The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (who, by the way, was really a woman)

This is a "can't put it down but can't bear to go on" book. You want so badly for things to go well for Maggie, all the while thinking that things can't possibly end well. This is a story about a family who, through a series of misfortunes, lose everything and their struggle to restore their good name and standing. It is about human struggle and virtues and ignorance and pride and disappointment and it's no wonder George Eliot was really a woman, which I did not know until reading the bio at the beginning of the book. I devoured the first 7/8's of the book, but cannot bring myself to go on as I think of all the possible endings and none of them are good. If anyone has read the book, please give me a warning or some hope so I will not do what Mom does: read the last page to decide whether I want to go on or not.

The Ennui Continues

I still can't read and it is driving me crazy! I spent tonight watching 1,000 episodes of Snapped on the Oxygen Channel because I just can't put forth the effort to do anything else right now. I did get the new Stieg Larsson novel last week, The Girl Who Played with Fire, but it is disappointing me. I really don't care for how amoral everyone in the novel is. I thought it was quirky in the first novel, but just irritating in the second. I know that the author intended for the main character, Lisbeth Salander, to be completely free and without scruples, but do I really want to read about someone like this? She is supposed to be the heroine in the series, but I don't find her to be someone to look up to. I don't know if I will finish the book. Aside from that, I am dabbling in Frances Mayes reading both Bella Tuscany and A Year in the World intermittently. Maybe I will finish one of them soon.

The Divine Center

Yes, I'm finally posting!! Mostly because I am so inspired by this book, The Divine Center by Stephen Covey. It is opening my eyes to so many different perspectives. Thanks to Anbolyn for recommending.

Changes to My Reading?

I haven't finished any books lately, and surprisingly, have not really felt like reading. I've been watching a lot of TV instead. I don't know why this is, but I hope it passes soon.
I found out last week that I am now a youth librarian (well, as of August 17) and I am moving to another branch to supervise 4 people. This shocking news might be why I haven't felt like reading (and haven't been able to sleep). This is a huge change for me! I'm not sure if it will alter my reading habits by making me feel obligated to read childrens' and YA fiction. Probably not. I may read a few more kids' books than normal, but I see myself sticking to my usual. That is, once I feel like reading again!

Oh Happy Day!

I just found out that Masterpiece Classic will be showing Cranford 2 this coming winter! I loved and adored Cranford and can't wait to see what the sequel brings. There will also be a new adaptation of Emma, which I've never been fond of but will gladly watch anyway, just because it is Jane Austen.

Reading Spaz

I'm all over the place with my reading these days, so I'm not sure when I'll finish another book. Nothing is really grabbing my attention. These are the times when I just throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first novel in a trilogy that was written by Stieg Larsson before he passed away in 2004 from a heart attack. It was published last year to lots of critic and reader praise. I thought it sounded good when it came out last year, but I was off mysteries at the time (and still mostly am) so I gave it a pass. I picked it up a few weeks ago, though, because it finally hit the right spot. This blockbuster Swedish crime novel features the mysterious and intriguing Lisbeth Salander, a tattooed, surly, asocial computer genius. When Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who's recently been convicted of libel, is summoned to the home of Henrik Vanger he is wary. What would one of Sweden's most successful businessmen want with a disgraced magazine writer? Mikael soon finds out: Vanger wants him to solve the disappearance of his beloved niece Harriet in exchange for cold hard cash. With trepidation, Mikael agrees to the assignment and soon finds himself enmeshed in the troubled world of the Vanger family. When he makes a breakthrough in the case he hires Lisbeth to be his research assistant and together they embark on a dangerous quest to discover the truth. Though billed as a mystery, I enjoyed the more chaotic structure of this novel. With several plot lines running rampant, this did not have the feel of a traditional plodding procedural mystery. The characters are fascinating, especially Lisbeth, and the pacing is spot-on, spurring the reader to quickly turn the pages and possibly stay up much too late to find out the truth.This book might have triggered my return to reading mysteries, as it was so good that I realized I was craving the satisfaction you get from reading a well-plotted and intense thriller. I can't wait until the second one, The Girl Who Played With Fire, comes out later this month!

Raven's Gate

Alright, this isn't really about a book I've read, but it aroused my curiosity. I've Googled it and looked it up on Wikipedia and the only reference I can find for Raven's Gate is the book by Anthony Horowitz. I've seen it referenced in many horror movies and books and I'm wondering if it just sounds ominous, or if there is some mythical basis for the name. Does anyone know? I wanted to post on the author's message board, but there's no guarantee that he will see it or that those who do see it will know the answer. Plus, you have to promise your firstborn and read a 700-page policy before you can post. I'll continue researching. I MIGHT even go to the library and read some books.

Masterpiece Mystery

On Monday, I watched two new episodes of Poirot and one new episode of Miss Marple that have recently aired on PBS. (Oh, how I love my DVR!) I loved the Agatha Christie mysteries when I was a teen so I was happy to see these new versions air. I enjoy Hercule Poirot, but I've always had a soft spot for Miss Marple (maybe it's because we're both spinsters?) Julia McKenzie (who played Mrs. Forrester in Cranford) is the new Miss Marple and I think she does an excellent job. She seems like the kind of woman whom people would easily confide their secrets in. There are three more episodes scheduled in the coming weeks and I will be eagerly awaiting them.

Yes, I Changed It Again

This is what happens when you are home alone and looking for something to do! I hope no one minds.

A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure

A Pearl in the Storm is on the summer list of Oprah's recommended books and sounded intriguing. Tori Murden McClure was the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean alone. She completed this amazing feat after a tragically failed attempt when she got caught in three hurricanes that nearly killed her. The first 2/3 of the book documents her travails in the first attempt she made to cross the Atlantic. There are fascinating stories of shark sightings, sperm whales nearly capsizing her boat, communing with dolphins, and all of the equipment breakdowns she had to deal with. I was amazed by her intelligence and ingenuity in dealing with adversity. The story of her survival on the boat is intermittently sprinkled with stories from her past that illuminate for the reader how Tori became the woman she is today. The flashbacks tie in neatly to what she is experiencing on the boat and she does not glorify herself in any way. When she returns from her attempt is when the book took a personal turn for me. She falls in love for the first time at the age of 35. I thought I was one of the only women alive who hasn't been in love at 35! Her experience gave me hope and was even scarier to me than her journey across the ocean. I really admired her willingness to expose her weaknesses and how she was able to turn them into strengths. This book is about much more than rowing across the ocean; it's about resilience, learning how to take down the walls that keep you from knowing others and yourself, and about reaching goals, though it may almost kill you to do so. Great book!

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

This book has garnered a lot of buzz in the past month and so, though I normally don't care to read novels about American historical topics, I decided to try this. And I'm glad I did! I really liked this novel. It centers around Connie who is a Ph.D candidate in American studies at Harvard. She is trying to decide on a thesis topic when she is asked to clear out her deceased grandmother's home so it can be sold. While doing this she discovers the name of a possibly forgotten woman who was executed in the Salem Witch Trials. The bulk of the novel then details her search for the physick book or spell book of this woman, Deliverance Dane, her budding relationship with a fellow historian and her uncovering of a family history she never knew about. Connie's story is interspersed with chapters that tell the story of Deliverance and her daughter Mercy so the reader feels a personal connection with this interesting woman. There are supernatural elements in the novel which are very believable and even exciting. I would call this an adventure novel, but it is slower paced and more character driven and intelligent than your average adventure tome. And the historical details were fascinating and made the Colonial period come alive for me. I would suggest this to readers who like thoughtful adventures or to readers who have an interest in the Salem Witch Trials.

Another Intriguing List

Newsweek has published a list of "50 Books for Our Times" that looks interesting. I always make myself familiar with the books on these lists because we inevitably have patrons come in looking for the titles. Midnight's Children is on the list! I think this book is going to haunt me.

Also, they have a list of the Top 100 Books that they compiled based on 10 other lists - their meta-list. Hmmm.... maybe I should try to read the books on this list instead? I like that it includes non-fiction and poetry. So, keeping to my guidelines for the Telegraph list I decided to read from (no series, no books over 1,000 pages, only books the library owns) I will start with #99, The Color Purple. And, yes, Midnight's Children is on this list too!

Anthony Horowitz

Right now I'm reading The Gatekeepers series by Anthony Horowitz. I'm never reading a series again. I think that it's safe. That if there are four books it has to be done, right? No! The fourth book is not the last in the series and the fifth has not been written yet! It's a pretty good series, though. It's reminiscent of The Dark is Rising series written in the 70's except I like it a little better. The concept is that centuries ago the Old Ones, evil beings whose only purpose is to destroy everything on earth, ruled the world. They were banished by five children (well, 15 year olds) who constructed a gate to keep them out. Flash forward to present day. The Old Ones have faithful followers who are working to release them into the world, hoping for power and glory. The Old Ones are aided by an evil corporate giant (because what corporation isn't evil?) called Nightrise. The Five have been reborn and are being brought together by unexplainable forces to once again banish the Old Ones. They are aided by various native tribes throughout the Americas and a secret group called the Nexxus who are the only ones that know about the legend of The Five. Anyway, it's a pretty good series, like I said. Just don't read it if you don't want to wait for the fifth book!

Random

I don't really have anything to write about, but I didn't want to let a week go by without a post. I'm reading a ton of awesome books right now so I should have a lot of reviews soon. I have almost too much to read! Not that I'm complaining...

True to the Game by Teri Woods

Oh my goodness, I think I might be going to hell for reading this book. This novel is part of the "street lit" genre of fiction that is incredibly popular with some African-American readers. We are discussing these books for our genre study at work and I chose this particular title because it was one of the first contemporary books of its kind to be published, and self-published at that. The plot centers on Gena, an 18-year-old hustler who survives by acquiring drug dealer boyfriends who pay her way in life. One night at a club in Harlem she meets, Quadir, the biggest drug dealer in South Philly. They immediately get together and the rest of the plot revolves around all of the money she spends, the sex they have, the raunchy, depressing lives of their friends, and Quadir's battle with the Junior Mafia, a rival drug dealing operation. The amount of cursing, nasty sex and disrespectful attitudes toward women in this book nearly made me sick every time I read it. But I have to say, Teri Woods knows how to keep the story going. Her writing is sloppy and the transitions between scenes are terrible, but her plotting is good. I did want to find out how the story ended and what would happen to Qua and Gena. However, I feel that my mind has been dirtied by reading this. It was just...yuck. Not recommended!

Oprah's Summer Reading

I normally detest most things associated with Oprah, but I might have to read a few books on her "25 Books You Can't Put Down List" just because I know the library patrons will be asking for and about them. In fact, I've already had people asking for #3.

Progress

So I started reading Midnight's Children and it has been excruciating so far. Rushdie's writing style is confusing and I don't really know what is going on, but I am going to struggle through. Discipline!

Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker

I've posted a review of Bruno, Chief of Police on the More Than Books... blog that I write for work. Check it out.

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Under the Tuscan Sun is the now classic travel book that launched an obsession with Italy and lyrical travel writing. The author, Frances Mayes, lovingly recounts her purchase and restoration, with her poet husband Ed, of a crumbling, yet beautiful house in Cortona, Italy. I read this book when it was first published back in the '90's, but I love Mayes' writing so much that I decided to read it again. There is no one like her when it comes to describing the mundane details of shopping in town, picking olives or hauling stones out of the garden. She makes everything sacred and has a true gift for finding beauty in everyday life. I can only take her way of living as an example for when I am feeling that my life has no beauty or mystery - she creates beauty and that is something I forget sometimes, that we can create our own miracles.
By the way, the film of the same name starring Diane Lane, although lovely, bears hardly any resemblance to the book.

Reading Project

I occasionally get the urge to have a more directed program of reading, one that will provide a goal for reading classic novels. This weekend I got one of these urges and found this list to work from. Out of the 100, I have read 24 of the novels. I decided to work backward from #100, and to skip series for now, and to read only books that we have at the library. Because of those parameters I will start with #94, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. I don't know if this goal will last, but I'm going to try to get through as many as I can. Do you have any reading goals?

Birthday?

I just went back and read the archives of this blog and realized that I published the first post on June 1, 2006. So we are 3!

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

The latest novel by Lisa See continues her focus on Chinese culture, but this novel is relatively modern compared to her others. The story begins in 1937 in Shanghai and centers on two sisters, Pearl and May, best friends and "beautiful girls" who model for calendars and live the good life in Shanghai, earning their own money, frequenting dance clubs and spending large chunks of money on expensive Western dresses. All good things must come to an end though, so when their father loses the family money while gambling, the sisters are sold off in marriage to repay their father's debts. At the same time, the Japanese army invades China. The rest of the novel relates the tale of their escape from China and their struggle to connect with their new family while experiencing poverty and racism in the United States. See is an engaging storyteller who keeps the busy plot moving in a swift and concentrated manner. Her characterization is nearly flawless as she brings Pearl and May to life, rarely resorting to cliche. It was fascinating to read about the experience of Chinese immigration in the early twentieth century and how hard it was for the Chinese to be accepted in this country. If you enjoy multi-generational family sagas or reading about Chinese culture, this would be the book to put on your summer reading list.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

This was my second try at this novel and it took this time. The first time I tried to read this I was put off by the prologue which describes the death of an elderly nun. For some reason it was distasteful to me, but this time it made sense. The Birth of Venus is set in 15th century Florence at a time of great upheaval. The main character is Alessandra Cecchi, a sixteen-year-old, headstrong, intelligent aspiring painter. When the story opens she is contracted in marriage to an older man. The marriage seems like it will be a perfect solution for both of them, as her husband Cristoforo needs an heir and Alessandra needs a husband who will allow her the freedom to paint, which Cristoforo does. However, all is not as it seems in their relationship and when a fiery monk, Savanarola, takes control of the city and institutes a suffocating crackdown on sin, their marriage and Florentine society begins to fall apart. Add to this mix Alessandra's love for a fellow painter and her husband's secret life and you get a very passionate and dramatic plot. I really loved reading about 15th century Florence and art and was mesmerized by the details of daily life during this time period. I was also pleased that the plot of this novel did not take the reader where you think it should go, but twisted to fit the reality of what would really happen to someone like Alessandra during this era. I plan to read the second novel in Dunant's Renaissance trilogy, In the Company of the Courtesan, within the coming weeks and hope it will be as satisfying.

What I'm Listening To

I haven't had a lot of time to read lately, so I've been getting books on CD. I listen to them while I clean the kitchen, put on make-up, etc. I listened to a GREAT book recently called Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey. It's the first in a series called A Resurrection of Magic. It has a dual plot-taking place in two different times. The story switches back and forth every chapter between the story of a magically gifted girl in a time where true magic is outlawed and a young boy who attends a wizard school where the boys are forbidden from helping one another and they will starve to death if they cannot magically produce food. My kitchen has never been so clean as I would find any excuse to be in there while I still had CDs of this book left to "read." Skillful writing that was able to maintain both plots while keeping the reader interested (inability to do this is why it took me so long to finish The Historian) was impressive. Thoroughly enjoyable read. Bad news: the second book of the series is not out yet, meaning it will probably be a few years before I can satisfy my curiousity about Sadima and Hahp's fates.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

This is a ghost story. Or is it? The Little Stranger fits into my favorite gothic novel category and is an excellent example of a scary, horror story that is not bloody or gory. Set just after World War II in Warwickshire, England this novel is narrated by Dr. Faraday, a 40-year-old bachelor and country doctor. When he is called out to a case at Hundreds' Hall he meets the Ayres family; Mrs. Ayres, her daughter Caroline and her son Roderick. They are an old, aristocratic family who live in a beautiful, yet crumbling and falling apart mansion. Their financial situation is precarious and Roderick is under extreme stress trying to keep them solvent. Injured in the war, he walks with a limp and when Dr. Faraday proposes an electrical treatment for his muscles Rod reluctantly agrees. Dr. Faraday begins spending many hours with the family administering Rod's treatment and eventually becomes entangled in their strange affairs. Soon, mysterious and tragic events begin to befall this isolated family and Dr. Faraday details it all as it is told to him as he rarely witnesses the events himself. As the novel progresses the reader starts to feel that "something isn't right here" feeling, but it is hard to pinpoint why. Eventually, the family comes to believe that they are possessed by a supernatural force that is trying to destroy them. I loved the pacing of this novel. Waters uses the slow build-up method that makes the reader uneasy and creeped out. Though the pacing is deliberate, I couldn't stop reading and stayed up long into the night to discover the mystery of Hundreds Hall. If you like gothic reads such as The Historian or The Thirteenth Tale, this is a perfect read for you. It is also perfect if you just want a good old-fashioned ghost story. I loved it!

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I am a huge fan of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, but I hadn't read anything else by her so I decided to read this newest book of hers. Wintergirls centers around Lia, a senior in high school who is battling anorexia. We follow her through the death of her former best friend and through her struggles to maintain a healthy facade while, secretly, she is starving herself, experiencing hallucinations and cutting herself to relieve the severe hatred and loathing she feels for herself. (How many times can I say herself in a sentence?) It was interesting to see what the mindset of an anorexic girl might be and to see how her false beliefs fuel her illness. Anderson's unique writing style perfectly mimics the jagged and jumpy thoughts that Lia has and the mood she creates gives the reader an understanding of Lia's mental suffering. However, I didn't really like this book. I understand it on a creative level, but as a story it was nearly unbearable to read. I felt such despair reading it that I had to stop about half-way through and leave it for a while. I didn't want to finish it because entering Lia's world again was not enticing in the least. But I did want to see how Lia would come through. The ending was a bit forced and melodramatic, but I was just glad it was over. I wouldn't recommend Wintergirls. Read Speak instead; it's a more successful effort.

Teaser Tuesday - The Little Stranger

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

"What was I to do? It was clear to me - horribly clear - that over the past few weeks Rod had been the victim of some very powerful hallucinations."

From The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

My Reading List

I thought I'd share a list of the books I am reading at the moment. I'm a terribly spastic reader and I always have tons of books going. Here's my current list:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore -- 1/3 read
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson -- 1/2 read
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes -- 2/3 read

The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon -- just started
When her fiance falls ill while serving in the Crimean War, Mariella Lingwood travels to Italy to care for him only to discover that her cousin, a volunteer in Florence Nightingale's nursing corps, has gone missing.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley -- just started
Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is propelled into a mystery when a man is found murdered on the grounds of her family's decaying English mansion and Flavia's father becomes the main suspect.
Wondrous Strange by Leslie Livingston -- just started
Seventeen-year-old Kelley discovers her secret heritage after meeting Sonny, a guard of the gate that separates the fairy world from the mortal one, while a war band of fairies plan to force their way through the gate on Halloween night.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - almost finished
Sophomore Frankie starts dating senior Matthew Livingston, but when he refuses to talk about the all-male secret society that he and his friends belong to, Frankie infiltrates the society in order to enliven their mediocre pranks.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -- just started
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Coventry and The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys

Helen Humphreys is a Canadian poet and novelist who has an amazing eye for detail and for finding beauty in the mundane. I recently read two of her novels back-to-back and was grateful to have discovered such a lyrical writer whose World War II-set novels resonate with longing and loss.

Coventry mainly takes place on the night of November 14, 1940 when the English city of Coventry was nearly completely destroyed by German bombs. It follows the efforts of two women, Maeve and Harriet, to survive the bombing that devastated the city. There are periodic flashbacks to the First World War when Harriet lost her husband and Maeve conceived her son and how those experiences now impact how the women react to the current war and bombing.

The Lost Garden also takes place during World War II. Gwen Davis is 35, single and lonely. She is a gardener who works for the Royal Horticultural Society in London and is looking for an opportunity to leave the city she loves so she doesn’t have to witness its destruction by bombs. She gets that opportunity by joining the Women’s Land Army and going to Devon to plant potatoes on a neglected estate. Here she receives her first experiences with love and intense friendship, and ultimately, loss. Her discovery of a hidden, overgrown garden and the plants it contains is a perfect metaphor for her experiences and Humphreys’ descriptions of the gardens and flora on the estate match well with her descriptions of Gwen’s emotional landscape.

Both of these novels deal with love, but more intensely with loss and how people let it shape their lives.

As the author herself says “Every story is a story about death. But perhaps, if we are lucky, our story about death is also a story about love”.

Depressed Teenage Girls

So I've read 1 novel and 2 graphic novels this week that all centered around very disgruntled and suffering teen girls. And I love them! Why? Maybe it takes me back to my own teen years when I was also very depressed, disgruntled and suffering, but why would I want to recall those days? I don't know, I just know that I like reading about these girls.

You Know Where To Find Me by Rachel Cohn
Miles is overweight, lonely and too intelligent for her own good. Her only friends are a popular black guy and her cousin Laura. When Laura commits suicide Miles descends into a numbing depression that she only makes worse by abusing prescription pain-killers. Sarcastic, funny and painfully self-absorbed Miles is a gem of a character who is surprisingly sane considering her situation. I enjoyed this novel for her character alone, but I found it lacking for some reason that I can't pin down.

Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
This graphic novel was on all of the Best YA book lists last year so though I normally don't read graphic novels I decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did. I really liked this story of another disgruntled teen girl, Kim (called Skim, "because she's not") and her struggle to fit in with her peers and find a place for herself at school and at home. The illustrations are amazing and I look forward to reading more work by Mariko and Jillian.

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
This classic graphic novel stars Enid and Rebecca. They are not in school anymore and have no goals except to be seen at the right places and with the right people. They are mean and hateful to each other and everyone else in a desperate attempt to rise above the crowd and their crappy, aimless lives. They are fascinating characters, especially Enid, and I enjoyed their story though it was hard to take at times.

So Sorry

Sorry I haven't been able to post lately. My computer crashed at home and it is hard to find time on my lunch breaks at work to post. I'm not really reading anything exciting lately so that's probably a good thing.
Kyla, guess what? My book group is reading The Giver! Don't you wish you could be here to discuss it with us?

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I just finished reading Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I love Sherlock Holmes. I've watched every A&E Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and was really struck by how well done this show was. The stories were short, which I guess lends itself to making a good show (not a lot of details to try to include in an hour and a half) and there were always interesting plot twists. Unfortunately, I knew most of them already from watching such a well done show. Anyway, that's all I've read lately. I'm now reading an old favorite, Cold Comfort Farm.

Sisters by Danielle Steel

I recently read this novel for our genre study at work.

What madness will ensue when four beautiful, successful, wealthy sisters converge on their parents’ home in Connecticut for the Fourth of July Weekend? This being Danielle Steel you can be assured there will be plenty of tragedy, drama, descriptions of clothing, jewelry and residences and terrible dialogue.

Sabrina, a high-powered attorney, Tammy, a big-shot Hollywood producer, Annie, an artist studying painting in Florence and Candy, the biggest supermodel in the world meet for a traditional weekend in July. Tragedy soon strikes when their beloved mother is killed in a car accident in which Annie is blinded. How will the sisters survive this horrible ordeal?

At first, it was hard for me to discern the appeal of Ms. Danielle, until it was pointed out to me that people like junk reading just as they like junk TV. For some reason, junk reading doesn't appeal to me as junk TV does. I found the plot of Sisters to be standard Lifetime Movie fare, which I love to watch, but it was unpalatable to me in book form.

The positive aspects of Danielle Steel's writing are that she does give you a glimpse into a moneyed and unfamiliar world that can be fascinating to read about. There are many descriptions of what the characters wear, where they live, where they go on vacation, how their houses are decorated and the fabulous places they frequent. She also does a good job of providing a dramatic and varied plot.

The negative aspects, for me, outweighed the positive. The characters are one-dimensional and not well-developed. They are interchangeble except for their hair color and careers. The writing style is abysmal and so flat and wooden that I found the novel hard to get into. The lack of any lyrical beauty or imaginative writing was depressing.

I am glad that I read this novel so that I know why Steel is popular, however it still saddens me that people love her novels and devour each and every one that is published.

Borders Coupon

Hey Girls, There is a forty percent off Borders coupon at this site for anyone interested.

http://www.bordersmedia.com/coup/coupon400327.asp?cmpid=SA_20090326_NR

Thanks Anbo!

I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as previously reviewed by Anbo. I loved every second of this book. I started reading it this afternoon and could not put it down. I love this book not only for its story, but because of its celebration of the written word. I have a new found desire to learn about Guernsey and its people. As Juliet writes to Dawsey, "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometically progressive--all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment." I never thought anyone else could possibly understand this until I read it in better words than I could ever come up with. This book will ever be near and dear to my heart and I may have to buy a copy for my own private library. An honor indeed when I already have too many books for our 560 square feet, but well deserved.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Cutting for Stone is one of those books that sweeps you away. It is an epic tale of family, love, loyalty and betrayal that is set in the unfamiliar landscape of Ethiopia. Conjoined twin boys, Marion and Shiva, are born in a harrowing and traumatic scene as their mother, who is a nun, lies dying on the operating table. Their presumed father abandons them and they are adopted by Hema and Ghosh, Indian doctors who work at Missing Hospital, where the poor and suffering people of Addis Ababa are treated. The story glides through the decades of their youth, detailing the formation of the boys’ very differing personalities, the changes in the Ethiopian government and the way that medicine and the experience of growing up at the indigent hospital shapes their future lives and professions. An act of betrayal eventually splits Marion and Shiva apart and its consequences rebound through the years affecting every aspect of not only their lives, but their family's as well.
This is a first person narrative, told from the viewpoint of Marion. Written very descriptively with lush depictions of the Ethiopian vista and vivid portrayals of surgical procedures, the story is beguiling in its ability to pull you into the lives of this unusual family. If you enjoy winding sagas with engaging and memorable characters, try Cutting for Stone.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Skeeter Phelan is a young, white woman who’s graduated from Ole Miss in the early 1960’s. Directionless and bored living at home with her parents in Jackson, Mississippi she has plenty of time to observe and reflect on the southern tradition of white families employing black maids to run their households and raise their children. When an opportunity to write a book for Harper & Row arises Skeeter decides to enlist several black maids in Jackson to tell their stories of what it’s like to work for white families. Aibileen, the maid of Skeeter’s friend Elizabeth, agrees to help. Despite being fearful of losing their jobs and even their lives, many other maids, including Aibileen’s feisty best friend Minny, come to Skeeter with their stories and their book, despite several set-backs, is eventually written.
The Help is told from the multiple viewpoints of Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. Because of this we get both sides of the story – what it was like to be white and privileged in Jackson, and what it was like to be black and invisible. This novel is very much character-centered and Stockett does an amazing job of creating realistic and sympathetic characters. Her use of historical details helps draw the reader into this world and her measured pacing keeps you hooked until the very last page. Though tragic at times, the novel’s message is essentially hopeful. I really enjoyed this book and was engrossed in it for several days. A lovely read.

Tuesday Tasting

Turn to page 56 of the book you are currently reading and read the fifth sentence on the page:

"Her father was a man who cherished no sentimental reverence for Woman, but a firm belief in the equality of the sexes...From the time she could speak and go alone, he addressed her not as a plaything, but as a living mind...He called on her for clear judgment, for courage, for honor and fidelity."
- from A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx by Elaine Showalter

Changes

Okay, I got bored with our old look so I took the liberty of changing it. I hope nobody minds! Let me know what you think.

BIGUO

I got half-way through The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark before I finally realized it was a lost cause. My main problem with the book is that it was boring! There was hardly any plot development and it left me restless and itching for something to happen. I kept reading because I thought "Surely, in the next chapter we'll get something to further the story along.", but no! It just kept meandering. So, I gave up.

Disquiet by Julia Leigh

I'd heard many great things about this novella, so I was happy to be the first person to get it at the library. I have to say that I was disappointed.The writing, though, definitely lived up to its billing. It is simple, pure and unadorned. I always admire writers who can convey so much by saying so little. I suppose this is just not the right type of novel for me at this time in my life. I am mostly looking for escape and authors who are high-impact storytellers. I want to fall into a novel and feel that I am living right alongside the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel. Disquiet doesn't provide that level of engagement. We never know what the characters are feeling and because of the clues we get into their lives, we probably don't want to. The plot is straightforward (or so it seems): Olivia and her two young children move in with her mother after she flees her abusive husband. Olivia's brother Marcus and his wife, Sophie, also return to live in the family mansion. The strangeness then begins. I won't say more as it would give the entire novel away. Great writing, wonderful imagery, but not an escape.

Tuesday Tasting

Turn to page 56 of the current book you are reading and read the fifth sentence on the page:

"Aside from the torments of longing I endured , away from her, swinging bouts of mild elation and terror lest she should change her mind, the one cloud on our horizon was the question of where we were to live".
- from The Seance by John Harwood

Masterpiece Classic Update

I finally finished watching Wuthering Heights on Masterpiece Classic. At first, I didn't really enjoy it and that is why it has taken me several weeks to watch it. In the end, though, I thought it was very good. Not excellent, but very good. I really liked the actor who played Heathcliff, Tom Hardy. I thought he was especially exciting to watch.
Next up is Oliver Twist. I am not a huge fan of Dickens, but I will watch this. You can see a preview of it here. It is nice to see that Tom Hardy will also be in this film, playing Bill Sikes.

The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones

I love reading about food and this memoir sounded like the perfect weekend reading. Judith Jones is an editor at Knopf who was responsible for publishing books by Julia Child, Marcella Hazan, Claudia Roden and others who pioneered the way that Americans think about food and who influenced our tastes and cooking habits over the past 50 years. She was also a serious foodie herself who, with her husband Evan, experimented with recipes and became an accomplished home cook. Her memoir is a very enjoyable and entertaining read. I even enjoyed reading about her love for beef brains, which almost makes me want to be a vegetarian. I recommend this if you're in the mood for an intelligent and satisfying read.

Books I Gave Up On (BIGUO)

I picked up a promising book at work yesterday, but after I got home and started reading it I realized it wasn't my thing.

On Kingdom Mountain by Howard Frank Mosher - He's an excellent writer, but I wasn't in the mood for quirky characters.

Most Recent Book I Gave Up On

I have several of these, too. My most recent, however, was Charlotte Gray. I had been reading a book set in the same time period and it was too depressing, so when I tried to read Charlotte Gray I was up to my eyeballs in dark and fear and privation and I just could not do it. I also gave up on the other book, which I can't remember anymore, but I know Anbo read it. Anyway, I'm sure I'll have many posts on this subject in the future.

Books I Gave Up On

I'm going to start a new series logging the books I've given up on. It seems this happens a lot to me. I'm not the type of reader who will read something just because it's there. If I don't like a book within the first 20 pages, I'm gone. Here are a couple of books I've recently given up on:

Daemon by Daniel Suarez - The main reason I quit this book was because of the excessive foul language and the horrid depiction of a gang rape. It made me nauseous.

Bone by Bone by Carol O'Connell - This novel was trying so hard to be gothic, creepy and mysterious, but it just seemed silly to me.

Have you given up on any books lately?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Niesa has already heard me rave about this book, but I can rave for days about it to anyone who will listen. I loved this novel!
Set just after World War II in London, this story is told in a series of letters between the various characters. The main character is Juliet Ashton, a thirty-something writer of humorous war articles that have been compiled into a best-selling book. She's single and an orphan, having lost her parents when she was a teenager. While she's touring for her current book and struggling to find a topic for a new book, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams who lives on the island of Guernsey. She begins a correspondence with him and with other members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and finds herself becoming increasingly infatuated with Guernsey and its inhabitants. She learns about what life was like for them during the war when they were occupied by the Germans and decides she wants to meet these incredible people in person. Leaving behind a new beau Juliet moves to Guernsey and starts a life there that is full of love, learning how to nurture and celebrating the history of Guernsey and its inhabitants.
The tone of this novel is upbeat and hopeful, even when it is addressing serious issues of deprivation and cruelty inflicted during the war. The characters are loveable and quirky, but also brave and steadfast. There is lots of humor to balance the horror and hardship.
This is one that I consider to be an instant classic! Make time to read it; you won't be disappointed.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice is a first novel by former neuroscientist Lisa Genova. Genova uses her background in brain development and functioning to insightfully and creatively craft a novel that explores the heartbreak of Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (EOAD).
Dr. Alice Howland is a fifty-year-old professor of linguistics at Harvard University. She’s married with three grown children and has a very successful and fulfilling career. When she starts forgetting how to get home, missing classes, and overlooking deadlines she realizes that something is wrong. For months Alice tries to ignore her increasingly abnormal memory problems, but when she forgets to catch a flight to a conference she decides to see a doctor.
Eventually diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Alice negotiates with her family and colleagues to maintain as normal a schedule and a life as she can. Genova uses each chapter to represent a month in Alice’s ordeal and this linear structure works effectively to show the reader how EOAD is a progressive disease. The characters are engaging and sympathetic and we come to feel forlorn along with Alice as she struggles with losing her career and status as a Harvard professor and forgetting her husband and children.
Still Alice is a thoughtful and simple novel that successfully portrays the nightmare of living with dementia. Genova’s skill at creating realistic characters is vital in showing that Alzheimer’s victims are not to be feared, but to be treated with love and patience.

Unshaken by Francine Rivers

This month for our genre study at work we read Christian fiction. I chose to read Francine Rivers because she didn't seem preachy and I also wanted to read a story based on the Bible. I ended up really liking this book and hope to read the entire Lineage of Grace series of which Unshaken is volume 3.
This novella centers on the story of Ruth and Naomi. Rivers really dramatizes the story and makes the characters come alive. I so admired Ruth and her courage, determination, faithfulness and devotion to Naomi. The tone of the book is serious and devout, but like I said, she is not preachy at all. The plot moves along at a crisp pace and had me turning the pages, even though I knew what happened. I so wanted to see Ruth happy that I couldn't stop reading until she was. I would recommend this if you are looking to be inspired and want to read about good and faithful people.

In the Coils of the Snake

I would like to revise an earlier opinion. I read only the first two books in the Hollow Kingdom trilogy when I wrote my last review. In the Coils of the Snake was the last book in the series and it totally redeemed it. This book captured the things I loved about By These Ten Bones. I cared about the characters. The emotions of the story drew me in and I even liked the ending. I notice that YA fantasy books are usually an interesting and thinly veiled social commentary. This book was no exception. All the books in this series were about misconceptions different cultures have about one another. It was especially effective in that one of the cultures was that of the goblins, who are actually kind, gentle, social, and honest in spite of their hideous appearance.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

I don't think I've mentioned before that I started a new book group at work that is focusing on science fiction and fantasy novels. You all know that this is not my favorite genre so it has been interesting reading one of these novels every month since August now. For January we read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.
Lauren Olamina lives with her family in a neighborhood enclave surrounded by walls. The outside world is dangerous and unpredictable since the US society has collapsed. There are crazy drug addicts and people who are starving and living in shacks ready to pounce on the neighborhood at any sign of weakness. Lauren is a deep-thinker who has developed a religion she calls Earthseed and that she thinks will be the cure for the ills of the world. When she is finally forced to leave the compound she starts heading north, up the coast of California with several friends and people they pick up along the way. Their lives are threatened daily, but they manage to band together and form their own community in which Lauren begins to teach them about Earthseed.
This novel was very relevant to our society today. One of the major themes of the book is the idea of preparedness and of being realistic about what can happen to society. I enjoyed reading about how Lauren and her friends dealt with the danger and anxiety of living in chaos, but it was definitely disturbing. However, I think it was instructive to be reminded about how we should prepare for the worst but have hope for the best.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

So, this time around I didn't care for this novel. It is depressing and makes you hate and despise men. I don't really like Hardy's didactic writing style either. He pounds the reader over the head with how horrible religion and God are and, though I find his theories interesting, he really overdoes it. Tess as a character is intriguing and I find myself still thinking about her plight days after I've finished the book.
The Masterpiece Classic adaptation is fantastically depressing, but wonderful in its faithfulness to the feel of the book and the acting is great.
Now I am on to Wuthering Heights.

YA Fantasy

I told Niesa I loved this book by Clare B. Dunkle called By These Ten Bones. I was so excited that I checked out all her other books, but, alas, they were not as good. I read the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy about a goblin kingdom. The books were good, but I HATED the way they ended. She starts out with a set of main characters and then by the end of the book there's like seven. So you start reading and get an interest in these certain characters and then at the end it wraps up like 5 other people's stories so the main characters ending gets a small blurb, just like the others. I was like, "What the crap!" I wanted a detailed happy ending for the people I cared about and all it tells after all the story that lead up to it is "... and then they got married. The end." Terribly frustrating and disappointing. I also read the Shamer series by Lene Kaaberbol. These were excellent books. I really enjoyed the stories and the characters. They dealt a great deal with agency and manipulation of agency, which at times was heartbreaking and horrifying, and more than once I cried while reading them out of sheer frustration for the characters. Great story with an interesting concept of the Shamer.

Excited

Happy New Year everyone! I have a feeling it will be a good year for reading. I'm really excited that the new year is beginning with new episodes of Masterpiece Classic. Tonight, Tess of the D'Urbervilles begins. I read Tess when I was a teenager and loved it. I decided to read it again before I watch it. I have about a hundred pages to go and it is so tragic and depressing, but very thought-provoking. Poor Tess.

And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander

This novel is very similar to the previous one I blogged about, Silent in the Grave. As in Silent, And Only to Deceive centers on a young widow in the Victorian era who comes to believe that her husband was murdered. Lady Emily Ashton never really knew her husband, as he died in Africa several months after they were married. He was a great art collector, especially of Greek antiquities, and in an effort to know him better Emily develops an interest in and passion for art and literature (she reads The Iliad and takes ancient Greek lessons). Through her new art-world connections she begins to suspect that her husband was involved in something shady and with the help of her friends Cecile, Margaret and Ivy and of her love interest Colin Hargreaves, she gets to the bottom of the mystery. Was her husband really an art thief and involved in forgery? Or was he the victim of a forgery ring that spanned countries and classes? I really liked this mystery and I loved the art aspect of it. It stimulated my interest in Greek art and literature and I will definitely be reading the second book in the series, A Poisoned Season.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

As this wonderful novel opens, Lady Julia Grey witnesses her husband's demise and becomes a young widow. After his death she is bound by the strictures of widowhood in the Victorian era and lives a quiet and undemanding life. Until she meets Nicholas Brisbane, a private inquiry agent who had been hired by her husband to investigate a series of death threats he received before he died. Convinced that her husband was murdered she hires Brisbane to help her discover the murderer. Of course Brisbane is a dark and mysterious man who she can't help but be attracted to. Misunderstandings and arguments ensue, making their relationship intriguing and infuriating for both of them. With the help of her large and eccentric family, Lady Julia navigates society and the disappointment of her marriage with wit, dignity and elegance. I really enjoyed this mystery/romance/historical novel and am already devouring the second book in the series. On a side note, I also very much enjoy Deanna Raybourn's blog. Check it out; it is just as satisfying as her novels.

Forgot to Post

I did finish a book last month. I read The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald for my genre study at work. We were concentrating on gentle fiction. The Bookshop is the story of Florence Green, a widow who lives in a small village on the north coast of England. She has no friends in town and is without children. Looking for some way to spend her time and talents she purchases an old building and opens a bookshop, the first ever in the village. She has opposition on many fronts and is not completely successful. This is a quiet and subtle read. The humor is very subdued and it is not really a "feel-good" book at all, but it works it's way under your skin and had me thinking about it for several days after I finished. I'm not sure I would recommend this to very many people because it isn't fast-paced or happy, but some readers may recognize its beauty.

Next Month's Pick

Alright girls, I found a book for next month. I would like to read Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas. If you guys have already read it, just let me know and I'll find another classic. Anyway, when are we going to discuss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?

True Classic

I just finished reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I love love LOVE it! I loved this whole book from the first sentence to the last and I will read it at least 5 times more throughout my life. I loved the Nolan family and the Rommely girls. Her descriptions of the people hid nothing, all their faults were laid along side their virtues, but you loved them. Their faults seemed... sensible, somehow. Not like the novels with the heroines I wrote about whose only faults were an unawareness of their own beauty or a fiery but charming temper or a sensitive pride. I loved Katy in spite of her favoritism towards Neely. I loved Sissy in spite of her senselessness and deceptions. I loved everyone she laid bare in this novel. I loved how some periods of their lives were written in much detail and some skimmed over with just vague descriptions of what had passed. It was the perfect mix with all the desired information covered. I'll stop gushing now, but I must say I am looking forward to other classics much more than before.

Join Us

Niesa and I are going to resurrect the book club. We've decided to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith for our first discussion. If you'd like to join us we'd love to have you ! We don't have a date for the discussion yet, but I will post when I know. We've both already started the book and have found it to be quite sad, but I'm sure it will make for an interesting discussion.

What I'm Reading

I'm reading a few things right now. I started reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell after watching the PBS miniseries. I'm re-reading What Southern Women Know about Flirting. I'm trying to read the latest Elizabeth George mystery. And I'm working up the courage to read the violent and scary ending of a book called The Exception by Christian Jungersen, which is brilliant, but makes me too anxious.

2nd Childhood

I'm reading the Chronicles of Narnia after watching the second movie this weekend-so good! The books are really simple and short and I feel like I accomplish something because I can read it so quickly! I hope they are all as good as Prince Caspian!

What is Wrong With Me?

I have never before felt such a disinterest in reading. Every night after I get home from work I pick up a book hoping to relax and escape and end up being disenchanted and feeling like I am wasting time. This is not like me! Has anyone else gone through this horrible phase? Reading is my solace and my comfort - why isn't it working anymore?

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

What a lovely book this is! It is one of my favorites. I watched the film a few weeks ago on Masterpiece Classic and loved it and decided to read the novel. I read this when I was a teenager and vaguely remembered it, but the film brought it all back to me. It is romantic, funny, passionate and wise. Lucy Honeychurch is a flawed and very believable heroine and her cousin, Charlotte Bartlett, is so complex and aggravating and fascinating. This is a short and near-perfect book.

No Interest

I've lost interest in reading this week. Everything I pick up seems pointless and boring. Last night I was bereft so I walked over to my bookcase hoping that something would entice me. My eye fell upon a P.D. James mystery and I immediately knew that is what my heart wanted. I've been missing my British mysteries! So I started A Taste for Death last night and reading is a pleasure again.

Is this Realistic?

It seems the books I have been reading lately have a common element: what I call "the Helen of Troy" character. A woman of gifts, beauty and spunk. The further commonality that makes her a Helen is that not all men are attracted to her. Some hate her, some fear her, some are indifferent. But the men who are attracted to her are invariably powerful, intelligent, and charismatic. And they are not just attracted to her, they're practically obsessed with her. Is this pure fiction? Or is this a phenomenon that a simple, homely girl such as myself just can't equate to anything in my personal experience? I don't know. What do you guys think?

Fantasy Land

At work, the next genre we're discussing (in May) is fantasy. So, I'm reading a few fantasy novels right now: Tithe by Holly Black, The Blue Girl by Charles De Lint and A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. Now, I am not normally a fantasy reader so this is a departure for me, but I'm really enjoying each novel and am glad that I'm forced to read different genres.

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

This is a very funny, sweet and slightly sad tome on aging. I really enjoyed it. With essays on everything from body maintenance to apartment love to JFK, it is really endearing and amusing. Just don't read the final essay before going to bed. It is about death and was painful and terrifying to read. I couldn't sleep and when I did I had nightmares because it truly makes you think about death seriously. But it is mostly hilarious and entertaining and if death scares you just skip the final essay!

Something New

Well, good things can come even from a terrible gothic novel. At the end of my book there was an excerpt from a novel called Dead to the World. I read it and was interested. It turns out it was the fourth book in a vampire series by Charlaine Harris. I read an entire book yesterday. It is the strangest mix of genres I have ever seen. It's like sci-fi/romance/mystery. I had to look in like every section of the library until I finally found it in mystery. It's like the vampire part of it is more part of the setting than the main subject, which is really a mystery about women being murdered in a small Louisiana town. It's set in a world where vampires have "come out of the coffin" as they put it in the book and revealed their existence to the world because a synthetic blood has been invented so they no longer have to feed on humans (they still do, though). Anyway, interesting main character who is not a vampire, only telepathic, colorful characters throughout, AND they were written by a hugely fat Southern woman, and that just makes me feel good! It's called the Sookie Stackhouse series if you're interested. I think Niesa would really like them.

Sofie Metropolis by Tori Carrington

I read this mystery as part of the genre study we are doing at work. We had to read a type of mystery that we normally don't read. I never read P.I. novels and this one looked okay. Sofie Metropolis is from a large Greek family in Queens and has inadvertently started working for her Uncle Spyros' detective agency. She gets caught up in a mob-related, cheating spouse, murder case and in finding the missing dog of her mother's friend Mrs. K. The mystery really only takes up about 30% of this novel. The rest is concerned with Sofie's family and her love life. I enjoyed it, but I prefer more of a mystery and something a bit darker.

Finally Finished

I finished The Historian! It was pretty good. It was a bit anti-climactic. You read through like seven thousand pages of convoluted and overlapping plots for about 3 seconds worth of action and loose end tying and then POOF, it's over. Left me feeling unsatisfied. I am currently reading a blatantly bad Gothic novel called On the Edge of the Woods. It was the only book that came up when I typed in the word "Gothic" at my closest library. It reads like an R.L. Stine novel for young adults, but not as good. Ah well, it's the only thing I have to read at the moment so I will continue being amused when I'm not supposed to be until I can get something else from the library.

It just keeps going and going and going...

I'm STILL reading The Historian. It's finally starting to move at a somewhat faster pace but I've just already put so much time into it that I've kind of lost interest. I think the style of this book creates problems. 1) How do you tell people the plot of your book when there's 3 different timelines going on? I've tried to describe this book unsuccessfully several times. 2) It's like Heroes: when you're trying to advance three different stories in flashes, it takes a LONG time to make any of them go anywhere. 3) I've been reading it so long with so little progress in the stories that I'm just done. I don't know if I'll ever finish it! I will. It might just take a while.

What Southern Women Know About Flirting by Ronda Rich

This is one of my favorite books dealing with charm. I've read it 3 times now and could probably read it again and learn something new. Ronda Rich is a Southern woman who exudes graciousness, charm and kindness. I am definitely NOT a natural flirt and some of her suggestions would be terribly hard for me to even try, but she makes them seem fun and easy. Hopefully, I can learn something from her advice and become a great social flirt. Her advice might be hard for modern women to swallow, but I believe she knows her stuff. She gives tons of examples of how flirting (with men AND women) led her to get better flights, hotel rooms and restaurant service. It would be worth your time, married or single, to read this book.

Day at the Ballpark

I spent the afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium with my dad watching the Dodgers (see all the blue?) vs. White Sox. It was heavenly! I will aggressively root against the Dodgers when the season starts, but it was fun to see them in action today. Brad Penny pitched and Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones all started the game and played nine innings. I just love the baseball atmosphere and had a great time today.

The Power of Charm

I read this short book by Brian Tracy and Ron Arden last night. According to the authors charm is a learned skill and they give tips on how to effectively communicate with anyone. The tips are sensible and definitely doable and don't advocate anything that would make you feel stupid or uncomfortable. I enjoyed this little gem and might even read it again.

Gothic

Anbo, I read your blog about your love for Gothic novels and decided to give it a try. I read Thirteen Tales, and I really enjoyed it. It was a thoroughly engrossing read and it was vivid enough that imagining the people and settings came naturally without being so descriptive you forgot what was being described in the first place. The library didn't have Fingersmith, so I checked out Sarah Waters' Night Watch, which is most decidedly NOT Gothic, so I just stopped reading it. I have the Historian and plan to start reading it tonight. I'll let you know what I think.

It's Almost Here!

Baseball season, that is. I am so excited I can hardly wait. Most of my reading lately has been fantasy baseball sites, doing research for Yahoo fantasy baseball. My draft will be next week, I believe. I must get good pitching this year or I am doomed. I know this is off-topic, but if there is a reason I'm not posting, this is it. Go D-backs!

This one's for you Anbo :)

I'm actually posting! Read a book titled Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughn that I really liked. It's about a country at war and it's princess who studies medicine and treats the injured enemy prisoners. When her country is forced to surrender, she is claimed by the barbarian warlord that defeated them as the warprize. My description makes it sound like some cheesy romance and, of course, she and the warlord do fall in love but it was actually a really enjoyable read. I guess this is the first book in a series so I'll have to check the others out.

That Teenage Feeling

This week I've been pondering my reading history and realized with a shock and a bit of pride that I was a great reader as a teen. My teen years were when I embarked on the most ambitious and challenging reading of my life. I read more classics of fiction, history and philosophy than at any other time. Not even in college did I read so well. I truly educated myself and laid a great foundation for all the reading to come. Why can't I do that now? I think my avid curiosity still lives, but laziness has nearly completely taken over. In order to return to those great reading years, I've decided to watch less TV and spend less time on the Internet. I'm embarrassed by my lack of knowledge on many subjects and now is as good a time as any to remedy that situation.

Genre Study

At my library we're starting a genre study to help us learn more about different authors and genres we may not be familiar with. I'd like to extend the challenge to you! For April we'll be reading and studying mysteries. This is your chance to read something you've never explored before. I'll post more later on the sub-genres of mysteries and authors you may want to consider reading if you take the challenge.

The Hanging Valley by Peter Robinson

The Hanging Valley is the fourth novel in the Chief Inspector Alan Banks series. Peter Robinson is one of my favorite mystery authors, but I find these early novels a bit plodding. And I can't help but miss the druggies, thieves and con-men of Rebus' Edinburgh. However, the country setting is a nice change. This particular mystery takes place in Swainsdale where a decomposing body has been found. The police suspect he is a hiker as he is found in the hanging valley where walkers frequently visit . Interrogating the townspeople leads them no where and it is only when a forensic odontologist is called in that they discover the victim is a college professor who lives in Toronto. The unique feature of The Hanging Valley is that Banks is permitted to go to Toronto to investigate for a short part of the novel. I don't know much about the city, but this novel makes it sound charming. Anyway, Banks learns that several people in Swainsdale have secrets and the professor knew them all. A bit of an unsatisfying ending, but in the end a good read.

Green Again

The brown was too blah. I think the original green is fresh and pretty.

Poll

The library I work for is considering merging all of our genres into one large fiction section. We currently have them split into fiction, mystery, romance, science fiction and westerns. I personally like them separated, but I'm curious to see what others prefer. Please take my survey to the right and give me your opinion!

A Gothic Kind of Girl

I really dig gothic literature. I'm currently reading Fingersmith by Sarah Waters which is deliciously gothic. Wondering what gothic is? According to Wikipedia gothic novels contain elements of "terror (both psychological and physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses and Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, death, decay, doubles, madness, secrets and hereditary curses". Sounds good, doesn't it? Recent gothic novels I've also enjoyed are The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and The Historian (which I haven't quite finished yet) by Elizabeth Kostova.