Book list review and thoughts

I came across this blog today (on this dark, rainy day) and I enjoyed reading the list of books. I love books, and always request them for my son's birthday. I would much rather him have an exploding bookshelf than an exploding toy box. 

The list from this blog includes 75 character building stories. There are a few I've read (Giraffes Can't Dance, Where the Wild Things Are, Alexander And The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day) and many I hope to research and add to our collection. 

The very first thing I notice is a complete lack of Dr. Seuss from this list. I get that it's author's preference, but wow. The Sneetches, The Lorax? Nope. The Sneetches seems to be a lesser known book, one that I hadn't read until I had a child of my own. It comes (I think) only in a collection with other stories (What Was I Scared of, The Zax, et al); but I still think it's one of the most important Dr. Seuss books available. 

I perused the comment section of the blog, seeing that other commenters noted the same absence as myself, but was a little disappointed to see a few say "It teachers that physical appearance shouldn't matter." or something to that affect, because really, it teaches so much more. The first time I read it, I was a little blown away by the fact that Dr. Seuss wrote The Sneetches in the middle of the civil rights crisis in the US. It's about so much more than physical appearance. It's about prejudice, tolerance, and treating people equally. Or, treating Sneetches equally. :) Dr. Seuss snuck this gem of a story-a huge character builder if you ask me, into our children during a time when it was needed most. I read it often to my son, and I impress upon him the importance of being nice to everyone, no matter how they look or how others treat them; he is to treat everyone the way he wants to be treated.

A side quirk I noted from this blog that I just wanted to discuss was a mother who commented that she did not like the book Pinkalicious, and didn’t think it earned a spot on the list of character building books. She said that the first time they read it, she didn’t like that the main character (and forgive me, because I’ve never read it) talked to her mother, stating that her daughter was very impressionable and she didn’t think it was appropriate for her to see someone else doing it and try to mimic the behavior.

That is all fine and dandy to me, it really is. There are books I don’t like, and books I don’t care to read to my children. However, I will choose not to read them and leave it at that. The commenter I’m speaking of specifically chose to glue the pages that she didn’t like together and continue to read the rest of the book.

Hmm. I’m all for personal choice, it’s your kids, your life, your books. But why not just put it away until your daughter can better understand that the little girl is acting badly and know better than to act that way? That just seemed a little odd to me. For one, that’s nearly sacrilegious to a book lover like me to damage a book permanently by gluing the pages together. And another, that’s just an odd form of censorship to me. I had a few friends in elementary school whose parents recorded over scary parts, sad parts, or swearing in children’s movies. It would just switch to a blank screen while that particular moment passed. Again, I’m all for ensuring what your children see isn’t harmful to them, but I can’t help but wonder why you wouldn’t just skip it or just not show it?

No judgment, I just really thought that was interesting. 

Just a few bits for thought today. As I said, it's rainy, and cold. And spring break, so I'm sitting in a quite house all alone while the boy is with his grandma.   

Patterns in Books

I read a lot. My girlfriends and I have spent the past year in a book club, each person submitting a book and then we vote from a pool of 5 each month. So again, I read quite a bit. In addition to my book club, I also listen to audiobooks during my commute to and from work. 

I like a wide variety of books. If you'll click on the reading challenge up in the top menu bar, you can see the books I've read for the year. With the upcoming movie version of The Hunger Games book, my book club friends and I have chosen to read the series and discuss it. On  the drive I've been listening to The Hunger Games and at home reading The Iron Fey series. 

Because I like to read YA books, I've noticed a pattern recently. When writing a YA book, it must be necessary to have a protagonist with an absent parent (most likely an absent father) and a love triangle of some kind. 

Let's consider a few popular YA series. The Iron Fey for starters, is about a young girl, Meghan Chase, whose father went missing when she was six, only to find out at sixteen that her real father is the Faery King Oberon (A Midsummer Night's Dream). During the series, Meghan develops feelings for two male characters, Ash and Puck (Robin Goodfellow, also Midsummer Night's Dream). So, daddy issues-check, love triangle-check.

Up next, Twilight. Bella Swan, who grew up with her flighty single mother reunites with her near-stranger father when her mother decides to remarry a traveling baseball player. Enter love interest Edward Cullen and book two, Jacob Black. Daddy issues-check, love triangle-check.

A lesser known, but still patternly His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass) stars Lyra, a young seemingly orphaned girl who begins a quest of dark against light. Daddy issues-check, mommy issues-check; no love triangle (she's a little too young).

Which brings me to The Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen, a young tribute from District 12 enters a bloodbath leaving behind a barely there mother, a dead father and a sister who needs caring for. During this series, we see Katniss struggle with her feelings for two boys she's not sure if she loves or not. Daddy issues-not really, but he's absent, mother issues-check, love triangle-check.

I could go on and on. The Beautiful Creatures Series, The Fallen Series, The Sally Lockhart Series (to an extent) all feature at least one missing parent and some type of love triangle or love interest. If you even want to take it a step further, YA books aren't the only books guilty of this pattern. The Southern Vampire Mysteries (Sookie Stackhouse books, True Blood) and even The Millennium series (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo) have a heroine who has missing parents and some type of issue with their love life. 

We all obviously enjoy it, or these books wouldn't be selling, but I sometimes have to ask myself if writing a YA book would really be that difficult. I've read enough of them that surely I could cut and paste some ideas, put my own names and places to the story, twist it a little, and make money off of the clearly booming market. 

Of all the books I mentioned, Katniss is my favorite. Katniss is strong and brave and is a better person than I am most days. She represents the type of person I would want my daughter to be if forced in the horrible situations Katniss has been in. Not that I think that everything she does is okay, there are definitely some low points to her character, but all in all, at least she doesn't wilt and die because a boy moved away. If I ever decide to get in on the YA market, I hope to write a character one can look up for the positive attributes of their character and not because their boyfriend is sparkly vampire.

YA books

Love triangle

absent/distant father

feelings for both

The Incident, not so Curious

If you don't know me in real life, you might not know what type of work I do. I currently work in special education, in a large public school. Through my training and work I have come into contact with many students (middle school and early childhood) with a diagnosis of autism.

My book club and I recently read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. This book is basically about a boy with autism, though after reading the book I debate whether it is truly autism or actually Asperger's syndrome. I digress. The publisher review calls it a mystery, a heart breaker, and "a novel of exceptional literary merit." I question all but the heart breaker part.

Christopher (the narrator, who is writing his own first person novel that the story is told through) is 15 years old and lives with his Dad. The story is written, again first person, as Christopher thinks. At many times in the book I felt this point of view was possibly over emphasized, and one reviewer stated the author seemed to be pushing you to the point that he imagined parents of children with autism felt. There were several pictures, diagrams, and math problems that I truly could have lived without.

There are really only two true plot twists, which I'll admit I didn't see one coming. The other I did. After both twists are revealed, Christopher begins a journey that is very difficult for a person with his difficulties in the large social world. He begins his journey, ends it, and from there the book dwindles down very quickly.

One review of the book from goodreads that I felt truly summarized the book states, "Haddon does a pretty good job overall at presenting you his story through the eyes of an autist, which is to say the prose isn't the most graceful. It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to strike you with it's stiltedness and make you think about how the thought process of your narrator differs from your own. This is an effective technique, but one wonders if it's the best narrative choice for an entire novel. The story actually comes to a rather abrupt finish in the last twenty pages or so, which almost suggests that Haddon himself got tired of generating a story in this voice and wanted to put the book down himself."

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was an extremely quick read, I finished it in two sittings of one day. It was one I had on my to read list, but had it not been a book club book, I probably would not have finished it. If you don't have any perspective of children with autism/asperger's, it might be a great read for some perspective; but other than that there wasn't a whole lot to the story and I didn't get anything out of it. It didn't leave me with that feeling of, "Wow, I want to read that and relive it all again!"

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

I just recently finished the book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.

Remember I do mostly audiobooks, so it can be different than an actual book; especially if you read fast like me. I sometimes have a hard time going at the pace of the narrator.

With that said, I spent the first hour feeling lost. It skipped back and forth a little from Orito to Jacob (pronounced with a y sound not j). Once I was 30 minutes or so into each narrator is was easier to follow. Sometimes there are quick narrator changes, and only a few pagers per narrator so that definitely was confusing in an audiobook especially because there was a time/location announcement with each chapter. I figure that would have translated better to text so I could refer back.

Beyond that small issue, the book was wonderful. I had no expectations going in, and was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

The Japanese history was enlightening and had me looking up maps and shoguns online. This was my first foray into Asian themed books, and it was a rewarding experience.

The trials and tribulations of the characters made me sad, especially the last two parts, but that's life, naturally. The high points of the book were good, and I enjoyed that Jacob was a good character throughout.

I most definitely recommend this to anyone with an interest in historical fiction, likes Asian themed literature, and love stories.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7141642-the-thousand-autumns-of-jacob-de-zoet

Reading Challenge

One of my favorite past times has always been reading. Usually when I pick up a book, I seldom put it down until it's finished. Last year, one of my goals for the year was to begin reading again. So I did. I read a lot of stupidly entertaining YA books, that had more depth than I expected. I also read real books, with intensity, life and challenges. It's always so refreshing to finish a book that was truly worth reading. Most of the time, I just can't wrap my mind around how truly awesome it was.

So, my goal this year, is to read thirty books by the end of the year. After the first quarter of the year, I will be at about fifteen, so I might even up the goal!

Anyway, I am going to keep a list here of all the books I've read this year, and will post a short summary of each under the category of Book Review. Eventually I'm going to get around to making a page for it, but right now it's a lot of work.

Here is my reading challenge marker from Goodreads, and you can click on it to make your own if you want!!

2011 Reading Challenge

Sally has
read 12 books toward her goal of 30 books.

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12 of 30 (40%)

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Crossed another off the list

So you might have noticed, I crossed something off my list. If you didn't notice, it's number 1. Read more.

I'm not exactly sure what more means, and what I'm comparing to, but I was in a rut for a while where I just wasn't mentally stimulated. lol Well, so far this year, I have read a lot of books. Things I wouldn't normally read, ie lots of YA books since I work at a middle school and that's all the library has. I've also started a new series, The Milennium series. It's crime fiction. I've never really been a major crime fan, but it's ok. I love this series. The first book is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's gritty, and dirty, and European. It's kind of like Pan's Labrinth. Things happen that you just do not expect.

I also read a Brit dramedy called The Reading Group. I love all things British entertainment. Bridget Jones' Diary was one of my all time favorites, and I grabbed this because it looked good, and it was. Very soap opera-ish, but a good read none the less. I much prefer my drama be fiction than real life.

On top of these, I'm current, via Audiobooks via Audible.com via my iPod on the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries. Also known as the books that fuel the True Blood series on HBO. We have the channel just to watch the show, and I'm not quite convinced that I like where the show is going...but I guess I'll keep watching to see. But that's TV not books.

I've done a lot of reading this summer. Every break from homework, wifing, and parenting I've had has been filled with a book, thus the neglect of this poor little blog. But a friend posted an article about stay at home moms, and while I'm technically not one, I am this summer, and as the article says, Mom's who stay at home like to fill their 15 minutes of free time with what pleases them, and right now, that's a book and a bath. (Now that I have hot water again, that is.)

So, I crossed something off my list, are you crossing anything off of yours?

Be Safe Little Boy

So, I read this book while pregnant with Archer. It's called, Be Safe Little Boy. It made me cry in the middle of the Christian book store where I was shopping. I happened across it at Amazon last week and ordered it because it's only $5 and apparently I'm a glutton for tears.

I get it today and crack it open, and of course cry big fat tears that almost make my contact lenses fall out. She starts out by saying that the mother holds her new little boy, and as the nurses ask for him to clean him up she realizes her life with him will always be about letting go. And just so you don't think I'm a big baby, I'll share a few lines.

"The boy grew older and for his sixth birthday he got a shiny bike. His mother kissed him on the top of his helmet, stood back, and slowly, very slowly he climed onto the seat. From the place where she watched him start to ride, that mother whistled a quiet whistle. And in her heart, the words went something like this: Be safe little boy. Petal hard little boy, look how much you've grown. Be safe little boy, where you ride little boy. You're not yet on your own. (Karen Kingsbury)

She goes on through each stage of life, football, driving, dating, marriage. And each one talks about how the boy grows a little farther away. The dating one is the hardest for me:

"The years went by like crazy and the boy fell in love. Love meant that his mother would have to share her little boy's heart with someone else."

Geez. Break my heart why don't you. I've told Chance Archer was sleeping with us until he decided he was too old, but now I'm thinking I'll never let him move out. : )

Diary of Ellen Rimbauer

A few weeks ago I went to lunch with an old friend from BBW in my favorite town.

There was no parking right out front so I had to park about a block down and walk back. As I walked past the book store (The Book Store on the Corner), I saw Her Fearful Symmetry. I had seen it in the sidebar on facebook, and considered downloading the audiobook, but it was too expensive. I went in and grabbed it (for only $3) and I also found the Diary of Ellen Rimbauer.

Since it was smaller, I read it first. Before this book, I had no previous ideas or opinions of this book. As I was reading it, I was thinking it was the account of an actual person and these were the things she thought were happening in her world.

I get 3/4 of the way through, and started googling her and her husband, to no avail. The search results were only coming up the book itself. That was when I stumbled across a forum from 2003 when the book was published. Apparently it is a fiction book about a fiction person. If you have eyes, you could see on the back near the barcode where it says fiction.

Duh...

Overall, it was an OK story, but I completely lost interest when I found out it wasn't real.

Southern Vampires

Have you read the Sookie Stackhouse series? The HBO show True Blood is based on them. I'm on book four, and I really like the series.

I'll tell you why I like them.

I don't think these books are award winning material. I don't think they are the best written, as a matter of fact, most days I find a continuity error that makes me wonder how the editors missed it.

However, if you've read Twilight and are an Edward lover, you know that Stephenie Meyer makes it really hard to dislike him, let alone hate him. Even when he's being a controlling ass, it's just hard to say, "I hate that perfectly sculpted, beautiful, sparkling vampire."

Charlaine Harris' star vampire, Bill, he's not as idolized. (So far, as I said, only 4 books in.) Bill doesn't really understand modern humans, he makes errors, he says and does many wrong things, and it's OK to be pissed at him for it.

It's not crammed down your throat how perfect Bill and Sookie are together. She tells us constantly that they aren't good for each other, but they are mutually indulging in this bad for them relationship.

I like most of all that I don't feel bad for Bill when other men are nice to Sookie. I like that she isn't on his pedestal, and he isn't on hers. I like that she gets pissed at Bill, and has the self control to stay away from him when she is. I like that he gives her space and lets her be pissed.

Most of all, I like that they are adults. They have jobs, and worries, and care about bills and lack of funds. And they aren't spoiled teenagers who drive foreign cars. I think every character as driven an American built car. And they all have jobs.

Sorry, I'm getting off topic, but sitll I like these books for many reasons. But mostly they are a guilty pleasure.

13th Tale

I completely devoured this book. I read late last night, during nap time today and even for a little while as Chance and Arch played in the floor. The instant they were in bed, I busted that book out again and finished it.

In the book, the author describes being so drawn into a book that you are completely unaware of the world moving around you. While that didn't happen with this book, it has happened to me in the past. When I was reading the Twlight Saga, it happened to me. I was so wrapped up that I couldn't do anything but read. Archer was still bfing so I could just read while he nursed and napped. I honestly stayed up until 330 to finish one of the books, and I read them all in 5 days. I actually finished the first book on the way to the theater to watch the movie. On the way back, I picked up New Moon from my sister and had it finished the by the evening of the next day. Luckily, my own personal copies came in the mail 2 days later, or I would have been suffering from withdrawals.

The Thirteenth Tale, the book I just finished, was a really good book. The author was very engaging, and I'm slightly disappointed in myself for not realizing what was happening until it was spelled out for me. I was going in all the wrong places, but once it was said outloud, I was distressed to have missed it.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading in general. It has very little bad language, it does talk a little about things of a not so kosher nature, but nothing that isn't absolved with the story.

Tomorrow, I must make up lost time in the homework department. Hopefully I'll have the chance to pop in the library to check out The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz-Zafon. More on it later!

New Book

I added a new book to my library thing today.

It's called "The Thirteenth Tale." It's by Diane Setterfield.

I came across it on a blog yesterday, and it really sounded interesting. I don't get excited about books all that often, so I really hope it's not just hype!

I'll let you know how it turns out!

PS, Has anyone read this? If so, 1-5 stars?

Time Traveler's Wife Book Review, Part Deux (Spoilers!!!!)

Don't continue if you don't want to read my whining words about this book, the plot and why I'm pissed about everything that happens from beginning to end. (Well not really everything, but I need something to get the point across that this is a spoiler disclaimer without really having to use those words)












Ok, the more I have pondered this book, the more I feel as though I really am pissed at it.

Basically, I feel robbed. I hate that ending. Hate it. We know from the letter that they do in fact see each other again. That's amazing. I love it, I HATE that she's freaking 82. WTF?!

That tells me one thing, Clare spent the rest of her life not living, waiting on Henry to come back to her. I HATE that. I hate that for her, for her family watching her meager existance, for her daughter. She was slightly more involved I'm sure than Henry's dad, but there's no way she was much more so. She became Henry's dad. She wallowed.

As a parent, I know, I take that back, I don't know. I can only imagine and I pray that I never know what it's like to loose the man I love with every ounce of my soul. But I can only imagine how hard it must be to go on living, but you must. If Chance were to die, I would fight with every sad, depressed melancholy cell in my body to ensure that Archer didn't loose both parents.

I think Clare was being selfish. And not just in that aspect. She doesn't feel like she can date, but she can let Gomez sex her up on his kitchen table while her BEST friend, Gomez' wife, takes the kids out? Not ok with that. That's so hurtful to so many people. Gomez for one, who's been in love with her since 1990. Her best friend, who in the next scene is having milkshakes with her. She's obviously not oblivious and definitely not faultless. She knew her husband was in love with Clare, yet she had 3 kids with him. That's her own fault, but she deserves more than that from Clare.

I think my least favorite thing is that she doesn't marry current Henry, but future Henry. I just don't like that. She's obviously very partial to him, he's the Henry of her childhood, and it feels like she's choosing him over current Henry.

Henry's selfish too. I mean, My goodness, having sex with Clare from the future with yourself in bed next to her. And, what exactly is he doing with "himself" when his dad catches him? At 15? I mean, I'm gonna think it's weird no matter what, but 15 is pretty old to be doing things like that, no?

Anyway, I liked the book. I liked the story most of the time. I hate the ending. I hate everything that happens from the point that Alba is born and Henry knows he's going to die. Well, I don't hate it, but I'm just not happy with it. I like happily ever afters.

Oh, and I love that Alba gets to spend time and learn from Henry, but I hate that Clare never gets to be there.

Now I'm done!

Time Traveler's Wife

I just finished the book, moments ago.

I'm just not thrilled with it. I don't think it was a bad book, it just kept going to places I'm not ok with, and now I feel let down.

Hoping the movie is better. (How sad is that?)