Book Fifty-six: The Hunter's Moon
Finished: November 3
Pages: 289
Super-lame, under-developed, fake mythology with a cast of characters right out of archetypes-r-us.
Bleh.
I would like my hour and a half back, please.
Book Fifty-Seven: The Naming
Finished: November 5th
Pages: 528
Wanna be Lord of the Rings with a girl protagonist. There are four more books in this series, I think. I'm not going to rush out and check them out of the library any time soon.
Book Fifty-Eight: Jinx
Finished: November 7
Pages: 272
Cute, girly, appropriately young adult. Plus, Meg Cabot is pretty adorable. The best I can say is "yay happy endings."
Book Fifty-Nine: The Ask and the Answer
Finished: November 18
Pages: 544
Seriously, this book could not have been more disappointing. Also, I am super tired of dramatic cliffhangers at the end of books just so you have to go out and get the next one. I suppose I should be thankful that the third book in this series is already out, so if I wanted to know what happens I could find out today, but quite frankly, I just could not stand to read another one of these books. There was no resolution whatsoever for any of the conflicts in the novel!
The only good thing was this quote: "To see the ocean once is to learn how to miss it" (156).
Book Sixty: All We Know of Heaven
Finished: November 22
Pages: 310
I have decided that one of the worst things in Young Adult Lit is when a woman old enough to have teenagers herself takes it upon herself to write in the voice of teenagers. It sometimes works perfectly, but in this case, it sounds fake and sad. There is nothing more embarrassing than reading a book like this one. It was overly sentimental, contrived, and quite frankly, outlandishly unrealistic. This coming from someone who loves fantasy! Two girls are mistaken for each other after a car wreck, and the resulting fallout of mistaken identity, guilt, and remorse. It could have been an excellent choice, but the lack of proper grammar, inappropriate use of slang, and ridiculous punctuation and capitalization of the dialogue of even the adults in the story made me regret ever starting it. I think that a story like this could really be used to inspire students to overcome obstacles, but it just made me want to punch every single character in the face for being the stereotypes they were.
"Good" reading,
Caitlin
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Book Fifty-five: Keturah and Lord Death
Book Fifty-five: Keturah and Lord Death
Finished: November 2
Pages: 214
This National Book Award Finalist was a remarkably quick read, and yet, in those short pages, I was blown away by the imagery in the prose. I have always been fascinated by stories about Death, and this one was no less surprising, for all it's a story that's been told over and over again. A mix of Scheherazade's 1,001 Nights; the myth of Persephone; and traditional fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, or Cinderella, whose retellings delight me even if they are a little too "kiddy" for me; I loved the characterization of both Keturah, our narrator, the other girls in her village, and Lord Death. I loved the twists and turns in the narrative. I love the ending, because you both expect and don't expect it, and I like to be kept guessing. I like that the story takes place over such a small portion of time, but you still feel close to all the characters.
Definitely more worth the read than anything else that I've read so far this month.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Finished: November 2
Pages: 214
This National Book Award Finalist was a remarkably quick read, and yet, in those short pages, I was blown away by the imagery in the prose. I have always been fascinated by stories about Death, and this one was no less surprising, for all it's a story that's been told over and over again. A mix of Scheherazade's 1,001 Nights; the myth of Persephone; and traditional fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, or Cinderella, whose retellings delight me even if they are a little too "kiddy" for me; I loved the characterization of both Keturah, our narrator, the other girls in her village, and Lord Death. I loved the twists and turns in the narrative. I love the ending, because you both expect and don't expect it, and I like to be kept guessing. I like that the story takes place over such a small portion of time, but you still feel close to all the characters.
Definitely more worth the read than anything else that I've read so far this month.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Book Fifty-Four: Like Water for Chocolate
Book Fifty-Four: Like Water for Chocolate
Finished: November 2
Pages: 246
I read this one at the behest of Lacey, I think, or Kathy, or someone who told me that The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was a knock-off of this book. I think maybe if I had read Like Water for Chocolate first, maybe I would agree, but the books are so stylistically different that there really is little comparison except that food is involved with both.
I suppose I liked the book. I suppose, if pressed, I could come up with reasons why I liked it. In another frame of mind I might have loved this book, and I can't really come up with a good reason why I didn't love it. There was just something...off about it. Maybe it was that the book is organized into chapters by month, but the time goes by at a different rate: sometimes it seems like only a few days between chapters, sometimes it feels like several years.
I really didn't like some of the choices that the author made with the characters, made all the more difficult to understand toward the end because I didn't know how many years had gone by. I thought it had been only 2 days between chapters, but that time it was 22 years. A little shocking to discover that much time had passed, and the characters had not grown any wiser.
I really did not like Pedro, and I didn't understand why Tita did. What was so special about him? I mean, he married her sister! What a jerk. I liked her sister, Gertrudis, the most, because she seemed the most honest and true to herself. I liked John, because he was open and honest with Tita about his affections, and because he was a genuinely nice guy. Why would she choose to be with Pedro?
Ugh. Maybe I didn't like the book. It did make me want Mexican food with a vengeance, which was nice.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Finished: November 2
Pages: 246
I read this one at the behest of Lacey, I think, or Kathy, or someone who told me that The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was a knock-off of this book. I think maybe if I had read Like Water for Chocolate first, maybe I would agree, but the books are so stylistically different that there really is little comparison except that food is involved with both.
I suppose I liked the book. I suppose, if pressed, I could come up with reasons why I liked it. In another frame of mind I might have loved this book, and I can't really come up with a good reason why I didn't love it. There was just something...off about it. Maybe it was that the book is organized into chapters by month, but the time goes by at a different rate: sometimes it seems like only a few days between chapters, sometimes it feels like several years.
I really didn't like some of the choices that the author made with the characters, made all the more difficult to understand toward the end because I didn't know how many years had gone by. I thought it had been only 2 days between chapters, but that time it was 22 years. A little shocking to discover that much time had passed, and the characters had not grown any wiser.
I really did not like Pedro, and I didn't understand why Tita did. What was so special about him? I mean, he married her sister! What a jerk. I liked her sister, Gertrudis, the most, because she seemed the most honest and true to herself. I liked John, because he was open and honest with Tita about his affections, and because he was a genuinely nice guy. Why would she choose to be with Pedro?
Ugh. Maybe I didn't like the book. It did make me want Mexican food with a vengeance, which was nice.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Monday, November 1, 2010
Book Fifty-Three: A Lesson Before Dying
Book Fifty-Three: A Lesson Before Dying
Finished: October 20
Pages: 256
I'm teaching this book to two of my classes at school, but I wish I was teaching it to them all. Reading this and The Help at the same time really makes me feel shitty about being white.
Sometimes I see myself as Grant, a cynical struggling teacher with no real talent that people respect because they aren't really aware of just how awful a teacher he is. Now, I don't beat my children with a ruler, but I think that all teachers are guilty of taking their anger and hurt out on students who did not cause those particular problems. Heaven knows when my students complained about writing a one page essay about the book I jumped down their throats. Sometimes I think that good literature is wasted on those who cannot appreciate it, but need to hear the message the most.
The suffering of Jefferson, having heard himself called a hog, having internalized his lack of worth, just breaks my heart. Even Grant, who I generally dislike throughout the book, I could only sympathize with him. If someone asked me to turn a person like Jefferson into a man before he was executed, I don't have the faintest idea what I would do to try to create that change.
My hope is that I would be like Paul, were I a white person in the 1940's. I think every white person wishes to be the most likeable white character in a novel like this. No one wants to be the actively racist Sheriff, or his wife, who pretends to be sympathetic but really just feels awkward. I suppose I would maybe like to be like Grant, who regains his faith and loses some of his cynicism by the end of the novel. I would like to give the grandiose speeches that reach into the soul of the person I am trying to reach, and open them up to new ideas and new self-respect.
I suppose that is the purpose of great literature, to show us how we could be better, to reflect back upon us our insecurities and doubts so that, when faced with impossible situations, we can try to figure out how to deal with them with grace.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Finished: October 20
Pages: 256
I'm teaching this book to two of my classes at school, but I wish I was teaching it to them all. Reading this and The Help at the same time really makes me feel shitty about being white.
Sometimes I see myself as Grant, a cynical struggling teacher with no real talent that people respect because they aren't really aware of just how awful a teacher he is. Now, I don't beat my children with a ruler, but I think that all teachers are guilty of taking their anger and hurt out on students who did not cause those particular problems. Heaven knows when my students complained about writing a one page essay about the book I jumped down their throats. Sometimes I think that good literature is wasted on those who cannot appreciate it, but need to hear the message the most.
The suffering of Jefferson, having heard himself called a hog, having internalized his lack of worth, just breaks my heart. Even Grant, who I generally dislike throughout the book, I could only sympathize with him. If someone asked me to turn a person like Jefferson into a man before he was executed, I don't have the faintest idea what I would do to try to create that change.
My hope is that I would be like Paul, were I a white person in the 1940's. I think every white person wishes to be the most likeable white character in a novel like this. No one wants to be the actively racist Sheriff, or his wife, who pretends to be sympathetic but really just feels awkward. I suppose I would maybe like to be like Grant, who regains his faith and loses some of his cynicism by the end of the novel. I would like to give the grandiose speeches that reach into the soul of the person I am trying to reach, and open them up to new ideas and new self-respect.
I suppose that is the purpose of great literature, to show us how we could be better, to reflect back upon us our insecurities and doubts so that, when faced with impossible situations, we can try to figure out how to deal with them with grace.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Book Fifty-Two: The Help
Book Fifty-Two: The Help
Finished: October 19
Pages: 451
I am often hesitant to read books that everyone seemed to love. If too many people hype a book up, I am all the more likely to dislike it. Maybe it's just my indie cred sensibilities that make me want to dislike things because they are popular. Maybe it's that books can rarely live up to our expectations of them. In the same way, I don't want to hype up a book here and have people be disappointed in it, but you're just going to have to bear with me here.
I have been meaning to read this book since it came out. I was drawn first by the cover, the three birds and the yellow background is pretty eye-catching. I was just waiting for it to come out in paperback. Let me tell you, I'm glad that I didn't wait, because man, I'd still have several months to go and this book has been out for almost two years.
The story of three women in the divided South, The Help seems to me to be a story of the times. Although this story is told from the perspective of women, and the issues dealt with are almost exclusively in the realm of women, I think that this is a book that could, conceivably, appeal to anyone. The relationship between white and black women, and between the boss (I wish I could come up with a better word here) and the help is complex and perhaps in some ways glossed over in this book. I think that all people hope that, were we to live in the 1960's or 70's, we would be the "good guys" who were all for integration, and never said anything racist or participated in the active exclusion of others because of their differences. I'm no different. I would like to think that I would stand up against injustice regardless of the social ramifications, but I just don't know if that's the case.
I read several uncomplimentary reviews of this book, mostly due to the reader's dissatisfaction with the negative portrayal of white women, and the overly sweet portrayal of the black women as needing the white women to help them, and being understanding and appreciative of that help when they received it. I suppose I can understand this viewpoint because it did seem insincere at times that a white woman would wish the help black women, and maybe it was hard to understand that a white woman at this point in time would not understand the possible consequences of writing down the true stories of black women who worked in white households, and raised white children.
Some of these stories are so horrifying that they could only be true. There is no other option. And let's be honest, I don't have the least idea of what it means to deal with this kind of prejudice, and so I can't say if the struggles faced by these characters are accurate, or genuine. I can say that the characterization felt realistic to me, and I certainly identified with the characters and their actions at different points in the novel.
I'm certainly buying this for a few friends for Christmas, just so I can have more people to talk with about it.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Finished: October 19
Pages: 451
I am often hesitant to read books that everyone seemed to love. If too many people hype a book up, I am all the more likely to dislike it. Maybe it's just my indie cred sensibilities that make me want to dislike things because they are popular. Maybe it's that books can rarely live up to our expectations of them. In the same way, I don't want to hype up a book here and have people be disappointed in it, but you're just going to have to bear with me here.
I have been meaning to read this book since it came out. I was drawn first by the cover, the three birds and the yellow background is pretty eye-catching. I was just waiting for it to come out in paperback. Let me tell you, I'm glad that I didn't wait, because man, I'd still have several months to go and this book has been out for almost two years.
The story of three women in the divided South, The Help seems to me to be a story of the times. Although this story is told from the perspective of women, and the issues dealt with are almost exclusively in the realm of women, I think that this is a book that could, conceivably, appeal to anyone. The relationship between white and black women, and between the boss (I wish I could come up with a better word here) and the help is complex and perhaps in some ways glossed over in this book. I think that all people hope that, were we to live in the 1960's or 70's, we would be the "good guys" who were all for integration, and never said anything racist or participated in the active exclusion of others because of their differences. I'm no different. I would like to think that I would stand up against injustice regardless of the social ramifications, but I just don't know if that's the case.
I read several uncomplimentary reviews of this book, mostly due to the reader's dissatisfaction with the negative portrayal of white women, and the overly sweet portrayal of the black women as needing the white women to help them, and being understanding and appreciative of that help when they received it. I suppose I can understand this viewpoint because it did seem insincere at times that a white woman would wish the help black women, and maybe it was hard to understand that a white woman at this point in time would not understand the possible consequences of writing down the true stories of black women who worked in white households, and raised white children.
Some of these stories are so horrifying that they could only be true. There is no other option. And let's be honest, I don't have the least idea of what it means to deal with this kind of prejudice, and so I can't say if the struggles faced by these characters are accurate, or genuine. I can say that the characterization felt realistic to me, and I certainly identified with the characters and their actions at different points in the novel.
I'm certainly buying this for a few friends for Christmas, just so I can have more people to talk with about it.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Book Fifty and Fifty-One: City of Ashes, City of Glass
Book Fifty: City of Ashes
Finished: October 7
Pages: 453
Book Fifty-One: City of Glass
Finished: October 7
Pages: 541
So, I finished this series. I couldn't leave it half done. I needed to know where she was going with the story and characters. I must admit, I do love the world that she created. I like the way that the various fantastic creatures lived and interacted with the "real world" and I also enjoyed the layers of politics. I found many of the characters to be cliched and repetitive. Some of the ends were too neat. I don't really like stories that are happy endings; when there are so few sacrifices on the part of the reader, it doesn't make it easy to stay invested in the story.
I found the two main characters, Clary and Jace, to be pretty obnoxiously into each other, especially since they are supposed to be brother and sister through most of it. Even if it does turn out to be incorrect at the end, I still spent a large portion of the books being totally weirded out.
If you only read one Young Adult series ever, this is not the one to spend your time on, though I think this is definitely better than Twilight. If nothing else, it is a quick read.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Finished: October 7
Pages: 453
Book Fifty-One: City of Glass
Finished: October 7
Pages: 541
So, I finished this series. I couldn't leave it half done. I needed to know where she was going with the story and characters. I must admit, I do love the world that she created. I like the way that the various fantastic creatures lived and interacted with the "real world" and I also enjoyed the layers of politics. I found many of the characters to be cliched and repetitive. Some of the ends were too neat. I don't really like stories that are happy endings; when there are so few sacrifices on the part of the reader, it doesn't make it easy to stay invested in the story.
I found the two main characters, Clary and Jace, to be pretty obnoxiously into each other, especially since they are supposed to be brother and sister through most of it. Even if it does turn out to be incorrect at the end, I still spent a large portion of the books being totally weirded out.
If you only read one Young Adult series ever, this is not the one to spend your time on, though I think this is definitely better than Twilight. If nothing else, it is a quick read.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Book Forty-nine: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Book Forty-nine: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Finished: October 1
Pages: 292
I feel sad after finishing this book. I've been told that I should just read Like Water for Chocolate, instead of it's knock-offs, but from what I know of that book, Lemon Cake seems to be quite a bit different.
I was a little disappointed. Things that I wanted to have happen, didn't. Things that I thought wouldn't happen, did. The stuff that I thought needed to be talked about wasn't talked about, and it didn't seem that the more mundane characters really suffered for their mistakes.
The idea of the book is that Rose, our protagonist, can taste the emotions cooked into the foods she eats by the people who make them. She first learns this when she eats the birthday cake that her seemingly perfect and happy mother makes for her. Seems interesting, right? There are even a couple of interesting supporting characters; my favorites are the crazy Grandma who sends the family weird objects from her house, and George, Rose's brother's best friend, who has surprised eye brows.
I don't know if I would really recommend this book to many people. Even now, I just feel depressed. I'm not sure what the point of the book was, or what lesson was learned. I just don't know.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
Finished: October 1
Pages: 292
I feel sad after finishing this book. I've been told that I should just read Like Water for Chocolate, instead of it's knock-offs, but from what I know of that book, Lemon Cake seems to be quite a bit different.
I was a little disappointed. Things that I wanted to have happen, didn't. Things that I thought wouldn't happen, did. The stuff that I thought needed to be talked about wasn't talked about, and it didn't seem that the more mundane characters really suffered for their mistakes.
The idea of the book is that Rose, our protagonist, can taste the emotions cooked into the foods she eats by the people who make them. She first learns this when she eats the birthday cake that her seemingly perfect and happy mother makes for her. Seems interesting, right? There are even a couple of interesting supporting characters; my favorites are the crazy Grandma who sends the family weird objects from her house, and George, Rose's brother's best friend, who has surprised eye brows.
I don't know if I would really recommend this book to many people. Even now, I just feel depressed. I'm not sure what the point of the book was, or what lesson was learned. I just don't know.
Good Reading,
Caitlin
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