Three things:
The Trouble with Trilogies:
Just about everyone has read The Hunger Games trilogy. The main complaint people seemed to have about it was that, while the first book was fantastic and creative, and the second and third books were poorer versions of the same story. The hero ends up in some version of the games and overcomes near-impossible odds. I have found myself stuck in the same cycle while reading Scott Westerfeld's "Uglies" trilogy. I enjoyed the creativity of the first book, "Uglies." It was a fascinating premise, with the idea that, after the destruction of our civilization (we are Rusties), people developed a system where everyone becomes equally beautiful at the age of 16. The point is that biologically, people are drawn to beautiful people, which gives pretty people an edge in being hired, being elected, and in overall success. But something (of course) is wrong with the Pretties, and a group of Uglies are out to solve the problem. There are actually 4 books, but only three involve the main characters: "Uglies," "Pretties," and "Specials." Like I said, "Uglies" is fascinating. The hero goes on a journey out into the wild, meets some new, interesting people, finds herself, and returns to her home with the intent to help improve the world. And "Pretties" is about the same girl, escaping into the wild, meeting a new group of people, finding out more things to change in her world, and returns to save civilization again. And "Specials" is about the same girl, finding her true self again, heading out into the wild again, and ending up with yet another group of people who have an agenda, realizes she needs to save the world, and heads back to her home town to make big changes. It's a little familiar. I stuck with the books, and now I'm reading the fourth book of the "trilogy." It's already looking like the new hero is going to head out to the wild and meet some new people. It seems that the purpose of trilogies these days is just that the author wants three times the moola. Authors, please take a note from J.R.R. Tolkien. A trilogy could be different parts of the same story told in three parts. Just a thought.
He's not just good at the crane kick
Can I tell you how excited I am that Ralph Macchio is on Dancing With the Stars? So excited. And he was fantastic last night. Super light on his feet. And I was stunned when he admitted his age to be 49. What? The man looks like he's 25. And honorable mention goes to Kirstie Alley, who was also super fantastic. I think I'll be watching this season.
Guilty Pleasure
Okay mom. You can stop reading now. Has anyone else watched the first 6 seasons of Desperate Housewives? I have spent a lot of the last month watching it on Netflix streaming. Let me tell you what I love about the show. 1. Four neighbor friends that have different personalities, yet manage to love and support each other through all their trials. It's heart-warming. 2. Lynette, a mother of four, is not a perfect mom. She yells at her kids sometimes, she gets mad at her husband sometimes, and she loves her family more than anything in the whole world. Plus, she's hilarious. 3. It's totally over the top, and I love over the top. ("Lost", anyone?) For example, a tornado heading right down the center of Wisteria Lane. Also, the usual soapy stories (babies switched at birth, mysterious murderous neighbors, affairs with gardeners), which, you have to admit, can be kind of exciting. I'm just saying, it's a fun show. 4. Despite its soapy tendencies, there are also a lot of situations found in the show that are very relatable: a friend with cancer whose friends gather around her, a miscarriage, a husband and wife who struggle to make ends meet and end up bickering over it, and motherhood in general. I have really enjoyed the show. I'm now stuck waiting for Season 7 to come out on DVD and streaming. I hear Vanessa Williams has joined the Lane. Should be fascinating.
That's what's on my mind, peeps.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
A shout out
I don't have a whole lot of time to blog today, but I just finished a fantastic book and wanted to recommend it. It's called "Peace Like a River" by Leif Enger. I'm not going to give you a summary of the book for two reasons. First, because I think sometimes it's nice to start a book not knowing anything. Discovery is one of the gifts of reading a new book. Second, because I don't even know how to sum it up. Instead, I will just give the book an enthusiastic double thumbs up and beg you to read it. We are having a book group on that very book on March 29th, 8:15pm at my house. Please read it and come on over.
Friday, February 11, 2011
A Pleasant Break
I have read a lot of good books lately. I enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy, "These is my Words," "The Help," "Unbearable Lightness," and many other books of substance. It's fantastic to read so much recently written literature. I've learned so much about the Civil Rights era, the struggles in the Arizona territories in the mid to late 1800s, eating disorders, and the horrors of being a teenager in post-apocolyptic America. I've also slipped in some fluff here and there, of course.
I got a Nook at Christmas, and a month ago I found all of the Anne of Green Gables books for 99 cents, and bought them. About a week ago I started reading them for the first time that I can remember. My mom probably read them to me when I was in elementary school, but things went in one ear and out the other back then. So this is really the first time for me. I have seen the movies hundreds of times (like, every other Saturday in college when it wasn't Pride and Prejudice Saturday). I LOVE the movies. Who doesn't adore Gilbert and his floppy hair? But I had no idea how much more there is in the books. The only word I can come up with is delightful. There is no horrible tragedy or social commentary, war or depression. Just a spunky orphan finding beauty in her surroundings. One of the joys of reading is the ability you have to see inside the characters' minds. Marilla's thoughts add so much depth to her character. Rachel Lynde is even more amusing. I am currently about halfway through "Anne of the Island." If you need something to brighten up your February, I suggest you give Anne a try. It is such a pleasure to read these books.
I got a Nook at Christmas, and a month ago I found all of the Anne of Green Gables books for 99 cents, and bought them. About a week ago I started reading them for the first time that I can remember. My mom probably read them to me when I was in elementary school, but things went in one ear and out the other back then. So this is really the first time for me. I have seen the movies hundreds of times (like, every other Saturday in college when it wasn't Pride and Prejudice Saturday). I LOVE the movies. Who doesn't adore Gilbert and his floppy hair? But I had no idea how much more there is in the books. The only word I can come up with is delightful. There is no horrible tragedy or social commentary, war or depression. Just a spunky orphan finding beauty in her surroundings. One of the joys of reading is the ability you have to see inside the characters' minds. Marilla's thoughts add so much depth to her character. Rachel Lynde is even more amusing. I am currently about halfway through "Anne of the Island." If you need something to brighten up your February, I suggest you give Anne a try. It is such a pleasure to read these books.
Friday, January 7, 2011
"Unbearable Lightness" by Portia de Rossi
I tend to skip by celebrities' autobiographies. I'd rather not read about how terrible it is to be fabulous. But my friend recommended "Unbearable Lightness" by Portia de Rossi to me, and, since I trust her judgement, I read it.
Portia de Rossi is an Australian actress (I had no idea she was Australian) who was in a few movies I'd never heard of, but really hit the scene as Nelle Porter on Ally McBeal. After 4 years on that show, she won the role of Lindsay Bluth Funke on Arrested Development (great show), and is more recently famous for her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres. Besides her nationality, I knew all this about her. And even though I watched some of Ally McBeal and we own all of the seasons of Arrested Development, I didn't know the rest of her history.
You can read the book to get all of it, but the gist of it is that she learned how to crash diet when she was 12 and started modeling. Her mom taught her to eat 300 calories a day to lose a pound a day, and after her shoots she and her mom would binge on all the foods she'd missed during her diets. From there her obsession with her weight and her relationship with food worsened. As she became more famous, her drive to be thin increased, and she hired a nutritionist to help her learn how to lose weight and keep it off. She took the tools given to her and twisted them to give her more extreme weight loss, and at one point she weighed a mere 82 pounds.
De Rossi was frankly honest about her history, and gave the reader a realistic view into the mind of someone struggling from eating disorders. She made it very clear that anorexia and bulimia are mental disorders, and that the words coming from loved ones to someone with a poor body image can often be blown out of proportion and turned into a sort of mantra that fuels their obsessive behavior. Critics of the book have said that what her detailed narrative does is provide ideas for people with eating disorders, and that it will just create more problems. I disagree. I don't have an eating disorder, so I don't know it for a fact, but to me, what I saw was a very sick woman, and the last thing I wanted to do was become that obsessed.
Clearly, she is rehabilitated, or she wouldn't have been able to write with the perspective she has now. She spends time looking back at her life and discussing reasons people become obsessed with their appearance. She also discusses her struggle with her sexuality, which isn't a subject I care to read about, but in this book, it is given as one of the reasons she became so determined to be perfect. That part of the book didn't bother me, because I didn't feel like I was being asked to accept her lifestyle, and it wasn't the point of the book. What I gained from the book was that becoming fixated on something, whether it be a number on the scale or the thickness of your arms or the amount of calories you put in your body, is unhealthy.
The point is, if you've ever had any struggles with your own body image, or if you have a bad relationship with food, you should read this book. I can honestly say it gave me a fresh perspective that has changed how I see myself and my relationship food.
Portia de Rossi is an Australian actress (I had no idea she was Australian) who was in a few movies I'd never heard of, but really hit the scene as Nelle Porter on Ally McBeal. After 4 years on that show, she won the role of Lindsay Bluth Funke on Arrested Development (great show), and is more recently famous for her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres. Besides her nationality, I knew all this about her. And even though I watched some of Ally McBeal and we own all of the seasons of Arrested Development, I didn't know the rest of her history.
You can read the book to get all of it, but the gist of it is that she learned how to crash diet when she was 12 and started modeling. Her mom taught her to eat 300 calories a day to lose a pound a day, and after her shoots she and her mom would binge on all the foods she'd missed during her diets. From there her obsession with her weight and her relationship with food worsened. As she became more famous, her drive to be thin increased, and she hired a nutritionist to help her learn how to lose weight and keep it off. She took the tools given to her and twisted them to give her more extreme weight loss, and at one point she weighed a mere 82 pounds.
De Rossi was frankly honest about her history, and gave the reader a realistic view into the mind of someone struggling from eating disorders. She made it very clear that anorexia and bulimia are mental disorders, and that the words coming from loved ones to someone with a poor body image can often be blown out of proportion and turned into a sort of mantra that fuels their obsessive behavior. Critics of the book have said that what her detailed narrative does is provide ideas for people with eating disorders, and that it will just create more problems. I disagree. I don't have an eating disorder, so I don't know it for a fact, but to me, what I saw was a very sick woman, and the last thing I wanted to do was become that obsessed.
Clearly, she is rehabilitated, or she wouldn't have been able to write with the perspective she has now. She spends time looking back at her life and discussing reasons people become obsessed with their appearance. She also discusses her struggle with her sexuality, which isn't a subject I care to read about, but in this book, it is given as one of the reasons she became so determined to be perfect. That part of the book didn't bother me, because I didn't feel like I was being asked to accept her lifestyle, and it wasn't the point of the book. What I gained from the book was that becoming fixated on something, whether it be a number on the scale or the thickness of your arms or the amount of calories you put in your body, is unhealthy.
The point is, if you've ever had any struggles with your own body image, or if you have a bad relationship with food, you should read this book. I can honestly say it gave me a fresh perspective that has changed how I see myself and my relationship food.
Monday, December 13, 2010
A random assortment of thoughts
Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged. Oopsy. I blame my new phone. I have become addicted to my sudoku app. Plus I've been reading a whole bunch. But here are a few thoughts that I would like to mention:
1. Every month at book group, the time comes when we recommend books for our next read. It always gets me thinking of my favorite books, so here is a list of what I feel are must reads, but don't necessarily qualify for book group: (in no particular order)
"Beauty" by Robin McKinley (I read it at least once a year.)
"Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison, and all the other Georgia Nicholson books (Please read these books. You will thank me. I read these when I've had a bad day and need a good laugh. HILARIOUS.)
"Archangel" by Sharon Shinn (also the rest of the Samaria series. Romantic, unique and entertaining.)
2. Shopping this time of year can be frustrating, to say the least. Here are some things I really wish people would consider while pushing their carts through Walmart:
-The entrances to aisles are NOT places for stopping to chat.
-Walking super duper slowly down the very middle of the aisle makes it impossible to pass.
-I see the aisles like the road, and the carts like the cars. Except, we don't have tail lights on the carts or our behinds. So stopping suddenly in the middle of a busy aisle instead of pulling over to look at those Santa mugs is dangerous.
-Pushing a cart into oncoming traffic is like pulling out onto Washington in front of a bunch of cars. Not nice.
Don't get me wrong. I love the holidays. I just get a little put out when I get stuck behind a slow, aisle hogging, suddenly stopping, cell phone chatting person when I'm trying to get those last stocking stuffers.
3. I love Netflix streaming. LOVE. To cheer myself up and get a good laugh, I've been watching old episodes of Psych. My favorite episodes: The one where Juliet joins a roller derby team (because it's a dream of mine), American Duos (Tim Curry makes everything better), Scary Sherry, the one where Shawn ends up on a Spanish soap, and Black and Tan: a Crime of Fashion (the model one). Another show that I've been patiently waiting for by mail, but that has had "very long wait" next to it in my queue for 3 months, is Bones, Season 5. And it is now available for streaming. I forgot how much I love that show. Brennen, Booth, Sweets...so good. This is why I've been so bad about blogging.
4. If you're looking for another vampire book series, give "Vampire Academy" a try. It's not the same old story, and has a different feel than "Twilight." The writing isn't awesome, but the story is entertaining, and it makes for some fun winter reading. I'm on the 5th book of the 7 book series. I'll let you know how I feel about it for sure when I finish all of them.
That's what's been bouncing around in my head. I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas. Hugs and Hersheys kisses from me!
1. Every month at book group, the time comes when we recommend books for our next read. It always gets me thinking of my favorite books, so here is a list of what I feel are must reads, but don't necessarily qualify for book group: (in no particular order)
"Beauty" by Robin McKinley (I read it at least once a year.)
"Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison, and all the other Georgia Nicholson books (Please read these books. You will thank me. I read these when I've had a bad day and need a good laugh. HILARIOUS.)
"Archangel" by Sharon Shinn (also the rest of the Samaria series. Romantic, unique and entertaining.)
2. Shopping this time of year can be frustrating, to say the least. Here are some things I really wish people would consider while pushing their carts through Walmart:
-The entrances to aisles are NOT places for stopping to chat.
-Walking super duper slowly down the very middle of the aisle makes it impossible to pass.
-I see the aisles like the road, and the carts like the cars. Except, we don't have tail lights on the carts or our behinds. So stopping suddenly in the middle of a busy aisle instead of pulling over to look at those Santa mugs is dangerous.
-Pushing a cart into oncoming traffic is like pulling out onto Washington in front of a bunch of cars. Not nice.
Don't get me wrong. I love the holidays. I just get a little put out when I get stuck behind a slow, aisle hogging, suddenly stopping, cell phone chatting person when I'm trying to get those last stocking stuffers.
3. I love Netflix streaming. LOVE. To cheer myself up and get a good laugh, I've been watching old episodes of Psych. My favorite episodes: The one where Juliet joins a roller derby team (because it's a dream of mine), American Duos (Tim Curry makes everything better), Scary Sherry, the one where Shawn ends up on a Spanish soap, and Black and Tan: a Crime of Fashion (the model one). Another show that I've been patiently waiting for by mail, but that has had "very long wait" next to it in my queue for 3 months, is Bones, Season 5. And it is now available for streaming. I forgot how much I love that show. Brennen, Booth, Sweets...so good. This is why I've been so bad about blogging.
4. If you're looking for another vampire book series, give "Vampire Academy" a try. It's not the same old story, and has a different feel than "Twilight." The writing isn't awesome, but the story is entertaining, and it makes for some fun winter reading. I'm on the 5th book of the 7 book series. I'll let you know how I feel about it for sure when I finish all of them.
That's what's been bouncing around in my head. I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas. Hugs and Hersheys kisses from me!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, by Susanne Collins
Because I know not everyone has had a chance to read this trilogy, I am not going to go into great detail, nor will I give away the end to any of the three books. But I want to jot down my impressions of the series before they completely escape my brain. Before I tell you what I think, here's the main idea behind the books: America has been destroyed, and in its place is a nation that is divided into 13 districts and is ruled by The Capitol. After an uprising from one of the districts, The Capitol has instigated a yearly reminder that The Government has supreme control of the nation in the form of what is called The Hunger Games. All children from age 12 to 18 are eligible to be chosen to participate in a competition in which a boy and a girl from each district fights to the death. It is brutal, violent, and cruel. The books follow the story of one of the participants, and the effects the games have on her and those around her. I am not going to say more, because if you've read it you already know the story, and if you haven't, I don't want to ruin it for you. I think best in lists, so here are my basic reactions and thoughts in list form:
1. I spent the entire first book angry. The book is written in first person, allowing you to see into the mind of one of the victims of The Capitol's cruel treatment. Collins' writing engages you and brings you into the world she's created so successfully that you find yourself wanting to fight The Capitol and everything they stand for. You feel deeply for each of the characters, and want to jump in and save them from the cruelty they are sure to face. And these feelings carry you through the second and third novels as well.
2. I love fluff books. Anyone could tell you that if they've seen my bookshelves. But it was good to read young adult fiction that had some depth to it. Every night after I read, I found myself thinking over what I'd read. There's not a lot to think about when you're reading about vampires or a 14-year-old British girl who's obsessed with kissing (which is part of the appeal), so my rusty brain was happy to be put into use as I read these books. I think I will be rereading them in a month or two, just so I can process them again. They address topics such as grief, war, compassion, and humanity.
3. One word for Mockingjay. Wow.
I seldom spend the cash on hardback books that I haven't read yet, but these books were all the rage, and I figured they were a safe bet. I am so glad I invested in them, because I will be reading them again and again, and if you haven't tried them yet, let me know and you can get in line for my copies.
1. I spent the entire first book angry. The book is written in first person, allowing you to see into the mind of one of the victims of The Capitol's cruel treatment. Collins' writing engages you and brings you into the world she's created so successfully that you find yourself wanting to fight The Capitol and everything they stand for. You feel deeply for each of the characters, and want to jump in and save them from the cruelty they are sure to face. And these feelings carry you through the second and third novels as well.
2. I love fluff books. Anyone could tell you that if they've seen my bookshelves. But it was good to read young adult fiction that had some depth to it. Every night after I read, I found myself thinking over what I'd read. There's not a lot to think about when you're reading about vampires or a 14-year-old British girl who's obsessed with kissing (which is part of the appeal), so my rusty brain was happy to be put into use as I read these books. I think I will be rereading them in a month or two, just so I can process them again. They address topics such as grief, war, compassion, and humanity.
3. One word for Mockingjay. Wow.
I seldom spend the cash on hardback books that I haven't read yet, but these books were all the rage, and I figured they were a safe bet. I am so glad I invested in them, because I will be reading them again and again, and if you haven't tried them yet, let me know and you can get in line for my copies.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
A Little Distracted
I have had several different posts I've wanted to write, some of them about TV, some of them about books, and some of them outright angry rants, but I just haven't sat down and done it. Okay, I did one, but it ended up being mean and angry and kind of rude, so I erased it after I'd finished writing it. I felt much better just having put down my feelings somewhere. The problem lately is that my attention span seems to have returned to a gnatlike state, as though my brain has reverted back to a 5-year-old's scattered thought process. So whenever I sit at the computer with the intention of writing a post, I think, "I should check Facebook really quick first," after which my thoughts go to, "Ooh, I forgot about so-and-so's birthday. I should email them." Then I'm in my email, and I remember that it's the time of week where I need to email the hymns to the program lady for church, and then realize I haven't gotten a musical number scheduled for this week, so I go into the piano room to get a hymn book so I can pick a rest hymn, and, while in there, I notice that I left my book in there and suddenly, I find myself sitting on the couch reading, not posting anything on my blog. So, instead of doing separate posts about the last few weeks, I'm going to do one of those catch-all posts with a bunch of little blurbs.
1. Gone With the Wind I finally finished the epic "Gone with the Wind." Oh boy, is that a long book. In reality, it's not that much longer than any of the Stephenie Meyers books, but it's also tiny print and lots and lots of history. That was my initial reaction to the book when I started it what seems like years ago. But it was history that I found completely fascinating. As you've gathered, I'm sure, we lived in the South for 3 years, and I used to go walking at the Military Park. What is this Military Park? It's the site of a major Civil War battle that is known as the Seige of Vicksburg, which occurred at approximately the same time as Gettysburg. I have been to the museum, seen the cannons that were used during the war, read the pamphlets, and seen the memorials that are scattered throughout the park. But I really couldn't wrap my head around the devastation that the entire South suffered until I read about it in "Gone with the Wind." The characters feel real, and Margaret Mitchell's beautiful descriptions of Tara and Atlanta allow you to feel the loss along with those characters as Sherman blasts through Georgia, destroying everything in his path. Scarlett O'Hara is selfish, spoiled, and obsessed with someone else's husband. Melanie Wilkes is selfless, loving, forgiving, and married to the subject of Scarlett's obsession. After finishing the book, I wondered what the point was. I decided that, to me, it was a demonstration of how, when faced with adversity, people can react like Scarlett: while toiling to rebuild, she resents those she helps, takes advantage of others' losses, and focuses on money at the expense of her integrity. Or, like Melanie: even while suffering, she finds the good in others, overlooking their faults, building a circle of loving friends, and she is fiercely loyal to those who have helped her (including Scarlett, who is constantly hitting on her husband). The book is over a thousand pages long, so I could go on about all the characters, but this post would be nearly as long as the book, and I have other things to talk about.
2. The Oscars It's been a few years since I watched the entire Oscar show. This year, I wanted to see if it ended up being a James Cameron love fest like it was after Titanic. I never made it to Avatar, and to be honest, I still don't feel like I need to rush to the theater to see it. I'm sure when I do see it, I'll say, like everyone else, "Those effects were AMAZING!" Yes, the movie is the highest grossing movie of ALL TIME, but, if I understand correctly, aren't the Oscars about the best movie, not the most profitable movie? So I admit I was relieved that it didn't win best picture. It must have hurt Cameron's ego a teensy bit that his ex-wife took home best director and best picture. But let's get to what really matters: the hosts and the dresses. As a fan of 30 Rock, I was quite pleased to see Alec Baldwin as a co-host with Steve Martin. I love it when they crack jokes about their celebrity peers. They were funny enough that even my husband was sucked into watching the Oscars. As for the clothes, Charlize Theron, what??? Swirly flowers on the chest? And bless Miley Cyrus' heart, she was probably so excited about her dress that she didn't notice that it was 3 sizes to small. For the most part, though, I thought people were pretty classy. I want to get invited to the Oscars, just so I can dress up like a princess and end up on a worst-dressed list.
3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. When the movie came out a while back, I remembered hearing things about this book. I just couldn't remember what they had said. When I found out what the story was, I decided that I should probably read the book before seeing the movie, so I could be prepared for anything too scary. I just finished it, and it is still kind of rattling around in my brain, trying to really settle in. Here's the basic story: A 14-year-old girl is brutally murdered by her neighbor. She sits in a gazebo in heaven, watching the aftermath of her death tear her family apart. She watches her murderer cover up his guilt and evade the police, and sees her father begin to crumble emotionally as he attempts to convince the police that his neighbor is the murderer. She sees members of her school cling to each other when they find that they both think about Susie (the victim) constantly. It's a look at how one horrible event can shape the future of countless lives, and how grief can turn into an opportunity to show the living the love you feel for them. It was horrifying, disturbing, and hopeful all at the same time. I'm interested to hear what you thought of it, if you've read it.
4. An apology I feel like I need to issue a general apology to those who got the stomach flu after spending time with me. My 1-year-old threw up while friends were over, and 2 days later, I threw up while hanging out with Rachel K. at my mom's house. It began a chain of vomit that seems to stretch to everyone I know. Sorry. As I've told a few friends already, if I could, I'd come up with an alert that sounded or flashed the second someone is contagious. Then I wouldn't have gotten everyone I know, plus their family, sick. So, because I don't have that alert, I unwittingly spread germs, and I apologize.
That's all. This post is ridiculously long. I need to go bathe the kiddos before church, and if I don't post this now, it could be another month before I remember I need to finish it. Ciao!
1. Gone With the Wind I finally finished the epic "Gone with the Wind." Oh boy, is that a long book. In reality, it's not that much longer than any of the Stephenie Meyers books, but it's also tiny print and lots and lots of history. That was my initial reaction to the book when I started it what seems like years ago. But it was history that I found completely fascinating. As you've gathered, I'm sure, we lived in the South for 3 years, and I used to go walking at the Military Park. What is this Military Park? It's the site of a major Civil War battle that is known as the Seige of Vicksburg, which occurred at approximately the same time as Gettysburg. I have been to the museum, seen the cannons that were used during the war, read the pamphlets, and seen the memorials that are scattered throughout the park. But I really couldn't wrap my head around the devastation that the entire South suffered until I read about it in "Gone with the Wind." The characters feel real, and Margaret Mitchell's beautiful descriptions of Tara and Atlanta allow you to feel the loss along with those characters as Sherman blasts through Georgia, destroying everything in his path. Scarlett O'Hara is selfish, spoiled, and obsessed with someone else's husband. Melanie Wilkes is selfless, loving, forgiving, and married to the subject of Scarlett's obsession. After finishing the book, I wondered what the point was. I decided that, to me, it was a demonstration of how, when faced with adversity, people can react like Scarlett: while toiling to rebuild, she resents those she helps, takes advantage of others' losses, and focuses on money at the expense of her integrity. Or, like Melanie: even while suffering, she finds the good in others, overlooking their faults, building a circle of loving friends, and she is fiercely loyal to those who have helped her (including Scarlett, who is constantly hitting on her husband). The book is over a thousand pages long, so I could go on about all the characters, but this post would be nearly as long as the book, and I have other things to talk about.
2. The Oscars It's been a few years since I watched the entire Oscar show. This year, I wanted to see if it ended up being a James Cameron love fest like it was after Titanic. I never made it to Avatar, and to be honest, I still don't feel like I need to rush to the theater to see it. I'm sure when I do see it, I'll say, like everyone else, "Those effects were AMAZING!" Yes, the movie is the highest grossing movie of ALL TIME, but, if I understand correctly, aren't the Oscars about the best movie, not the most profitable movie? So I admit I was relieved that it didn't win best picture. It must have hurt Cameron's ego a teensy bit that his ex-wife took home best director and best picture. But let's get to what really matters: the hosts and the dresses. As a fan of 30 Rock, I was quite pleased to see Alec Baldwin as a co-host with Steve Martin. I love it when they crack jokes about their celebrity peers. They were funny enough that even my husband was sucked into watching the Oscars. As for the clothes, Charlize Theron, what??? Swirly flowers on the chest? And bless Miley Cyrus' heart, she was probably so excited about her dress that she didn't notice that it was 3 sizes to small. For the most part, though, I thought people were pretty classy. I want to get invited to the Oscars, just so I can dress up like a princess and end up on a worst-dressed list.
3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. When the movie came out a while back, I remembered hearing things about this book. I just couldn't remember what they had said. When I found out what the story was, I decided that I should probably read the book before seeing the movie, so I could be prepared for anything too scary. I just finished it, and it is still kind of rattling around in my brain, trying to really settle in. Here's the basic story: A 14-year-old girl is brutally murdered by her neighbor. She sits in a gazebo in heaven, watching the aftermath of her death tear her family apart. She watches her murderer cover up his guilt and evade the police, and sees her father begin to crumble emotionally as he attempts to convince the police that his neighbor is the murderer. She sees members of her school cling to each other when they find that they both think about Susie (the victim) constantly. It's a look at how one horrible event can shape the future of countless lives, and how grief can turn into an opportunity to show the living the love you feel for them. It was horrifying, disturbing, and hopeful all at the same time. I'm interested to hear what you thought of it, if you've read it.
4. An apology I feel like I need to issue a general apology to those who got the stomach flu after spending time with me. My 1-year-old threw up while friends were over, and 2 days later, I threw up while hanging out with Rachel K. at my mom's house. It began a chain of vomit that seems to stretch to everyone I know. Sorry. As I've told a few friends already, if I could, I'd come up with an alert that sounded or flashed the second someone is contagious. Then I wouldn't have gotten everyone I know, plus their family, sick. So, because I don't have that alert, I unwittingly spread germs, and I apologize.
That's all. This post is ridiculously long. I need to go bathe the kiddos before church, and if I don't post this now, it could be another month before I remember I need to finish it. Ciao!
Monday, October 5, 2009
More random thoughts
The blog is called Random Rants, so that's what you're going to get, because I haven't really done much that's that interesting, but I do have a few things to say. So this may seem a bit repetitive. Welcome to my world!
1. The TV show Robin Hood totally made me into a liar! Here I was, trying to get other people hooked on the show, or, more specifically, Richard Armitage, and what do they do? They send Guy of Gisborne away for 2 weeks! So, if you have started watching and are wondering what the heck I was talking about, because there is no hot guy in leather pants that is torn between good and evil, that is because the day after I posted that entry, he disappeared. Maybe he's filming a romantic comedy. Let's hope so. They have now teased me by saying he will be back next week. I hope it's true. So if I talked you into watching the show, hang in there. He'll be back.
2. I just started reading a book called "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It's hilarious, and I really should be reading it instead of writing this. It's exactly what I'm in the mood for right now, because it got all chilly and rainy this week, and what I need is a good laugh in this kind of weather. Who's with me?
3. Does anyone have any tips on how to like eating healthy food? I'm just not interested in veggies right now, but really should be. There will be a high school reunion in the summer, I think, and I want to look fabulous.
4. 46 days until New Moon. Have you seen Taylor Lautner lately? So much better. Which isn't hard, since he looked like a 12-year-old little girl in Twilight. So I feel like I can still be a Jacob fan without losing face.
5. Last thing: Has anyone been at a performance of some kind and been asked, "Is there a doctor in the house?" Well, I have, on Friday. We were at a performance of "Into the Woods" and there was a piece of the set that was a giant tree that rotated so it could also serve as Granny's house, Rapunzel's tower, and Cinderella's mother's grave. After Little Red Riding finished her big solo, she ran back into Granny's house, the house started rotating and there was a blood-curdling scream. My first thought was, "I don't remember that part," and then Cinderella's mom popped out of the tree and asked for "Dad", and the Narrator came to the front and asked, "Is there a doctor in the house?" And, it being a full house, there was a doctor in the house. Then the curtain dropped and someone finally turned off Little Red Riding Hood's mike. And those fabulous cast members pulled it together and finished the show. Ugly Stepsister subbed for Little Red, and some high school kid that had been interning or something drove over from her house to finish for Ugly Stepsister. I was quite impressed that they finished. The injury ended up being a broken or sprained ankle. Ouchy. Not fun AT ALL. My aunt and uncle were the directors, and apparently, they pushed Little Red around in a wheelchair for closing night on Saturday. Awesome. I'm still waiting for someone to come to the stage and say, "Is there a flute teacher/performer in the house?" I'm all over that.
1. The TV show Robin Hood totally made me into a liar! Here I was, trying to get other people hooked on the show, or, more specifically, Richard Armitage, and what do they do? They send Guy of Gisborne away for 2 weeks! So, if you have started watching and are wondering what the heck I was talking about, because there is no hot guy in leather pants that is torn between good and evil, that is because the day after I posted that entry, he disappeared. Maybe he's filming a romantic comedy. Let's hope so. They have now teased me by saying he will be back next week. I hope it's true. So if I talked you into watching the show, hang in there. He'll be back.
2. I just started reading a book called "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It's hilarious, and I really should be reading it instead of writing this. It's exactly what I'm in the mood for right now, because it got all chilly and rainy this week, and what I need is a good laugh in this kind of weather. Who's with me?
3. Does anyone have any tips on how to like eating healthy food? I'm just not interested in veggies right now, but really should be. There will be a high school reunion in the summer, I think, and I want to look fabulous.
4. 46 days until New Moon. Have you seen Taylor Lautner lately? So much better. Which isn't hard, since he looked like a 12-year-old little girl in Twilight. So I feel like I can still be a Jacob fan without losing face.
5. Last thing: Has anyone been at a performance of some kind and been asked, "Is there a doctor in the house?" Well, I have, on Friday. We were at a performance of "Into the Woods" and there was a piece of the set that was a giant tree that rotated so it could also serve as Granny's house, Rapunzel's tower, and Cinderella's mother's grave. After Little Red Riding finished her big solo, she ran back into Granny's house, the house started rotating and there was a blood-curdling scream. My first thought was, "I don't remember that part," and then Cinderella's mom popped out of the tree and asked for "Dad", and the Narrator came to the front and asked, "Is there a doctor in the house?" And, it being a full house, there was a doctor in the house. Then the curtain dropped and someone finally turned off Little Red Riding Hood's mike. And those fabulous cast members pulled it together and finished the show. Ugly Stepsister subbed for Little Red, and some high school kid that had been interning or something drove over from her house to finish for Ugly Stepsister. I was quite impressed that they finished. The injury ended up being a broken or sprained ankle. Ouchy. Not fun AT ALL. My aunt and uncle were the directors, and apparently, they pushed Little Red around in a wheelchair for closing night on Saturday. Awesome. I'm still waiting for someone to come to the stage and say, "Is there a flute teacher/performer in the house?" I'm all over that.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Funky
I am in a bit of a blogging funk, if you haven't noticed. I'm in a bit of a regular funk as well. So I'm calling on you readers for topics. Is that pathetic or what?
For now, I'll just tell you a little bit about a book I just finished reading. "The Graveyard Book," by Neil Gaiman (author of "Stardust," "Coraline," and a bunch of others), is aimed at 12 to 16-year-olds. Maybe. I'm not sure. It was intriguing and a little creepy and captivated me so that I read it very quickly. (Plus, I had to read it fast because I needed to move onto "Warbreaker," by Brandon Sanderson, which is due soon and can't be renewed, due to the many holds on it.) Here's the rundown: A family is murdered, but the mysterious villain cannot locate the youngest child, who has slipped from his crib and wandered into the graveyard down the street. The bad guy is foiled from killing the baby, and the baby is given protection by the ghosts in the graveyard. It is a very unique story, which is refreshing, to be sure. There is a nice mix of humor and suspense, which kept me interested in what could have been a boring 100 pages. The boy experiences several little adventures, which were fun, but frustrated me a bit. I kept wondering when we would get back to the murder plot. Overall, though, it was an interesting read, and I would recommend it if you're looking for something a little strange and not overly deep for the weekend.
That's all I've got for today. Suggestions, please!
For now, I'll just tell you a little bit about a book I just finished reading. "The Graveyard Book," by Neil Gaiman (author of "Stardust," "Coraline," and a bunch of others), is aimed at 12 to 16-year-olds. Maybe. I'm not sure. It was intriguing and a little creepy and captivated me so that I read it very quickly. (Plus, I had to read it fast because I needed to move onto "Warbreaker," by Brandon Sanderson, which is due soon and can't be renewed, due to the many holds on it.) Here's the rundown: A family is murdered, but the mysterious villain cannot locate the youngest child, who has slipped from his crib and wandered into the graveyard down the street. The bad guy is foiled from killing the baby, and the baby is given protection by the ghosts in the graveyard. It is a very unique story, which is refreshing, to be sure. There is a nice mix of humor and suspense, which kept me interested in what could have been a boring 100 pages. The boy experiences several little adventures, which were fun, but frustrated me a bit. I kept wondering when we would get back to the murder plot. Overall, though, it was an interesting read, and I would recommend it if you're looking for something a little strange and not overly deep for the weekend.
That's all I've got for today. Suggestions, please!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
An overdose of Shannon Hale
My mom has been organizing and cleaning out rooms in her house, which has resulted in bags and boxes and stacks of free books for me! Two of the books she gave me in the latest batch were Enna Burning and River Secrets, both by Shannon Hale. They had colorful and appealing covers, which is why I chose to read them. Both books are sequels to The Goose Girl, which my husband and I listened to 3 or 4 years ago on a road trip. When I "listen" to a book on a road trip, what I'm really doing is snoozing against the car door until the CD is done, which prompts me to wake up long enough to put in the next one. So after reading the second and third books of the Bayern series, I decided to read The Goose Girl for real. While I was on the library's website requesting that one, I was reminded that I had wanted to read Book of a Thousand Days and Austenland, also by Shannon Hale. I requested all three of the books, and they were ready for me this past week. So here I was, with 3 books to read, wondering how I would get through all 3 before the due date. Done, done and done! It helps to have a sick kid, the Disney Channel, and bad weather all converge into one week. When you're trapped inside for 8 days and you can't take another episode of the Imagination Movers (I'll have to blog about them another time), it's nice to have some easy lit to help you tune out the zany antics of Rich, Scott, Smitty and Dave (yes, I know their names).
Here's a quick review of each one:
The Goose Girl (and Enna Burning and River Secrets): Shannon Hale admits in an interview at the back of the books that her weakness as a writer is being slow to get into the story. Amen, sister. Goose Girl was especially slow at the beginning, partly because she was carefully setting up the background for a world she was planning on staying in for several books. One advantage to taking time building the story, however, is that she also builds the main character into someone you understand. Ani, Enna, and Razo, the main characters for each book, have histories to them that explain their actions and drive the story. This series explores the relationship between the characters and the basic elements of nature surrounding them. For Ani (also called Isi), it's animal speech and wind speech. For Enna, it's fire and the internal battle she faces between her desire to do what's right peacefully and the need to burn everything to the ground. For Razo, it is his attempt to figure out the intentions of a woman whose communication with water may be used for good or evil. The world Hale has created is detailed and interesting and easy to accept. My one complaint with her writing is her habit of reusing phrases a lot when describing feelings. I've read 5 of her books in the past 2 weeks, and she loves the use of "yawn in the chest." The 452nd time I read it I yelled aloud, "For crying in the mud, come up with a different phrase!!!" They are fun and wholesome books overall, though, and I'd recommend them for 10- to 16-year-old girls especially. (There's some romance, of course.)
Austenland: Eh. Great idea, bad execution. Not that I could do better. Here's the rundown: A thirty-two-year-old single woman who has had a number of failed relationships clings to the hope of a Colin Firth-esque Mr. Darcy romance. She is obsessed with the 5-hour Pride and Prejudice movie, hides her DVDs in the houseplants, and watches it time after wretched time to drown her sorrows after each boyfriend doesn't measure up to Mr. Darcy. Her rich Great-Aunt discovers her unhealthy obsession and tells her to snap out of it, dies, and leaves her a trip to a theme park--a Jane Austen theme park. They dress in the clothes, they lead lives of leisure, the men go on hunts and speak politely, and all modern technology is banned (except modern make-up, which is encouraged). Sounds fun, right? Well, we find our heroine trying to cast off her obsession with Mr. Darcy and find true love all at the same time. The idea behind the story is great. It's obvious Shannon Hale was among us college students who devoted every Saturday to either P&P and a pan of brownies or Anne of Green Gables and a tub of ice cream. I can relate to the character in many ways (a trail of bad dating experiences is related throughout the story), but I don't like the style she uses to tell the story. It's choppy and hard to follow (kind of like this post, I think, which is why I won't ever attempt a book), and a bit on the predictable side. There you have it.
Book of a Thousand Days: I loved this book. Loved it. It started out a little on the slow side (just like the other books), but the best part of this book was discovering the story page by page. The story is set in a land similar to Mongolia (yaks and mare's milk and the like), and is divided into several kingdoms. The book is set up as a personal journal, written by a lady's maid whose employer is locked in a tower on her first day of work. The Lady Saren has refused the hand of a powerful man and betrothed herself to a kinder man from another kingdom. Her father locks her in a tower and tells her she must stay there for 7 years, so she can consider her poor choice and make the right one. The maid swears an oath to the Lady, follows her to the tower, and slowly discovers her own strength and abilities, while attempting to find her Lady's. It's hard to explain. Just read it. I love the story, and the way Hale tells it. It's touching and sweet and romantic. It's about finding your strength in the face of adversity, and about finding beauty inside others. I'm making it sound cheesy, but really, it was just a nice story that I think most will enjoy.
Okay, this has turned into a much longer post than I was planning. Sorry. I have been reading a lot, and I figure it's either that or telling you all about Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. Now you have some new books to look up at the library. They're great for a snowy day (or week).
Here's a quick review of each one:
The Goose Girl (and Enna Burning and River Secrets): Shannon Hale admits in an interview at the back of the books that her weakness as a writer is being slow to get into the story. Amen, sister. Goose Girl was especially slow at the beginning, partly because she was carefully setting up the background for a world she was planning on staying in for several books. One advantage to taking time building the story, however, is that she also builds the main character into someone you understand. Ani, Enna, and Razo, the main characters for each book, have histories to them that explain their actions and drive the story. This series explores the relationship between the characters and the basic elements of nature surrounding them. For Ani (also called Isi), it's animal speech and wind speech. For Enna, it's fire and the internal battle she faces between her desire to do what's right peacefully and the need to burn everything to the ground. For Razo, it is his attempt to figure out the intentions of a woman whose communication with water may be used for good or evil. The world Hale has created is detailed and interesting and easy to accept. My one complaint with her writing is her habit of reusing phrases a lot when describing feelings. I've read 5 of her books in the past 2 weeks, and she loves the use of "yawn in the chest." The 452nd time I read it I yelled aloud, "For crying in the mud, come up with a different phrase!!!" They are fun and wholesome books overall, though, and I'd recommend them for 10- to 16-year-old girls especially. (There's some romance, of course.)
Austenland: Eh. Great idea, bad execution. Not that I could do better. Here's the rundown: A thirty-two-year-old single woman who has had a number of failed relationships clings to the hope of a Colin Firth-esque Mr. Darcy romance. She is obsessed with the 5-hour Pride and Prejudice movie, hides her DVDs in the houseplants, and watches it time after wretched time to drown her sorrows after each boyfriend doesn't measure up to Mr. Darcy. Her rich Great-Aunt discovers her unhealthy obsession and tells her to snap out of it, dies, and leaves her a trip to a theme park--a Jane Austen theme park. They dress in the clothes, they lead lives of leisure, the men go on hunts and speak politely, and all modern technology is banned (except modern make-up, which is encouraged). Sounds fun, right? Well, we find our heroine trying to cast off her obsession with Mr. Darcy and find true love all at the same time. The idea behind the story is great. It's obvious Shannon Hale was among us college students who devoted every Saturday to either P&P and a pan of brownies or Anne of Green Gables and a tub of ice cream. I can relate to the character in many ways (a trail of bad dating experiences is related throughout the story), but I don't like the style she uses to tell the story. It's choppy and hard to follow (kind of like this post, I think, which is why I won't ever attempt a book), and a bit on the predictable side. There you have it.
Book of a Thousand Days: I loved this book. Loved it. It started out a little on the slow side (just like the other books), but the best part of this book was discovering the story page by page. The story is set in a land similar to Mongolia (yaks and mare's milk and the like), and is divided into several kingdoms. The book is set up as a personal journal, written by a lady's maid whose employer is locked in a tower on her first day of work. The Lady Saren has refused the hand of a powerful man and betrothed herself to a kinder man from another kingdom. Her father locks her in a tower and tells her she must stay there for 7 years, so she can consider her poor choice and make the right one. The maid swears an oath to the Lady, follows her to the tower, and slowly discovers her own strength and abilities, while attempting to find her Lady's. It's hard to explain. Just read it. I love the story, and the way Hale tells it. It's touching and sweet and romantic. It's about finding your strength in the face of adversity, and about finding beauty inside others. I'm making it sound cheesy, but really, it was just a nice story that I think most will enjoy.
Okay, this has turned into a much longer post than I was planning. Sorry. I have been reading a lot, and I figure it's either that or telling you all about Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. Now you have some new books to look up at the library. They're great for a snowy day (or week).
Friday, December 19, 2008
"The Eyre Affair" and other Thursday Next adventures by Jasper Fforde
You may have noticed (if you look at the stuff on the side of my blog) that I've been reading "The Eyre Affair" for about 2 months. I've actually gotten to the third book in the series, "The Well of Lost Plots." These books were recommended to me by my good friend Rachel (whose blogs are a joy to read--there are links to both if you'll look to the right). I am not talking about myself in the third person like Elmo does. I swear. Rachel is an English major and has read just about everything ever written. I always know that if she says it's a good book, it will be a good book. She was, as usual, right! I must warn you, though, that if you're like me, and haven't read all the classics (like Kafka's "The Trial," for example), there may be some jokes that go over your head.
The premise of the book is this: The world is obsessed with literature. There are radical groups, like Baconites, who believe that Sir Francis Bacon wrote the plays credited to William Shakespeare. Genetics labs have brought dodos and neanderthals back to the earth (the dodos like marshmallows, and the neanderthals are used for labor), and there is a special enforcement group called SpecOps, who has divisions that include Literatecs (they investigate forgeries and rare book discoveries) and the Suckers and Biters division (vampires and werewolves). Thursday Next is a Literatec agent whose job it becomes to chase down the evil Acheron Hades, who has made off with the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit. Hades has seemingly supernatural powers, making Next's assignment nearly impossible. Thursday's genius uncle has figured out how to jump into books, using bookworms and lots of electricity. After a series of strange and hard-to-explain adventures, Thursday and Acheron end up in a showdown in the middle of Jane Eyre. If you've already read this book, you'll know that this summary barely scratches the surface.
Now for my opinion: It took me a few chapters to get into it (same as you, Angela). There's a lot of time spent establishing the world, which is a tiny bit confusing. I'm not all that versed in our own world history, but I'm pretty sure the Crimean war has been over for quite some time. Did we even have the Crimean war? But after a few chapters I got sucked in and started to really enjoy the ride. I love the little touches like Pickwick the dodo, who loves marshmallows and brings Thursday a "gift" every time she comes home. The gifts are usually pieces of trash. The book includes fun things like Time Travel (Thursday's father has gone rogue from SpecOps Chrono division), romance, gunplay, and lots and lots of humor. One thing I realized, though, after reading this book, is that I am not nearly as well-read as I thought I was.
This became more and more apparent to me as I moved on to the second book, "Lost in a Good Book." I'm guessing it would have been much more funny to me, had I understood half the literary references that are placed throughout the novel. But I understood enough to laugh out loud at a lot of the book. This time, Thursday is in trouble for messing with "Jane Eyre." She becomes apprenticed to Miss Havisham (yes, the one from Great Expectations) to help control the Book World, where grammasites eat nouns and adjectives and wreak havoc on literature. All the agents meet for roll call at the ballroom in Norland Park in "Sense and Sensibility." Marianne enjoys flying planes and watching TV when she's not in the narrative. It's all very clever and entertaining.
I'm in the middle of the third book, "The Well of Lost Plots." Here are some things to look forward to if you get to this series: A rage therapy session in Wuthering Heights (hilarious), Thursday carrying around her friend's newly purchased head in a bag plot, and much more. I'm guessing that Rachel gets all the jokes. I think I'll do some more heavy reading, and then reread all the books. But even having never read a lot of the books that are alluded to, they are fun and entertaining, and may inspire you to read some classics. Thanks for the recommendation, Rachel.
By the way, Merry Christmas, y'all!
The premise of the book is this: The world is obsessed with literature. There are radical groups, like Baconites, who believe that Sir Francis Bacon wrote the plays credited to William Shakespeare. Genetics labs have brought dodos and neanderthals back to the earth (the dodos like marshmallows, and the neanderthals are used for labor), and there is a special enforcement group called SpecOps, who has divisions that include Literatecs (they investigate forgeries and rare book discoveries) and the Suckers and Biters division (vampires and werewolves). Thursday Next is a Literatec agent whose job it becomes to chase down the evil Acheron Hades, who has made off with the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit. Hades has seemingly supernatural powers, making Next's assignment nearly impossible. Thursday's genius uncle has figured out how to jump into books, using bookworms and lots of electricity. After a series of strange and hard-to-explain adventures, Thursday and Acheron end up in a showdown in the middle of Jane Eyre. If you've already read this book, you'll know that this summary barely scratches the surface.
Now for my opinion: It took me a few chapters to get into it (same as you, Angela). There's a lot of time spent establishing the world, which is a tiny bit confusing. I'm not all that versed in our own world history, but I'm pretty sure the Crimean war has been over for quite some time. Did we even have the Crimean war? But after a few chapters I got sucked in and started to really enjoy the ride. I love the little touches like Pickwick the dodo, who loves marshmallows and brings Thursday a "gift" every time she comes home. The gifts are usually pieces of trash. The book includes fun things like Time Travel (Thursday's father has gone rogue from SpecOps Chrono division), romance, gunplay, and lots and lots of humor. One thing I realized, though, after reading this book, is that I am not nearly as well-read as I thought I was.
This became more and more apparent to me as I moved on to the second book, "Lost in a Good Book." I'm guessing it would have been much more funny to me, had I understood half the literary references that are placed throughout the novel. But I understood enough to laugh out loud at a lot of the book. This time, Thursday is in trouble for messing with "Jane Eyre." She becomes apprenticed to Miss Havisham (yes, the one from Great Expectations) to help control the Book World, where grammasites eat nouns and adjectives and wreak havoc on literature. All the agents meet for roll call at the ballroom in Norland Park in "Sense and Sensibility." Marianne enjoys flying planes and watching TV when she's not in the narrative. It's all very clever and entertaining.
I'm in the middle of the third book, "The Well of Lost Plots." Here are some things to look forward to if you get to this series: A rage therapy session in Wuthering Heights (hilarious), Thursday carrying around her friend's newly purchased head in a bag plot, and much more. I'm guessing that Rachel gets all the jokes. I think I'll do some more heavy reading, and then reread all the books. But even having never read a lot of the books that are alluded to, they are fun and entertaining, and may inspire you to read some classics. Thanks for the recommendation, Rachel.
By the way, Merry Christmas, y'all!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
My Take on Historical Fiction
I decided, after spending the entire summer reading fantasy novels, it was time to branch out a little. Plus, I was still waiting for the Brandon Sanderson books I'd requested from the library to show up at the hold desk. So I perused the stacks and came across "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. I'd seen previews for the movie, and thought, Isn't this about Henry VIII? I don't know much about him! So I checked it out. I started reading it fully aware that there was a chance that it would get too racy for my taste, and I wouldn't finish it. Oh, Philippa, how clever you are.
First, though, a quick summary: Everyone knows Anne Boleyn got beheaded after being married to King Henry VIII. The book is about how her greedy, grasping family got her married to the king in the first place, and what sacrifices were made by her sister, Mary, in order for their family to rise to power. This book may as well be called, "The sexual exploits of the Boleyn girls and their questionable brother." Mary catches the eye of the king while he's married to Katherine of Aragon, Mary becomes his mistress, bears two of his children, a boy and a girl, and is cast aside while pregnant with the boy. Anne catches the king's eye while her sister is busy with childbirth (by the way, hooray for the ridding of a month of confinement before the baby's born). Meanwhile, the queen is trying hard to act like she is the apple of the king's eye, but the king is frustrated by the lack of a legitimate male heir. For 6 years he works with spiritual advisors to weasel his way out of his marriage to a very nice lady. All this time Anne is clinging onto his attention so she can marry him. And she does, as we all know. Mary spends this time as his sometimes lover and wishing she were in the country with her children. And she falls in love with William Stafford, who buys her a farm in the country and they secretly marry. Then Anne has one daughter, Elizabeth, but fails to produce another child, is disliked by the English populus, throws the court into corruption and debauchery, and is beheaded for witchcraft and adultery. So, that's the story.
Ms. Gregory is very very sly in her writing. It's as though she could read my mind and knew that she could start out with fancy, old-fashioned terms to describe the affairs of the king (Mary is dressing alluringly, fade out, fade in and her hair is rumpled and she's exhausted). Then she sneaks in a little more detail, still using antiquated vocabulary that makes everything seem more innocent. And then, at about page 500, she knows you're going to finish the last 100 pages, and starts using the modern-day terms in great detail. Yuck. And it worked. I had already read 500 pages. What's another hundred? Ugh. Boo on her. And boo on me for getting sucked in. So, that's my biggest complaint. I was talking to a friend yesterday who had seen the movie, and I asked what she thought. She said the movie left her feeling icky. Yep, that's how the book made me feel, too. Yucky King Henry VIII. No wonder all those people came to America to live in disease and squalor for years. They had to deal with horrible tyrannical psychopaths that changed laws and religion so they could fulfill their selfish desires. And I felt icky knowing way too much about the Boleyn family as well. I used to feel sorry for Anne Boleyn. Of course, this is categorized as "historical fiction," so I don't know what to feel.
Which leads me to the reason for the title of this particular post. I haven't read a lot of historical fiction. In fact, I think this book was only the second "historical fiction" novel I've read. I read "The Kingdom and the Crown" series by Gerald Lund a few months ago. And I had the same complaint after those books that I do now (nothing to do with the racy content, obviously--Gerald Lund's books are squeaky clean). My beef is that I don't know what is real history, and what is the author's imagination. Was Henry VIII really that disgusting? Probably. Was Anne Boleyn really that conniving? I don't know! I imagine the thoughts of each character and the small details are all fictional, but based on customs of the time. But I don't know! And that drives me crazy. It was the same when I read "The Kingdom and the Crown." Lund was very very very thorough about citing his references, though, and stating at the end of each chapter what was a real event and what was not. He also had a glossary and end notes and footnotes and a long introduction. But after I finished I was scratching my head and wondering, If you are going to spend that much time and research, why not make it pure history instead of adding in romantic characters and side plots? The answer I came up with was: romance sells, and history doesn't. I couldn't help but compare those novels to the books that are strictly historical, like "Seabiscuit" and "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" (that one is actually more like a documentary--it chronicles a girl in the Hmong culture that has epilepsy, and how the cultural barrier makes it difficult for her family and the doctors to cope--read it!). Both of the real history books are written in the style of a novel, making them entertaining and fascinating, and after I finished I felt like I knew more, and had gotten smarter by reading them. Not so with the novels. I felt confused and annoyed. On the positive side, the fiction inspired me to research topics I hadn't felt motivated to learn about previously. I just felt like I'd wasted hours of reading filth (in the case of the Boleyn book) and wading through pointless narration to get to the meat. I never would have pegged myself as a history girl, but I guess I care what really happened and what didn't. Go figure. I think it's time I try to read "1776," by John McCullough. I believe his books are good reads that are also historically accurate. Any other recommendations?
First, though, a quick summary: Everyone knows Anne Boleyn got beheaded after being married to King Henry VIII. The book is about how her greedy, grasping family got her married to the king in the first place, and what sacrifices were made by her sister, Mary, in order for their family to rise to power. This book may as well be called, "The sexual exploits of the Boleyn girls and their questionable brother." Mary catches the eye of the king while he's married to Katherine of Aragon, Mary becomes his mistress, bears two of his children, a boy and a girl, and is cast aside while pregnant with the boy. Anne catches the king's eye while her sister is busy with childbirth (by the way, hooray for the ridding of a month of confinement before the baby's born). Meanwhile, the queen is trying hard to act like she is the apple of the king's eye, but the king is frustrated by the lack of a legitimate male heir. For 6 years he works with spiritual advisors to weasel his way out of his marriage to a very nice lady. All this time Anne is clinging onto his attention so she can marry him. And she does, as we all know. Mary spends this time as his sometimes lover and wishing she were in the country with her children. And she falls in love with William Stafford, who buys her a farm in the country and they secretly marry. Then Anne has one daughter, Elizabeth, but fails to produce another child, is disliked by the English populus, throws the court into corruption and debauchery, and is beheaded for witchcraft and adultery. So, that's the story.
Ms. Gregory is very very sly in her writing. It's as though she could read my mind and knew that she could start out with fancy, old-fashioned terms to describe the affairs of the king (Mary is dressing alluringly, fade out, fade in and her hair is rumpled and she's exhausted). Then she sneaks in a little more detail, still using antiquated vocabulary that makes everything seem more innocent. And then, at about page 500, she knows you're going to finish the last 100 pages, and starts using the modern-day terms in great detail. Yuck. And it worked. I had already read 500 pages. What's another hundred? Ugh. Boo on her. And boo on me for getting sucked in. So, that's my biggest complaint. I was talking to a friend yesterday who had seen the movie, and I asked what she thought. She said the movie left her feeling icky. Yep, that's how the book made me feel, too. Yucky King Henry VIII. No wonder all those people came to America to live in disease and squalor for years. They had to deal with horrible tyrannical psychopaths that changed laws and religion so they could fulfill their selfish desires. And I felt icky knowing way too much about the Boleyn family as well. I used to feel sorry for Anne Boleyn. Of course, this is categorized as "historical fiction," so I don't know what to feel.
Which leads me to the reason for the title of this particular post. I haven't read a lot of historical fiction. In fact, I think this book was only the second "historical fiction" novel I've read. I read "The Kingdom and the Crown" series by Gerald Lund a few months ago. And I had the same complaint after those books that I do now (nothing to do with the racy content, obviously--Gerald Lund's books are squeaky clean). My beef is that I don't know what is real history, and what is the author's imagination. Was Henry VIII really that disgusting? Probably. Was Anne Boleyn really that conniving? I don't know! I imagine the thoughts of each character and the small details are all fictional, but based on customs of the time. But I don't know! And that drives me crazy. It was the same when I read "The Kingdom and the Crown." Lund was very very very thorough about citing his references, though, and stating at the end of each chapter what was a real event and what was not. He also had a glossary and end notes and footnotes and a long introduction. But after I finished I was scratching my head and wondering, If you are going to spend that much time and research, why not make it pure history instead of adding in romantic characters and side plots? The answer I came up with was: romance sells, and history doesn't. I couldn't help but compare those novels to the books that are strictly historical, like "Seabiscuit" and "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" (that one is actually more like a documentary--it chronicles a girl in the Hmong culture that has epilepsy, and how the cultural barrier makes it difficult for her family and the doctors to cope--read it!). Both of the real history books are written in the style of a novel, making them entertaining and fascinating, and after I finished I felt like I knew more, and had gotten smarter by reading them. Not so with the novels. I felt confused and annoyed. On the positive side, the fiction inspired me to research topics I hadn't felt motivated to learn about previously. I just felt like I'd wasted hours of reading filth (in the case of the Boleyn book) and wading through pointless narration to get to the meat. I never would have pegged myself as a history girl, but I guess I care what really happened and what didn't. Go figure. I think it's time I try to read "1776," by John McCullough. I believe his books are good reads that are also historically accurate. Any other recommendations?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Superstrength and Sweeping Romance
I was planning on waiting to write a review for "Breaking Dawn" until next week, but my mind is like a sieve right now, I'm afraid I won't remember anything about the book by the end of this week. So, if you haven't read the book yet and are still planning on reading it, STOP READING NOW, until you've finished. I don't want to give anything away to those who have yet to read it, but I need to in order to properly express my feelings.
It finally occurred to me on about page 150 that I have been categorizing these books completely wrong. For some strange reason, I had them grouped in with Fantasy and Action. Yes, there is an element of fantasy (vampires and werewolves and mind-reading), and yes, there is action. But these books are romance novels, pure and simple. Once I realized that, I actually felt a little less critical about the content. A little. You notice I said that this occurred to me after 150 pages. Those first 150 pages could have been summed up into about 5. Bella and Edward had a beautiful wedding, which every girl fantasizes about. Beautiful flowers, beautiful bride, weeping mother, dashing groom, the works. And then they go on their honeymoon. Ah, the perfect honeymoon fantasy. A remote isle, beautiful surroundings, kayaking, palm trees, a really pretty big bed--all things that you'd expect from a honeymoon. But was it really necessary to have that honeymoon last 75 pages? And this is where my realization kicked in. These 150 pages were what Meyer's 4 books were all about. The fantasy romance. Once I understood which genre I was reading, I was a little more forgiving about the amount of time that was spent gushing over how perfect Edward was, and how much Bella adored him, blah blah blah. I still feel that Stephenie Meyer should find a better editor, however, because regardless of how romantic something is, it only needs to be said once. (I got that they figured out the whole physical intimacy thing very quickly and didn't need three separate illustrations.) I was also dismayed yet again at how much sensual content there was, considering the intended audience is teenage girls. Yikes. I find it interesting that she goes into more detail in the teenage romance books than her other book, "The Host," whose primary audience is adults. I don't know that I would recommend these to a 14-year-old girl.
I find that I am a bit scattered, so I'm going to list the things I liked to make it a little easier:
1. Bella's vampire baby was completely unexpected to me. One reason I was pulling for Jacob was because if Bella ended up with Edward, she'd never experience the joy of pregnancy (if she, in fact, did enjoy being beaten up repeatedly from the inside) or motherhood. And Meyer managed to work in yet another vampire myth to solve that problem. I was glad that she found a way for Bella to experience motherhood, and even more glad that it was a surprise. I like to be surprised, and I didn't think I would be.
2. Jacob's point of view was kind of fun. Just like everything else in her books, I felt it could have been a little less wordy and drawn out, but I enjoyed having a moment in my favorite character's head. Since my vote has been for Jacob all along, I was grateful that Jacob got a little more time and attention in this book. He seems to be the most fleshed-out character in the series. I find it interesting that although Bella is the heroine, and Edward is her true love forever, Jacob is the only one that is shown in great detail, flaws and all. I wondered if Meyer would use the imprinting instinct as a tool to get Jacob out of the love triangle, and was glad that, since she chose to use it, it was told from his point of view. I was a little less disappointed. It did bother me, though, that her writing got a LOT sloppier and grammatically incorrect while she was writing from his point of view. She changed voices by changing writing styles, and I have no problem with that. What bothered me was that when Bella was the narrator, things were so eloquently described, and Bella was not an eloquent person in her thoughts or speech. Then when Jacob was the narrator everything was in the style of his speech. Suddenly the descriptions of the surroundings were as though Jacob were speaking them aloud, in a very conversational, casual way, full of slang and grammatical errors. I'm sure this was intentional, but I found it irritatingly inconsistent. If she had written Bella's point of view in words that Bella would have spoken aloud, I would have felt it was appropriate for Jacob's point of view to be the way it was. Okay, so I went on a little bit of a rant there. Sorry, this is the section about what I liked. I enjoyed that for a little while, we got to see things from a werewolf's point of view.
3. I was glad there was a happy ending. Since this is a romance series, and completely unrealistic, it might as well have worked out very neatly so that Jacob gets his girl, Edward and Bella live happily ever after as beautiful vampires, and none of their family dies. Oh, and Charlie gets to see his beloved daughter and granddaughter without being eaten. It all seemed a little too tidy for me, but, like my sister told me earlier, there are plenty of depressing books out there to chew on and brood over, and these books are not for deep thinking. They are a vampire fairy tale. So why not make it as happy as possible, right?
4. All in all, despite my complaints about Stephenie Meyer's writing skills (like I'm one to talk anyway), she is extremely creative and has created an exciting world that she has obviously thought through very thoroughly. The vampires' and werewolves' histories and mythologies are very detailed and it's clear she has a talent for creativity. ("The Host" is another book that she wrote that I found original and interesting, and clearly well thought out.)
Now for my complaints:
1. As mentioned before, let's cut out 300 pages. I'm sure there are some who relished every word on every one of the 754 pages in this book, but I like to relish something once and not reread the same drivel for hundreds of pages. I got that Bella was a great vampire, and she was meant to be a vampire, and so on. I just wanted to get to the action once she was changed, and it felt like it took FOREVER!
2. For a book aimed at teenagers, could we keep it a little more G? I know it's possible. I've read lots of books by Mary Stewart, and she's a master at hinting without telling.
3. The big showdown that was hinted at FOREVER once Bella met the Volturi was kind of a letdown. I am glad none of the Cullens got ripped to shreds. That's great. But it seems like after all that build-up, there could have been a little more action or something. I think that entire confrontation took 10 or 15 pages (I've loaned out my copy now, so I can't flip to the end to see), and if you're going to make a book that long and wordy, at least make what should be the most exciting part of the series a little more exciting! Hooray for Bella figuring out her superpower. Hooray for her keeping everyone safe. But really? That's all we get? I guess when I reached that part, my mentality had flipped back into Action mode and not Romance. It just seems like if you're going to have an entire chapter about Bella going on her first hunt as a vampire, you can take a little time to let Emmett rip Jane and Alec apart. Or have Alice sneak up behind the Volturi and take out Caiaus. Or have a physical showdown between the Romanians and the Volturi. Maybe all the football I watch has made me a little violent, and I expect crunching of bones and enemies to be taken down. I just felt like the ends of the other 3 books were much more exciting.
4. See #2 in my "like" category. I went off for a few minutes about Jacob's narrative.
What did you think of the book? I know Jenny will have something to say. I can't wait to find out. I tried to write my review before talking too much with anyone else about it. I tend to get persuaded easily by others. But now I'd like to know. Did you like it?
Overall, I think I'm leaning toward Like over Dislike. I may read it again in a few weeks. I read it as fast as I could so no one could have a chance to give away the ending. And I was on little sleep, since I bought it at a release party. My opinion could be completely different next time. It's been known to happen.
It finally occurred to me on about page 150 that I have been categorizing these books completely wrong. For some strange reason, I had them grouped in with Fantasy and Action. Yes, there is an element of fantasy (vampires and werewolves and mind-reading), and yes, there is action. But these books are romance novels, pure and simple. Once I realized that, I actually felt a little less critical about the content. A little. You notice I said that this occurred to me after 150 pages. Those first 150 pages could have been summed up into about 5. Bella and Edward had a beautiful wedding, which every girl fantasizes about. Beautiful flowers, beautiful bride, weeping mother, dashing groom, the works. And then they go on their honeymoon. Ah, the perfect honeymoon fantasy. A remote isle, beautiful surroundings, kayaking, palm trees, a really pretty big bed--all things that you'd expect from a honeymoon. But was it really necessary to have that honeymoon last 75 pages? And this is where my realization kicked in. These 150 pages were what Meyer's 4 books were all about. The fantasy romance. Once I understood which genre I was reading, I was a little more forgiving about the amount of time that was spent gushing over how perfect Edward was, and how much Bella adored him, blah blah blah. I still feel that Stephenie Meyer should find a better editor, however, because regardless of how romantic something is, it only needs to be said once. (I got that they figured out the whole physical intimacy thing very quickly and didn't need three separate illustrations.) I was also dismayed yet again at how much sensual content there was, considering the intended audience is teenage girls. Yikes. I find it interesting that she goes into more detail in the teenage romance books than her other book, "The Host," whose primary audience is adults. I don't know that I would recommend these to a 14-year-old girl.
I find that I am a bit scattered, so I'm going to list the things I liked to make it a little easier:
1. Bella's vampire baby was completely unexpected to me. One reason I was pulling for Jacob was because if Bella ended up with Edward, she'd never experience the joy of pregnancy (if she, in fact, did enjoy being beaten up repeatedly from the inside) or motherhood. And Meyer managed to work in yet another vampire myth to solve that problem. I was glad that she found a way for Bella to experience motherhood, and even more glad that it was a surprise. I like to be surprised, and I didn't think I would be.
2. Jacob's point of view was kind of fun. Just like everything else in her books, I felt it could have been a little less wordy and drawn out, but I enjoyed having a moment in my favorite character's head. Since my vote has been for Jacob all along, I was grateful that Jacob got a little more time and attention in this book. He seems to be the most fleshed-out character in the series. I find it interesting that although Bella is the heroine, and Edward is her true love forever, Jacob is the only one that is shown in great detail, flaws and all. I wondered if Meyer would use the imprinting instinct as a tool to get Jacob out of the love triangle, and was glad that, since she chose to use it, it was told from his point of view. I was a little less disappointed. It did bother me, though, that her writing got a LOT sloppier and grammatically incorrect while she was writing from his point of view. She changed voices by changing writing styles, and I have no problem with that. What bothered me was that when Bella was the narrator, things were so eloquently described, and Bella was not an eloquent person in her thoughts or speech. Then when Jacob was the narrator everything was in the style of his speech. Suddenly the descriptions of the surroundings were as though Jacob were speaking them aloud, in a very conversational, casual way, full of slang and grammatical errors. I'm sure this was intentional, but I found it irritatingly inconsistent. If she had written Bella's point of view in words that Bella would have spoken aloud, I would have felt it was appropriate for Jacob's point of view to be the way it was. Okay, so I went on a little bit of a rant there. Sorry, this is the section about what I liked. I enjoyed that for a little while, we got to see things from a werewolf's point of view.
3. I was glad there was a happy ending. Since this is a romance series, and completely unrealistic, it might as well have worked out very neatly so that Jacob gets his girl, Edward and Bella live happily ever after as beautiful vampires, and none of their family dies. Oh, and Charlie gets to see his beloved daughter and granddaughter without being eaten. It all seemed a little too tidy for me, but, like my sister told me earlier, there are plenty of depressing books out there to chew on and brood over, and these books are not for deep thinking. They are a vampire fairy tale. So why not make it as happy as possible, right?
4. All in all, despite my complaints about Stephenie Meyer's writing skills (like I'm one to talk anyway), she is extremely creative and has created an exciting world that she has obviously thought through very thoroughly. The vampires' and werewolves' histories and mythologies are very detailed and it's clear she has a talent for creativity. ("The Host" is another book that she wrote that I found original and interesting, and clearly well thought out.)
Now for my complaints:
1. As mentioned before, let's cut out 300 pages. I'm sure there are some who relished every word on every one of the 754 pages in this book, but I like to relish something once and not reread the same drivel for hundreds of pages. I got that Bella was a great vampire, and she was meant to be a vampire, and so on. I just wanted to get to the action once she was changed, and it felt like it took FOREVER!
2. For a book aimed at teenagers, could we keep it a little more G? I know it's possible. I've read lots of books by Mary Stewart, and she's a master at hinting without telling.
3. The big showdown that was hinted at FOREVER once Bella met the Volturi was kind of a letdown. I am glad none of the Cullens got ripped to shreds. That's great. But it seems like after all that build-up, there could have been a little more action or something. I think that entire confrontation took 10 or 15 pages (I've loaned out my copy now, so I can't flip to the end to see), and if you're going to make a book that long and wordy, at least make what should be the most exciting part of the series a little more exciting! Hooray for Bella figuring out her superpower. Hooray for her keeping everyone safe. But really? That's all we get? I guess when I reached that part, my mentality had flipped back into Action mode and not Romance. It just seems like if you're going to have an entire chapter about Bella going on her first hunt as a vampire, you can take a little time to let Emmett rip Jane and Alec apart. Or have Alice sneak up behind the Volturi and take out Caiaus. Or have a physical showdown between the Romanians and the Volturi. Maybe all the football I watch has made me a little violent, and I expect crunching of bones and enemies to be taken down. I just felt like the ends of the other 3 books were much more exciting.
4. See #2 in my "like" category. I went off for a few minutes about Jacob's narrative.
What did you think of the book? I know Jenny will have something to say. I can't wait to find out. I tried to write my review before talking too much with anyone else about it. I tend to get persuaded easily by others. But now I'd like to know. Did you like it?
Overall, I think I'm leaning toward Like over Dislike. I may read it again in a few weeks. I read it as fast as I could so no one could have a chance to give away the ending. And I was on little sleep, since I bought it at a release party. My opinion could be completely different next time. It's been known to happen.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Question on Every Housewife's Lips
As you may have noticed, I've added a teeny tiny little poll to my blog. This is because there is a lot of buzz this week about the release of the final (let's hope) installment of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. In preparation for this big release, I have reread the first two books and am currently working my way through "Eclipse." I feel that, while these things are fresh in my mind, it is time to discuss them. CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't read the books and plan to, I'd sit the rest of this one out.
I read "Twilight" last year at the recommendation of a few friends who had teenage daughters. They told me it was a fun summer read and never warned me that it was also a series that was unfinished. ARGH!!!! So I read it, enjoyed it, and realized as I reached the last pages and saw the first chapter of the NEXT book that I had been snared into yet another series. Since I enjoyed the first book, I was less annoyed by the fact that the second book was still in hardback and the third was about to be released than had I hated the book. Once I start a series, it's hard to stop. You know how it is. So I was dismayed by the fact that the second book, "New Moon" was far less appealing and spent hundreds of unneeded pages covering a teenager mooning about and whining about the hole in her chest. I still somewhat enjoyed the parts with Jacob in them (who couldn't? he's great!), and made it to the long-anticipated face-off in Italy. The third book, "Eclipse" took much less time getting to the action, but a lot more time focusing on Bella and Edward's constant kissing. Gross. But, on a first read, it didn't seem so bad, and I made it to the end, expecting a resolution of all the issues that had arisen in the three books. But alas, I was mistaken. Hooray that I can confidently say that this Saturday, I can finally put these books to rest.
You superfans may wonder, why would you want to put these wonderful books to rest? Okay, superfans, please forgive me, but there are a few things I've discovered in the last few reads that have tainted my opinion. We drove to Kansas last Christmas, and, since it's a very long drive with nothing to look at, and since I don't get sick in the car when I read, I thought I'd read them aloud to my husband. Believe me, it is so much worse out loud. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, "New Moon" spent a lot of time talking about Bella's heartbreak. As a woman who has been dumped before, I respect that it is a horrible and unpleasant experience, that it can sometimes take a long time to get over, and that as a teenager things seem infinitely worse. But for crying in the mud! This is a book!!!! You can say in one sentence, "Bella's heartache was so great that her chest felt empty, so much so that a hole seemed to exist." And to let you know it took a while, "8 months went by with no reprieve from her pain. She was devastated." You get what I'm saying. I did appreciate that there were 3 or 4 chapters that just mentioned the month. But I felt like the book could have been about 100 pages shorter. And when you're reading it out loud to a man, it feels a bit melodramatic. I'm just saying. As for Eclipse, I was grateful that the hole in the chest was gone, but it was replaced by a lot of Bella and Edward making out. Which also feels a little strange to read aloud, even to your spouse. I actually skipped over a few pages because I couldn't make myself read it. I know that compared to most adult lit, this is mild, but I was disappointed at how much making out is involved in the book, and how sensual it is. Meyer is setting an example for a bunch of teenage girls, and I was dismayed at how far she let it go and how detailed her descriptions were. Really, like hormonal teenagers need more motivation. So, maybe she could say, "Bella enjoyed kissing Edward. It was the first time she'd felt this way about anyone, and it excited her." But enough tracing chins with noses and lips and heavy cold breathing (weird). So those are my complaints. At least the basic ones.
Now back to my poll. I am extremely curious about the end of the last book. I've noticed that Meyer doesn't really explain the process Bella goes through falling in love with Edward, except that he's the most breathtaking man she's ever seen. Then she very carefully describes the friendship Bella develops with Jacob, which, to me seems a lot more like falling in love. They become friends, they're honest from the outset, they have a few arguments, they spend lots of time doing normal things together, they hold hands, they get to know each other through conversation, and Bella describes him as a sun that brings brightness to her life. Hmmmm....You can probably guess who my vote is for. Plus, I'd rather kiss someone that is warm than someone who feels like marble. So, please, vote away. We'll be finding out Saturday how it all comes out in the end. Good luck to Stephenie Meyer.
I read "Twilight" last year at the recommendation of a few friends who had teenage daughters. They told me it was a fun summer read and never warned me that it was also a series that was unfinished. ARGH!!!! So I read it, enjoyed it, and realized as I reached the last pages and saw the first chapter of the NEXT book that I had been snared into yet another series. Since I enjoyed the first book, I was less annoyed by the fact that the second book was still in hardback and the third was about to be released than had I hated the book. Once I start a series, it's hard to stop. You know how it is. So I was dismayed by the fact that the second book, "New Moon" was far less appealing and spent hundreds of unneeded pages covering a teenager mooning about and whining about the hole in her chest. I still somewhat enjoyed the parts with Jacob in them (who couldn't? he's great!), and made it to the long-anticipated face-off in Italy. The third book, "Eclipse" took much less time getting to the action, but a lot more time focusing on Bella and Edward's constant kissing. Gross. But, on a first read, it didn't seem so bad, and I made it to the end, expecting a resolution of all the issues that had arisen in the three books. But alas, I was mistaken. Hooray that I can confidently say that this Saturday, I can finally put these books to rest.
You superfans may wonder, why would you want to put these wonderful books to rest? Okay, superfans, please forgive me, but there are a few things I've discovered in the last few reads that have tainted my opinion. We drove to Kansas last Christmas, and, since it's a very long drive with nothing to look at, and since I don't get sick in the car when I read, I thought I'd read them aloud to my husband. Believe me, it is so much worse out loud. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, "New Moon" spent a lot of time talking about Bella's heartbreak. As a woman who has been dumped before, I respect that it is a horrible and unpleasant experience, that it can sometimes take a long time to get over, and that as a teenager things seem infinitely worse. But for crying in the mud! This is a book!!!! You can say in one sentence, "Bella's heartache was so great that her chest felt empty, so much so that a hole seemed to exist." And to let you know it took a while, "8 months went by with no reprieve from her pain. She was devastated." You get what I'm saying. I did appreciate that there were 3 or 4 chapters that just mentioned the month. But I felt like the book could have been about 100 pages shorter. And when you're reading it out loud to a man, it feels a bit melodramatic. I'm just saying. As for Eclipse, I was grateful that the hole in the chest was gone, but it was replaced by a lot of Bella and Edward making out. Which also feels a little strange to read aloud, even to your spouse. I actually skipped over a few pages because I couldn't make myself read it. I know that compared to most adult lit, this is mild, but I was disappointed at how much making out is involved in the book, and how sensual it is. Meyer is setting an example for a bunch of teenage girls, and I was dismayed at how far she let it go and how detailed her descriptions were. Really, like hormonal teenagers need more motivation. So, maybe she could say, "Bella enjoyed kissing Edward. It was the first time she'd felt this way about anyone, and it excited her." But enough tracing chins with noses and lips and heavy cold breathing (weird). So those are my complaints. At least the basic ones.
Now back to my poll. I am extremely curious about the end of the last book. I've noticed that Meyer doesn't really explain the process Bella goes through falling in love with Edward, except that he's the most breathtaking man she's ever seen. Then she very carefully describes the friendship Bella develops with Jacob, which, to me seems a lot more like falling in love. They become friends, they're honest from the outset, they have a few arguments, they spend lots of time doing normal things together, they hold hands, they get to know each other through conversation, and Bella describes him as a sun that brings brightness to her life. Hmmmm....You can probably guess who my vote is for. Plus, I'd rather kiss someone that is warm than someone who feels like marble. So, please, vote away. We'll be finding out Saturday how it all comes out in the end. Good luck to Stephenie Meyer.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Stuck in fantasy land
It's summer, and for some reason, all the hot sun and outdoor activities make me feel like reading fluff. So I have spent a good part of the summer thus far reading different fantasy novels. I've come to the following conclusion: most fantasy writers are thieves.
I just read the final book in Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses series, titled "Reader and Raelynx." It was entertaining, it wrapped up the series nicely, and, in true Sharon Shinn style, there was a satisfying romance as well. So, two thumbs up. I moved on to "The Blue Sword" by Robin McKinley, which I read in 9th grade and loved. After reading a few chapters I started recognizing certain elements that I had just read in Sharon Shinn's books. Sharon Shinn's books are newer, so I suppose she's the guilty one in this particular theft. Both books have heroins that have mysterious pasts and powers that are unexplained, cause them to overheat, and tend to cause things to explode. There are King's Riders in both authors' books, who are more loyal to the king than to their own families. I suppose both authors followed a formula that dates back to Tolkien, since both of them have a lot of elements that seem to come straight from his books as well. I've also read the first two Fablehaven books this summer (Brandon Mull), which I thought were excellent, but, once again, they stole elements from other novels that came before them. I guess when there are 5 million fantasy writers out there, things get repeated. It helps you know what to expect. Bad guys are usually black, reptilian creatures with foul breath; evil magic makes you cold, good magic burns and crackles; the hero/heroin is usually the unlikely figure (clumsy, poor, untalented, or 8 years old); there are at least 4 books to read. (Don't get me started on the Wheel of Time series--I made it to book 3 and got too tired of keeping track of things, plus decided I'd just reread Lord of the Rings because it's the same with better writing.)
I'm not going to stop reading fluff. I just finished "The Blue Sword" and have started "The Hero and the Crown", also by Robin McKinley. I have the third Fablehaven book (Brandon Mull) on my hold list at the library, and Stephenie Meyer's final vampire book is coming out in a few weeks. Once it's cold again and I'm trapped inside to read I'll pick up something substantial like "1776" or "Les Miserables." For now I'll read my fantasy novels and enjoy the thievery.
By the way, if you like reading fantasy, here are some authors I enjoy:
Sharon Shinn (she may have stolen a little, but her books are very enjoyable)
Robin McKinley (I recommend "Beauty")
Brandon Mull
Robert Asprin
Orson Scott Card (sci-fi, not fantasy, but they are in the same section at the bookstore)
Diana Wynne Jones (Witch Week is my favorite)
Back to my book.
I just read the final book in Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses series, titled "Reader and Raelynx." It was entertaining, it wrapped up the series nicely, and, in true Sharon Shinn style, there was a satisfying romance as well. So, two thumbs up. I moved on to "The Blue Sword" by Robin McKinley, which I read in 9th grade and loved. After reading a few chapters I started recognizing certain elements that I had just read in Sharon Shinn's books. Sharon Shinn's books are newer, so I suppose she's the guilty one in this particular theft. Both books have heroins that have mysterious pasts and powers that are unexplained, cause them to overheat, and tend to cause things to explode. There are King's Riders in both authors' books, who are more loyal to the king than to their own families. I suppose both authors followed a formula that dates back to Tolkien, since both of them have a lot of elements that seem to come straight from his books as well. I've also read the first two Fablehaven books this summer (Brandon Mull), which I thought were excellent, but, once again, they stole elements from other novels that came before them. I guess when there are 5 million fantasy writers out there, things get repeated. It helps you know what to expect. Bad guys are usually black, reptilian creatures with foul breath; evil magic makes you cold, good magic burns and crackles; the hero/heroin is usually the unlikely figure (clumsy, poor, untalented, or 8 years old); there are at least 4 books to read. (Don't get me started on the Wheel of Time series--I made it to book 3 and got too tired of keeping track of things, plus decided I'd just reread Lord of the Rings because it's the same with better writing.)
I'm not going to stop reading fluff. I just finished "The Blue Sword" and have started "The Hero and the Crown", also by Robin McKinley. I have the third Fablehaven book (Brandon Mull) on my hold list at the library, and Stephenie Meyer's final vampire book is coming out in a few weeks. Once it's cold again and I'm trapped inside to read I'll pick up something substantial like "1776" or "Les Miserables." For now I'll read my fantasy novels and enjoy the thievery.
By the way, if you like reading fantasy, here are some authors I enjoy:
Sharon Shinn (she may have stolen a little, but her books are very enjoyable)
Robin McKinley (I recommend "Beauty")
Brandon Mull
Robert Asprin
Orson Scott Card (sci-fi, not fantasy, but they are in the same section at the bookstore)
Diana Wynne Jones (Witch Week is my favorite)
Back to my book.
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