Its Hard to Read...

I haven't posted in a few days. Largely because I haven't read anything worth writing about yet and also because I am at my mother in law's new house. And the view from the deck looks like this.



I find it very distracting. Too many walks to go for! Happy Summer!

Young Adult Lit.

In the past decade the edge between young adult literature and adult literature has blurred more than ever. I think this can have a lot to do with Harry Potter as these kids books were taken up by as many adults, and as those kids grew into adults themselves. Add to that other successful series like Twilight, The Hunger Games, Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries and series done by the likes of Tom Clancy and it is hard to know just what is and isn't Young Adult fiction.

I have always liked this blurred line. As a teenager, I had read advance for my age and by the time I hit grades 8 and 9 teen literature bored me and I was off into the world of Sidney Sheldon and Dean Koontz and the odd Amanda Quick novel if my parents didn't find it. I found young adult literature juvenile, with the exception of my guilty pleasure for Sweet Valley University and the odd R.L Stine (The Beach was great!). But today the topics that young adults are reading about in their literature appear to be deeper and darker than most topics I recall reading about back then. Many books about sex, drug use, suicide, rape, and other heavy topics seem to be all the rage in YA fiction. And it isn't escaping the eyes of parents and journalists.

Wall Street Journal has recently attacked this trend in young adult fiction. And while I see her point I think that it is important to have this literature available to start these conversations with teens. However, it should be a two way conversation. I feel this way about Harry Potter even. It is my opinion that everyone should have access to whatever literature they want, but I do think parents need to play a role in when and what their child is reading. I am still appalled at the number of little 10 year old girls who have read or are reading the Twilight series. Who wants their daughters reading that it is a good idea to drop out of high school, get married just so you can have bed breaking sex by the time you're 18? Hmmm, not the pro-feminist image I plan on raising QT with, that's for sure. People say well, but they preach abstinence until marriage throughout the series. Yah, well, I would still rather my daughter having sex before marriage safely while still getting her education and not rushing into marriage than the alternative. But now you know how I feel about Twilight...

Anyway. This Wall Street Journal article gave me a place to start with my summer challenge. I have quite a few teen or junior books. I find you can get a lot of simplicity and still a great story out of some of the stuff written today. So I grabbed the stack of teen lit I bought while working at a school when I had first moved to Estevan but never got around to reading. Cut and Speak would be two books that I am sure would be on Wall Street Journal's hit list. However, I think there is a lot to be learned from these stories. Even more juvenile literature like RULES handles a heavy subject that I think more people should read about- living with family members who have disabilities and learning to accept and accommodate. I have also read a few others and while none of them are as moving as Go Ask Alice which would have been as dark as teen lit got "back in my day," Speak is definitely worth your time to read which was awarded the Prinz Honor Book award in 2000.

Lastly, if you are looking for some great teen books who have made the cross over into successful adult reads check out:

The Harry Potter series (of course)
Little Women (of course)
The Twilight series (if you must, but I think its a colossal waste of your time)
Hunger Games series Suzanne Collins
the Flowers in the Attic series by VC Andrews
The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
The Princess Diaries series (Meg Cabot)
and many many more.

What is on my shelves!

So when talking about books it often comes up whether a person likes to keep their books or not. I have a mother in law who loves to read paperbacks, and so does my father in law, but they don’t keep books-exchange them, sell them, they don’t care. They don’t re-read books so there really is no point in keeping them. Others don’t buy books- they are strictly library or e-reader peoples. I am none of these. In the past if I read a book it meant I had already bought it. I am getting better on this front. I buy it if I KNOW I am going to love it. If I question it, I get it from the library first. If I love it THEN I buy it. Either way, my books have become my newest collection. I used to have close to 400, which really isn’t many considering this situation. However, they take up a lot of space and they are a pain to move. And so far my husband and I seem to have moved every 2-3 years. So we made a deal. I have 4 5 shelves book cases. Once they are full I am not allowed anymore. We have had this deal for most of the 7 years we’ve been together. So I had to dwindle the collection down to just over 300, which was sad but easy to do once I got rid of university text books from classes I loathed.

As a result of this collection limitation I have found a couple of tricks for getting new books and I realized just how near and dear some of my books are. First trick, put two rows of books on each shelf (shhhhhh…I think this is somehow breaking the rules. Tee hee). Second, find a store like Regina’s Buy the Book which will buy your books off of you and give you cash, or double your value in store credit. Whoop! New books! And of course there are used book sales and garage sales. This is, of course, if you need to own books. Otherwise the library is the biggest collection you need! But I need to own books, and due to my boredom of being on maternity leave but inability to buy new books due to funds shortages of not working I have spent a lot of time at Buy the Book. And now I am realizing there are likely close to 50, if not more, books on my shelves I have not read. And what is the point of owning a book you haven’t read? There isn’t one! So this has led me to my summer challenge. Or 2011 challenge. No more new-to-me books until I have read every book on my shelves at least one.

This will accomplish a couple of things. One- reading. Two- figuring out which books can be sold in exchange for new books and three- gives me stuff to write on here!

I have two rules: Rule #1: If I have already read it, I don’t have to read it again. There are two exceptions. First is Mein Kampf. I do not own this book to ever read it. I have heard it is an awful read, research has told me I have the worst translation. So why do I own it? It is a 1942 copy that used to belong to a man in Winnipeg according to the book plate on the inside. I love the historical significance of that. To look at this book makes me think of the time and place of Canada and the world when that edition was published. Why would this Winnipeg man want to own a copy- know thy enemy? Sympathizer? My overactive fiction loving mind creates whole stories about who the owner could have been and what happened to him. Did he fight in the war? Did he come home? Was in an intelligence officer? Either way looking at this book forces me to consider the time and place and activities and sacrifices of World War II more than any Remembrance Day service ever has. So I keep it.
Second, I don't have to read all of my editions of Little Women. I have 10. I have read this book many more times than that but there are editions I have barely even opened.

Rule 2- I don’t have to review everything I read. While I definitely want to use my books to inspire reads for you I also know the few that read my blog don’t read many non fiction books. And I read a lot of non fiction, particularly political non fiction. And since I don’t want to turn my blog into a political soap box I likely won’t review many of them- unless it's that good. Also, I just don't have the time to review all of it!

So I am excited to start this challenge. In fact, in a way, I already have. Look Me In The Eyes was the first book of this challenge. And if anyone out there who does read this actually wants to do something similar I would love to know what you are reading. I like to get book suggestions too!

Look Me In The Eye

"I may look and act pretty strange at times, but deep down I just want to be loved and understood for who and what I am. I want to be accepted as part of society, not an outcast or outsider. I don't want to be a genius or a freak or something on display. I wish for empathy and compassion from those around me, and I appreciate sincerity, clarity, and logicality in other people. I believe most people- autistic or not- share this wish." ~Epilogue of the paperback edition of Look me in the eye by John Elder Robison.

Really, this paragraph summarizes the whole book, its meaning, and the reason John Elder Robison wrote his memoir. And it is one of the most moving memoirs I've read in a while. Not because its a sob story, because it's not, but because it really accomplishes what he set to achieve and his purpose is clear-educating the public about Asperger's Syndrome. The way John Elder Robison writes you do welcome him, relate to him and learn about Asperger's. You laugh, your heart warms, you almost (and maybe do) cry too. You're angry at the mistreatment, and possibly shamed by your lack of knowledge and understanding.

I always know when I truly have been moved by a book because I can't satisfactorily put it into words how I feel about it and this is one of those cases. He has an amazing tale. An entertaining one. And one that I recommend everyone read. It does seem a little fantastical. But that is what makes a good memoir. When extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. What makes a great memoir is when the author also proves that they're no ordinary person too.

Now couple points to make. Have you read or heard of Running with Scissors? If you have, know that I came away horrified by that book, thinking there is no way it was a true biography. And when James Frey wrote A Million Little Pieces and it came out that some of it was potentially fabricated, I expected Augusten Burroughs to be accused of the same. So when I started reading the forward of this book and discovered that John Elder is his brother I almost put down the book on the spot.

However John Elder's reflections, information and emotion seem so sincere that when he relates to his brother in this book and the events of Running with Scissors I now have a different opinion of that book. Even though Look me in the eye came afterwards I needed it to give credibility to the Scissors. I believe John Elder and as a result I now believe Augusten Burroughs and because of that, Burroughs childhood is even more horrifying.

And I just want to say some of the pranks that he pulled as a child are just downright funny. I would have high fived him, even if they happened to me! And I hate pranks.

It is hard to review a biography because its not fiction. There are no character designs and plot designs. Just the choices made on how to display your life. I think the right choices and explanations of relationships were well used to create a book that moves. This book has also motivated my next read. A Young Adult book that has been sitting on my shelf for 3 years. Winner of teh Schneider Family Book Award and the Newberry Book Award, RULES by Cynthia Lord is about a 12 year old girl's struggle to deal with her younger brother's autism.

Room

So this book has been a long time coming for me. I have wanted to read it. Everyone said I should read it. But as I was expecting or had an infant for most of this year a book about an abducted woman raising a boy in confinement wasn't something I could emotionally handle. And now, I have bought and read it and loved it! Not as much as I thought I would but it still moved me in so many ways.

**WARNING- small plot revelations**

I found it engaging and I couldn't put it down. I expected it to be hard to read. I had been told it was easier to digest because it was told by a child. Have you read Lullabies for Little Criminals? That's told by a child but it makes it all the harder to digest! However the voice of a 5 year old provided a different take on an abduction that I don't think many would ever consider. This unique point of view is what had me for the entire novel.

I loved the beauty of Ma's understanding of Jack's situation most of the time. And the moments where she lapses allow you to really sense the struggle she faces when being strong for Jack. A good example of that is when Jack wants to go back to the room and Ma allows them to despite the pain she must feel.

However I really still don't understand why she would attempt suicide. She had so much strength throughout all of the novel that I don't understand what the tipping point was for her. Her wisdom as a character, for me, was strongest during the interview with the press. If she had that kind of strength and attitude I really do not understand the suicide attempt.

The other question I would love to know is why is Ma adopted. I am still trying to figure out what the purpose of that was in the novel. With so much else going on emotionally why add that element. Plus, I don't think that element was well developed. Stated, touched upon once or twice and that is all.

These are minor concerns though. The strength Ma gives Jack his strength and courage to develop throughout his story. I feel proud of him throughout the novel and love that you can "see" him growing. I love the mother's creativity in Room as well. I can only hope I'm that genius even without necessity!

For me the characters really make a novel and I really felt that the characters were done well. I actually wished that some of the characters were left out though so that the story could've been a little tighter. The mention of the old friends, the introduction and exit of the father- I feel they could've been dealt with differently or left out entirely because there are so many emotions in the book as is. And those brief interactions leave you wanting to know how those relationships are, how Ma handles them. Keeping it simpler would've allowed more focus on the other characters and story lines. That being said, I love Steppa's character and how he balances out Grandma. I love the scene with Uncle Paul and the reflection of "normal" child against Jack but I do wish the chaos of them in the mall would've been balanced out with a positive event similar to the way when a negative event happened at Grandma's it was balanced with a positive event that gave you hope that Jack would do well in regular society.

Fantastic insights and ingenuity, loved it.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

After I had QT this spring a friend of mine gave me a Chapters gift card as a baby gift thinking I needed some gifts too. LOVE THIS FRIEND! So off to Chapters I headed and it was wonderful. I had a hard time picking books. But one on my list of was The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. I had heard great things and I knew it was food fiction, something I had enjoyed in the past but had gotten a little sick of from reading too much of it.

I had also tried to read this book before but at first glance it was reading like a young adult attempt at food fiction chick lit and I was not enjoying the first few pages and gave up- twice. While I've enjoyed a lot of food fiction, none come close to my love for the first one I ever read -Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel which came out in 1989, long before the food lit craze. Granted, I didn't read it till 2002, but even that was before everyone was writing about the mystical powers of food.

Despite having attempted twice I still kept hearing things about this book and the library's wait list was still rather extensive. So bought it I did and I am so glad that I did. This book is so unique compared to others in its genre that I would have wanted to own it anyway. Upon finishing it I felt like it was potentially a view into some of the other children who could have potentially attended Dr. Xavier's school in X-men. I am still not even sure that this falls into the genre of food lit/chic lit and not sci-fi! It feels like chic lit, tastes like chic lit, but by the end it's very much science fictional. And for that, it's completely refreshing. And for that reason I liked it. But it was so stereotypical of food lit/chic lit at times that I'm still not sure I actually liked it. And for that reason, I liked it. Bizarre, hey?

Things I liked about the book...the twist from typical food lit. The lightness and easiness to read. The touching moments between father and daughter. The shape of the protagonist's character. The revelation about the father and the understanding that this leads to- for the children and of the father himself. I like how the mother is front and centre for much of the book and Dad is in the background but it is he who holds the real beauty and magic and how all of that gives you a real sense of how Rose, the protagonist, was feeling compared to her brother.

What I didn't like about the book-you didn't realize that the protagonist understands what is happening to Joe (her brother) until Rose reveals it but the book is told in first person through Rose. One of the first rules of writing in first person is that you have to reveal everything to gain the trust of the reader and make the narrative believable. Because the protagonist doesn't reveal all you feel like the author and the narrator kept a secret from you, you lose the trust and as a result the believability. This was my biggest issue.

Also, I still do not understand the relationship between the whole family and the grandmother. Nor do I understand why the character was included at all, never mind an eccentric one at that.

Lastly, lemon cake with chocolate icing, really?? Could've done much better. Who puts chocolate frosting on lemon cake, geez.

All in all I am glad I read it, and may have to read it again to see if I can catch clues about the ending throughout the book now that I know what happens. I really did like the magical elements in this book. It was much different from other "super powers" in food fiction and yet it had the satisfaction of your same old favorite recipe.

More Moore

So back at the end of 2010 I gave a list of my favorite 2010 reads and my discovery of Christopher Moore. Well, I picked up Fluke this time. And this was the good Moore that I came to love. I had listened to some of his newer stuff on audio and was saddened by his lack of hidden wisdom within the book. But Fluke again reveals Christopher Moore at his best- a crudely humourous book that still makes you feel like you learned something in the end. This time we follow researchers in the study of cetaceans (aka whales, dolphins, marine mammals) all while experiencing whales that wave with their penises and a Rastafarian white boy.

In general, here is what I like about Christopher Moore. He can be crude and foul but he's funny and very smart. Usually crude humor is just that and I don't find it funny at all but when you mix it with religion Shakespeare and now whale science you have my attention. Only Moore can make me envious of the catch phrase "fuckery most foul" and he designs these fabulous characters that always surprise you. His plot lines are usually limited to a basic quest whose mystery is always a little magical but I think that sticking to that has allowed him to do what he does best which is character design and giving us an easy read that makes us laugh and gives us something new. Or at least that is when he is at his best. Other works like bite me have disappointed in a big way but Biff, Fool and now Fluke have made it on my list as some of my favorite humor literature.

Fluke is about studying the Humpback whales song and is set in Hawaii which lends itself naturally to great story lines and characters. There are nods to culture mythology, the Beatles, and Douglas Adams. Mixed in with truthful knowledge about the work being done with whales and Rastafarian lingo. He is still his crude self with way too much talk of whale penises including the description of a three some with two male whales and a research boat that will have any woman switching teams but it's that bizarre mixture that makes me love good Moore. Bonus is the protagonist is Canadian and did his undergrad at the U of S, but the worst part of this book is he spelled Saskatchewan wrong every. single. time. And since every other locale was spelled correctly I can't imagine why it would've been an intentional error.

So if you need a light summer read that is still worth your time and you can handle the humor I highly recommend it. I think I'll be picking up more of his in the future.