by Lisa McMann
PRMS hardcover 390 pages
genre: YA fantasy with dystopia
Tagged "The Hunger Games Meets Harry Potter," I'm not sure I can agree. The elements of dystopia and magic are there, but this book lacks the rich depth of Panem and Hogwarts (as do the characters). But this seems written for a younger crowd - the text is widely spaced, the characters are pretty innocent, and the "gee-whiz" quality is strong. This is a nice story about twins Alex and Aaron - one who is "unwanted" and sent to his death (because of his love of art) and one who toes the line and has aspirations to reach the highest levels of government in Quill.
There were some things I really enjoyed - the statues who came to life, the blackboard beings with snappy wit, etc. I don't think I'll continue on with this series, though. It's nice to know what it's about for recommending it to some of my readers.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Welcome to Night Vale
by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
read by Cecil Baldwin
genre: I have no clue . . .
I'm not sure who recommended this to me (or why)but I cannot finish it. I might have stuck with it for curiosity's sake, but someone else is waiting for it and I am really not enjoying it. It is one of the most bizarre things I've read and like my re-read of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I feel as though I need to listen to my inner voice saying "I just don't like this. It's okay to stop."
"Bizarre" is the most accurate word I can use to describe it. The contradictions get old after a while. Something always was / never was, someone did / never had . . . I have read enough to understand that the book is based on a podcast with a cult-like following. Fine. It's still not my cup of tea. I'm not sure what the hype is about, but I'm not ready to listen to the podcast (or finish this book) to "get" it. I was on disc four out of ten and I'm okay with being done and not finding out what happens to Jackie, Diane, Josie, or Josh.
Josh and his body morphing was also pretty bizarre. And statements like "Tarantulas are simple creatures." (First the house thought it. Then Diane thought it.) "The avocado was fake. All avocados are fake." Just weird. The vocal work was fine; I'm guessing it fits the whole Nightvale scene pretty accurately.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
read by Cecil Baldwin
genre: I have no clue . . .
I'm not sure who recommended this to me (or why)but I cannot finish it. I might have stuck with it for curiosity's sake, but someone else is waiting for it and I am really not enjoying it. It is one of the most bizarre things I've read and like my re-read of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I feel as though I need to listen to my inner voice saying "I just don't like this. It's okay to stop."
"Bizarre" is the most accurate word I can use to describe it. The contradictions get old after a while. Something always was / never was, someone did / never had . . . I have read enough to understand that the book is based on a podcast with a cult-like following. Fine. It's still not my cup of tea. I'm not sure what the hype is about, but I'm not ready to listen to the podcast (or finish this book) to "get" it. I was on disc four out of ten and I'm okay with being done and not finding out what happens to Jackie, Diane, Josie, or Josh.
Josh and his body morphing was also pretty bizarre. And statements like "Tarantulas are simple creatures." (First the house thought it. Then Diane thought it.) "The avocado was fake. All avocados are fake." Just weird. The vocal work was fine; I'm guessing it fits the whole Nightvale scene pretty accurately.
Vacation Dreaming
I got different books on Maui (because it's February in Minnesota - duh). I didn't read them thoroughly (travel books aren't very scintillating) but I wanted to record some impressions here before I return them to the library.
Fodor's InFocus (ISBN 9781400008896) - no author listed
Fodor's InFocus (ISBN 9781400008896) - no author listed
- small
- great maps
- organized by regions and features
- also organized by region
- great color-coding
- a previous reader highlighted in it!
- "best of" feature (beaches, dinners, etc.)
- great "insider" advice
- all black and white photographs (Hawaii doesn't look quite as appealing when it's not in color)
- organized differently - I like it - by history, culture, dining, lodging, etc. rather than by region of the island (West, South, Central, Upcountry, etc.)
- great descriptions of restaurants, prices, etc.
- This one is fantastic! I will either get it again from the library (waiting list) or just buy it. I may buy it on my phone ($7? on GooglePlay) so I can have it offline if/when we actually go . . . . dreaming big time!
- It is now March in MN . . . and I'm just adding to this post from 2/24. I actually have one more book on hold at the library. Apparently, I'm not the only one who wants to go!
- This book has a lot of text - probably why I like it - with great history, background info, etc. I have really enjoyed reading it and I want to keep on, but it's due back.
- Page 210 has a list of places you can go sailing with (thinking of Louie here). Page 22 has things you must pack. There's a pronunciation guide . . . so much!
- In addition to all the text, there are the usual recommendations for where to stay, eat, go, etc.
- I love this book!
- The two pages in the preface with the info on difficulty, length, uses, terrain, etc. - very handy! I love that one of the icons is for lava flows . . .
- I think Haleakala National Park will be a must-do.
- I'm not a die-hard enough hiker to have this title be super important to me. It would definitely be a win for people who love to do lots of hiking.
Your Sacred Yes
by Susie Larson
Hennepin County Library paperback 217 pages
genre: Christian non-fiction, encouragement
This is the second time I've had this book from the public library and haven't finished it. Even though it's short, it's packed with so much great content that I want to savor it. I really should just buy my own copy! I would actually love to do this as a Bible study with a group of women. I love the mix of personal illustrations, thoughtful questions, Scripture verses, etc. It's well-written and encouraging.
Her sections are The Sloppy Yes, The Shackled Yes, and The Sacred Yes. Of course, I didn't get to "sacred" yet . . . and I think I need to. Fine. I'll put it on my Amazon list. And then I can write in it, highlight it, etc. I love her ideas at the end for the six week Faith and Fitness Challenge. I want to try it, but right now might not be the right time.
Hennepin County Library paperback 217 pages
genre: Christian non-fiction, encouragement
This is the second time I've had this book from the public library and haven't finished it. Even though it's short, it's packed with so much great content that I want to savor it. I really should just buy my own copy! I would actually love to do this as a Bible study with a group of women. I love the mix of personal illustrations, thoughtful questions, Scripture verses, etc. It's well-written and encouraging.
Her sections are The Sloppy Yes, The Shackled Yes, and The Sacred Yes. Of course, I didn't get to "sacred" yet . . . and I think I need to. Fine. I'll put it on my Amazon list. And then I can write in it, highlight it, etc. I love her ideas at the end for the six week Faith and Fitness Challenge. I want to try it, but right now might not be the right time.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
The Newsmakers
by Lis Wiehl
Dakota County Library hardcover 336 pages
genre: realistic fiction
Although this is our book club title, I wouldn't classify it as Christian fiction . . . if I didn't already know that Wiehl writes as a Christian, I just wouldn't identify it that way. Erica Sparks is a wonderful character - a horrible childhood, a flawed past, striving to become something more, invited to join a huge network news show. When odd things start happening and she asks too many questions, her life is clearly in danger. That sense of danger and action was built well throughout the story.
page 28 - she mentions the North Korean hack of Sony and the Target breach. It works perfectly in this book, but how quickly will that become outdated? I always question the use of modern, relevant details . . . because they definitely date the book. There are a LOT of things in this book that will read differently in a few years.
page 57 - the scene she describes about her parents making fun of her for doing well in school is so sad! I know that there are parents who tear their kids down instead of building them up. "School was her sanctuary - if it hadn't been for the nurturing teachers and her guidance counselor, who recognized and encouraged her promise, she never would have made it to Yale, where Archie Hallowell took her under his wing."
page 129 - When Erica ducks into a small church as she's starting to panic, she finds peace. I love this! And calling it a sanctuary . . . I think we use that word too freely when we're describing a room. A sanctuary is a safe place, a haven.
page 140 - "Erica believes deeply in democracy . . . and . . . is profoundly troubled by ideologues who cast compromise as a bad thing. Compromise builds unity, and unity is strength. A house divided will not stand. We're all in this together."
page 184 - As Erica remembers the last time she saw her mother and hopes (briefly) that she'll be encouraged, her mother stings her again. "But just remember, you can change a lot of things in your life, but you can't ever, ever change where you come from. And deep down, you'll never be better than any of us." Nasty.
page 259 - " . . .Donald Trump - that bloated, orange-faced freak - wants to be his BFF." This made me chuckle. Except that it's so incredibly scary that Trump is seriously one of the top contenders in the presidential race right now.
page 287 -When Erica finally slips and drinks alcohol (after two years of sobriety!), I wanted to cry. Nooooo! Don't do it! Call Moira!
Dakota County Library hardcover 336 pages
genre: realistic fiction
Although this is our book club title, I wouldn't classify it as Christian fiction . . . if I didn't already know that Wiehl writes as a Christian, I just wouldn't identify it that way. Erica Sparks is a wonderful character - a horrible childhood, a flawed past, striving to become something more, invited to join a huge network news show. When odd things start happening and she asks too many questions, her life is clearly in danger. That sense of danger and action was built well throughout the story.
page 28 - she mentions the North Korean hack of Sony and the Target breach. It works perfectly in this book, but how quickly will that become outdated? I always question the use of modern, relevant details . . . because they definitely date the book. There are a LOT of things in this book that will read differently in a few years.
page 57 - the scene she describes about her parents making fun of her for doing well in school is so sad! I know that there are parents who tear their kids down instead of building them up. "School was her sanctuary - if it hadn't been for the nurturing teachers and her guidance counselor, who recognized and encouraged her promise, she never would have made it to Yale, where Archie Hallowell took her under his wing."
page 129 - When Erica ducks into a small church as she's starting to panic, she finds peace. I love this! And calling it a sanctuary . . . I think we use that word too freely when we're describing a room. A sanctuary is a safe place, a haven.
page 140 - "Erica believes deeply in democracy . . . and . . . is profoundly troubled by ideologues who cast compromise as a bad thing. Compromise builds unity, and unity is strength. A house divided will not stand. We're all in this together."
page 184 - As Erica remembers the last time she saw her mother and hopes (briefly) that she'll be encouraged, her mother stings her again. "But just remember, you can change a lot of things in your life, but you can't ever, ever change where you come from. And deep down, you'll never be better than any of us." Nasty.
page 259 - " . . .Donald Trump - that bloated, orange-faced freak - wants to be his BFF." This made me chuckle. Except that it's so incredibly scary that Trump is seriously one of the top contenders in the presidential race right now.
page 287 -When Erica finally slips and drinks alcohol (after two years of sobriety!), I wanted to cry. Nooooo! Don't do it! Call Moira!
Dante's Inferno
by Christos Gage, writer and Diego Latorre, artist
Hennepin County Library paperback unpaged
genre: graphic novel, "based on the video game"
So some of our Adventures eighth graders decided to read Dante's Inferno. I read part of the Wikipedia entry since I've never read the full translated work (or the original, for that matter . . . Fourteenth century Italian poetry is not on my "faves" list). I also do NOT have time (or the desire) to read the full work at this point in my life. When I was looking at options at the public library, I saw a graphic novel and thought that might work.
There actually was a lot of content that is true to Dante's work - the nine circles of hell and the different types of sinners in each. Dante was sort of led through by the poet Virgil . . . Well, from the Wikipedia entry on the video game:
"The story is based on Inferno, the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, and shares many similarities with the poem. The game includes damned found in appropriate circles of hell and various other monsters from the poem. The game follows the exploits of Dante (reimagined as a Templar Knight) as he journeys through the nine circles of Hell to reclaim the soul of his beloved Beatrice from the hands of Lucifer."
I wasn't sure why Beatrice played such a huge role in this graphic novel except for the fact that sex and violence are the two key pieces of this type of video game and she was in full-frontal nudity throughout the entire story. She seems to have an extremely minor role in Dante's work . . . but quite a major one in this graphic novel.
The artwork was kind of cool and kind of creepy, but eerie fits when you're traveling through hell. Dante is re-imagined as a Crusades warrior (and a rather vicious one at that). I'm glad I read it; I have a somewhat better feel for the scope of the work (and Inferno is only one PART of the Divine Comedy!) and don't feel a need to invest more time in this.
Hennepin County Library paperback unpaged
genre: graphic novel, "based on the video game"
So some of our Adventures eighth graders decided to read Dante's Inferno. I read part of the Wikipedia entry since I've never read the full translated work (or the original, for that matter . . . Fourteenth century Italian poetry is not on my "faves" list). I also do NOT have time (or the desire) to read the full work at this point in my life. When I was looking at options at the public library, I saw a graphic novel and thought that might work.
There actually was a lot of content that is true to Dante's work - the nine circles of hell and the different types of sinners in each. Dante was sort of led through by the poet Virgil . . . Well, from the Wikipedia entry on the video game:
"The story is based on Inferno, the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, and shares many similarities with the poem. The game includes damned found in appropriate circles of hell and various other monsters from the poem. The game follows the exploits of Dante (reimagined as a Templar Knight) as he journeys through the nine circles of Hell to reclaim the soul of his beloved Beatrice from the hands of Lucifer."
I wasn't sure why Beatrice played such a huge role in this graphic novel except for the fact that sex and violence are the two key pieces of this type of video game and she was in full-frontal nudity throughout the entire story. She seems to have an extremely minor role in Dante's work . . . but quite a major one in this graphic novel.
The artwork was kind of cool and kind of creepy, but eerie fits when you're traveling through hell. Dante is re-imagined as a Crusades warrior (and a rather vicious one at that). I'm glad I read it; I have a somewhat better feel for the scope of the work (and Inferno is only one PART of the Divine Comedy!) and don't feel a need to invest more time in this.
Friday, February 19, 2016
The Truth about Lord Stoneville
by Sabrina Jeffries
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by James Clamp
genre: historical romance
The story was okay, but the vocal work was irritating. The reader's voice wasn't nearly deep or intriguing enough for Oliver and the weird Boston voice for Maria was just irritating. The story of the Stonevilles (Oliver and all his siblings and grandmother) was pretty good. I like the other story by her that I've read better.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by James Clamp
genre: historical romance
The story was okay, but the vocal work was irritating. The reader's voice wasn't nearly deep or intriguing enough for Oliver and the weird Boston voice for Maria was just irritating. The story of the Stonevilles (Oliver and all his siblings and grandmother) was pretty good. I like the other story by her that I've read better.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
The Impossible Knife of Memory
by Laurie Halse Anderson
PRMS hardcover 391 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction
Hayley Kincain has spent so much of her teen life watching over her father that she endangers her own future. His PTSD and alcoholism threaten her well-being and she doesn't even realize that she's in over her head. When Finn comes into her life, new possibilities arise. But memories and pain can be hard to overcome.
Ugh. So not in the mood to blog right now. I liked this book a lot. It felt real. Hayley's dislike of school was very realistic. I like other titles of Anderson's better, but she's writing for teens. I have some mature readers who will "get" and appreciate this book.
PRMS hardcover 391 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction
Hayley Kincain has spent so much of her teen life watching over her father that she endangers her own future. His PTSD and alcoholism threaten her well-being and she doesn't even realize that she's in over her head. When Finn comes into her life, new possibilities arise. But memories and pain can be hard to overcome.
Ugh. So not in the mood to blog right now. I liked this book a lot. It felt real. Hayley's dislike of school was very realistic. I like other titles of Anderson's better, but she's writing for teens. I have some mature readers who will "get" and appreciate this book.
Sunday, February 07, 2016
Serafina and the Black Cloak
by Robert Beatty
Hennepin County Library hardcover 293 pages
genre: YA supernatural, scary
I wish this book hadn't been talked up so much. I enjoyed it, but had higher expectations and didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
Serafina is an odd girl, living in the basement of the Vanderbilt mansion in the Carolina mountains. Her pa is the chief mechanic and she is the rat-catcher, but she stays hidden from most other people in the huge house. One night, the Man in the Black Cloak appears and overcomes a girl in a yellow dress. Serafina fought him off, but didn't save the girl. No one believes her story and instead they search for the missing child.
The story has great elements of mystery and fear. It is clean enough for my younger readers.
Hennepin County Library hardcover 293 pages
genre: YA supernatural, scary
I wish this book hadn't been talked up so much. I enjoyed it, but had higher expectations and didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
Serafina is an odd girl, living in the basement of the Vanderbilt mansion in the Carolina mountains. Her pa is the chief mechanic and she is the rat-catcher, but she stays hidden from most other people in the huge house. One night, the Man in the Black Cloak appears and overcomes a girl in a yellow dress. Serafina fought him off, but didn't save the girl. No one believes her story and instead they search for the missing child.
The story has great elements of mystery and fear. It is clean enough for my younger readers.
Saturday, February 06, 2016
Sketches from a Spy Tree
poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
illustrated by Andrew Glass
PRMS hardcover 64 pages
genre: YA prose poetry realistic fiction
I don't love the artist's style. I was trying to decide whether to keep or ditch this book . . . it's not very appealing, IMO. But reading it opens one to a kid's world of hurt and perceptions about life. Anne Marie is angry about her dad's leaving the family when she was almost nine (he left right before the birthdays) and her twin sister Mary Anne doesn't seem to carry the same baggage. This isn't a fabulous story, but it definitely has merit. I'll hang onto it for now (in realistic fiction) and share it with my readers who enjoy prose poetry.
illustrated by Andrew Glass
PRMS hardcover 64 pages
genre: YA prose poetry realistic fiction
I don't love the artist's style. I was trying to decide whether to keep or ditch this book . . . it's not very appealing, IMO. But reading it opens one to a kid's world of hurt and perceptions about life. Anne Marie is angry about her dad's leaving the family when she was almost nine (he left right before the birthdays) and her twin sister Mary Anne doesn't seem to carry the same baggage. This isn't a fabulous story, but it definitely has merit. I'll hang onto it for now (in realistic fiction) and share it with my readers who enjoy prose poetry.
Go Set a Watchman
by Harper Lee
PRMS hardcover 278 pages
genre: realistic fiction
I'll start with general thoughts and reactions, then write specifics (which will be complete spoilers if you've not read it!).
I resisted reading this book for a while, skimming the news about it and initial reviews. I don't believe that Harper Lee ever wanted this book published. I think her sister protected her and her "new" lawyer took advantage of a vulnerable adult. It distresses me to think of Lee, elderly and without her dear Alice, being convinced / coerced to publish Go Set a Watchman.
Once it was actually published, the "revelation" that Atticus was a bigot / racist didn't bother me as much as the thought that there was a reason the publisher encouraged Lee to write about Scout's childhood (rather than green-lighting this book when it was received). Knowing that this was Lee's true first novel (but unpublished until recently), I didn't expect the masterpiece that To Kill a Mockingbird has proven to be.
Then two of my eighth graders wanted to do this title for book club and I knew it was time. It took me a long time to "get into" the book, but once I got past Part I, it went quickly. Overall, I liked it. I was surprised at how many literary and cultural allusions went over my head! It made me want to do some research so I could understand the references. Enough for generalities; time for specifics.
***SPOILER ALERT***
page 5 - "Cousin Joshua looked like a ratty Algernon Swinburne." This was my first "What?!" moment. Am I supposed to know who Algernon Swinburne is? This was only page 5 and I already felt slightly lost. There were hundreds (or at the very least, several dozen) references that I simply didn't "get."
page 13 - "Just about that time, Jean Louise's brother dropped dead in his tracks one day . . . " I read that and my brain just stopped. What?!?! How did Jem die? How could she mention this so casually? As a person who adores TKAM, this was a huge bombshell-drop.
page 90 - I don't really remember Dr. Finch (Atticus' brother) from TKAM (I'm overdue for a re-read), but I loved his character in this book! "Home for nineteen hours and you've already indulged your predilection for ablutionary excesses, hah!" I love the way he talks and his attitude, even though he frustrates his niece.
page 95 - From Isaiah 21:6 "For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth." I love when I find the source for the title of a book. I'd love to have a discussion with other readers on their interpretation of the meaning.
page 99 - "Uncle Jack, what does D.V. mean?" "Dr. Finch sighed his you-have-no-education-young-woman sigh, raised his eyebrows, and said: 'Deo volente. God willin' child. 'God willin.' A reliable Catholic utterance.'" What I liked best about this was that it made me feel a little less stupid. I didn't know what D.V. meant either. Jean Louise was obviously a very well-educated adult, yet she wasn't shy about asking her uncle the meaning of this expression.
page 109 - I just got the warm fuzzies reading the paragraph about the one criminal case Atticus had taken, knowing it was the one in TKAM. I truly need to re-read that book now that I've read this one.
page 115 - "Atticus killed several birds with one stone when he read to his children . . . " What an excellent thing he did as a parent! Even though he read whatever was on hand (some of it not child-appropriate), he read to them. That investment of time makes a huge difference in children's development.
page 166 - When Aunt Alexandra is ranting about the NAACP and the "uppity Yankee Negroes," I understand Jean Louise's frustration with Maycomb. Historically, more people would agree with Alexandra (especially whites in the South) than with Jean Louise. So sad.
page 181 - "Blind, that's what I am. I never opened my eyes. I never thought to look into people's hearts, I looked only in their faces. Stone blind . . . Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone set a watchman in church yesterday. He should have provided me with one. I need a watchman to lead me around and declare what he seeth every hour on the hour. I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference. I need a watchman to go forth and proclaim to them all that twenty-six years is too long to play a joke on anybody, no matter how funny it is." When the two eighth grade boys and I discussed this book, one of them commented on the lack of a central conflict. I believe that the disconnect between Scout's childhood memories and coming to see how things are as an adult is the central conflict. This paragraph at the end of chapter 13 is her dawning awareness.
page 188 - "When he turned around Jean Louise saw amusement banish the indignation in his eyes, then meld into an expression she could not read. She heard him mutter, 'Oh dear. Oh dear me, yes. The novel must tell a story.'" Again, Dr. Finch is such a complex character. I'm not really sure what he means by this. Jean Louise also finds him to be enigmatic. "What do you mean by that?"
page 198 - "The only thing I'm afraid of about this country is that its government will someday become so monstrous that the smallest person in it will be trampled underfoot, and then it wouldn't be worth living in. The only thing in America that is still unique in this tired world is that a man can go as far as his brains will take him or he can go to hell if he wants to, but it won't be that way much longer." Dr. Finch sounds very much like a republican or libertarian . . .
page 229 - When Henry (was he even in TKAM?) and Jean Louise are fighting about Atticus, Henry shares that "A long time ago, the Klan was acceptable, like the Masons." And he says that Atticus joined basically to understand what made them tick. Atticus as a Klan member is probably one of the things that disturbs readers most. ". . . your daddy did and still does get mighty uncomfortable around folks who cover up their faces. He had to know who he'd be fighting if the time ever came to - he had to find out who they were. . . . " The way Henry told it, it wasn't so distressing to me but it definitely made Jean Louise upset.
page 239 - I finally got to the point where I was so sick of the references I simply didn't understand that I put a post-it in and made a note that "someday" I would own my own copy of this book and mark it up, research, write in it, etc. This would be a great title to use as part of an adult discussion group.
page 246 - Atticus and Jean Louise are having a pretty heated discussion. "Honey, you do not seem to understand that the Negroes down here are still in their childhood as a people. You should know it, you've seen it all your life. They've made terrific progress in adapting themselves to white ways, but they're far from it yet." He goes on to talk about how the NAACP is causing trouble and black people voting will cause more problems. Yeah, I'm so glad Lee published TKAM instead of this sixty years ago . . .
page 249 - I love Scout's rant! "Why in the name of God didn't you marry again? Marry some nice dim-witted Southern lady who would have raised me right? Turned me into a simpering, mealy-mouthed magnolia type who bats her eyelashes and crosses her hands and lives for nothing but her lil'ole hus-band. At least I would have been blissful. I'd have been typical one hundred per cent Maycomb; I would have lived out my little life and given you grandchildren to dote on; I would have spread out like Aunty, fanned myself on the front porch, and died happy. Why didn't you tell me the difference between justice and justice, and right and right?"
page 261 - Uncle Jack (Dr. Finch) asks Alexandra for some "missionary vanilla" and when she resists, he yells, "Gracious God, Sister, get me some whiskey!" I love him and I love learning a new expression.
page 264-5 - "Every man's island, Jean Louise, every man's watchman, is his conscience." Again, I don't feel wise enough to really understand what Dr. Finch is talking about, but I loved this passage.
Overall, I liked the book more than I expected. I definitely see why her publisher encouraged her to write this story from Scout's childhood p.o.v. The scenes where Jean Louise is flashing back to her childhood and youth are the best parts - playing missionary, the high school dance, etc. I was very impressed with my two eighth grade students who talked about the meaning they got from the book and their comparisons to TKAM.
PRMS hardcover 278 pages
genre: realistic fiction
I'll start with general thoughts and reactions, then write specifics (which will be complete spoilers if you've not read it!).
I resisted reading this book for a while, skimming the news about it and initial reviews. I don't believe that Harper Lee ever wanted this book published. I think her sister protected her and her "new" lawyer took advantage of a vulnerable adult. It distresses me to think of Lee, elderly and without her dear Alice, being convinced / coerced to publish Go Set a Watchman.
Once it was actually published, the "revelation" that Atticus was a bigot / racist didn't bother me as much as the thought that there was a reason the publisher encouraged Lee to write about Scout's childhood (rather than green-lighting this book when it was received). Knowing that this was Lee's true first novel (but unpublished until recently), I didn't expect the masterpiece that To Kill a Mockingbird has proven to be.
Then two of my eighth graders wanted to do this title for book club and I knew it was time. It took me a long time to "get into" the book, but once I got past Part I, it went quickly. Overall, I liked it. I was surprised at how many literary and cultural allusions went over my head! It made me want to do some research so I could understand the references. Enough for generalities; time for specifics.
***SPOILER ALERT***
page 5 - "Cousin Joshua looked like a ratty Algernon Swinburne." This was my first "What?!" moment. Am I supposed to know who Algernon Swinburne is? This was only page 5 and I already felt slightly lost. There were hundreds (or at the very least, several dozen) references that I simply didn't "get."
page 13 - "Just about that time, Jean Louise's brother dropped dead in his tracks one day . . . " I read that and my brain just stopped. What?!?! How did Jem die? How could she mention this so casually? As a person who adores TKAM, this was a huge bombshell-drop.
page 90 - I don't really remember Dr. Finch (Atticus' brother) from TKAM (I'm overdue for a re-read), but I loved his character in this book! "Home for nineteen hours and you've already indulged your predilection for ablutionary excesses, hah!" I love the way he talks and his attitude, even though he frustrates his niece.
page 95 - From Isaiah 21:6 "For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth." I love when I find the source for the title of a book. I'd love to have a discussion with other readers on their interpretation of the meaning.
page 99 - "Uncle Jack, what does D.V. mean?" "Dr. Finch sighed his you-have-no-education-young-woman sigh, raised his eyebrows, and said: 'Deo volente. God willin' child. 'God willin.' A reliable Catholic utterance.'" What I liked best about this was that it made me feel a little less stupid. I didn't know what D.V. meant either. Jean Louise was obviously a very well-educated adult, yet she wasn't shy about asking her uncle the meaning of this expression.
page 109 - I just got the warm fuzzies reading the paragraph about the one criminal case Atticus had taken, knowing it was the one in TKAM. I truly need to re-read that book now that I've read this one.
page 115 - "Atticus killed several birds with one stone when he read to his children . . . " What an excellent thing he did as a parent! Even though he read whatever was on hand (some of it not child-appropriate), he read to them. That investment of time makes a huge difference in children's development.
page 166 - When Aunt Alexandra is ranting about the NAACP and the "uppity Yankee Negroes," I understand Jean Louise's frustration with Maycomb. Historically, more people would agree with Alexandra (especially whites in the South) than with Jean Louise. So sad.
page 181 - "Blind, that's what I am. I never opened my eyes. I never thought to look into people's hearts, I looked only in their faces. Stone blind . . . Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone set a watchman in church yesterday. He should have provided me with one. I need a watchman to lead me around and declare what he seeth every hour on the hour. I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference. I need a watchman to go forth and proclaim to them all that twenty-six years is too long to play a joke on anybody, no matter how funny it is." When the two eighth grade boys and I discussed this book, one of them commented on the lack of a central conflict. I believe that the disconnect between Scout's childhood memories and coming to see how things are as an adult is the central conflict. This paragraph at the end of chapter 13 is her dawning awareness.
page 188 - "When he turned around Jean Louise saw amusement banish the indignation in his eyes, then meld into an expression she could not read. She heard him mutter, 'Oh dear. Oh dear me, yes. The novel must tell a story.'" Again, Dr. Finch is such a complex character. I'm not really sure what he means by this. Jean Louise also finds him to be enigmatic. "What do you mean by that?"
page 198 - "The only thing I'm afraid of about this country is that its government will someday become so monstrous that the smallest person in it will be trampled underfoot, and then it wouldn't be worth living in. The only thing in America that is still unique in this tired world is that a man can go as far as his brains will take him or he can go to hell if he wants to, but it won't be that way much longer." Dr. Finch sounds very much like a republican or libertarian . . .
page 229 - When Henry (was he even in TKAM?) and Jean Louise are fighting about Atticus, Henry shares that "A long time ago, the Klan was acceptable, like the Masons." And he says that Atticus joined basically to understand what made them tick. Atticus as a Klan member is probably one of the things that disturbs readers most. ". . . your daddy did and still does get mighty uncomfortable around folks who cover up their faces. He had to know who he'd be fighting if the time ever came to - he had to find out who they were. . . . " The way Henry told it, it wasn't so distressing to me but it definitely made Jean Louise upset.
page 239 - I finally got to the point where I was so sick of the references I simply didn't understand that I put a post-it in and made a note that "someday" I would own my own copy of this book and mark it up, research, write in it, etc. This would be a great title to use as part of an adult discussion group.
page 246 - Atticus and Jean Louise are having a pretty heated discussion. "Honey, you do not seem to understand that the Negroes down here are still in their childhood as a people. You should know it, you've seen it all your life. They've made terrific progress in adapting themselves to white ways, but they're far from it yet." He goes on to talk about how the NAACP is causing trouble and black people voting will cause more problems. Yeah, I'm so glad Lee published TKAM instead of this sixty years ago . . .
page 249 - I love Scout's rant! "Why in the name of God didn't you marry again? Marry some nice dim-witted Southern lady who would have raised me right? Turned me into a simpering, mealy-mouthed magnolia type who bats her eyelashes and crosses her hands and lives for nothing but her lil'ole hus-band. At least I would have been blissful. I'd have been typical one hundred per cent Maycomb; I would have lived out my little life and given you grandchildren to dote on; I would have spread out like Aunty, fanned myself on the front porch, and died happy. Why didn't you tell me the difference between justice and justice, and right and right?"
page 261 - Uncle Jack (Dr. Finch) asks Alexandra for some "missionary vanilla" and when she resists, he yells, "Gracious God, Sister, get me some whiskey!" I love him and I love learning a new expression.
page 264-5 - "Every man's island, Jean Louise, every man's watchman, is his conscience." Again, I don't feel wise enough to really understand what Dr. Finch is talking about, but I loved this passage.
Overall, I liked the book more than I expected. I definitely see why her publisher encouraged her to write this story from Scout's childhood p.o.v. The scenes where Jean Louise is flashing back to her childhood and youth are the best parts - playing missionary, the high school dance, etc. I was very impressed with my two eighth grade students who talked about the meaning they got from the book and their comparisons to TKAM.
Wednesday, February 03, 2016
The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia
by Andrew Lih
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by Lloyd James
genre: non-fiction
Couldn't even finish the first disc, although the content was interesting and the author uses some fantastic expressions to communicate.
NO:
Hennepin County Library audiobook 8 discs
read by Lloyd James
genre: non-fiction
Couldn't even finish the first disc, although the content was interesting and the author uses some fantastic expressions to communicate.
NO:
- reader's voice is super irritating
- published seven years ago . . . no longer truly relevant (though interesting history of Wikipedia)
- I forgot what else bugged me. The reader was going super slowly, as though talking to preschoolers (or the elderly). It just didn't work for me.
The Lighthouse Land
by Adrian McKinty
PRMS hardcover 387 pages
genre: YA adventure with some SciFi
I had to force myself to read this one to the end. It just didn't work well for me. There are some nice elements, but it felt forced and unfocused. I marked one spot to identify this WTF? quality (sorry for the implied crudity).
page 279 - "He was only thirteen and puberty had hit the same time as cancer, amputation, and silence. Jealousy was something Laurence Fishburne did as Othello at Shakespeare in the Park, not something Jamie was intimately familiar with. His feelings toward Lorca were just a confused melange of irritation and resentment."
Not sure which type of reader this book would appeal to, but it did not work for me. Not the wormhole to another planet, not Jamie's sad life story, not his "romance" with Wishaway. Just didn't work. Answered my question about whether to invest in the other two books of the trilogy, though. No.
PRMS hardcover 387 pages
genre: YA adventure with some SciFi
I had to force myself to read this one to the end. It just didn't work well for me. There are some nice elements, but it felt forced and unfocused. I marked one spot to identify this WTF? quality (sorry for the implied crudity).
page 279 - "He was only thirteen and puberty had hit the same time as cancer, amputation, and silence. Jealousy was something Laurence Fishburne did as Othello at Shakespeare in the Park, not something Jamie was intimately familiar with. His feelings toward Lorca were just a confused melange of irritation and resentment."
Not sure which type of reader this book would appeal to, but it did not work for me. Not the wormhole to another planet, not Jamie's sad life story, not his "romance" with Wishaway. Just didn't work. Answered my question about whether to invest in the other two books of the trilogy, though. No.
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
read by Cassandra Campbell
genre: non-fiction science
Wow! This was amazing. I had heard about it and got the audiobook for my dad. I was curious and kept it for myself! In 1951, Henrietta Lacks died from cervical cancer. Before her death, the doctor had taken a sample of the cancerous growth and a scientist at Johns Hopkins cultured it. Unlike most other cell samples, this one grew and grew. It kept growing and living and soon was shared globally. Over the decades, much research has been conducted using these "HeLa" (from her name) cells.
Skloot does an amazing job of unfolding the story partly chronologically, and partly as she uncovered the story herself. Henrietta's daughter Deborah becomes a huge part of the story as she alternately cooperates with Skloot and refuses to talk to her. There were parts of this story that horrified me (like when they finally found out what had happened to Deborah's older sister Elsie) and made me smile or laugh. The human aspect is as fascinating as the scientific aspects of the story.
I don't want to write a spoiler here, but I am so very glad I invested the time in listening to this story all the way to the end (including the author's interview). What an amazing journey! Campbell voiced it well. Skloot did a fantastic job researching and writing.
Hennepin County Library audiobook 10 discs
read by Cassandra Campbell
genre: non-fiction science
Wow! This was amazing. I had heard about it and got the audiobook for my dad. I was curious and kept it for myself! In 1951, Henrietta Lacks died from cervical cancer. Before her death, the doctor had taken a sample of the cancerous growth and a scientist at Johns Hopkins cultured it. Unlike most other cell samples, this one grew and grew. It kept growing and living and soon was shared globally. Over the decades, much research has been conducted using these "HeLa" (from her name) cells.
Skloot does an amazing job of unfolding the story partly chronologically, and partly as she uncovered the story herself. Henrietta's daughter Deborah becomes a huge part of the story as she alternately cooperates with Skloot and refuses to talk to her. There were parts of this story that horrified me (like when they finally found out what had happened to Deborah's older sister Elsie) and made me smile or laugh. The human aspect is as fascinating as the scientific aspects of the story.
I don't want to write a spoiler here, but I am so very glad I invested the time in listening to this story all the way to the end (including the author's interview). What an amazing journey! Campbell voiced it well. Skloot did a fantastic job researching and writing.
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