Cara's Books

Happily Ever After: The Fairytale Formula for Lasting Love

2008-09-07T20:16:00.002-06:00

I picked up this book at a used bookstore in England. I'm pretty sure I thought it was a collection of fairytales and thought that it might contain the fairytale that I remember but can't seem to find anywhere. I had a pretty good laugh at myself when I finally really looked at it a few weeks ago and realized it was a self-help book, albeit one inspired by fairytales.

Some key tips:

Know your inner value, no matter how worthless your external situation may seem

If a man wants to sweep you off your feet, go ahead and let him. Just because he's gallant doesn't mean he wants you to quit your day job and take up knitting.

Don't take one man's rejection as a reflection of your worth.

See the beauty and value in your own life. Don't assume it's inferior to your idealized vision of someone else's.

Don't let a bad experience with one man make you suspicious of the next. All men are not alike.

Don't give up on love, even if it seems like you've been single for one hundred years. The length of time it takes is no reflection on your worth or appeal.

It was cute. It was based on fairytales (which I love) and most importantly it reminded me to get back to the basics and focus on the positive possibilities for my future not the bad luck clouding my past.

Welcome Home - Travels in Smalltown Canada

2008-09-07T20:09:00.003-06:00

I was a little leery about picking up another Stuart McLean book. I must admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the Vinyl Cafe when we read it for book club. Although I think if I had known it was based on his radio show I might have read it differently. But Welcome Home came highly reccomended by my friend Crystal so I thought I would give it a shot ... and I am glad that I did.

I didn't exactly grow up in a small town, but my grandparents lived on a farm just outside of one so I spent a lot of time in small town Alberta growing up. I remember my grandfather taking us into town on Saturday mornings. He would drink coffee and we would eat penny candy. He knew everyone in the cafe and they would all stop by the table to say hi and admire the grandkids. They all identified me as my mother's daughter. I remember church on Sunday mornings where again there was that sense of belonging, of everyone knowing everyone else by name. Fall suppers where all the ladies pitched in to serve a delicious meal. Weddings of 350+ people.

This book captured the essence of that small town spirit. Not only that, it reminded me of my roots and brought back memories of my grandfather long forgotten.

The Measure of a Man - a spiritual autobiography - Sidney Poitier

2008-06-11T19:42:00.002-06:00

I don't know a lot about Sidney Poitier. I don't watch a lot of old movies. But somehow I was drawn to this book when I saw it on my friend Simone's shelf.
I read about how Mr Poitier came of age in the America of the 1940's, how he dealt with racism and oppression, how he beat the odds to become a successful actor and helped pave the way for the Denzel Washingtons and Halle Berrys of our day. I have no experience in my life to help me identify with his. But his words spoke to me and made me think and maybe at the end of the day that is all you can ask from a good book.

"So what we do is we stay within the context of what's practical, what's real, what dreams can be fashioned into reality, what valued can send us to bed comfortably and make us courageous enough to face our end with character. ... We're all somewhat courageous, and we're all considerably cowardly. We're all imperfect, and life is simply a perpetual, unending struggle against those imperfections." (p243)

"Why do we spend most or all of our lives searching for blance between the bewildering variety of opposites designed in Nature's nature? ... Ever present is this duality, and ever present is our need to articulate ourselves betwixt the various poles." (p223)

"But when I focus beyond the self, the interference drops away and suddenly I have access to a much grander form of awareness. It includes what I see and what I don't see but know to exist - even what will far outlast me as a physical being. I can begin to sense the connection of it all, and my place within it all, but only by removing myself from the center. ... When I cling to the sefl, I feel neurtoic, alienated, insecure, It's when I let the self go that I can begin to realize how fully a part of this grand scheme I am and will always remain." (p201,202)

Where the Heart Is

2008-05-04T11:29:00.002-06:00

I saw the movie based on this book ages ago. Which is a good thing because it meant I didn't have the annoying picturing the characters as the actors who portrayed them instead of how my imagination portrays them. I am not sure which is worse, reading the book first and then having the movie fall flat because it missed what I considered important parts and portrayed characters differently (and thus less well) than my imagination, or watching the movie first and having the book be colored by other people's impressions.

I really really liked this book. It made me think about home and loving and being alone and ...

The concept of home has been big with me for a while. I haven't felt like I have had a true home for a while now. A few places have made me feel safe but I am not sure, in retrospect that they were home. But all of the work I have poured into my new place, all the struggles it took to get here, all of the obstacles (real and imaginary) that were overcome, the sense of belonging and relaxation I feel everytime I walk through the door - this, finally, is home. I don't know what makes it so, I only know that it is.

Loving is also something I think about a lot. People I love and have loved and thought that I loved. People who have taught me about love - loving others, loving myself. Things that I love, things that I love to do. There are not always words to express why something or someone is important to me, but I am starting to think it might be enough to just know that it is. I love different people for different reasons, in different ways, to the best of my ability.

The concept of being alone versus being lonely. And thinking you are alone and waking up one day and realizing that being physically by yourself is not the same as being alone. That there are people in your life who have had similar experiences, or who are present in your life despite dis-similare experiences. That simply opening your eyes and reaching out and being open to the world makes a huge difference. I have been meeting people slowly but steadily over the last little while, all people I might have passed by in the past, all people who bring a new perspective, a new challenge, a new possibility.

Ovid's Metamorphoses

2008-04-26T19:03:00.002-06:00

A book I picked up in University for one of my Roman Mythology courses but never read. It may even be from my last semester of school (post-graduation) when I decided I wasn't going to do my masters or get a 2nd degree in library sciences so I dropped all my classes part way through the term.

I have a slight obsession with Greek/Roman history and mythology. I definitely don't know as much as I would like to know but I am passionate about what I do know. Just ask Beth about the whirlwind tour I took her on when we were in Rome and my determination to see certain sites such as the Ara Pacis and the Tomb of Augustus. I was so focused that I blew right past an entire street of designer stores without so much as a window shop.

So the Metamorphoses has sat patiently on my bookshelf for a few years now waiting for me to get around to reading it. And I am very glad that I finally did. I think I would have liked it even better if I was familiar with all of the myths and history it borrows from, because I found that the background knowledge I did have helped a lot with certain sections and other sections where I was less in the know I felt a little lost. And I am not sure I liked how much Ovid flipped between usage of the Greek & Roman names of the gods. He was pretty consistent in using the Roman Jove & Juno but otherwise it felt a bit like a crapshoot. Of course that could be the translator and not Ovid at all but it bugged either way.

A book about change and transformation that I couldn't have read at a better time as I have been going through a lot of changes lately. Definitely a book that will stay on my shelves awaiting another round.

The Bourne Trilogy

2008-03-08T17:12:00.003-07:00

I really thought I had read all three books years ago. I picked up the Bourne Identity figuring it would be a good beach book for when I was in Mexico and quickly realized how many details I had forgotten. When I got to the third book I realized I didn't remember it at all. So either my memory is really bad or I didn't actually get through it the first time.

These books fall into the small list of books that have been made into movies that I actually also really enjoy. I think the reason this adaptation works so well is because the movies are not at all like the books, so you don't have that whole "well this isn't how I imagined it" feeling nagging at you through the whole movie. The screenwriter basically took the premise of the books - man trained by CIA to be an assassin, man gets amnesia, hyginks ensue - and then branched into his own story from there. And I understand why you would do that because the books are very much a part of the era in which they were written and the movies are an updated version with America's new enemies.

I kind of love Robert Ludlum and spy novels and books that keep you on the edge of your seat biting your nails thinking oh my god will he actually escape this time all the while knowing that he is the hero and of course he will escape but oh my god WILL HE ESCAPE?? And in the Bourne books, will he go back to being the nice normal professor David Webb with his beautiful wife or will the spector of Bourne/Delta continue to haunt him. I kind of think of him as more than a little schizophrenic, not naturally but because he has been trained to be these other two men, has had to be these other men convincingly so that he could do the job he was created for. Eventually the pretending becomes a reality.

More Quick Notes

2006-08-05T15:07:00.000-06:00

10. Dropped Threads - Shields & Anderson

11. Fables: Legends in Exile

12. Fables: Animal Farm

13. Dark Matter - Philip Kerr

14. Men are From Mars; Women are From Venus

15. Tales from the Bed (A Memoir) - Jennifer Estess

16. Emma - Jane Austen

17. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach

18. Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Round 2

2006-05-14T18:47:00.000-06:00

6. The Madman's Tale - John Katzenbach

7. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut Jr

8. How to Sleep with a Movie Star - Kristin Harmel

9. The Greek for Love (a Memoir of Sorrow & Joy) - James Chatto

Catch Up

2006-04-02T13:05:00.000-06:00

Oh my poor little book log. How I have neglected you.

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (Book Club)
2. Eragon - Christopher Paolini (Book Club)
3. The Big Over Easy (Book Club)
4. A Cuppa Tea & An Aspirin - Helen Forrester
5. Patty Jane's House of Curl - Lorna Landvik

And Done

2006-01-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

49. Tricksters Queen - Tamora Pierce
50. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

Just under the wire but I got all 50 books in.

I think I am going to keep 50 as my goal for the next year because it was a hard push at the end to get them all in and I don't think it should be that difficult. I think I am also going to take out my stipulation that they need to be new books because sometimes you want to curl up with an old favorite and this sort of deterred me from that. And I think I am also going to start noting interesting articles that I read in magazines or the newspaper or online. So we'll see how that goes.

For now I am going to enjoy being finished and hopefully finish up with this whole being sick business.

I'm Sick

2006-01-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

The good thing about being sick is that it has allowed me many blanket wrapped hours to get through a few more books (in between coughing up a lung, sneezing, and blowing my nose until it is raw and red and resembles Rudolph). The bad thing is that I am sick, and also don't really have a lot of energy left to even pretend to be remotely thoughtful about what I have read (plus my nose keeps running).

So here is my laundry list straight from the sick couch:

45. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
46. The Sky is Falling - Kit Pearson
47. Looking at the Moon - Kit Pearson
48. The Lights Go On Again - Kit Pearson

(46-48 make up The Guests of War Trilogy and really had to be read as a set.)

44. Of Mice & Men - John Steinbeck

2006-01-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Wow. This book did a pretty good job of making me feel hopeless. Maybe I am naive but I don't want to believe that you have to abandon your hopes and dreams in order to survive. I definitely related to being in a position where you want to change your fortune or your place in this world. But I don't want to believe in the books inevitable conclusion. And that's all I have to say about that.

43. Callander Square - Anne Perry

2006-01-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize that I had borrowed so many mystery novels from my aunt. Probably because the selection process was more like her piling my arms full of books than anything else. It's turned out ok because as you can tell by the fast and furious rate at which I am managing to finish said mysteries that they are a relatively quick read. And I'm not against the quick reads as I am only 10 days from the wire with 7 books still to go. But I think I am going to need a substantial break from the criminal mind by the time I am done. Plus there is not a lot to write about unless I want to give away the whole solution, and, as I learned when I was 6 and had a hamster put on my head for spoiling the end of a book, that is never a good idea.

This book was kind of quaint, set in 19th century London. And one thing that I learned is that I would not have made a good 19th century woman. Check this out:
"...if you wish to be happy, you must realize that it depends on your husband being happy ... You must teach him to want what you want, and if possible even to think that it is his idea. ... You must learn to be courteous to him at all times, or nearly all; never to argue with him, or disobey him, in public, and if you must do it in private, then do it with a smile , or with tears. Don't waste your time trying to be reasonable, men do not expect it and it disconcerts them."
p 158
Makes me think of those 1950's brochures on how to be a good little woman. Ugh.

42. The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

2006-01-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

This book definitely has the flavor of The DaVinci Code by which I mean it is about a mystery hidden within an obscure Renaissance text (as opposed to a well known Renaissance painting) and the hunt is on to solve riddles and decode the authors actual agenda. In theory it's an interesting concept. And I definitely liked the little tidbits of knowledge that I picked up about the Renaissance. But in practice ... I don't know. The book just kind of bugged. There were too many characters that I didn't really care all that much about, there were too many plotlines that seemed thrown in just to help wrap up the main plotline (which, ok, happens in other books and doesn't bother me but in this case it was like being beaten over the head and also so loosely woven I could poke a million holes in the logic) and there was too much information that just really didn't tie together for me.

And seriously, I am a big one for procrastination, but even I can't imagine being in the (albeit final) research stages of my FINAL THESIS that I have to hand in to graduate TWELVE HOURS before it was due. And if I was in such a predicament I hardly think I would be running around in restricted areas and eating a leisurely supper and going to Easter Vigil and worrying about mysteries from 20 years ago. I would probably be thinking "screw more research I'm going to run with what I have" and then I would be typing like no man has ever typed before. Because seriously he could have gotten away with a much less in depth paper and then continued his research for a graduate or phd program. If the book had already waited 500 years for someone smart enough to come along to solve it probably another 2 years is not going to hurt.

The plot kind of meandered around as well. Now we're in the present, now it's a few months ago, now it's 4 years ago, now it is a lot of backstory, now we're in the present again, still running around NOT working on our paper. Gah.

If you're looking for a quick, moderately entertaining read that you aren't going to think about too much this is not a bad book. But as soon as you start analyzing it at all you will want to shoot yourself because there are so many cans of worms to be opened.

41. Kissed a Sad Goodbye - Deborah Crombie

2006-01-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Another mystery.

My mom always laughs at me because lately my favorite TV seems to be all about the detective series: Veronica Mars, CSI, Crossing Jordan ... She wonders where this interest comes from because it is no secret that I am not always good with gory death and prodding autopsies. But I have ALWAYS been a fan of a good mystery. When I was younger that was almost always the first section of the library paperbacks I would pore through. So I suppose it is only natural that my reading habits are similar to my TV habits ... I suppose my mom never really paid attention to what I was reading (unless it was some obviously trashy romance novel but I was usually smart enough not to bring home the ones with practically naked people on the cover).

This is another book in a series about a couple of Scotland Yard Inspectors. It is set in London which I enjoyed because now I get some of the cultural references (like Squash and Orangina). Plus there were references to World War 2 which tied in neatly with some conversations I have been having lately about World War 2 literature and my interest in doing some more reading on that time period (fictional and non-fictional). It might take a back seat to the reading up on Greece that is also in the plans for 2006 but WWII (and most history for that matter) is still a definite point of interest.

I really related to some of the characters in the novel and instead of talking about the plot (I'd hate to give anything away) I thought I would end off with a few quotes that really hit home with me (especially because I actually managed to mark the pages this time.)

"She desperately wanted to forget the Island, even for just a short time, imagine another life altogether. On a bench at the side of the veranda a couple sat intertwined .. and [she] felt a stab of envy. Why shouldn't she, for once, be the object of someone's desire? Why should she always be the one on the sidelines?" p 258

"But she knew that no amount of guilt or regret could alter the connection that existed between her and Gordon Finch - a connection she somehow had never doubted was mutual, a connection so powerful it had made her contemplate throwing away everything that made her who she was." p 297

" 'She lived by other people's expectations ... everyone in her life had their idea of who she was, what they wanted her to be. And what seems tragic to me is that she finally made different choices, her own choices, about what mattered to her - but she never got to see where they might have led. Or who she might have become.' " p 368

40. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

2006-01-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

So, umm, I kind of think I read these last two books in reverse order. Should have started with the hopeful Christmas tale then gone into the less than hopeful We Need to Talk about Kevin. Although I suppose that would be more predictable and less interesting.

I always find it a little bit hard to read a book after I have seen the movie (and vice versa really). I find that as I am reading the images from the film keep playing in my head and I have a hard time coming up with my own images and pictures. Sometimes that is a good thing because I don't always have a point of reference but most of the time I find it a little bit frustrating. In this case it made me giggle a lot because I kept getting snippets of the Muppets and snippets of Mickey Mouse all confused and intertwined and it wasn't so much any clear images as a big schmozzle of cartoon character voices. (And might I add that I really like both of those versions of this story.)

A Christmas Carol is such a hopeful story. It always reminds me that it is never too late to make changes, it is never too late to be a better person, it is never too late to learn something new and to succeed if you put your mind and spirit and heart into life. It is a message I think I was desperately in need of this holiday season. It is a message that is inspiring as we start this new year.

39. We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

2005-12-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

Sarah's pick for January book club.

This was an incredibly hard book to read, which we were warned about. Loosely it is the story of a boy who kills some of his fellow students told from his mother's perspective in letters to her ex-husband. In and of itself not the easiest of topics. But I found the book difficult and depressing for a lot of other reasons, most of which I don't really want to go into here because I don't want to ruin the experience for you if you do decide to pick it up. Suffice to say it was maybe not the cheeriest book to read over Christmas.

I found the whole letter approach an interesting method of telling the story. I thought that the book was very well written, the letters came across as being from a woman who was extremely well educated ... I even had to look up a few words, which is kind of embarrassing to admit. And there were a few moments when I just wanted her to get the point already instead of putting off the inevitable by using too many and too big words. I think that is also why it took me so long to read, because I too wanted to put off the inevitable, I hoped that maybe if it took me long enough to get to the end that the ending would change. But as is usual with life the end was the same no matter how I got there. I kept thinking, as she was reminiscing about Kevin as a baby, about her life before Kevin and her life before Thursday, was it really like that? Did you really think those things at the time? Or is this what you remember now that you know how the story ends? Is this what you are telling yourself because by making it seem like there were signs & symptoms that you missed noticing or you noticed but other people brushed off you can assign some sort of blame? Of course that only made the story seem more real. That's what we do a lot of the time, we need someone to be responsible ... sometimes we need ourselves to be responsible.

I think it will be an interesting book club discussion next week.

38. It's Not Easy Being Green and other things to consider - Jim Henson, the Muppets & Friends

2005-12-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

This book was part of my Christmas present from Chantal and it is awesome. For one thing it was a very quick read (less than an hour) which is exactly what I need in order to beef up my numbers. And I could cheat by only picking short childrens lit or by deciding any book counts as opposed to the current rule that it has to be something I haven't read previously/don't remember reading previously. That second rule is really screwing me over. And it is all self inflicted but I know that I had a reason for setting up the guidelines I did and I won't allow myself to waver. Le sigh.

Anyways, I can't really quantify the ways in which this short book of quotations inspired me but it honestly left me feeling truly energized. I would often pause and wish that I had a laptop or more time to jot down the flurry of thoughts that were racing through my brain. And the great thing is that I think everytime I flip through it I will be inspired in different ways and think different thoughts, or expand on the ideas I had today. Which now that I am sitting here still very full from my Christmas dinner seem a lot less tangible than they did earlier. But that is ok. Because I can at least remember how I felt when I was thinking them and that was very connected. And also a little bit nostalgic because I grew up with Jim Henson's creations - The Muppets, Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street. I remember being entirely enchanted by all 3 of those shows. Plus the book is intended to be at least a little bit motivational so it fits in with my self-improvement projects and my good intentions to become a better person. It helped to give me back some of the energy to go on that has been sorely lacking the last few weeks ... there have been a lot of days where I am wondering why I even bother. But there is a purpose and a plan and I have been reminded somewhat of my place in this world and that is something I am very thankful for on this special Christmas day.

Plus there are some really neat pictures.

I really do believe that all of you are at the beginning of a wonderful journey. As you start traveling down that road of life, remember this: There are never enough comfort stops. The places you're going to are never on the map. And once you get that map out, you won't be able to refold it no matter how smart you are.

So forget the map, roll down the windows, and whenever you can, pull over and have a picnic with a pig. And if you can help it, never fly as cargo.

- Kermit

And so I shall try to remember that every day is the beginning of a new journey, a new adventure. Life may not always go exactly the way I had hoped or planned but I am going to try and accept that as part of the fun. Which, knowing myself, is not going to be an easy task. But I think the attempt is a worthwhile one.

Merry Christmas :)

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

2005-12-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

My mom picked this book up on the advice of some of her teacher friends ... perhaps she is planning to do some reading while she is in Hawaii over Christmas. In which case I am not sure that this is the best book. I mean, it was fabulous and moving and incredibly powerful and she should read it absolutely. But it's not what I would pick up for a little lite holiday/beach reading. Maybe that's just me.

I realized again and again and again just how sheltered I am as a white girl living in a first world country. I can't even fathom any of the events that are described taking place, I have no concept of how I would cope in a lifestyle of continuous fear like that. And I realize that the events described didn't happen as written, this is not a non-fiction work, but I am also not naive enough to suppose that it is entirely fabricated either. I just think how little I know about oppression and religious or ethnic persecution ... and I guess I try to look at it from an academic perspective, partially because I have no personal experience and partially because it provides a little bit of separation, but I just can't wrap my brain around that kind of cruelty. I don't understand the logic that says I am this religion or this color or was born on this day or I have this much money and that makes me better. I know that it happens, it probably happens around me in a watered down version on a regular basis, it has happened throughout history, but I don't understand. I'm not sure that I want to understand. I try to put myself in the situation and I wonder how I would react and how strong I would be and in an abstract world I would definitely be heroic. But in reality? I suppose that is harder to say. And maybe that is what is really scary.

The Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan and I started reading with really very little background information - I knew some very basic facts but not much more than that - and I have very little experience with Islam or the Koran or ... well anything really. I think this booklog has more than proven how little I know. I mean, I know a lot but it is sort of specific knowledge and in the grand scheme of things it is not actually a lot. (If that makes any sense) And part of this project is to broaden my knowledge base and put me in touch with new things. In that sense this book was definitely successful, AND it made me think and feel and wonder and I would say it gets my recommendation.

36. Set in Darkness - Ian Rankin

2005-12-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hey! I finished this book last night and I am posting about it today! I think that is a personal best! Wow I am dorky.

Another mystery, this one just the way I like them. Lots of twists and turns keeping me guessing. I was a little annoyed because about half way through I thought I had it all figured out (!!) but no, those were just well placed red-herrings making me feel all full of myself. Sometimes my friends tell me that I am a TV producers dream because I react exactly the way they want their target audience to react and I think with this book I was the authors dream because I would think I had the case solved and then the detectives would come to my exact conclusions and then we would all be wrong and it was all very edge of my seat novel reading.

The main character was DI Rebus (the books are set in Scotland and I am not entirely sure what the DI stands for ... Dsomething Inspector obviously). There is actually a series of books about him and his cases and Set in Darkness isn't the first in the series but most mysteries work well as stand alone cases and this was no exception. I could tell that some of the characters had been fleshed out in earlier works and there was some backstory that was a little fuzzy and would probably have been clearer had you read the earlier books but those points didn't work to the detriment of this novel.

The events of Set in Darkness even took place during the Christmas season so that kind of fit too. Of course this was not exactly cheery Christmas fare. Bleak, life as a cop is often hard and depressing never more so than at Christmas might be a more apt description. But I am not exactly in a Rah Rah Christmas place at the moment so it didn't put a damper on my spirits or anything. And really I thought it was a well-woven storyline and not much makes me happier than that.

35. The Cat Who Went Up the Creek - Lillian Jackson Braun

2005-12-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

Another book I stumbled across when combing our bookshelves for stuff I hadn't actually read. I remember when I was younger (Jr highish?) I used to LOVE this series. I guess it's kind of nice to read something you used to love and not react in the same way because it is a testament of how you have grown and changed as a reader and the same things aren't always going to appeal. Which gives me hope that some of the "classics" I have had a hard time with will one day grow on me. But it is also bittersweet because in some ways reading a book from a series I loved as a child and realizing that I don't love that series anymore is like giving up one of those last vestiges of my childhood. And I mean, I'm 25, so it's time to let go at least a little bit. But still .. you know?

Anyways, this is a mystery series and I am a pretty big sucker for mysteries. I find that they tend to go one of 3 ways. Either it is obvious "whodunit" and I am annoyed the whole time that I am putting the pieces together faster than the detective; there are so many twists and turns and red herrings that it is totally unclear what the hell is actually going on and you feel unsatisfied by the ending because you can't figure out where all the pieces fit together; there are just enough twists and turns and redherrings to keep you guessing and the ending kind of surprises you but it feels like it fits. This book fell more into the first category and that was ok and it was a quick no-brainer read and that was what I was looking for when I read it but generally speaking I like my mysteries to have a bit more substance.

I almost felt like Qwill (the main character/"detective") just fell into the solution by accident. To be truthful, the whole series seems to be based on that premise from what I can remember. He just happened to inherit a bazillion dollars so he just happens to be able to throw his money around when it is needed. He just happens to vacation or visit or walk by the scene of something suspicious and then he just happens to run into the right people and they just happen to tell the right stories and his cat just happens to yowl or swipe at him at the right time ... everything just comes across as very accidental. I do recognize that sometimes it is simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time ... but to always fall back on that logic? It seems like a bit of a weak coping method. But then I am not a published author and she has written a ton of books in this series so she must be doing something right.

34. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons - Lorna Landvik

2005-12-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Oh good. A book I actually enjoyed (aside from a couple of really nitpicky points). That attempt at Thomas Nashe really dragged me down. I almost think that is why my reading for pleasure really slowed during University .. I was reading a lot of stuff I didn't necessarily understand (or want to put the effort into understanding truth be told) and some stuff I didn't really enjoy and it sort of sucked all enjoyment out of reading anything for a good while. Maybe that is the reverse of how it should work, maybe most people would overcompensate by reading more of what they did like, but I have never claimed to work on a normal scale.

I really have to get better at writing as I finish books because now I find myself struggling to put into words what it was that I liked about this book. I guess I found that I could relate to the idea of a close group of friends starting a bookclub because in a sense that is what a few of my friends did a couple of years ago. So all the stuff about getting off topic at the meetings and interspersing talk about the book with random chatter about day to day life really felt familiar. Their bookclub was a lot smaller than mine (although with busy schedules most of our meetings only end up being about 5 people) and they all lived on the same block (whereas we are spread out over the city) but the closeness and the laughter and the occasional disputes and above all the strength of friendship was the same. I also liked how the books they read were listed with a little blurb about why they were chosen or what was served at the meeting - even though it did add about a million titles to my reading list.

Each chapter focused on a different member and the perspective shifted and that was interesting because it isn't often that you hear a story from all angles. What bothered me a little was how some narrators were first person and some were third person and it didn't seem to follow a set pattern so every once in a while it would take a few minutes to figure out whose turn it was to narrate. And for once you had a series of strong female characters while the husbands kind of got sidelined - there was a bit of an implication that the women were individually unique and strong but their strength was magnified by the close relationship they shared. Part of me always likes reading books about groups of friends because there is such a distinctive flair to friendships and relationships and often it is hard to capture that but I think this book did a good job, to detail the bookclub as a whole but also how smaller pairings worked and had their own dynamic. I thought a lot about my girlfriends and what each of them bring to my life and how we work as a whole (often disfunctionally :p) and it just reminded me that there are a lot of things that would have been immeasurably tougher to get through without my girls at my side.

33. The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

2005-12-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

I think a lot of people read this in highschool. We didn't ... I'm not even sure I can remember what novels we did do. Lord of the Flies in Gr 11, To Kill a Mockingbird in Gr 10, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies in Gr 12. Look at me go. Just don't ask for any complicated plot summaries.

I got my copy of The Catcher in the Rye off of my brother's bookshelf. What's more, he has actually read it. I asked him if it was any good - "It's a classic" he said. Yeah, but does that mean it's good? "It's a classic, it doesn't have to be good." Helpful. And also begs the question of how exactly a book becomes a classic.

If I'm not mistaken this book is also on a list of most frequently banned books (I thought I had a list around here somewhere but I can't seem to put my fingers on it). I don't really get that either. I mean, it's not really something I would want my kids (if I ever have kids)to read but mostly because I think it would bore them to the point of wanting to poke their eyes out and turn them off literature forever and not because I think it would give them "ideas". Heaven forbid. Yes I know I'm a terrible person. Again, it's probably a lack of context. I am really starting to feel like I should just keep to reading books that I can easily relate to because this lack of context thing is really becoming a problem. Or maybe I should just read more and things will slowly start to contextualize themselves. Who knows. I'm going to try the latter and see where it takes me at any rate.

As for the book itself .. well, in case you couldn't tell from the above commentary, it's certainly not making my top 10 list anytime soon (speaking of which, I should do a top 10 list ... hmmm). Mostly I found Holden Caulfield to be absolutely insufferable. He was self-absorbed, he hated everything and everybody, he was a spoiled little rich boy with no concept of what actual suffering might involve and he went into a deep depression whenever he wasn't handed what he wanted on a silver platter. And then narrated his drivel over 214 pages (yes I know he isn't real). No other characters are flushed out, there is no sense of forward momentum, there is a lack of narrative continuity ... Need I say more?

The Unfortunate Traveller & Other Works - Thomas Nashe

2005-12-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

Apparently part of being an English major means I have shelves full of books I was supposed to read for class and ... didn't. I have 17(?) books to go to meet my goal and in an effort to not purchase a million and four books in the next couple of months I raided my bookshelf, my brother's bookshelf (he reads now, who knew?) and my aunt's bookshelf. And then I still managed to spend $90 at Chapters. Nobody's perfect.

So this Thomas Nashe guy, he was a contemporary of Shakespeare's, and in one of my Shakespeare classes - in what I am guessing was an attempt to broaden our understanding of the period - we were assigned The Unfortunate Traveller as a little light reading. And I actually did read it. But I hadn't read any of the other pieces in this anthology and since I am trying to broaden my literary horizons and this was gathering dust on my shelf anyways I thought I would give it a try.

The good thing is it made me realize that broadening my horizons doesn't mean I have to read things I don't like; I just have to try new things and be open to liking things I didn't expect to like. In this case, I didn't actually finish the book, or the first story really. And it gave me incentive to clean out our bookshelves and take things to a 2nd hand bookstore. I am sure Thomas Nashe is someone's cup of tea. Just not mine. Which I kind of feel bad about, but I guess that liking Shakespeare isn't necessarily a pre-requisite for liking authors who wrote in the same time period. And maybe it's not fair to say that I don't like Nashe ... I did like the flow of the writing. I liked how the words felt like they should be read aloud, how the sentences had cadence, how it felt like poetry. But it didn't make sense to me. I would read and read and read and feel all nice but I would get to the end of a sentence or paragraph and have no idea what I had just read or what it meant in correlation to the previous sentence or paragraph, never mind in the grand scheme of things. It's not a language barrier because I can follow along with Shakespeare, and I understood on a basic level what the words meant ... I think that perhaps Nashe was a more political writer than story teller, and maybe the first story in the book was not a good place to start because it was all social commentary and I have no real basis for understanding 16th century social commentary. Maybe I will come back one day and it will all make sense and I will wonder how I ever felt the way I do now (kind of like with the Simpson's, how when I was younger and had no real point of reference for their jokes and cultural innuendoes I didn't find them funny but now that I have more of a framework I find them hilarious). But right now is what matters and I don't appreciate Nashe right now and I have better things to do than to spend an hour reading 15 pages that my brain only processes as blah blah blah.

32. Book Club: The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

2005-11-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

Kristy's pick for November book club.

I actually first heard about this book the summer of 2004 when I was in Vancouver and my friend Joanne couldn't stop raving about how great it was. And really that seems to be the consensus of everyone I have talked to about this book - they all loved it even more than they had been told they would. For some reason, I just didn't have the same experience. I mean, it was a good book. No doubt about it. It kept me interested and I appreciated the complexity of the storyline but ... I don't know.

I think part of the problem may be that I just have issues with the idea of time travel in general.
And I probably over think the whole concept, I'm the first to admit it, but the fact that I can't suspend my disbelief makes it a lot harder to enjoy the story. It's silly. Because I could get over the whole chrono-impaired and gene mutations but I couldn't deal with the time traveling. Maybe because the whole "logic" that time travel almost has to be based in means that elements of fate or destiny have to play a larger role in life than I am comfortable giving them credit for. Think about it: It's 2005 and you're 30. You go back in time 15 years so it is 1990, a time that has already happened, so that means that in the past you were there which means that in the future you have to go back there because once something has happened it can't unhappen. And it is very circular. And I don't know if I am explaining myself properly or even explaining why I find it problematic but I do.

I also think that if I was Clare I would hate to have known who I was going to marry so early. To not really have a choice in the matter, because here is this guy coming from the future who says that he is married to you. So how do you know that if Henry hadn't been a time traveller that if/when she met him in the future she still would have loved him? It can be assumed that she loved him because he came back in time and told her that she did in the future and that might be fair and good. I guess I just wonder how you can be sure that she ended up with Henry for the right reasons. Not that I necessarily know what the right reasons are. But how do you know? It's such an irrational question and I've been told that you just have to have faith, and you just know and other such unsatisfactory answers. And I find it strange that I am making such a huge deal out of it because usually I am not the black & white girl and am totally ok with shades of grey but when it comes to matters of the heart I seem to want everything to be factual and straightforward when by its' very nature love is not like that. And I know this but I am having a hard time accepting it and it was one of the points of the story that kind of drove me crazy. Because maybe she should have dated Gomez or some other guy that didn't get mentioned and maybe they would have made her as happy as Henry did. If not happier because they wouldn't have been disappearing all the time.

31. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

2005-11-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is my pick for our January book club meeting. I know, it is revolutionary .. I read a book well before the meeting AND I'm writing about it. I guess I figured since it was my pick and I hadn't read it I should maybe do a trial run in case it was truly awful. I didn't really think that it would be because it came highly recommended by one of my friends who reads and she had done it in her book club. But one never knows.

I wanted a book that was a fairly quick read and something that was uplifting in some way shape or form. We've done a lot of heavier books this fall, either material wise or simply the weight of the book, and I wanted something a little lighter ... Plus with the Christmas season we're doing 2 books in January and I always find January to be such a blah month so a book that might instill a little hope seemed like the way to go. This book provided all those things.

The book is written fairly simplistically and there is only the one main character, Santiago, so it is easy enough to follow the plot: Santiago has a dream, he goes on a journey to find treasure, on his way there are people and events who help him or hinder him. But behind the simple storyline there are many levels of interpreting and learning and understanding and I think it is a mistake to brush this book off without taking some time to think about it. And possibly read it again.

In some ways I found it a little too "Follow your dreams; Listen to your heart" ... those lines, or variations of, are repeated quite frequently and part way through I was all "Ok, I get it already". But do I really? Am I listening to my heart? Am I following my dreams? Do I even know what my dreams are? I have vague inklings but I am scared that they are unattainable or I feel like I don't know how to go about even starting to achieve them or I worry that I will get rejected or told that I am silly for dreaming what I do. In that sense, Santiago still has a lot to teach me.

30. he's just not that into you - Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo

2005-11-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I am actually very surprised that I haven't written about this book yet because I actually finished it AGES ago .. But I think it might have been in my phase of being very lazy about updating. It's sad though because I remember that the whole time I was reading it I was thinking all these very witty things to say when I talked about it here and now they are wispy fragments of memory. But I will do my best.

See, I was determined not to read this book initially. There was so much hype and it was going to be so revolutionary and "everyone" was telling me that if anyone needed to read this book it was certainly me ... and I tend to not like doing things that "everyone" else thinks are good for me. Because I am stubborn and backwards like that. I'm working on it. But then I saw it on a shelf and it was pink (my downfall. how sad.) and 40% off and I was in a bad-boy space (again) and I decided it couldn't hurt anything. I didn't expect it to change my life but I thought it might just be worth picking up. So I did, telling myself the whole way home that I was going to hate it and it was going to be a lot of tripe and stereotyping all guys. And for the first few chapters I did kind of hate it.

But as I read more I could kind of see the broad point ... which I am not sure I can explain but was something along the lines of "people who treat you badly or in ways that make you feel inferior or not good about yourself are maybe not the best people to keep in your life and maybe you shouldn't make such an effort trying to keep those people so close". In a roundabout way. I didn't agree with every word and I thought that some of it was a lot of crap (I think I may have taken some of it too literally) but in the grand scheme of things I can accept where the authors were coming from. And again, in a broad sense, I can apply the book to my own life and say "yes, I am wonderful and fabulous in my own way and I deserve to be surrounded by people who will treat me like the Smart & Beautiful Girl(tm) that I am and I shouldn't have to chase people to get them to hang out with me and I shouldn't have to wait on people who don't respect me enough to be on time/call to say they are going to be late etc etc." Some days that mentality is a lot harder to hold on to but I am trying to live it and demand that respect. And I am also trying to be more respectful of others by responding to invitations as promptly as possible and being more aware of timelines and such. It's not always easy and I'm not always perfect but I'm making the effort.

I still think the book would be more aptly titled He's a Neanderthal who wouldn't know a good thing if it hit him square between the eyes; why are YOU still into HIM? Because the way it is now, the onus is still on the girl ... we're going to tell you that you are fabulous and you deserve better but there's still some reason that this guy or that guy just isn't into you and you should accept that and move on. And it is you, because one day that guy is going to meet some girl that he is into and suddenly become the amazing guy you always thought he could be if he made a little effort. That's the part I have trouble swallowing. But I can boil it down to this: That guy, for whatever reason, is treating you poorly. And you don't have to accept that. From anybody.

Coming Soon ....

2005-11-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

30. He's Just Not that Into You
31. The Alchemist
32. The Time Traveler's Wife

I am making a valiant effort to get caught up and stay there.

29.Book Club: No Fixed Address (an amorous journey) - Aritha van Herk

2005-11-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

This was Erin's pick for our October book club.

I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did because it is a character driven novel and I haven't had very much luck with this type of literature. I think because a lot of the time, with a character driven novel you have to be able to relate to the character, or what the character is going through. And if you don't have that spark of connection you end up having a book that doesn't really go anywhere plotwise and (if you're in my brain) a whole lot of boredom ensues.

In some ways it scares me that I "got" Arachne ... I think because in my brain that means that I am like her and I don't want to be. In my rational moments I know that you can understand someone without being that person, it's called empathy or sympathy or whatever. But this week has been all about being irrational and insecure and I feel that, like Arachne, I am destined to keep running away. In a sense I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I feel connected to how Arachne feels as opposed to how she acts in the world.

These two passages really hit home for me:
"There, for one chaotic moment, she wants to run. She does not belong here. She will never belong here. ... If she goes now, he will never find out what she is like, he will remember her with pleasure." (p 92)

" 'I can't stay here forever' ...
She is temporary; he may not want to admit it, but she is unsuitable, and however he may be amused with her now he will eventually replace her. ... Did she honestly believe that she could fit into his life? She can almost chuckle at her own postponed self-deception." (p109)

I know those feelings. Like you're never going to be good enough. Like if you let people get to close eventually they are going to realize that you're not always funny, not always beautiful, not always poised and confident, not always whatever. And then they'll leave you. So maybe it is better to leave them first.

28. The Sandman: Endless Nights - Neil Gaiman

2005-10-23T14:59:00.000-06:00

The 2nd Dev loan, also meant to broaden my Gaiman repertoire. This time a series of comics. And I'm not really sure what to say. I liked the comics. But I am not sure why exactly. And I am also not sure that I entirely understood them. Which is why I usually stay away from comics that aren't in the local paper or don't include a lot of pow, blam, gack and an obvious conclusion.

I guess it can be fair to say that while I have always enjoyed the comics I have read I haven't exactly gotten into them. I haven't felt immersed by them. It's always a sort of "that was good, but ..." and I'm not sure what the but is. I'm not dismissing comics out of hand because I have read some of them, they're just not my thing. And I feel bad saying that, just like I feel bad admitting there are other things I don't enjoy. Maybe because I feel like if I say I don't like something it will dissuade others from trying it or enjoying it. And wow if that is the case is that ever egotistical of me because I am sure that people have better things to do than take their cue from my series of beliefs; of likes and dislikes. Then again I also think we (possibly especially me) underestimate our sphere of influence.

27. The Wolves in the Walls - Neil Gaiman; illustrated by Dave McKean

2005-10-23T14:51:00.000-06:00

Dev leant me this the last time we hung out in order to round out my Neil Gaiman experience. Because he is not just a writer of novels, he does childrens books and comics as well!

It's been a long time since I have read a children's picture book for myself, without a sticky child turning the pages and moving me ahead when I am in the middle of a sentence. At a certain age I am not sure they really appreciate the actual story, they seem more interested in the pictures and possibly making up their own story. Who am I to stifle creativity? Although I think that if I ever have kids of my own I might just have to have 2 of certain books - one that it is ok for them to be all jam-hands over and one that is kept in relative unstickyness. Or maybe that makes me overly anal. Hrm.

The Wolves in the Wall was a cute story that made me laugh in places and really revel in the creative spirit. It is beautifully illustrated and well written and just enough odd.

26. Eragon - Christopher Paolini

2005-10-23T14:40:00.000-06:00

Ok. I really have to get better at posting as I read instead of trying to play catch up with the pile of books that is steadily growing beside my monitor. Mostly because by the time I get around to posting I have forgotten what I wanted to say about the book. Not that I really say anything terribly interesting anyways, but maybe that is fueled by my posting procrastination. Of course part of the reason I am posting right now is because I am procrastinating from another project. Go figure. Well and also I have 2 books of Dev's that I really should return tonight at bookclub and I really should log them before I do.

Anyways, I was surprised that Eragon was written by a 15 year old. And more than a little jealous because I am 25 and I still don't think I could write like that. I just can't seem to get my thoughts in order or get any ideas to suss out into a larger story arc or ... well any of the things that you probably need to be able to do in order to get published. And maybe that is just me selling myself short - I have a tendency to do that and pretend that it is being realistic. Hard to say. But the language was beautiful and seemed so much above a highschool level. Maybe, as Sarah and I discussed, the plot was highschool but I think that is a little less than fair. Definitely there were obvious borrows from LoTR and StarWars and probably some other classics that I failed to recognize but really what book doesn't borrow from something else? Isn't it said that there are basically 6 great stories and every other book is some sort of retelling? But there were dragons and battles and adventure and it was an easy and fairly quick read.

I think the biggest "danger" is that the book followed a form that I am overly familiar with and I found myself anticipating certain outcomes and sometimes I wished that he would do something different so that I could be a little surprised. I have some predictions I am fairly confident about for the sequel and I think the best thing that could happen would be for my view of things to come be totally off base. Which means I will definitely read Eldest to find out how on the mark I was. Sometimes I really am every marketers greatest dream. :p

25. Caught in the Act - Gemma Fox

2005-09-29T20:09:00.000-06:00

This is a fluffy pink book that caught my eye when I was picking up books for bookclub. Fluffy material wise, literally pink on the outside. And I am occasionally helpless when confronted with something that promises to be fluffy. Especially when it is pink.

The book was a lot more interesting than I initially thought it would be and was actually a bit of a twist on the usual girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, there are complications, Happy Ending. Not much of a twist but a bit of one.

And this is the second book in the last little while to feature a man who is utterly charming and utterly an asshole. Again I found myself pleading with the main character not to fall for it. I know it is just coincidence, but I am starting to wonder if the universe isn't trying to tell me something. If so, message received loud and clear, I have officially given up on any sort of love life in the forseeable future, asshole or no. I have too many personal things to figure out - one of them being why I consistently get sucked in by the charming assholes.

So I guess nothing too indepth about this one (that's not really new is it) ... it features a little bit of England and a little bit of Shakespeare and a little bit of "growing up" and finding your place in the world.

24. American Gods - Neil Gaiman (Book Club)

2005-09-27T11:18:00.000-06:00

Ugh. Life is quickly getting away from me and I keep putting off posting until there is a bit of a quiet moment but the books I have read are starting to pile up again. And really as I think about my goal of reading 50 new books by the end of January and I only have 4 months left. Which means I have to pick up the pace a bit. And it shouldn't be that tough of a goal to reach because 50 books in 12 months is only just over 4 books a month. I remember when I used to read 4 books a week. But I think that maybe I didn't really do anything else and now I have 2 daytimers, a wall calendar and a computer reminder so that I don't forget something important. Basically the point is that this shouldn't be an impossible task but it is harder than I anticipated.

Ok. So American God's which was Jago's book club pick for September. And ... I don't really know what to say. The book made you think about religion and mythology and iconography and what people used to worship vs what we (apparently) worship/place importance on today. I was a little bit frustrated because the gods that were referenced weren't really ones that were part of my mythology background - I have a fairly decent base of knowledge for Greek & Roman gods and there are names I recognize from other cultures but for the most part Gaiman was referencing gods that I had minimal familiarity with. Which I think only served to emphasize some of his points about how the "older" gods are being forgotten as we turn to worship technology and media etc. And I can't comfortably say that he is wrong, although I am not sure I 100% agree either.

The book is definitely more plot driven than character driven and other members of my book club found the book hard to get through because they didn't care about the characters. I tend to prefer plot driven novels, but I do agree that a connection with at least ONE of the characters is important as well. I didn't find the lack of "likeable" characters to be a problem, mostly because I was too busy trying to follow the various storylines and figure out the symbolism and put the pieces of the plot together to notice how I felt about the characters as individuals. And maybe it is something that would bother me on subsequent readings. I definitely think this book would lend itself well to a re-read because I was so busy trying to figure out the big picture that I feel like maybe I lost some of the finer points. And maybe it would help if I boned up on my mythology a little more.

23. Quentins - Maeve Binchy

2005-09-13T16:52:00.000-06:00

Whenever my friends told me about Maeve Binchy and how much they thought I would like her books this is the one they most frequently mentioned as a must read. So I finally did. 3 years later. I'm not sure that I loved it as much as they thought I would but that might be a case of too much hype making the book seem larger than life before I read it. Anyways. It was worth the read and I think I picked it up for $5 bucks and it was more than worth that.

Part of the reason I think my friends wanted me to read Quentin's is because the "heroine", Ella, falls for a guy who is pretty much the stereotypical type of guy that I fall for. On the surface he is charming and likeable and has everything going for him but really, secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) he is a more of an asshole than not and a user and a cheater. And I, like Ella, fall for the charms and overlook the little missteps and defend him to others and spend hours upon hours convincing myself that it's not really as bad as other people think, they just don't know him, they don't know how I feel. And in the end it is always a load of crap and I should have learned my lessons by now and maybe this time I have. Anyways, I am sure my friends occasionally feel towards me the way I felt towards Ella. All, "you poor sweet innocent and mostly dumb thing. Can't you see he is playing you for a fool. Oh god. Do not trust him." Of course none of the guys I have liked have stolen money from my family and friends and then fled the country.

Ha.

It is so much easier to see where other people should make different choices.

And inevitably there was a happy ending with everyone happily in love and the bad boyfriend in jail and Ella having learned not to trust the charm with only one go at it. Fairytale characters never make the same mistake twice.

22. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code

2005-08-30T13:02:00.000-06:00

I sort of have this thing for Children's Lit. I don't really know why or how to explain it, but if there is a good children's series or even a mediocre children's series or even some teen romancy series that is about as realistic as me not wanting DQ about 100 times a month and I just have to read it. Maybe because said books are MORE about escapism?

Anyways.

I think I like Artemis Fowl because of all the fairies and the centaurs and the magic. Maybe I just have to believe that there maybe could be magic somewhere. Or maybe I like the little witty moments like calling humans MudMen and the LEP. Or maybe I just like that they depict good vs evil as having shades of grey.

We were talking in bookclub about writing and overuse of adjectives and the word said and etc and I have to admit that those aren't things I usually notice unless they are glaringly obvious or the story is so slow ... but usually when I read I get caught up in the momentum of the plot and the characters and I don't pay attention to the incidentals. Which is interesting of me.

21. Angels & Demons - Dan Brown

2005-08-22T15:30:00.000-06:00

People told me that if I loved The DaVinci Code I would find Angels & Demons less than enthralling ... I guess that is just one more reason why I don't always listen to what other people tell me. I mean, yeah, both books followed a similar plot path and neither had any heart stopping character development. But what I loved about both books were the puzzles and the historical tid-bits provided. I am savvy enough to know that there were some inaccuracies and I'm not going to take all the information between the pages at face value - but I wouldn't do that with a history book anyways. What I enjoyed was how the history was presented and how I started thinking about the Church and about Rome and about art history in particular.

Angel's & Demons holds a special place in my heart simply by being set in Rome because I have a not very secret love affair with that city. I loved travelling through the streets and seeing the sights when I was there. I loved the heat (although not so much the feeling that I was melting at first), and the crowds of people and nearly getting killed by mopeds. And I have long had a fascination with Roman history - with the mythology and the architecture and the sheer scope and size of it all.

I was annoyed with one small inaccuracy though - when we tried to visit the Pantheon we discovered the hard way that it closed at 5pm daily. So the fact that there were people trooping in and out of there at 10pm was frustrating. Because I really wanted to go inside.

Laundry List

2005-08-07T10:11:00.000-06:00

So, umm, I have kind of ignored this site. Which sucks. And I didn't mean to but work was crazy and then life was crazy and then I was cranky ... And the whole time I was reading (at least a little)but just not inspired to talk about it. Or anything else in my life for that matter cause really I ignored all outlets of self expression. Good times. I think I am coming out of that funk now. I hope I hope. And to start the ball rolling here is a list of what I have read in the past 2 months and if I forget anything and throw my numbers off then I guess that is my own freaking fault.

16. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

17. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

18. Brave New World

19. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

20. Flowers in the Rain

15. Silver Wedding - Maeve Binchy

2005-05-24T13:56:00.000-06:00

This is the second of 3 books my grandparents leant me.
I like how Maeve Binchy has a knack for intertwining the stories of several people into one cohesive unit.
I liked that this book was an easy read after some of the denser stuff I have been into lately and that it only took me a few days to get through.
I like the sense of overarcing change that went through most of the characters as they prepared for this 25th wedding anniversary.
It was a book about relationships and the myriad of reasons people have for staying together and acting the way they do and for misunderstanding others motivations the way they do and although some of those reasons were bitter sweet they also seemed very true to life.
And I just felt like it could have been me, could have been my friends, my family, my life.

14. The Final Confessions of Mabel Stark - Robert Hough

2005-05-24T13:39:00.000-06:00

It is a testament to how busy May has been that a)I didn't entirely finish this book before it was due back at the library (for a second time so I couldn't automatically renew again) and b)it has taken me more than 2 weeks since I returned the book to find a few moments to sit down and write about it. And now I am at the point where I don't really know what to say. I mean, I guess it is one of those books that is so extraordinary that it feels like anything you do say just does not do justice. It made me feel like I was sitting down with one of my grandparents and they were telling me the story of their life. It felt very intimate and beautiful and very strange all at the same time.
Mabel's life wasn't one I have much in common with. The closest I have come to lions and tigers would be in the nosebleed section watching a circus, so to read about someone who worked so up close and personal with those animals, who cared for a tiger practically from birth and slept with it and loved it more than she loved most humans ... well that was magical. And also a little unreal.
The book was crafted so that I felt like I was there, I was watching the circus, I was the one Mabel was telling her story to. And that is a powerful feeling.

Book Club: The Kitchen God's Wife - Amy Tan (#13)

2005-05-06T18:16:00.000-06:00

Another book that took me way longer than I expected to get through. Definitely a testament to how crazy busy my life has been lately. In fact, I didn't even make it to the book club meeting last Sunday. I know that they discussed the issue of family secrets and family chemistry ... chemistry doesn't really seem like the right word but I'm drawing a blank on another word that would describe what I do mean. They also talked about language; how the author would occasionally throw in chinese phrases and then an explanation of how they would loosely translate into English. And they discussed how it was interesting to read a perspective on World War 2 that is not Eurocentric. All things that sort of brushed my subconcious as I was reading but not necessarily what I would have brought up on my own. Of course I am not always sure what I would have brought up until the words are actually coming out of my mouth .. or spilling out of my fingers here. Helpful isn't it?
Most of what my brain kept dwelling on while I was reading was pretty shallow. I kept thinking about Gilmore Girls and how the voice of the novel sounded exactly like Laine's mom. And then I would think about how much I want a Luke and then I would get distracted and put the book down. Maybe it wasn't just busyness that caused me to take so long.
I also kept thinking that I didn't have a basis for comparison. Because I don't know very many Chinese or even Asian people so I don't really know the culture or what it would be like to be a first generation child of immigrants from Asia. I guess technically I don't know what it would be like to be a first generation child of any immigrants since I am at least a 3rd generation Canadian on both sides of my family. But I am assured it is very different to be a child of an immigrant of European descent than a child of Asian descent. I am not sure if that clarifies anything or just makes this entry even more confusing.
I liked how the author stressed how you could be both strong & weak at the same time; how you could make choices that were good for you and maybe bad for others but that was ok; how the words fate and destiny are the same meaning and yet not the same meaning. I liked that this book made me think about my own perceptions and how they are so often rooted in European thinking, and how I wondered if there is ever any real truth or if truth is always a matter of perception.

12. Montreal Stories - Mavis Gallant

2005-04-23T14:46:00.000-06:00

I had heard good things about Mavis Gallant, particularly about her collection of short stories entitled Paris Stories so I thought I would pick up this collection. I have nothing against her writing per se. It is clean and concise and contains beautiful imagery. However, and as much as I hate to make a sweeping generalization, I think I am not really a short story girl. This book made me remember the class on short stories that I took and another book of short stories that we read for book club and yeah. I have, as yet, not encountered a short story to fall in love with. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't one out there, just that I haven't found it yet.

Short stories make me think of highly character driven books like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn which are all about a character and the daily activities that lead to their growth or some kind of revelation. I don't like those books either. Mostly because I don't get how they get from event a to point b. It seems as bizarre to me as saying that watching a beautiful sunrise will suddenly clarify the meaning of life. I know that it supposedly happens. But I live in a world that seems a lot more complicated than that. Or maybe I just overthink things and make them overcomplicated. It is hard to say.

I just found, with these stories, that I didn't relate to the characters; that I didn't get the social references; that I just didn't get it. And maybe that says more about my levels of awareness than anything else. I fully admit that. But that doesn't change the fact that this book just wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe once I get to be more worldly I will find some understanding. Who knows when that will actually happen.

NonFiction: Guinevere - Norma Lorre Goodrich (#11)

2005-04-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

Somehow I just cannot get myself excited to write about this book. Maybe because I have been some combination of too busy, too tired, or too cranky for the last few days. Maybe because, despite being about a topic I am fairly interested in I just couldn't get comfortable with the text. Maybe because I am just really freaking lazy sometimes.

Anyways, I find that with history books there is a fine line between baby talking to your reader, assuming that they know nothing, but nothing, about the topic and talking in complicated prose and assuming that your reader is also a Rhodes Scholar and knows everything, but everything about the topic. It could be that I haven't read a lot of scholarly history texts since my undergrad days, and even then with sufficient supplemental lecture material, but I found that Goodrich seemed to take the latter assumption. I felt like I was doing math again (definitely not a strong suit) and I was given a problem that went something like A = C so F is 5 and I was all huh? Where are all the steps in between that explain that enormous leap of logic? So I would go back and re-read more carefully in case I had missed something, but most of the time she really was actually randomly changing topics, or, and probably more the case, assuming that I had a vital piece of knowledge somewhere in my brain that I didn't actually have. And I don't blame the author entirely, I chose the book knowing that it would be a little heavy and assuming I could handle it, but I have to admit I was frustrated on more than one occasion.

I also felt like Goodrich didn't really come to any conclusions. She cited a lot of sources and demonstrated a lot of theories but just as you thought she was giving you an answer of sorts she would up and cite the exact opposite theory and a whole lot of source material to prove that too. I guess the point is that we can never really know 100% for sure what happened in the past, even the present is subject to interpretation, and you know, here are some possibilities. And I get that. But I wish she would have indicated in a foreward or something that she was going to spend the whole book being totally wishy washy. Because I wasted a lot of time going "Guinevere is blah blee? but I thought she just spent 2 chapters saying that she was Blee Blah. OH. ha ha. She is telling me that what we know about Guinevere is totally uncertain. Moving on. And also Grr."

Hovever, given all that, I did learn a few things and I managed to make a few scribblings about what I found interesting, as noted below:

*Lancelot is suspected to be descended from Joseph of Arimathea (or possibly even Jesus?)
*Arthur's Camelot is in Scotland (not Cornwall), known as "the key of Scotland" and thought to be of military significance. Camelot and the Round Table were part of Guinevere's dowry.
*There are rumors of 2 (possibly 3) Guinevere's ... The real Queen and a False Guinevere (who shared a father with the Real Guinevere) who drugged Arthur and convinced him that she was his rightful Queen.
*Guinevere was literate; Arthur was not.

10. Under Gemini - Rosamunde Pilcher

2005-04-03T19:21:00.000-06:00

Oddly enough I got this book from my grandparents - I am not sure if the 3 books they gave me at Easter were a gift or merely things they thought I would enjoy after our discussion of Maeve Binchy but they came for dinner and I left with 3 books and that was that.

This was a nice break from the books I have been reading lately. All of which I have loved and enjoyed, but I had gotten myself into a rut of books that were long and complicated and full of theory and taking me For Freaking Ever to get through. And for whatever reason I seem to be the kind of person that likes to finish one book before I start another - sometimes with more textbooky types I can take a break in the middle and read something short and then come back, but for the most part I like the continuity of finishing what I have started and mulling it over and then moving on. I guess that way I don't have characters or ideas from one book on my mind when I am trying to absorb a new set of characters or ideas.

Under Gemini was an uncomplicated distraction. From the blurb on the back I already felt like I knew the general path the book was going to take me down - there would be a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, a bit of mistaken identity and then everyone would live happily ever after. And sometimes that is just what is needed - a story you know the outline of if not the exact people and words that will be involved. I didn't fall particularly in love with any of the characters but I didn't hate them either - they could have been anyone, anywhere and the story would have been the same.

This is exactly the kind of book I used to live off of as a teenager. A story that is comforting in its' predictability and in its' happily ever after.

NonFiction: Sylvia Browne's Book of Dreams (#9)

2005-04-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

Another dream book. I am not kidding when I say that my dreams are crazy enough that I want to read every book I can that might help me to analyze them and figure out what exactly my sub-concious is trying to tell me.

A friend of mine saw this particular dream book on the seat of my car and his response was particularly amusing - "Why the hell are you reading Sylvia Browne?? She is CRAAAAZY!" And I have to agree, some of her ideas are definitely out there, and her writing does not hide the fact that she is a bit of a religious fanatic. My opinions on her level of craziness tended to vary - some of her statements I found a little hard to swallow (I can't think of any good examples off the top of my head) while she had other ideas that, while they didn't mesh entirely with my belief system, were at least feasible in the sense that they were things I had pondered. This would include things like reincarnation, visits from spirits, astral travel while we sleep, angels etc etc. I am not entirely sure where I stand on those issues, but they are not things that I necessarily discredit or disbelieve. If that makes sense.

A lot of her suggestions for dream analysis involved praying for God's/the Holy Spirit's intervention and help in clarifying the dream messages your spirit is sending you. She was very big on relaxation before sleep and wrapping yourself in "the white light of the Holy Spirit, the purple light of God and the green light of healing." Which seems a little extreme, and yet in my yoga class we are very big on healing energies and during relaxation we are encouraged to send energy to the parts of our body that are under stress or in pain and I always visualize that energy as green ... So either it is an interesting coincidence or maybe there is something to some of her theories. Sylvia would say there is no such thing as coincidence.

Sylvia also talks a lot about how everyone has a spirit guide who is always present when they dream and 2 angels who are omni-present. She says these are people we have chosen on The Other Side before we were reincarnated into this lifetime. In fact she firmly believes that we have all been reincarnated many times and that before we come to earth we plot out a life chart for ourselves with the goals we hope to accomplish this time around. Which ... I don't know.

She divides dreams into 5 categories: Prophetic, Release, Wish, Information & Problem Solving & Astral Visits. There is talk of archetypes and totems and symbolism and she suggests some possible interpretations of these but mostly emphasizes that YOUR definition/what rings true with YOU is more important than any dictionary of symbolism could ever be.

I liked that she used a lot of examples and that the dreams she included seemed to be less straightforward than the dreams from the last book I read. I didn't like that I felt like she was being all preachy and you must believe in God the way I believe in God. I also didn't like that my goal in reading this book was to understand my own dreams better, and, while I have a little more theory behind me now I still feel as confused as ever. I guess maybe there is something to the practice makes perfect speech. Maybe I really should just buy a dream journal and see if that helps.

Book Club: The Lions of Al-Rassan (#8)

2005-03-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

I am going to try something new with this post, that is starting it before I have actually finished the book. This is, in part, because it is a long and complicated book with many characters and many settings, but also because maybe if I write while I read I will have an easier time expressing what I am thinking. Or at least jot down some guidelines that I can further expound upon once I have closed the final pages.

In general, tidying up news, I am almost 2 months into the year challenge I have set for myself and I have read almost 8 books which tells me that I am keeping a fairly good pace ... I think that in order to accomplish my goal I have to read at least 4 books a month and there need to be at least 2 months where I read 5 books and things should come together quite nicely. Despite all the areas where I seem to be failing lately this is one place where I seem to be right on track and it is kind of refreshing. I think the project is also helping me to slow down and absorb what I am reading and to think at least a little bit critically about it.

As for this book, it was Karen's pick for bookclub as it is one of her favorite books. I am just shy of halfway through and I can already see why. Lions is a complex book with many characters and many landscapes all building upon one another towards the assumed climax of the book - a holy war. It is a bit of a challenge to keep everyone straight ... not only are their religious backgrounds extremely important, there are also their countries/cities of birth, their current location and their past and current allegiances to keep straight. I often find myself flipping back to the maps and charts at the beginning of the book to remind myself of relationships and locations (is Batiara South or East of Cartada?). I do find that the author is clear and concise in his character depictions - if you read carefully it is clear what each character stands for.

I also find that the religious lines are very clearly drawn. There is a bias (or at least I think there is one) towards the groups/people we are supposed to empathise with but there is also a clear explanation of who and what the other groups/other people think and stand for. It feels like everything is carefully planned and plotted and while you might not agree with anyone in particular, you can at least see where they are coming from. I appreciate these subtleties because there is nothing I hate more than thinking wow, that development came out of the blue! and then never having a satisfactory explanation provided.

7. Prince of Dreams

2005-03-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

Of the things I am passionate about, fairytales, legends and general mythology come pretty high on the list. So it is fairly obvious that when I find a book that takes aspects of any of the above and spins a new web of a familiar story I am entranced to the point of not wanting to put the book down until every word has been absorbed. Prince of Dreams is one of these books.

The story takes place some years after the death of the legendary King Arthur - the great High King who united Britain for the first (and last?) time in centuries. We follow the lives of Tristan and Essylte who are fated to be lovers and just as fated to have life and other obligations get in the way of their love - most notably that Essylte is promised to the current High King of Britain, who is also Tristan's uncle. With scheming, lying and various other forms of deceipt Tristan and Essylte find ways to be together. Even though they know the consequence for adultery and treason will surely be their death they can not bear to be apart.

There is magic, and history and druidic prophesies that must be fulfilled. There is love and betrayal and every emotion in between. This is a story that brings to life the tensions that must have existed between the Welsh and British kingdoms, as well as the intrinsic fear of outside invaders like the Saxons and the Anglii. It is a powerful story that reminded me why I find old legends and myths so fascinating.

Oh to have been born in a time rife with heroes.

Or maybe heroes can only be present in the past tense. We only admire their daring deeds after time and space from the event have given us the perspective to realize (and exaggerate?) their greatness.

6. Folktales of Ireland

2005-03-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have always had a soft spot for books of fairy or folktales. So when I spotted this book of Irish folktales I was interested right away, especially since Ireland is another topic that interests me greatly. I was actually hoping for a quick read, thinking that there would be lot of short stories and I would just fly right along. It's taken me over a week to read so I guess that backfired a little.

I had a bit of trouble with reading comprehension - I found that I would get to the end of the tale and wonder what the point of it all was. There are a bunch of indexes at the back that detail theme and motif as well as a set of notes on the tales themselves; sometimes these were helpful and sometimes they weren't. I'm not sure if my confusion speaks more to the translation of the tales from oral Gaelic to written English or to the mediocrity of my knowledge of old Ireland or both. It was definitely frustrating to feel at times that there were references being made that were just passing right over my head. I am not sure if those are references I will ever be made privy to or if they are lost with the oral nature of the tales. I suppose only time will tell.

There were some familiar themes and characters present: the hero & the villain, the tales that involved multiple tasks, the hidden treasures, the animals/undesirables who were really handsome men & women. I felt connected with these motifs and they came along often enough to remind me that there was a common denominator between what I know and what I was reading.

I was also really excited to get to the part about historical characters where they mentioned Daniel O'Connell because Melly & Beth and I learned a little bit about him when we were in Dublin so I was awash with fond memories of our trip together.

NonFiction: The Bedside Guide to Dreams (#5)

2005-03-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have always been interested in dreams because, well, mine seem to be too crazy for words and I often find myself wondering "what is up with that??" Are my dreams trying to tell me something? Is this the creative side of my personality expressing myself? Do I secretly want to make out with that person because, oh, ew, gross - why am I dreaming about this?!? So I was naturally drawn to the title of this book and really hoped that it might shed some light on the subject.

I don't normally read a lot of non-fiction, something I am trying to change, and in the past it has mostly been character driven stories like Into Thin Air or a book about a couples rafting trip in Baja or a woman's story about her experience with breast cancer. I mean, there were my text books in University but sometimes that was more skimming and attending class than actual reading. So this is sort of a new experience for me.

The format of the book is pretty easy to follow, the author breaks dreams down into 27 sub-types and gives fairly clear definitions complete with real life examples. I am the queen of needing examples in order to understand things better so I really appreciated the effort - although all of the example dreams seemed fairly clear-cut. I guess what I am trying to say is that the book gave me a better abstract understanding of how dreams work but didn't necessarily give me any personal insight into my own dreams. The author does say repeatedly that the book is a only stepping stone and that the best way to understand your own dreams is to work with them on a daily basis. She suggests keeping a dream journal and cites a 5 step method to dream analysis: noting your emotions during and after the dream, finding a theme, matching the theme to real life, noting the symbols/symbolism in the dream, and the application of any insights. I like the idea of a dream journal, what scares me about the practical application of such a task is that I am likely to have a dream, wake up in the middle of the night and need to write about it and this will cut into my precious sleep time. Plus my memory of dreams is not always that stellar - I remember the really vivid ones but a lot of the time I wake up with a sense of shapes or colors and a complete lack of plot.

The author also spends a lot of time talking about how everything is connected - kind of like Jung and the idea of a collective unconcious. She dwells on the amazing (and as yet underexplored) powers of the unconcious - how the psyche seems to be aware of things that we are not always conciously aware of - and mentions how she believes it is possible to travel to other worlds or realms in our dreams. She claims that these trips might actually occur and are remembered as dreams because that is the method the unconcious uses for communication. Ever have your body thud against your bed right as you woke up? Likely it was your soul returning from another astral plane.

I don't know how much I believe or disbelieve ... but I have had enough weird dreams and odd sleeping experiences to believe that anything might be possible.

4. Tricksters Choice

2005-02-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

I think I am secretly in love with Tamora Pierce. Seriously, every book I have read by her I have not been able to put down, and then once I am finished I sleep with the book beside my pillow for a few nights because I am just not quite ready to part with it yet. Is that sad?

Somehow, the characters just speak to me ... I identify with them because at the beginning they are lost and wondering what their purpose in life is as I wonder what my purpose in life is. And then something happens - like a god appearing in a dream and being all "Go here and do this" and they do and suddenly their existence makes sense and they are helping others and feeling fulfilled. Do I ever wish it was that easy in real life. Because here I am, 24 - to their usual 14,15, 16 - and I am still waiting for something to speak to me and point me in the right direction. And I know people older than I am who are also still trying to figure it out. I try to point myself in certain directions but all too often the ho hum realities of my actual existence require that I pay attention to the things I NEED to do to put food on my table and gas in my car and the time I squander away to nourish my dreams and desires are often stolen moments that occur all to infrequently. Hence the use of books for escapism because for just pennies a page I can steal away to some far off land that has little to do with my daily existence. And that is why I love Tamora Pierce, because she writes books that make it so easy for me to slip into a fantasy world - one paragraph and I am there.

This book got me to my nearest public library and I left with a shiny new library card in hand. I don't think I have had a library card in almost 5 years. That is a sad sad thing for the girl who used to spend hours in the library picking out books and even more hours poring over them. It made me realize that I need to refocus my energies and make reading more of a priority again - instead of wasting away in front of the TV and a lot of shows that bore me to no end and leave my brain sluggish instead of energized with imagination. (This is not to say that there are not shows that I love and adore because there are, and probably far too many of them, but that I should stop using the TV as background noise and end up watching programs that do nothing for me.)

Such a lot of accomplishments for one little book. I am excited to see what fantasy world I dive into next.

Book Club: To Kill A Mockingbird

2005-02-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

I first read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in highschool - I think it was Grade 11. And I have to be honest and say that I don't think I got it back then. I am not entirely sure that I "get it" now but I think it is more of a possibility at least.

All I really remember from that first reading and in class analysis is a lot of talk about Boo Radley ... the rape trial and the subsequent attack on the Finch children were blurrily familiar but no more than that. And I definitely think I missed more of the subtler nuances - like how the title of the book made sense with the plot of the novel itself.

Again I feel like I am stumbling along and not really adequately expressing what I want to say. I guess I feel that I have been mostly sheltered from extreme prejudice. I don't know that that actually means the world is becoming a more accepting place, only that the cruelties don't seem to be happening/hitting close to home. I attended a concert in honor of Black History Month last weekend; the choir had travelled to Namibia and South Africa. It reminded me that although sometimes it feels like the persecution of Black people and Black culture was ages ago it really was not that long ago. They related that in some of the smaller African communities there were still 4 public washrooms - one for white men, one for non-white women, one for non-white men and one for non-white women - a silent testimony that aparteid in some of those countries ended only 14 years ago. I have been brought up to respect people of all races and all cultures and that kind of persecution seems so foreign to me. I can't comprehend how you could hate, or look down on someone simply because the color of their skin is different than your own. I know that it happens and I am sure that sometimes it happens on an unconcious level ... and it makes me wonder if I am always as fair and as open minded as I try to be. I guess the point is that I am trying?

The other thing that surprises me is that this beautiful book is still on a list of frequently challenged/banned books. I guess that means we haven't come as far as we need to if people can still fear the power of these words. In my opinion, any book that challenges our world view and makes us think about how we are treating others now, and how we have treated others in the past is worth reading, is worth praising, is worth passing on.

And so we have a tale of friendship and love and human dignity that moved me so much more the second time I read it that it will stay on my shelf to be re-read a third and maybe a fourth time. Maybe on those readings I will be able to find better words to express myself with.

a) Two to Tangle

2005-02-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a girl (this girl, anyways) just needs a trashy romance novel in her life.

Two to Tangle was given to me by Sarah & Beth the summer I was in the hospital. I think they figured that something light and steamy would be just what I needed for a little pick me up. They sure hit the jackpot with this one.

I have always been a sucker for a good romance and I seem to especially like ones with a mistaken case of identity. I think that sometimes I just need to live vicariously through a fictional character; especially one who, despite a few minor (or major) hiccoughs along the way, hooks up with the man of her dreams and merits a super cheesy happy ending. My romantic entanglements have been anything but happily ever after and these books serve to remind me that maybe it is possible. Even if it is only in a fictional world.

3. Treasure Island

2005-02-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Let's try this again.

We'll start with a comment on how I feel unable to articulate my thoughts properly. I guess part of the reason for this whole blog is to a) practice critical reading on my part and b) firm up my writing skills and my ability to express myself on paper. So things might seem fumbling and experimental in these first posts and maybe they will never progress to the level I think they should but it's an exercise and we'll see how things go. Part of my problem is that I don't want to just write up a summation of the plot, I want to explore how the book made me feel or what it made me think of, I want to dig deeper. Sometimes I think that maybe there is no deeper, maybe there is only the surface ... but when I think like that I also hope that maybe I missed something.

I've noticed that I tend to start with a short explanation of why I read the book I am discussing/how it came to be on my bookshelf. I don't exactly know why that is important but it seems to be so we'll start no differently today. Although I must admit that I am not sure where Treasure Island came from. Usually someone recommended the book or I liked the title or it is for book club or I like the author or whatever. But I have no strong memory of any of those things. It is like the book just appeared on my shelf one day and I realized I had never read it and things went from there. Not knowing, or not remembering, why I originally wanted to read Treasure Island may have something to do with the apathy I seem to feel towards it - to be honest I just want to write "meh" and be done with it. It's not that it wasn't a good book, or poorly written. I guess it just didn't grip me in any immediately identifiable way. I didn't love the characters, I didn't envision myself in the setting, I didn't find anything specific to relate to. I also kind of felt "been there, done that" not in the sense that I had actually been there, done that (maybe "been there, read that" would be better?) ... maybe I have read other books that were based, however loosely, on this one? And it didn't help that I had some problems with the language ... especially when Long John Silver was talking. It's like my brain took the words on the page and turned them into gobbledygook and it was immensely frustrating. It's like when someone mumbles and you know that they are speaking English and the words should make sense but there is just some processing barrier and you feel like you have this blank look on your face while you try to make heads or tails of the situation. And eventually maybe you just don't want to talk to that person anymore. That is kind of how I felt - that I just didn't want to have to try so hard to make sense of a book that didn't really enlighten me anyways. Now, I know that I often feel that way at the beginning of a Shakespeare play, but usually one act in and I have developed a rhythm and things start to flow. I just never found my stride in Treasure Island I guess.

The one highpoint was that I kept hearing Johnny Depp as Cap'n Jack Sparrow in my head while I was reading and anything that makes me think of Cap'n Jack can't be all bad.

2. Nights of Rain and Stars

2005-02-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently most of my friends are shocked and appalled that prior to this I have never read anything my Maeve Binchy. Not as shocked and appalled as they were when they found out I hadn't read any Austen (and I call myself an English major) but it was a pretty close second. I guess they just figured that because she mostly writes about Ireland and I am fairly entranced with the Green Isle that she would be an author I would naturally gravitate to.

I was reading this when I was at my parents on Monday and my grandparents came over for supper and they saw my book and they too raved on and on about Binchy and how they loved this book and how between their household and one of my aunt's they had all her books and ... well, it was a little weird frankly, but also kind of cool. There aren't that many common links between me and my grandparents and to find one in such an unexpected place made me realize how little I actually know them.

This book was set in Greece and it awoke all those feelings that I had pushed aside when I realized my dream of travelling there in 2006 was unlikely to become a reality. I am still saving and hoping against hope but it just seems that everytime I turn around there is another major financial commitment that I can't get out of (moving home is not an option). The descriptions in the passages made me feel like I was in Greece and made me yearn to be in Greece. I am a reader who gets easily swept away by details - I guess you could say I have a very vivid imagination and when I read I like to create pictures in my minds eye. It helps to take me away from the ordinariness of everyday life. Nights of Rain and Stars was an excellent mode to escapism. It was exactly what I needed after the Orwell piece. And I think I will be picking up more books by Binchy in the near future.

In some ways it was rather predictable. But sometimes you (or at least I) need a book that has a happy ending. And I didn't feel that the predictability was forced. For the most part it felt natural and right that the characters would make the decisions that they did. Some authors can make that "fate" feeling come across as forced but here everything just seemed to sit right. Inevitable but right.

1. Nineteen Eighty-Four

2005-01-30T02:07:00.000-07:00

In retrospect I would have to say that I bit off a bit more than I wanted to chew with this book choice. It was time to read 1984, the book has sat on my shelves since mid-highschool (a friend of mine at the time insisted I couldn't live without a copy) and I kept picking it up and putting it down again, but this time I told myself I was going to get through it come hell or highwater. And it is not that I hated the book by any means. Honestly? I'm just not sure I entirely got it.

Although I have read satires before it was always in a classroom setting with much discussion and outside explanation, and the only one I really remember was the one about eating babies (by Jonathon Swift?) - his point was pretty obvious. With 1984 I felt a little lost. A whole lot lost. I know a little bit about Socialism but not enough to feel that I could truly appreciate where this book was coming from. If it was even a satire about socialism at all. And although I read Animal Farm in Grade 9 English that was more of an allegory than a satire and again I had my teacher to walk me through all the hard parts. This time it was me and only me and I ended up feeling more than a little inadequate.

It didn't help that I thought the book was taking one direction and it ended up going another way entirely. I didn't see that coming and I'm not sure I liked it. Resistance is futile? Not exactly the answer I was looking for. Maybe that's just the whole satire thing rearing its' ugly head and a perfect example of me just not getting it.

Next up, something light and fluffy to give my brain a much needed break. And at some point in the future some research that might give 1984 a bit more context.

I Capture the Castle

2005-01-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

I totally admit to follwing in Sarah's footsteps here; although I am not yet sure how many announcements I am going to make about this site. Basically I too wanted a place where I could document exactly what I had read and what I thought of it. How it didn't occur to me that a blog would be the ideal place is another matter, but I often need a little help and prodding with these things.
I also think that I tend to fall into ruts with my reading where I only look at YA books or books with certain authors and I want to be more aware of those trends and expand my reading horizons. Plus, like Dev and so many others before me I want to set a reading goal and see how many books I can actually read in one year. I guess this first book won't count towards that number seeing as how I read it before I stated my larger purpose but I'll work with that. I swear I used to read 50+ books a summer so even though it is a lofty goal I think it is inevitably a worthwhile one so 50 will be the target and we'll see how she goes.
The book I just finished, as you will notice by the title is I Capture the Castle. Sarah recommended it to me when I was still living in the Party House and I have finally gotten around to picking up a copy. You would think that seeing as there was one in the house the whole time I lived there it wouldn't have taken this long but there you have it. I found it a little bit difficult to get into because I couldn't immediately picture the people or the setting and I have been discovering that I am very big on visualization when I read - I know this because of the number of books I have seen translated to the screen and I find myself disappointed because their picture so often times does not match or mesh with the one I had come up with on my own. It took me forever to figure out that the story was set in 1930's rural England - it felt more mid-19th century but I suppose that could be because of how isolated the family was. I struggled with remembering their isolation and seeing as it was such a key component to why the story developed as it did I wish I had had an easier time with keeping that in the foreground of my mind as I read.
I had a hardtime pinpointing the age of the characters - they were constantly referred to as "this old when this happened" but never as "this old now" and it annoyed me terribly. Especially with Cassandra because other characters kept referring to her as a child so I initially pegged her between 12 & 15, but this did not really jive with the plot development and by the end of the book I figured she was closer to between 18 & 20. And that understanding of her age made such a crucial difference to my understanding of the story.
It may well turn out to be a book I enjoy more upon second or third reading if I get that opportunity but for now I think I am glad that I finished the last page and can move onto something else.