wrong! Rebecca is filled with twists and turns and all kinds of unforeseen discoveries, right up until the very end.

--> The audio book was very well done, with the narrator’s accent and tone adding to both the sense of place and time and the suspense.

I read a lot of Dickens in high school, and I always felt that the first third of every Dickens novel was slow and a bit dull, and then each novel seemed to pick up its pace so that I had trouble setting it down. Rebecca felt much the same to me, so perhaps this is just an older style of writing, with a slower building of suspense than what we are used to with today’s thrillers that take off at a breakneck pace right from the first page. In any case, the second half of the novel certainly redeemed its slow start for me, and I ended up enjoying the surprises that came around every corner.

Hachette Audio

National Book Award Long Lists Out!

The National Book Award has announced its long list picks for 2015 - you can see them in all categories at this link.

I haven't read any of the fiction picks yet - I better get busy! It goes without saying that I haven't read any of the poetry choices, either.

I am currently reading one of the nonfiction books on the long list - If the Oceans Were Ink by Carla Powers. She's a journalist who has lived in Muslim countries, and the book follows her quest to learn more about the Quran. It's fascinating so far and very thought-provoking.

Of the YA books selected, the only one I've read so far is Bone Gap by Laura Ruby which I listened to on audio and enjoyed (review to come hopefully this week). I also have Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman (one of my favorite authors) waiting on audio, so I need to get to that one soon.

Which of the National Book Award long-list choices have you read? What are your picks for favorites?