Andrea's 2014 Reading Challenge - thread 2

Tämä viestiketju jatkaa tätä viestiketjua: Andrea's 2014 Reading Challenge.

Keskustelu2014 Category Challenge

Liity LibraryThingin jäseneksi, niin voit kirjoittaa viestin.

Andrea's 2014 Reading Challenge - thread 2

Tämä viestiketju on "uinuva" —viimeisin viesti on vanhempi kuin 90 päivää. Ryhmä "virkoaa", kun lähetät vastauksen.

1andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 29, 2014, 6:52 pm

Changes with the new thread:
– I decreased the number of books required for my Part II categories from 10 to 6, because I don't want to feel stressed about reaching my reading goals.
– A Part IV of sorts has been added to encompass random books that do not fit in any of the other categories or don't have a direct reading connection as through the "Connected Miscellany".

Part One - Listopia
This is a seven category step challenge, in which every book must be off of a "best of" list, as noted in the categories. This will have a total of 28 books.

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
This will be a set of six categories at ten six books each for a total of 60 36 books. Categories for this section will be determined later.

Part Three - Connected Miscellany
This is the final category. I can read and book I want as long as the next book is in some way connected to the last (i.e., main characters name is the same as the previous author's, the themes match, etc.).

Part Four - Just Because
Any book, any book at all.

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR - 80

2andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 15, 2014, 12:11 pm

Part One - Listopia



1. A Thousand Nights (2/3*)
1. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 1 (****) - 982 pages
2. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 2 (****) - 878 pages
3. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 3 (****) - 855 pages

2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
1. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens (***)
2. The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas (****)



3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
1. Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys by Gilbert King (*****) - 2013 winner
2. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt (DNF)
3. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (audio book), by Siddhartha Mukherjee (****) - 2011 Winner

4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (audio book), by Junot Diaz (***1/2) - 2008 Winner
2. Tinkers (audio book), by Paul Harding (***) - 2010 Winner
3. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (***1/2) -- 2011
4. March by Geraldine Brooks (****) - 2006 Winner

5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
1. The Drowning Girl, by Caitlin R. Kiernan (****) - 2012 Winner
2. The Missing by Sarah Langan (***) - 2007 Winner
3. Scarecrow Gods by Weston Ochse (*) - 2005 Winner for First Novel
4. Creepers by David Morrell (****) - 2005 Winner (tie)
5. lost boy lost girl, by Peter Straub - 2003 Winner (***1/2)

6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
1. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (*****) - 2013 winner
2. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (**1/2) - 2012 winner
3. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (****) - 2010 Winner
4. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (****) -- 2005 Winner
5. Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (****) - 2006 Winner
6. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (****) - 2004 Winner

7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED
1. Red Shirts, by John Scalzi (****) - 2013 Hugo Winner
2. Among Others, Jo Walton (*****) - 2011 Nebula Winner and 2012 Hugo Winner
3. 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson (***1/2) - 2012 Nebula Winner
4. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (audio book), by Michael Chabon (*****) – 2007 Nebula Winner and 2008 Hugo Winner
5. The City & The City, China Miéville (*****) - 2010 Hugo Winner
6. Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (***) - 2005 Nebula Winner
7. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi - 2009 Nebula and 2010 Hugo (***)

Total for Part I - 30/30 - FINISHED!!!!!!!!!

3andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 18, 2014, 11:57 am

Part Two - Standard Style Categories

1. From My Bookshelf (6/6) — FINISHED!
Must be books on my current shelf over one year old.

2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (6/6) — FINISHED!

3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (6/6) — FINISHED!
Should come to five NF books and five books about books/writing.

4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (6/6) – FINISHED!

5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (6/6) – FINISHED!

6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (6/6) – FINISHED!

Total for Part II - 36/36

*

4andreablythe
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 1, 2014, 12:43 pm


(not actually my bookshelf)

1. From My Bookshelf (6/6) — FINISHED!
1. The Blue Place, by Nicola Griffith (****)
2. A Good Indian Wife, by Anne Cherian (****)
3. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line: Veronica Mars #1, by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham (****)
4. The Science of Herself, Plus... by Karen Joy Fowler (****)
5. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (****)
6. The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson (*****)

* * *

5andreablythe
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 30, 2014, 12:39 pm



2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (6/6) – FINISHED!
1. Red Hood's Revenge, by Jim C. Hines (***1/2)
2. The Snow Queen's Shadow, by Jim C. Hines (****)
3. The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home, by Margaret Atwood and Naomie Alderman (****)
4. Red, by E.J. Koh (***1/2)
5. Contact (audio book), by Carl Sagan (*****)
6. Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older (*****)

Reading The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson

6andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 17, 2014, 6:37 pm



3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (6/6) – FINISHED!
1. The Complete Guide to Buying a Business by Fred Steingold (DNF)
2. Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You'll Ever Need, by Blake Snyder (***1/2)
3. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir (audio book), by Haruki Murakami (***)
4. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying: Lessons from a Life in Comedy, by Carol Leifer (***)
5. We're All Infected: Essays on AMC's The Walking Dead, edited by Dawn Keetley (****)
6. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (****)

7andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 28, 2014, 2:35 pm



4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (6/6) - FINISHED
1. Boxers by Gene Luen Yang (****)
2. Saints by Gene Luen Yang (****)
3. Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks (*****)
4. Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, Locke & Key: Head Games, Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows, and Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (*****)
5. Locke & Key: Clockworks, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (*****)
6. Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (*****)

****

8andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 18, 2014, 11:59 am



5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (6/6) – FINISHED!
1. Colaterales/Collateral, by Dianapiera Di Dontao (****)
2. Hourglass Museum by Kelli Russell Agodon (*****)
3. Practicing Disaster by Jessie Carty (****1/2)
4. Hum, by Jamaal May (*****)
5. TEN (chapbook), by Val Dering Rojas (*****)
6. Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Hepperman (****)

* * *

9andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 24, 2014, 9:52 am



6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (6/6)– FINISHED!
1. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (****)
2. Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Echo (**1/2)
3. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (*****)
4. The Essential Edgar Allan Poe (audio book) (The Pit and the Pendulum) by Edgar Allan Poe (***)
5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (****)
6. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (*****)

10andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 29, 2014, 6:53 pm



Part Three - Connected Miscellany -- (4/whatever)
1. The Worm by Elise Gravel (****)
Connection: Worm in the Titles leads me to...
2. Wormwood by G.P. Taylor (**)
Connection: Wriggly, Icky Creatures in the Titles leads me to...
3. Parasite, by Mira Grant (*****)
Connection: Sal, the main chracter in Parasitr has an irrational fear of seeing other people's teethe, which leads me to...
4. Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz (****)

* * *



Part Four - Just Because -- (10/whatever)
1. Fangirl (audio book), by Rainbow Rowell (*****)
2. Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie (****)
3. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (****)
4. Sleepwalk by John Saul (**)
5. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (*****)
6. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (****)
7. Siberiak: My Cold War Adventure on the River Ob by Jenny Jaeckel (***1/2)
8. The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson (***1/2)
9. Audacious (a novel in verse) by Gabrielle S. Prendergast (****)
10. This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

11MissWatson
toukokuu 4, 2014, 9:24 am

So many categories finished already, congratulations. Lovely pictures, too.

12rabbitprincess
toukokuu 4, 2014, 10:19 am

Happy new thread! Good idea to add a catchall category :) Looking forward to seeing where your connected miscellany takes you!

13lkernagh
toukokuu 4, 2014, 2:17 pm

Happy new thread, Andrea!

14andreablythe
toukokuu 5, 2014, 2:06 pm

>11 MissWatson:
Why, thank you. :)

>12 rabbitprincess:
Thanks. Yeah, I was looking at Fangirl, which I just checked out from the library and noticed that I didn't have a category for it. I wasn't going to put it aside just because of a category malfunction! ;)

>13 lkernagh:
Thanks, Lori. Welcome aboard.:D

15LittleTaiko
toukokuu 5, 2014, 2:46 pm

Love the video on your prior thread directing us to your new thread - really made me laugh.

16andreablythe
toukokuu 5, 2014, 10:30 pm

>15 LittleTaiko:
Yay! I'm glad to make you smile. :D

17mamzel
toukokuu 6, 2014, 1:18 pm

Ah! Room to stretch and add more books. Congratulations! Enjoy your new thread.

18DeltaQueen50
toukokuu 6, 2014, 4:58 pm

I would have checked in sooner but I got delayed by watching the show put on by the traffic cop that closed out your last thread!

19andreablythe
toukokuu 7, 2014, 10:15 pm

>17 mamzel:
Thanks! We can always use more books, right?

>18 DeltaQueen50:
*grin* Glad you enjoyed the show!

20GingerbreadMan
toukokuu 8, 2014, 5:56 am

All caught up again! Happy new thread! Loved your review of Arabian Nights. Reading it makes me think that you would probalby get even more out of Valente's Orphan's tales than I did, as it seems to be alluding more than I imagined. If the whole concept of story-within-story isn't completely wearing you out, that is!

21andreablythe
toukokuu 9, 2014, 8:02 pm

>20 GingerbreadMan:
Thanks! I don't know much about Orphan's Tales, so I didn't know that it was a nesting story, too. That's awesome. It sounds like it would be right up my alley. But I've got Palimpsest currently sitting on my bookshelf at home, so I should probably get through that one first.

***

31. Red Hood's Revenge, by Jim C. Hines (***1/2)
Category: Part II - Standard - Science Fiction and Fantasy

The third book of Jim Hines' Princess series introduces the Lady of the Red Hood (aka Red Riding Hood) as a deadly assassin. When she draws Talia (Sleeping Beauty) out through trickery, she attacks viciously, but her failed assassination attempt leads the three princesses — Talia, Danielle (Cinderella), and Snow White — into a deeper and more deadly plot.

This was just as about as fun as the first two books, with clever, skillful, and kick ass female characters. It's nice to learn more about Talia, her origins and culture this go around. I also like that Hines continues to bring more women into the stories with each book and the interesting ways he reinterprets and weaves the fairy tale storylines together, which just adds to my glee. Great, fun, easy read.

22andreablythe
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 11, 2014, 8:58 pm

32. The Snow Queen's Shadow, by Jim C. Hines (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Science Fiction and Fantasy

I have to say, I have a soft soft spot for stories that include Rose Red, the often forgotten sister to Snow White in one of the original fairy tales. This book was a satisfying conclusion to the series, hitting me right in the feels. I'm rather sad to have to say goodbye to these clever, charming, silly, awesome ladies.

23andreablythe
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 12, 2014, 3:49 pm

33. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (audio book), by Siddhartha Mukherjee (****)
Category: Part I - Listopia - Pulitzer - Nonfiction
2011 Winner

This is a hefty book, both in terms of length and content. Mukherjee supplied a detailed history of the knowledge and developments in treatment of cancer, along with his personal experiences with cancer patients that he's treated. The resulting book is fascinating, presenting the fluctuating perception of fatalism and optimism in regard to this disease.

Parts of this were horrifying, most particularly Halsted and his development radical mastectomy as a treatment for breast cancer, which involved removing not just the breast, but the underlying muscles and sometimes parts of the sternum, lymph nodes, and rib bones, horribly deforming women in the name of treatment. Equally horrifying is that even as new studies showed that these radical surgeries did not actually prevent relapse or extend life any more than less invasive surgery, the surgeons clung to the process with passion. It made me very grateful to live in the time period I do with the advances is medical science that have already been made underwriting current technology and understanding.

Other parts of this book made me almost cry, as patients clung to life and continued to persevere through the ongoing war of dealing with cancer.

Cancer looms large in public mind and takes on a kind of dark presence, almost like a super villain, with all the shadowy mystery that implies. I learned so much from this book, enough to caste away some of the obscurity. While it's a heavy read (and probably should be avoided by hypochondriacs), I would recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about the history of scientific and treatment developments for cancer.

* * *

The completion of the Pulitzer - Nonfiction category leaves me with only reading the Vol. 2 and 3 of The Arabian Nights in order to complete Part I - Listopia. Yay!!!

24andreablythe
toukokuu 15, 2014, 12:22 pm

34. Practicing Disaster by Jessie Carty (****1/2)
Category: Part II - Standard - The Universe in Verse
Note: Review copy provided by the author.



"You wish you had coined the word zaftig;
that you were OK with abdomens
that hung over bikini bottoms."
— from "Zaftig Profiling"

Practicing Disaster is collection of narrative poetry presenting an exploration of ordinary lives. These are people you could meet on the street, from the a sixteen-year-old hotel maid to a short order cook to any number of strangers you might meet on the street. For example, in "Eating at Work," an employee travels further and further afield in search of lunchtime solitude. While in "Some Basic Consumer Math," the owners of a Chinese restaurant tailor their food for their most loyal customers, all from the retirement home nearby, making their Sa-Cha chicken "about as mild as the contents / of a store bought spaghetti sauce."

Some of the prose poems, in which thought condenses into thought, are among my favorites. They allow a free flow feel of the poem, different from the lined sister poems. In "I was 36", the narrator describes her first experience getting a pedicure, remembering the same sloughing off of her grandmother's feet. In that youthful remembering is the memory of childhood discovery and the "lesson in not going through other people's personal affects", and just as one can "flake off the dead skin" there is the feeling of flaking off the past.

"The Patient" also explores time passing, like the dropping of green beans into a bucket or the beeping of machines: "The doctor uses the word / aphasia / I focus on the center— / a phase / a moment." The disjointed, jigsaw pattern of the words on the page (which I couldn't possibly replicate here) matched the disjointed experience of a patient in the hospital, as well as the way the past jumps forward and seems to collide and become a part of the present.

In the titular poem, a women plays with the idea of disaster on her commute, imagining "overpasses from her car could spill like ink in blotchy slow motion," and how she might shape catastrophe to set herself free. Knowing the trapped feeling of the commute, I can sympathize with the narrator, have even practiced a few of my own disasters.

Many of these poems reflect similar kinds of personal experience, even if they are outside us (as though we are people watching at a corner cafe). As a reader, there a sense of Yes, me, too; I've felt the same. Reading "Zaftig Profiling" (quoted at the top), I also wished I had coined the word zaftig, that I could, as mentioned later in the poem, laugh loudly in mixed company.

At first glance, what's revealed in these poems could be described as mundane, bits of ordinary lives normally passed over or cast away as unimportant. The narrative voice of these poems, likewise, is straightforward, seemingly plain. However, this initial impression is deceiving. I've read through this collection twice now and have made new discoveries on each read, subtleties of voice and thought I hadn't noticed the first go around. There are layers of humor, breaths of poignancy, beautiful discoveries.

25andreablythe
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 18, 2014, 11:48 am

35. Wormwood by G.P. Taylor (**)
Category: Part Three - Connected Miscellany
Previous Book: The Worm by Elise Gravel
Connection: Title match

I've had Wormwood sitting on my bookshelf for years. I'm not entirely sure when or why I originally grabbed it, except that it implied magic. There was magic, as well as comets and demons and angels. The book had some potential. The writing wasn't bad and there were some interesting idea, but it ultimately fell flat for me.

The details to the world building seemed a little off. It didn't quite seem like 1756 London. Parts of it felt too modern, like some of the dialog. Other parts made it feel like and alternate version of London, rather than historical.

I also couldn't get a handle on the characters, on why they did what they did. Their motivations weren't clear and I didn't really like any of them. Agetta was the only one I could almost sympathize with, but even with her, I was confused to the point of not knowing how old she really was. Sometimes I though she was around 18, other times she seemed around 12. And her personality seemed to flip flop quite a bit, so her growth seems convenient to the story rather than natural.

Ultimately, not for me.

26andreablythe
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 18, 2014, 11:16 pm

Side Read: Rats!: (a short story) by Brett James

I picked this mini-chapbook up from the freebie table at FOGcon 2014. The short story centers on Jama'al, an exterminator in a world faced with a dire rat problem. A very entertaining and action packed story. I'd be interested in trying Brett James' novel, Drift Wars.

27andreablythe
toukokuu 21, 2014, 6:53 pm

Post office delivered a copy of Blue by George Elliot Clarke today! Yay! Thanks, Lori (lkernagh)!
__________

36. Boxers by Gene Luen Yang (****)
37. Saints by Gene Luen Yang (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels

Boxers & Saints is a set of graphic companion novels. The story centers on the Boxer Rebellion in China, and anti-foreigner and anti-Christian movement from 1898 and 1900. Both books feature the same fantastic art by Yang, backed up with interesting characters and strong storylines. I liked, too, how the author indicated the white foreigner's language in Chinese characters (or what appear to be Chinese characters), so that as English language readers we can share the sense of incomprehension when the foreigners speak.

In Boxers, Little Bao learns martial arts and calls upon the spirits of ancient Chinese gods to give him strength in order to rise up with an army of Boxers to fight off and free China from the foreign devils that oppress the country. As the violence begins to grow and Little Bao is forced to break the moral edicts he vowed to follow, he begins to question whether he is truely following the right path.

In Saints, the main character is a fourth and unwanted child, who does not even have a name. Called Fourth-Child by her family, she eventually finds a name, Vibiana, and a place for herself among the Christian community. As the Boxer rebellion grows, she has to decide whether to hold onto the community that has accepted her or join her countrymen in defending China.

Both storylines present a moral ambiguity to the events, the subtle questioning of what is really the right path and whether China can really be made whole through battle. Both also contain supernatural elements, with the Chinese gods appearing to Little Bao and the spirit of not-yet-sainted Joan of Arc appearing to Vibiana. Both work fairly well as stand alone stories, but reading them together is a much more complete and enjoyable experience.

.
Sample art from Boxers:



.
Sample art from Saints

28andreablythe
toukokuu 22, 2014, 5:21 pm

38. Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks (*****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels

I don't even know how to talk about this book with out flailing with joy.

I love the characters. After years of homeschooling, Maggie is starting public school and finds herself lost and lonely in a crowd of people. I could feel that to the core. She has three brothers, each of whom is unique to themselves and make up part of her big family. It's great to see them fight and laugh and be an imperfect, trying to be happy family. (Can I just say how great it is to see a main character who has relationships with her family?) Maggie also makes two friends, a punk-style brother and sister duo, both of whom are wonderful characters.

I love the art. It captures the unique personalities of the characters and expresses their emotions so well, often without needing dialog over-layering it. It's just really beautiful.

I love the geekery. These characters have things they love and it's clear they really, really love them. It fills me joy to see characters flailing with glee over something they love (much as I'm flailing over this book).

I love the story. It's really funny and sweet, and it made me happy cry by the end.

Friends with Boys is practically perfect in every way and I will definitely be reading more by Faith Erin Hicks.

Some sample pages:




29DeltaQueen50
toukokuu 22, 2014, 11:29 pm

I've heard a lot of good things about Boxers and Saints and I am looking forward to getting my hands on them. Friends with Boys is being added to my wishlist.

30RidgewayGirl
toukokuu 23, 2014, 2:05 am

I love the first sentence of your review! I know exactly how that is.

31andreablythe
toukokuu 23, 2014, 1:27 pm

> 29
All are great. I need to pick up a copy of Friends with Boys for my bookshelf, though, because it makes me sad to return it to the library.

>30 RidgewayGirl:
I love loving books. :D

32GingerbreadMan
toukokuu 27, 2014, 5:57 am

Looved your review of practicing disaster! Sounds like my kind of prose poetry for sure. Thumb! Seems hard to get a hold of though, no hits at the Swedish online bookstores.

Also noting Friends with boys - damn, my list of GN:s is getting very long indeed...

33andreablythe
toukokuu 29, 2014, 7:11 pm

>32 GingerbreadMan:
Thanks!! It's available via Amazon, but I'm not sure for which countries. If you can't get a hold of it, perhaps I can find a way to get you a copy. :)

__________

Hey, everyone.

I'm currently traveling for work, so I'll probably be pretty quiet around here for another week.

I'm just finishing up the first leg of my trip in Detroit. I can't really report anything on that, since I spent the entire time in the hotel and conference hall.

Now I'm at the airport waiting for my flight to South Bend, Indianna, which is near a manufacturing plant I'm visiting tomorrow morning before I fly out to Montreal, Canada, which is where the real fun will be. I have two free days in Montreal, so a little time to do some lazy exploring.

It's been an interesting trip from the stand point of starting out from California completely sick, coughing and stuffed up and pretty miserable. I've been able to take it easy just enough that I'm starting to feel better and should be healthy in time for play time in Montreal.

This is also the first time I've traveled without a paperback book, bringing only my iPad as an experiment. It's been mostly fine, except for having to stow it for take off and landing. Also, I found myself playing games instead of reading and since I've forgotten to charge it last night, i am without it during this flight. Very annoying. I looked through the shops, but there's no books in stock that grab my interest. Oh well. I guess I'll try to get some work done instead. :/

34rabbitprincess
toukokuu 29, 2014, 8:29 pm

Hope you feel better soon, and have a great time in Montreal! If you get a chance, be sure to walk up Mont Royal and enjoy the view from the top. The Vieux-Port is also supposed to be nice.

35-Eva-
toukokuu 31, 2014, 8:09 pm

OK, found your new thread! I'm definitely looking into the graphic novels you've been reading. Have a great trip and hope you're back to 100% healthy soon!

36andreablythe
kesäkuu 9, 2014, 10:56 pm

>34 rabbitprincess:
Thanks! I did start to feel better after resting in the hotel. Did not hike up to the top of Mont Royal, though. Just took it mellow and walked around the city.

>35 -Eva-:
Hiya! I hope you get a chance to enjoy the graphic novels.

37andreablythe
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 9, 2014, 11:18 pm

Hey, guys! My two week work trip, involving two conferences and an industrial plant visit, went well. I managed to heal up fairly quickly in the trip. Travels took me to Detroit, West Michigan, and Montreal. There was a lot of work and a lot of trying to rest in order to recover from being sick, so I didn't do much touring, except for two beautiful days in Montreal. I let my feet carry me around the city to here and there, exploring Old Town and other areas of the city center. It was beautiful out and I'd like to have more time to explore Montreal properly in the future.


Montreal with the Parc du Mont-Royal in the background.


Inside the Basilica of Notre Dame in Montreal.

Being in Montreal, I had to go see Cirque du Soleil. It was a bigger expense than I had planned, but Kurios is a steampunk inspired show, so I couldn't resist. They did a marvelous job with the aesthetic and it fit really well into the acrobat sequences. The first half, in particular, was astounding in beauty and stunts. The second half had a few weird bits that I didn't get, but it didn't lessen my overall enjoyment. Kurios is my favorite of all the Soleil shows I've seen.


Inside the Cirque du Soleil: Kurios tent.

Coming home, I found two poetry pretties in my mailbox — the lovely TEN (chapbook) by Val Dering Rojas (which I received from the author) and Live From The Homesick Jamboree by Adrian Blevins (which I received as part of a poetry giveaway). I'm looking forward to reading both!!

In other good news, two contributor's copies of the Strange Frenzies anthology also arrived. The anthology includes my poem, "Comfort At Last." A wonderful surprise.

But the biggest of news by far is the birth of my nephew. The Monster (my niece) is being adorable around him, very gentle and loving so far. I can't even express what a joy it is to welcome this tiny little person into the family.



May wrap up and recent reads still to come.

38mamzel
kesäkuu 10, 2014, 4:58 pm

Congrats on a bee-you-tee-full new family member. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip with interesting events. Glad you home and feeling better.

39andreablythe
kesäkuu 10, 2014, 5:55 pm

May Progress

Books Finished: 10
1. Red Hood's Revenge, by Jim C. Hines
2. The Snow Queen's Shadow, by Jim C. Hines
4. Practicing Disaster by Jessie Carty
5. Wormwood by G.P. Taylor
6. Boxers by Gene Luen Yang
7. Saints by Gene Luen Yang
8. Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks

Side Read: "Rats!" a short story by Brett James

Favorite Read:
Friends with Boys was a delight.

Worst Read:
Wormwood was MEH.

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
I'm about a quarter of the way into The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume II, and I'm planning to finish by the end of June.

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (1/3)
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Finished a sixth cat in Part I, leaving only the Thousand Nights to finish.

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (0/6)
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (2/6)
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (0/6)
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (3/6)
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (3/6)
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (0/6)

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 2/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 0/whatever

40andreablythe
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 10, 2014, 6:14 pm

>38 mamzel:
Thanks! It's been pretty much a delight all around. :)

41LittleTaiko
kesäkuu 10, 2014, 9:03 pm

Sounds like you've been having a great few weeks. Congrats on the reading, nephew, and having a poem published. Very envious of your trip!

42DeltaQueen50
kesäkuu 11, 2014, 12:31 am

I am in the process of catching up after being away for a couple of weeks. Congratulations on the birth of your nephew, he looks adorable. And of course congrats on having a poem published as well!

43GingerbreadMan
kesäkuu 11, 2014, 7:19 am

Hooray for poems and nephews! Lovely picture of the two of you!

44andreablythe
kesäkuu 11, 2014, 12:49 pm

Thanks, guys! It's been joy-making for sure!

45lkernagh
kesäkuu 11, 2014, 3:55 pm

Congratulations on the poem publish, the successful trip and the new nephew! He is adorable!

46rabbitprincess
kesäkuu 11, 2014, 8:56 pm

Congrats, Auntie Andrea! :) I also like the Montreal pictures. Glad you had a good trip.

47andreablythe
kesäkuu 12, 2014, 1:29 pm

>45 lkernagh: & >46 rabbitprincess:
Thanks, you both! I'm a joyful girl! :D

_________



39. The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home, by Margaret Atwood and Naomie Alderman (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Science Fiction and Fantasy

When Okie comes home to find her mother covered in blood and eating her father's intestines in the kitchen, she quickly calls her grandmother, Clio in Canada for help. Since Okie can't bring herself to kill her mother, Clio arranges for a transportation service to safely bring her granddaughter and zombie daughter-in-law to her home in Canada. With some rhubarb pipe, link sausages, and a little luck, they both might just survive.

The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home doesn't redefine the genre in anyway, but it's darkly humorous and rather fun. The story unfolds from both Okie's and Clio's point of view, and I really liked them both. They both have a wry sense of humor, especially Clio, who's a no-nonsense, I-can-kick-your-ass-using-just-my-purse kind of old woman. She's not nice or soft or comforting kind of grandmother most people would expect — in fact, she's somewhat mean and not someone who you want to get on the bad side of — but she gets shit done and knows how to survive and I love her.

The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home is a short novel distributed exclusively on Wattpad, and is available free for anyone to read. Both Atwood and Alderman endorse Wattpad as a site for writers to share their work and gain a following, and the site works like an e-publisher with its own app. There are a few well known authors sharing snippets on there, as well as some great newbies, along with a lot of mediocre work. You kind of have to slog through to find the good stuff, but Wattpad is worth taking a look at for anyone hoping for some free reads.

*

40. Red, by E.J. Koh (***1/2)
Category: Part II - Standard - Science Fiction and Fantasy

Description from Amazon: "Spirits are about obedience. Wakes are about themselves. Sera and Azel are about neither. They could be about each other, but Sera’s only passion is revenge. And the only thing more powerful than revenge is what she could become because of it, the power deep inside her, after everything goes red."

Red had some really great ideas. I loved how the worldbuilding was put together with the Spirits (thought of as angels by humans) being orderly and disciplined in a military-esque society on a burning, hot world on which they set fires. The world of Spirit (thought of as heaven) is actually a distant planet. The Wakes and their world (misnamed hell by humans) are also very interesting and their world is more unsettling, terrifying, and yet more comforting than the world of Spirit.

Where the book falls short for me is that I couldn't quite connect with Sera. While she was on Spirit and an outcast of her society, I could sympathize with her. But as her journey continued, she seemed to improve too quickly and to be too sure of herself. There seemed to be no doubt in her mind as to what she should do, no questioning of her purpose, not enough temptation to pull away from her goal and choose the easy path. I kept asking myself, Why, why would she do that?

Even so, I found the writing to often be beautiful (no surprise since Koh is a poet) and the story mostly interesting. So, I pretty much enjoyed it by the end.

*

41. The Complete Guide to Buying a Business, by Fred Steingold (DNF)
Category: Part II - Standard - Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing

Nolo Press in general is a great source of books that present legal concerns in layman's terms. This book is an invaluable entry point for anyone (like me, who doesn't know anything about this kind of shenanigans), looking into what it takes to buy a business in the U.S. It provides a general overview of the steps to take in terms of investigating the business, what kind of sale to consider, how to write up various documents along the way, and where readers should look for outside expertise to help. It took a situation that looked like a scary maze of business terms and legality and provided arrows to safely lead toward the end point.

I did not finish it, because the individual who was looking to sell changed their mind. If they change it back again, or if another such opportunity presents itself, I'll come back to this book again to reread and follow through to the end.

48-Eva-
kesäkuu 15, 2014, 8:42 pm

Congrats on being re-auntied!! And congrats on the poem, of course. :)

Haha - love the cover of The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home.

49andreablythe
kesäkuu 16, 2014, 12:55 pm

Thanks! :D

Yeah, the cover is great and the novel is both fun and free, which is awesome.

50andreablythe
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 25, 2014, 11:59 am

42. Hum, by Jamaal May (*****)
Category: Part II - Standard - The Universe in Verse



Description: "In May’s debut collection, poems buzz and purr like a well-oiled chassis. Grit, trial, and song thrum through tight syntax and deft prosody. From the resilient pulse of an abandoned machine to the sinuous lament of origami animals, here is the ever-changing hum that vibrates through us all, connecting one mind to the next."

I admit to being drawn to this collection because of the gorgeous cover and its steampunk robot with a birdcage head, which immediately sparked my imagination. The physical book itself is also beautiful, with a lovely typeset. A smattering of dark pages, each for a "phobia" poem (such as Athazagoraphobia: Fear of Being Ignored"), appear throughout the book, starting out black at first then lightening toward softer grays. It's an interesting way to highlight a set of associated poems and there's a subtle effect to reading words with white text on a dark page that suits the "phobia" poems. For example, reading "Athazagoraphobia: Fear of Being Ignored" on one of the rare black pages in the books creates an interesting contrast between text and the physical page.

Hum is dedicated to "to the inner lives of Detroiters." When I think of Detroit these days, I picture photo essays that show the city in seemingly apocalyptic states of decay. May's poems reflect this state of everyday apocalypse. "Still Life" presents a "Boy with roof shingles / duct taped to shins and forearms / threading barbed wire through pant loops" as well as other trash can armor in the face of what seems to be a wasteland. While in "The Girl Who Builds Rockets from Bricks," a girl wanders in "the caverns of deserted houses," performing "her excavation for spare parts: // shards of whiskey bottle, matches, / anthills erupting from concrete // seams, the discarded husk / of a beetle."

These poems thrum with rhythm, and sound plays a vital role, natural sounds mix with manufactured sounds mix with inner soul sounds. They are full of texture, bringing Detroit imagined and real into vibrant life.

"A humming bird draws
nectar in my thoughts, wings beating
80-something times per second
but there aren't many flowers here; it's been many
summers since I stopped even listening for bees."

— from "A Detroit Hum Ending with Bones"


"Neat" is a disorderly pantoum, in which the repeated lines are almost but not quite repeated. there is enough variation that the new lines slip by almost unnoticed as repetitions. It describes a bar scene and a man sitting alone, drinking. "No one is above being invisible / not even me, with my shirt tidily pressed, // another man who's seen the bottom of a tumbler." The feeling is despondent and mundane. The pantoum form works perfectly here, the almost-repetition of lines reflecting the slipshod redundancy of everyday life and looping thoughts and questions that never seem to lead anywhere.

"You are a quarter ghost on your mother's side.
Your heart is a flayed peach in a bone box."

— from "How to Disapper Completely"


In "Macrophobia: Fear of Waiting," he writes, "I was fascinated / that every time I tried to type love, / I missed the o and hit the i instead. / I live you is a mistake I make so often. / I wonder if it's not / what I've really been meaning to say." I make the same mistake quite often, and I have found myself thinking the same thing (I am only a little jealous that he put it into a poem first). There are so many passages, phrases, poems I love in this book that I find it hard to know which ones to focus on.

"Is the sun a flash grenade? This heat
is so heavy the fruit stands buckle and ripple
like mirages, but your brother shivers"

— from "Chionophpbia: Fear of Snow"


This book is amazing (another I need to own) and is one of the best collections of poetry collections I've read this year.

For a more expanded look at this collect, there's a great interview with Jamaal May up at The Normal School.

You can also watch a video of May reading "I Do Have a Seam" from this collection.

51lkernagh
kesäkuu 23, 2014, 11:51 pm

Well there you go.... you have managed to hit me with a poetry book! Me thinks the steampunk theme has something to do with it - love that cover art!

52RidgewayGirl
kesäkuu 24, 2014, 1:57 am

Lovely review of Hum. One enthusiastic thumb!

53andreablythe
kesäkuu 24, 2014, 2:43 am

>51 lkernagh:
Muahahaha! Yes! That's what I like to hear.

>52 RidgewayGirl:
Thanks. :)

________

43. The Blue Place, by Nicola Griffith (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - From My Bookshelf

"Danger is not a game. Danger is a casually violent Viking... When it sits opposite and offers you the cup and dice, you either walk away or play full throttle."

While out for a walk one night, former police officer Aud Torvington nearly slams into a women running in the opposite direction. As the woman leaves a house explodes in a violent plume of flames. When the same woman later hires Aud to discover who set the explosion, she finds herself accepting the job, much to her own surprise.

Aud is a fascinating character. On the one hand, she's a skilled fighter, capable of shattering bones with a thrust of her fist and comfortable with violence. Yet, she also has a cool quiet side that enjoys the contemplation of nature and the smooth honest work of carving wood or digging flower beds. In one moment, she can visualize a precise method she could kill the person she's politely talking to (more her reflection on how easily danger can shatter someone's life than an actual desire to act), and the next moment, she's watching the shrews battle in her backyard.

This is not a fast paced noir, with action around every corner. I mean there is plenty of tension and action in the right places, but there is also a lot of still moments. The result of this combined mystery and character study and romance is a fantastic, compelling read that has me eager to pick up the next book in the three part series.

54electrice
kesäkuu 24, 2014, 7:56 am

>53 andreablythe: You had me at In one moment, she can visualize a precise method she could kill the person she's politely talking to (more her reflection on how easily danger can shatter someone's life than an actual desire to act). It's going on the BB list :)

55DeltaQueen50
kesäkuu 24, 2014, 12:53 pm

>53 andreablythe: Yes, I am also adding The Blue Place to my reading list.

56andreablythe
kesäkuu 25, 2014, 12:03 pm

>54 electrice: & >55 DeltaQueen50:

Nice! Hope you both enjoy it. :D

57andreablythe
kesäkuu 26, 2014, 3:33 pm

44. Fangirl (audio book), by Rainbow Rowell (*****)
Category: Part Four - Just Because

Prepare for caplocks and lots of squee.

Cath and her twin sister Wren have loved Simon Snow since they were kids and avidly lived in the fandom, reading, discussing, and writing fanfic. But when go to college, they head for college, Wren wants her own life and to leave all that behind. Facing a new school with new social rules by herself, Cath retreats further into the fanfic worlds she's created and that she refuses to leave behind.

I love, love, LOVE this book. Normally I only listen to audio books in the morning on my way to work, because after work I'm too mentally tired to pay attention. But with Fangirl, I couldn't stop listening, using every available moment in the car that I could to keep listening.

I relate to Cath so much. The desire to read, to hang out on the internet, to hide in my room rather than socially interact with strangers is something I've felt myself on a regular basis. I've been left behind by friends (in her case, family) who I assumed would always be there and found myself at a loss to fill the gap. I also relate to her joy over Simon Snow, as I'm sure many fans who fall in love with imagined worlds do.

I also ADORE Levi. He's just so, so NICE. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to have a male love interest be just a genuinely good guy, who treats every person he meets with politeness and good humor. Someone has his own interests and makes human mistakes and tries to do good. Someone who respects and personal boundaries and when sex comes up, approaches the discussion and possibility in a way to make sure both parties are 100% comfortable. He's not a mysterious bad guy and that is so sexy.

I also really love each and every side character. Reagan, who is outwardly mocking and all hard edges, but has a secrete inner mushy side and is a fantastic friend. Wren, who in her desperate attempt to find her own way can sometimes be cruel to those she loves. Cath and Wren's dad, who stumbles through everyday life with a mental disorder, but is creatively electric. And so many others, even those who are awful people in the end.

Oh! And I love the integration of snippets from the Simon Snow books and the fanfiction that Cath writes. These snippets parallel the main story so well and somehow Rowell manages to paint a overall picture with these bits and pieces of what the Simon Snow novels and fandom would be like if they existed. I found myself wishing that they did so I could read them.

Cath's story is about growing up and I love the fact that growing up doesn't mean abandoning the things you love, rather it means integrating them in a more balanced way. I love that relationships are based on building and keeping trust and offering forgiveness when necessary. Really, there are SO many things I loved and I found myself cycling through laughter and tears throughout, and even at the end both at the same time.

Such a delightful read.

58christina_reads
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 26, 2014, 3:50 pm

>57 andreablythe: Yay, so glad you loved Fangirl! I adored it AND Eleanor & Park AND Attachments. At this point I would read Rainbow Rowell's grocery list.

59andreablythe
kesäkuu 26, 2014, 5:27 pm

>58 christina_reads:
AGREED. Attachments just jumped to the tippy top of my TBR and I've just learned that Landline comes out July 8th!!

60lkernagh
kesäkuu 26, 2014, 9:34 pm

Yet another very satisfied reader of Fan Girl! That one is already on my radar screen but I think your is the first review I have seen for the audiobook so I now have choices when I get around to reading this one.

61RidgewayGirl
kesäkuu 27, 2014, 2:35 am

I just ordered Fangirl for my daughter. It's always good to have a few "sure thing" books for summer vacation.

62andreablythe
kesäkuu 27, 2014, 7:14 pm

>60 lkernagh:
Yes! The audio book is wonderful and has two readers, one for the main narrative and one for the Simon Snow excerpts quoted in the book. It works wonderfully.

>61 RidgewayGirl:
Yay! Hope you're daughter loves it. :)

63andreablythe
kesäkuu 27, 2014, 7:20 pm

45. Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You'll Ever Need, by Blake Snyder (***1/2)
Category: Part II - Standard - Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing

Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder provides a guide to screenwriting from an industry perspective, focusing on what a writer needs to do to prep for the act of writing. These techniques include creating a logline (or one-line), watching and analyzing movies in your chosen genre, creating a beat sheet, and building a board to layout scenes as a form of outlining. Skipping over actually writing process, he then reveals some screenplay "rules" and somethings to look for during edits if the finished draft isn't working.

The Importance of Structure

I've heard a lot of praise for this book, both from screenwriters and from novelists, and a lot of this praise is in regards to Snyder's discussion of structure. As both a novelist and a screenwriter, I found this valuable. Understanding the beat points of a story helps a lot in the actual writing process. The beats* let the writer know where important points of action should fall within the story, such as the catalyst that leads the heroine into adventure. (The Save the Cat! website includes a breakdown of the beats in a variety of popular movies, along with other valuable tools, which is awesome.)

Structure is especially vital to screenwriting, where space (i.e. movie length) is limited. Snyder talks about specific page numbers where certain plot points should fall (midpoint on page 55, for example). In the movie industry, these specific plot points are the kinds of things executives and decision makers are looking for, especially from new writers.

For the novelist, this strict structure seems less relevant, but there's oodles of more leeway. Though it can help create a framework around which to build the giant story that is a novel.

Simple Tools

Another great piece of advice Snyder gives for both kinds of writing is being able to sum up the story in a single sentence or two, called a logline. The logline should state the heroine's objective, highlight obstacles, and have a hook. For example:

Legally BlondeWhen a blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend, she decides to follow him to law school to get him back and, once there, learns she has more legal savvy than she ever imagined. (from IMDB)


The simple summary helps the writer (screenwriter or novelist) get clear on their story before writing, provides an anchor as they work through actually writing, and gives them an easy, simply summary to use if they get the chance to pitch to an agent. Kristen Lamb has a great discussion of this bit of advice on her blog.

The book is full of simple to follow advice like this (if not always easy to execute).

What Drove Me Bananas

Save the Cat! is written in a snappy, conversational tone, which is great because it makes it an easy read. But it also came off sounding pompous, like I could see his smug smile reverberating through the text, and sometimes grated on my nerves. It's clear Snyder had a preference, he wrote and mostly enjoyed family and romantic comedies. So, it's when he talks about the genres he's not into and is less comfortable with that I found myself wanting to rage and beat him over the head with his own book.

Clearly, this was a bias on Snyder's part. He doesn't get these kinds of flicks and seems to not be hot on ind flicks. That's fine, but it annoys the frack out of me that he's including this bias as part of his "rules" and it distracted me from focusing on the valuable tools he was teaching.

I've put the ranty bits on my blog, for those who are interested.

Taking Action

Ultimately, none of these annoyances detract from the core tools and the value of any writing or advice book is whether it inspires the reader to actually take action and get to work. After reading Save the Cat!, I immediately jumped to work. I started creating loglines for all the novel ideas I've been working on and planning and I bought a board to lay out the scenes and acts in a tactile manner (I've been needed a new way to approach my current novel). The book also has me thinking about all the screenplay ideas I have on hold. I've learned oodles of valuable tools and my creative juices are flowing, so this book is a win.

64-Eva-
kesäkuu 29, 2014, 8:49 pm

>50 andreablythe:
That's a fantastic cover!!

>63 andreablythe:
Sounded interesting until I got to that "What Drove Me Bananas" section - that'd drive me bonkers too!

65andreablythe
kesäkuu 30, 2014, 4:42 pm

>64 -Eva-:
Yeah, it was annoying, but Save the Cat! was still worth it, since I am actively working in my novel again and it's helped me moe past some road blocks. That's the important part for me.

66andreablythe
kesäkuu 30, 2014, 6:23 pm

Category - Part Three - Connected Miscellany

The Worm by Elise Gravel (****)
Connection: Worm in the Titles led to
Wormwood by G.P. Taylor (**)
Connection: Wriggly, Icky Creatures in the Title led to

46. Parasite, by Mira Grant (*****)

In the future, humanity has achieved near perfect health through parasitic tapeworm implants (developed by the SymboGen Corporation), which boost the immune system and can disperse necessary drugs. Following a car crash, the implant even managed to bring Sal back from a coma just as her family was preparing to pull the plug. Though she has no memory of Sally, the woman she used to be, Sal is shaping a new life for herself — even though SymboGen hounds her for more tests, her family doesn't seem to trust her, and a new sleepwalking sickness is starting to spread among the populace.

I opened page one, planning to just read a chapter or two only to look up hours later, 200 pages in, with the realization that it was almost midnight and I barely moved, let alone eaten dinner or peed. I reluctantly forced myself to go to bed at around one in the morning, only to get up the next day and polish off the second half of the book before dinner. I honestly don't remember the last time I pulled an under 24 hour read like that (probably with the Harry Potter books).

Parasite is a compelling thriller and Sal is a sympathetic character. It's clear from page one that just about everyone has secrets and though Sal sometimes seems hopelessly naive, this is forgivable given her traumatic brain injury and her ongoing to work to recover (she often has trouble with proper use of slang). It makes sense that she can't quite catch on as quickly as the reader or some of the other characters in the book (some of whom mock her for it).

Also, I love the moral ambiguity. It's not really clear who the "good guys" are, or if there are such a thing as good guys or villains. I don't know any other storyline that could possibly make me sympathize with the plight of tapeworms. I mean, really.

Final words: I can't wait for book two.

67andreablythe
heinäkuu 2, 2014, 12:21 am

46. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Vol. 2 (****)
Category: Part I - Listopia - A Thousand Nights

Thoughts on Volume 1 (links to my blog).

Volume 2 of The Arabian Nights begins with night 295 of tales and goes through night 719. The stories at the beginning of the book are all very short, some only around a page or two long, and it wasn't until about halfway through the book that the tales grew into longer epics once again, including the seven voyages of Sindbad. There's a lot of risk of tedium when you binge read these books like I'm doing. The shorter tales all stacked on top of each other begin to blur together and longer tales can grow to such epic lengths as to be too long, and long or short there are repeated kinds of stories, themes, and phrases throughout. But if I had not read these books in the rapid way I'm going, I'm not sure that I would have figured out the genius of Shahrazad.

Shahrazad is Brilliant

At the beginning of The Arabian Nights, readers are introduced to Shahrazad and King Shahriyar. Following a betrayal by his wife, the king has been marrying young women and executing them the morning after consummating the marriage. Shahrazad agrees to marry Shahriyar in order to save other women from a similar fate and preserves her own life by telling tales, stopping each night so that the king will have to keep her alive if he wants to learn the ending. After a few nights, her story fades into the background of the tales, the only reminder that she is the tale-spinner being a single sentence: "Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say, and then when it was the one hundred and fifteenth night, she continued."

And yet, Shahrazad's own story is ever present and the reader can see this in the arc of the stories she chooses to tell. Her selection of stories is very methodological and careful, based on her audience and what will mostly keep him interested and her alive.

At the beginning of The Arabian Nights, when her life is at the greatest risk, she has to catch his attention and speak to his sympathies. So, she tells stories involving men betrayed by women and how they get retribution. With the king in an 'all women are evil, so I have to kill them after marrying them" mentality, these stories are likely to grab his interest and keep it.

As she weaves story after story, she begins to include stories of humor and adventure, entertaining tales and epic sagas of brothers and kings going to war. These tales focus less on the "women are root of evil" theme and more on the daring deeds of men. Some of these stories even feature good women as companions to the heroes. By this point, she would have his interest fully engaged; the king is more wrapped up in the stories than in his need for revenge.

At which point, Shahrazad switched tone again. The tales presented at the beginning of Volume 2 are religious or morality tales. It seems clear to me that now that Shahrazad has King Shahriyar's trust and complete attention, she feels safe enough to present him with a few life lessons. These tales include:

  • death comes to a wealthy, squandering man begs for more time to get his affairs in order, but death gives him none; meanwhile the noble, generous man meets death prepared

  • virtuous women who refuse to be seduced by men choose death in order to remain holy in the eyes of God

  • good kings who treat their people well and are remembered fondly by their people



Shahrazad seems to be guiding King Shahriyar toward a new perspectives. First, in proper behavior for Kings as with the common man, there are rules for treatment of others. And second, that women can be as noble and virtuous as men, a clear change from the stories she began with.

Following these morality and religious tales, the stories became more mixed with adventure, religion, romance, and so forth. I'm curious to see if the tales in Volume 3 reflect other levels of Shahrazad's personal story arc.

More Women Being Awesome, Except When Their Not

The awesome:
"Zumurrud got up and dressed herself in the clothes of the soldier..., strapping on his sword round her waist and putting on his turban, until she looked like a man." I love when the women save themselves through cleverness. After dressing as a soldier, Zumurrud becomes a King and rules with strength and prosperity for a number of years.

In another tale, a slave named Tawaddud is asked to prove her work by discussing the precepts for proper behavior in religion and life, important points of Islamic law, and medical knowledge of the body (mixed with scientific fact and old myths). "God has set the tongue as an interpreter, the eyes as lamps, the nostrils as organs of smell, and the hangs in place of wings," she says at one point. While reading Tawaddud's recitations were a bit tedious, she is doubly awesome for being questioned by the wisest men in kingdom, each trying to bet her an prove their intelligence is superior to hers. She trumped every last one of them and sent them off in shame. I cheered.

The Horrible:
The worst moment in the book was when the Commander of the Faithful is visited by six women, black, white, and brown, and thick and thin. Each is intelligent, beautiful, and sings and recites poetry. He then has each of them insult their "opposite" with cruel, racist, vicious rants. These passages of a man urging women to attack women or his entertainment is so gross. I loathed this section of the book.

The Weird:
There were several stories in which women fall in love with animals -- bears or apes -- and engage in beastiality. So strange.

Funniest Moments

Volume 2 has one of the most awkward sex scenes I've ever read, in which the hero "pounced on her like a lion on a sheep, and plunged his rod into her scabbard." Later in the story there was "the one grinding and moving around and the other snorting and writhing". Um, yikes.

Gharib's tale is about a young man on a crusade to convert infidels to Islam. This lengthy saga includes one of my favorite passages.
"What ill-omened thing do you worship?" asked Gharib.

"I worship a date pastry made with butter and honey," al-Jamraqan told him. "Sometimes I eat it and then I make another."

Gharib collapsed with laughter."


As a side note Gharib will apparently forgive anyone. One of his converts Sa'dan (described as a ghul) is a known cannibal. During battles he sometimes still continues to roast and eat human flesh, but, hey, he's a believer and that flesh belongs to an infidel, so it's cool.

Repeated Phrases

A number of phrases are repeated through both books, some of which make me wonder about how translation works and others that I just find amusing. Here are a few of them.

"You must know..." or "My story is a strange one..." – both are used at beginnings of stories in the same way Europeans use "Once upon a time..."

"so-and-so" or "such-and-such" – used in cases where the storyteller chooses not to specify a name, place, or time. This is a set of phrases that makes me wonder about the translation, since I doubt it's literal, even though the gist is probably the same, but I'm not sure.

"To hear is to obey." – a character's any time a request or order is given and they intend to follow through

"He/she was like a full moon." – a description of beauty in a young woman or man

"His/her saliva is like sweet wine." – another description of beauty, and one I find so strange since in most cases the observer has not kissed and therefore not tasted the saliva yet to know

"Take my soul." – said in prayer when a virtuous character asks for death from God to save them from their turmoil, usually unjust treatment of a honest, noble, and religious individual

"sprinkled rosewater over his/her face" – an oft used cure for the ongoing epidemic of fainting

"They lives in happiness and joy until they were visited by the destroyer of delights and the parter of companions." – used at endings of stories in the same way Europeans use "... and they lived happily ever after."

68andreablythe
heinäkuu 2, 2014, 12:23 am

Wow. I didn't expect that last post to be so long. Lol.

69andreablythe
heinäkuu 2, 2014, 12:45 pm

June Progress

Books Finished: 10
1. The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home (wattpad), by Margaret Atwood and Naomie Alderman (****)
2. Red, by E.J. Koh (***1/2)
3. The Complete Guide to Buying a Business, by Fred Steingold (DNF)
4. Hum, by Jamaal May (*****)
5. The Blue Place, by Nicola Griffith (****)
6. Fangirl (audio book), by Rainbow Rowell (*****)
7. Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You'll Ever Need, by Blake Snyder (***1/2)
8. Parasite, by Mira Grant (*****)
9. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Vol. 2 (****)

Total for the year: 47

Favorite Read:
So many great books this month! Both Fangirl and Parasite top the charts, though, for being fantastic in entirely different ways.

Worst Read:
I didn't really have any BAD reads this month. I mean, Save the Cat! made me all ranty at certain points, but it also really helped me get back to writing. Everything I enjoyed at some level. So, nothing here, which is cool.

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
I started Dracula by Bram Stoker and We're All Infected, a collection of ssays about The Walking Dead TV show edited by Dawn Keetley. Both are pretty cool so far.

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (2/3)
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Only one more giant volume to finish the Thousand Nights!

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (1/6)
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (4/6)
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (2/6)
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (3/6)
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (4/6)
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (0/6)

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 3/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 1/whatever

70rabbitprincess
heinäkuu 2, 2014, 7:50 pm

Thumb for your review of Arabian Nights Vol. 2! Fantastic. I love the bit about the date pastry.

71-Eva-
heinäkuu 5, 2014, 9:58 pm

Thumb from me too - great review! I haven't gotten started at all, but I have a few more months... :)

72LittleTaiko
heinäkuu 6, 2014, 9:09 pm

Your Parasite review got me. Combined with it being $1.99 through iBooks right now and it's now firmly in my TBR stack.

73andreablythe
heinäkuu 6, 2014, 11:53 pm

>70 rabbitprincess:
Thanks! Love the date pastry! I honor the date pastry! ;)

>71 -Eva-:
Ooooh, I look forward to seeing your thoughts. :D

>72 LittleTaiko:
Yay! I hope you love it.

74GingerbreadMan
heinäkuu 7, 2014, 3:07 am

>50 andreablythe: I definitely took a BB for Hum. I'm fascinated and sad to see the decay of Detroit. It's such a sad and strange collapse. How alive is the fate of Detroit in the public mind of the US? Is it seen as a scary prophecy, a freak occurance, or what?

>66 andreablythe: I keep seeing good things about Mira Grant. I must get around to reading her eventually. Have you read her zombie series as well?

>67 andreablythe: Brilliant review, full of insights, making me feel wiser just for reading it. Big fat thumb.

75andreablythe
heinäkuu 9, 2014, 3:02 pm

> 74
– There has been photography and so forth about Detroit and a kind of general sense of..., I don't know, kind of a satirical dismay about it. However, unless you're living in it, I think it's mostly put out of mind by a lot of people.

I will say though, that not all things are bad there. Detroit has a growing artist community. Because its cheap to buy up old houses, groups of artists are staking homes in the area and some really interesting art is being done. I don't know enough about it myself to elaborate, but I imagine it's kind of like Harlem back in the day, where the situation is bad, but there is a potential for a renaissance.

– I really really enjoyed her zombie books, the Newsflesh series. What I love about them is how scientific they sound and Mira Grant (the pen name for Seanan McGuire) has done oodles of research on virology and diseases and has even spent time at the Center for Disease Control as a part of her research. The characters and thriller political intrigue storiline are great. Though, as much as I loved the zombie series, I enjoyed Parasite even better.

– Ah, thanks! :)

76andreablythe
heinäkuu 10, 2014, 8:36 pm

48. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir (audio book), by Haruki Murakami (***)
Category: Part II - Standard - Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing

In this memoir, Murakami talks about his experiences as both a runner and a writer and how they overlap. He feels that his running has directly influenced his writing, most notably in his ability to keep going even through pain or frustration.

This was interesting enough, though it wasn't deeply memorable. It made me want to both run and write more, so that was good. If you're a runner and a writer or a fan of Murakami's novels, then I'd suggest giving it a try, but if you're not, then skip it.

77-Eva-
heinäkuu 11, 2014, 12:07 am

>76 andreablythe:
Not for me, but it goes on the shopping-list - I have a friend's birthday coming up and it sounds like it'll fit him to a T!

78andreablythe
heinäkuu 11, 2014, 12:53 am

>77 -Eva-:
Ah, cool, Eva. I hope they like it. :)

79andreablythe
heinäkuu 11, 2014, 7:15 pm

48. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die

The writing's not always great and the heroes are rather flat, but Stoker gets tons of kudos for creating a rudely iconic vampire. I was surprised by how readable this was and once the characters finally pulled together and went on the hunt, the story was thrilling.

One thing I thought interesting was that this seemed to be the birth of the monster fighting team (maybe, I don't know what earlier stories there might have been), in which a group of disparate people come together to fight what goes bump in the night. This kind of group is typically four or five and has to keep their deeds secret (think Buffy the Vampire Slayer), which causes it's own logistical and financial challenges. While Dracula ends with everyone settled and into domestic bliss, I could just as easily see the group carrying on the battle, seaking out new monsters to destroy.

80mathgirl40
heinäkuu 14, 2014, 10:26 pm

I'm finally catching up with your thread! I loved your photos of Montreal. That's where I grew up, so I'm quite fond of the city myself. :)

I'd read Eleanor and Park earlier this year and thought it was fantastic, so I'm really happy to see your positive review of Fangirl. That goes on my wishlist!

I didn't like Parasite as much as you did, maybe because it felt disappointing to me after Grant's excellent Feed trilogy, but I'm still eager to see where she'll go with the story in the next book.

81electrice
heinäkuu 19, 2014, 4:33 am

>66 andreablythe: I have Feed from the library, I should get to it in a week or so, I'm looking forward to it and keeping in mind Parasite.

>67 andreablythe: Thanks for the wonderful review :)

>79 andreablythe: I read this one a few weeks ago and I loved it. It's true that the heroes are somewhat one dimensional but all the same, I get why it became a classics :)

82andreablythe
heinäkuu 19, 2014, 7:01 pm

>81 electrice:
Nice! I hope you enjoy Feed.

Yeah, Dracula is cool. I think part of why it works is because it used a folklore tone, which makes it accessible.

83andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:53 am

49 A Good Indian Wife, by Anne Cherian (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - From My Bookshelf

From Amazon: "Handsome anesthesiologist Neel is sure he can resist his family’s pleas that he marry a “good” Indian girl. With a girlfriend and a career back in San Francisco, the last thing Neel needs is an arranged marriage. But that’s precisely what he gets. His bride, Leila, a thirty-year-old teacher, comes with her own complications. They struggle to reconcile their own desires with others’ expectations in this story of two people, two countries, and two ways of life that may be more compatible than they seem."

This was such a lovely story. I really sympathized the Leila, even though her cultural point of view is very different than my own. From an American point of view, she could be seen as naive, but it's very clear that she's trying to find a balance between finding a life that works for herself and honoring her culture and family.

Neel, too, is a fascinating character in how he has given up so much traditional it's almost at the cost of his true self. And yet, he has strength in most of his choices too. In some ways he seems like a jerk, but his reasoning makes enough sense that I get why he does what he does.

It's really interesting to see how these characters end up together and how everything falls into place. This book has a lot of heart and I really enjoyed it.

84andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:53 am

50. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying: Lessons from a Life in Comedy, by Carol Leifer (***)
Category: Part II - Standard - Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing

Carol Leifer has had an interesting carrier as a comedian and writer on such shows as Seinfeld and Saturday Night Live. Unfortunately, this book was just okay for me. It was filled with a lot of generalizations and one line zingers (some cute, some funny, some kinda stupid). I like her attitude in general, but the book seems to be confused as to whether it wants to be a an advice book or a memoir. The result is that the advice bits is very beginner level, like a blog, and the memoir bits lacked the in depth connection to draw the reader fully in. I kind a wish she has stuck to the memoir format because I would have loved to learn more about her life as a comedian and how she pulled through the challenges she faced. Oh, well. Not for me.

85andreablythe
heinäkuu 28, 2014, 5:52 pm

I'm slogging through Foucault's Pendulum right now, which is a lot longer and a lot more work than I expected it to be. I'm just over halfway through and it's finally starting to get to the more interesting parts...

86andreablythe
heinäkuu 30, 2014, 9:27 am

I had to stop listening to the Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection. The readings by Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone are fantastic, but they don't give the title of the piece before each poem or story reading! It's driving me batty trying to guess which story we're on and there doesn't seem to a Table of Contents or guide (I got it from the library, so maybe they removed it). Anyway I'm so distracted by the lack of story titles that I can't fully focus on each story. Sucks, because it's VINCENT PRICE. *sigh*

87andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:54 am



51. TEN (chapbook), by Val Dering Rojas (*****)
Category: Part II - Standard - The Universe in Verse - Poetry

ONE.
I think
if he tried,
I would crumble
like the iridescent shell
of a beetle.


Val Dering Rojas' TEN consists of ten long poems alongside ten mini-poems that explores the inner working of body and soul through the out workings of color and texture. The ten mini poems act as a form of chapter headings in between each of the longer pieces, providing a framework for the chapbook. Read together, all in one go, these mini-poems provide a poem of their own, which unveils a personal journey, from a place of a place of disconnecting from emotional wounding to a sense of inner calm, a spiritual awareness. As interjections, the mini-poems share thematic progression with the longer pieces.

In "An Instance of Affliction," a medicine cabinet is contemplated, an "axis of obsolete / streets, old razors roads." The medicine cabinet, the objects within, and the reflection in the mirror fade behind an deeper reflection. The material world itself becomes metaphor for personal experience.

"How To Leave" expresses the unpacking and dismantling of the meaning love with "its utopian tongue", expressing both how love fails us and also all the things (objects and feelings) that must be left behind. "Love can't be found / in these humble jars of honey, / in these everyday teaspoons." At the same time, there is what remains in the leaving: "You are packing yourself up in bags, // stuffing yourself in boxes." What do we have in the ending of a relationship, but ourselves? The objects (clothing, books, toiletries, towels, bedding), which gets stuffed into bags and boxes, become representative of the self. And yet, the poem, shows how the things we tell ourselves in leaving ("I hate love" or that "love / doesn't know any truth at all") are either lies or, at the least, half truths, because feeling, love, emotion lingers.

The progression of the poems eventually lead the reader to realize that the self is enough. In "While Alone at Topanga Thrift," the narrator explores the feeling of space while discovering objects in a thrift store: "It occurs to me / that most things are made / to be filled; even now, / these old red dough-bowls / brim with sun." As with the rest of the poems, it's easy to relate the outer objects to the inner realm. The imagery of a tiny teacup or a ginger jar becomes moving and beautiful metaphor.

EIGHT.
I can't let you
see me cry,
but if you'd like,
I'll tell you a sad story.


I've returned to these poems several times in the course of reading them, each time discovering something new — a turn of phrase to fall in love with, a deeper meaning to latch onto. Each poem is shown to be lovelier and more evocative each time I read it. All told, a lovely. wonderful collection and I hope to be able to read a full length book from Val in the near future.

Note: A review copy of TEN was provided by the author, whom i consider a friend. Take this review with as much of a grain of salt to taste.

88andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:55 am

July Progress

Books Finished: 10
1. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir (audio book), by Haruki Murakami (***)
2. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (****)
3. A Good Indian Wife, by Anne Cherian (****)
4. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying: Lessons from a Life in Comedy, by Carol Leifer (***)
5. TEN (chapbook), by Val Dering Rojas (*****)

Total for the year: 51

Favorite Read:
I think I'll go with A Good Indian Wife, which was easy and really wonderful to read.

Worst Read:
I don't have any to put here. The two nonfiction books were just okay, but not terrible.

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
I am almost done with both Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum and We're All Infected: Essays on AmC's The Walking Dead. These are the two books that slowed me WAY down this month and are the main reason for my low count.

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (2/3)
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Only one more giant volume to finish the Thousand Nights!

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (2/6)
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (4/6)
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (4/6)
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (3/6)
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (5/6)
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (1/6)

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 3/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 1/whatever

89GingerbreadMan
elokuu 3, 2014, 11:50 am

Back from my holidays and five reviews behind. So I'm catching up on some threads instead :)

I've really only glanced at Focault's pendulum. The begining's detailed description of a pendular movement scared me off.

Take this review with as much of a grain of salt to taste is a wonderful way to put it. The book sounds interesting too!

90rabbitprincess
elokuu 3, 2014, 7:27 pm

Ooh, a Walking Dead essay book! Will be interested to hear what you think of that one.

91andreablythe
elokuu 4, 2014, 12:22 am

>89 GingerbreadMan:
Hi, Anders. I just finished Foucault's Pendulum and it really wasn't for me. If you weren't into the beginning, then you're not likely to like the rest. It's a lot of work.

I'll be posting my review shortly.

>90 rabbitprincess:
I should finish it up in the next day or two. I've enjoyed it quite a bit so far, even if a few of the essays required more mental work.

92andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:55 am

52. Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Echo (**1/2)
Category: Part II - Standard - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die

This is one of those books I feel it should have enjoyed more than I did. It's an incredibly intelligent book of Templar secrets and conspiracy theories. However, it didn't quite work for me.

The story involves three friends work at a publishing house that is used to seeing manuscripts exploring and supposedly revealing the secrets of the Templars and other occult sects. When a man comes to tell them he has discovered a secret code, they figure he is mad like many of the others and send him on his way. Several days later he disappears under mysterious circumstances. Inspired by the mystery, the friends begin to spin a story based on the texts they've read, inventing the Templar Plan. It's a game, a fake. Or so it seems.

The premise sounds exciting, but it was bogged down and drawn out. Around 90% of the book is in dialog between the three friends or between the narrator and other characters, talking history, theories, counter theories, myths, and so forth about the Templars, Rosecrutians, and others. Hundreds and hundreds of pages, so many facts an dates and names with periodic untranslated phrases in Latin and French, so much that I would sometimes grow glassy eyed while reding and facts seemed the blur together. I couldn't keep it all straight. I like my history books to read like stories; this is a novel that reads like a history textbook.

Other than the narrator, I never full connected with or cared much about the characters and even the narrator I wasn't that much into. Any threat or tension was buried under the mountain of information. The Plan created by the three friends doesn't even start to take place until over halfway through the book. By the time the danger starts to really show itself and actual action becomes mixed in, it's almost too little too late. The climax felt anticlimactic and it all seemed more work than it was worth.

It's clear that Echo is a scholar, because the amount of research that had to have gone into this book boggles the mind. I know of at least one friend who loves this book and I can see why people like it. But ultimately it was not for me.

93lkernagh
elokuu 4, 2014, 1:32 pm

Eco is a struggle for me. I so love Templar secrets and conspiracies, even more so than Arthurian stories, but if you had so problems with Foucault's Pendulum, I think I will need to save it for when I am either alone on a secluded island or when I can spend a lot of uninterrupted reading time with it.

94cammykitty
elokuu 5, 2014, 10:49 pm

I had the same reaction to Foucault's Pendulum as you did and have decided that Eco is an author I would like to like, but really don't thoroughly enjoy. When reading FP, I realized that as a prestigious university professor, he probably has graduate students researching topics for all his novels. But still, to synthesize that all in your mind enough to make it reach the page!!? Wow. My head hurts.

95andreablythe
elokuu 5, 2014, 10:54 pm

>93 lkernagh:
Yes, it's definitely a novel to take time on in order to keep it straight. As a Tenplar lover you might totally dig it, though.

>94 cammykitty:
Exactly! I hadn't thought of his student as built in research labor, though. That's kind of funny.

96cammykitty
elokuu 5, 2014, 11:03 pm

I'm not sure if I figured that out while reading Foucault's Pendulum or Island of the Day Before but it's got to be how he does it! He couldn't possibly just know all those details about all those varied subjects. Unless he has some flaw like he can't remember people's names. The human brain has only so many cells!

97andreablythe
elokuu 6, 2014, 1:13 am

>96 cammykitty:
LOL! Oh, goodness, yes. That makes perfect sense.

98andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:56 am

53. We're All Infected: Essays on AMC's The Walking Dead, edited by Dawn Keetley (****)
Category - Part II - Standard - Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing

This collection of academic essays explores the nature of humanity — and their differences or similarities to the undead zombies in AMC's The Walking Dead (one of my favorite TV shows). A couple of these essays are intellectually dense to the point of being obtuse, but most are readable and present some fascinating interpretations of the show. Here are few of the essays that stood out for me.

Steven Pokornowski in his essay "Burying the Living with the Dead" compares zombies to viruses and the external battle of humans to survive in the face of them to the human immune system, which doesn't always work at an optimal level. He writes, "Just as immune can slip into autoimmune, the sanction of violence in self defense can devolve into generalized violence." In his discussion of biopolitics and social justice he looks at how bare existance with with nothing more meaningful to love for leads to a survivalist system of exclusion. "In the logic of survival, the drive for security for one group of people often comes at the expense of another group."

"Walking Tall or Walling Dead?" by P. Ivan Young presented an amusing and fascinating comparison of The Walking Dead with the cowboy myth, particularly in the 1953 movie Shane. He uses Rick (with his sheriff hat and horseback ride across the apocalypse) and Shane (as an inversion of the 1953) movie character of the same name to the honorable cowboy image of the silver screen.

"Rest in Pieces" by Laura Kremmel discusses the importance and changing parameters if ritual in world where the line between dead and living is not clearly defined.

It's interesting to think of a zombie apocalypse as a kind of utopia, Chris Boehm does in "Apocalyptic Utopia." He describes the zombies as being the force that erases the old flawed society and allows for a new society to be built, with Rick as the idealistic figure trying to hold to the promise of a new world.

"Zombie Time" by Gwyneth Peaty looks at zombies and the survivors in terms of their relation to time, notably that they have none. "The zombies in The Walking Dead represent a form of monstrous timelessness that is not infinite time but an infinite lack of time... It is perhaps fitting that these zombies are not the energetic, hyper-mobile kind, but the more traditional shufflers. They do not run; there is no need to hurry, for they have all the time in the world." She shows how watches and a sense of time running out are continually revealed in the series.

And, of course, in my love for slow, shamblers, I have to quote from Dave Beisecker's Afterword: "We see why it's actually important to both Romero and Kirkman that, at least individually, zombies are as slow and as they humans are. That we can eventually fall to such a mindless horde ultimately says much more about our human frailties than it does about theirs."

99DeltaQueen50
elokuu 6, 2014, 11:59 pm

Hi Andrea, I am also just back from a couple of weeks vacation and trying to get caught up here. Your review of Foucalt's Pendulum only strengthens my desire to avoid Umberto Eco. I don't think he'd be my cup of tea.

As 'Walking Dead" is also one of my favorite TV series, We're All Infected has caught my attention and is being added to my list.

100andreablythe
elokuu 7, 2014, 12:40 pm

>99 DeltaQueen50:
Hi, Judy. Welcome back. :)

Yeah, I'm not terribly inclined to read more of Echo, since it's been implied that at least one of his other books is similar.

The Walking Dead essays were interesting. Had me wanting to rewatch and see if I could 'catch' more of the interpretations.

101andreablythe
elokuu 8, 2014, 6:05 pm

I'm currently working on House of Leaves, which is a slower read, but I'm loving it!

102cammykitty
elokuu 13, 2014, 2:31 am

Well, House of Leaves looks like it's rated highly and it's tags include both horror and metafiction. I'll be interested to see what you think. I hope that metafiction tag doesn't mean they realize all this is happening because they are inside a book.

103andreablythe
elokuu 13, 2014, 11:52 am

>102 cammykitty:
I'm about two-thirds through and while there was one passing hint from a character that the story might have been invented by someone else, there have been no other references as such. I don't think it will go ultimately in that direction — the book is pretty darn layered with meta without it — but I'll let you know if it does.

104whitewavedarling
elokuu 13, 2014, 1:29 pm

I'm always excited to see people enjoying House of Leaves--that's one of the few books that's really gotten into my head and played with my way of looking at the world in a very disconcerting way, for days on end. One of my favorites :)

105andreablythe
elokuu 14, 2014, 12:15 pm

>104 whitewavedarling:
It's so good! I'm currently finishing off the appendices, and I'm sad it's almost over! My review will come soon, and I'm excited to make it. It's going to be a fun one.

106andreablythe
elokuu 18, 2014, 12:53 pm

Here's where things stand, friends. I'll be off on a work trip to Detroit this week, but I'll still be around during my downtime. I'll actually have some time, so I'll get to check out a bit of the city this time around.

I recorded a video review of House of Leaves this morning, which I'll be editing and hopefully have up by tomorrow evening, if all goes well.

I also finished with The Essential Edgar Allan Poe audio book (read by William Roberts, John Chancer, and Kerry Shale) and Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz. So, I'll have those reviews up today or tomorrow.

Hope you're all loving life!

107RidgewayGirl
elokuu 18, 2014, 1:28 pm

I'd love to see Detroit. The photographs of its return to nature are amazing. Have you been to this site?

http://www.forgottendetroit.com

108rabbitprincess
elokuu 18, 2014, 5:29 pm

Have a good trip!

109GingerbreadMan
elokuu 18, 2014, 5:34 pm

>106 andreablythe: Video review, that should be interesting!

110andreablythe
elokuu 18, 2014, 11:32 pm

>107 RidgewayGirl:
I have seen some of the photos of decay, but I didn't know about that site! Awesome!

>108 rabbitprincess:
Thanks!

>109 GingerbreadMan:
Heh. It's really just a talking head video, but I had fun making it. I used to make rambling YouTube videos fairly often; this is my first in about two years.

111andreablythe
elokuu 19, 2014, 9:59 pm

I am in Detroit sitting in my hotel room (which for god knows what reason doesn't seem to have a channel changer for the TV). I figured I'd spend my bit of down time to edit the video review I had planned for House of Leaves, only to find out that the sound was okay for the first minute but then quickly fell out of sync. It gets so bad that my lips not even close to matching the words. I'm not tech savvy enough to figure out how to fix it and I just can't bring myself to upload the video as is.

I used to make YouTube videos all the time, but I fell out of the habit as I had less and less time to do them. It's been two years since I last made a video and since I last had a topic that was exciting enough for me to want to jump back in to making them. But having the sound fail like this is really discouraging. I am now debating whether I should bother trying to re-record the video or just do a text review like I normally do. Not sure, because it took me 20 minutes to do the first recording (which may have been my mistake, because normally I break it up into smaller recorded chunks, I don't know). So, I don't know. We'll see.

In other, brighter news.

I ran along the Detroit Riverwalk. It was a grey skied, muggy afternoon, but the river was beautiful and the Riverwalk is a perfect place for a run. As the afternoon turned into early evening, more and more people filled the walkway, running, walking, chatting, hanging out, riding bikes, laughing. All around me people were out enjoying the evening.

As I ran along the trail, occasionally glancing out across the water, people would say, Hi, or offer encouragement. One young woman broke off from her crew of friends and ran along beside me, mimicking my movements with a big grin on her face. A younger me would have been embarrassed by the good-natured mockery — but today, I just smiled and fell into pace with her, exaggerating my own movements as she did, participating in the sillyness until she fell back, rejoining her group, all of them laughing and me laughing, too. The laughter invigorated me and I picked up my pace, feeling stronger and lighter.

I felt easy, like I could run for days — one of the rare times I feel this way on a run. The mileage tracker on my phone informed my that my pace was faster than it has ever been.

This was the first time I've gone running while traveling. The combined factors of packing the running shoes (extra weight), trying to figure out where to run, and a silly self-consciousness about the idea of being judged by the locals has kept me from trying it. Today I figured out that not only is running while traveling doable, but it can also be a rather pleasurable way to experience a new place.





I am currently reading the Veronica Mars novel, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, which has been perfect light plane reading so far.

112lkernagh
elokuu 20, 2014, 11:39 pm

Sorry to learn that the video review has some editing issues but I love the pictures you have posted of Detroit. I have never been but I am fascinated with the water (living surrounded by water like I am) and one of these days I will make a tour of the Great Lakes.

113RidgewayGirl
elokuu 21, 2014, 2:17 am

I'm glad the Riverwalk was such a vibrant and lively place.

114whitewavedarling
elokuu 21, 2014, 5:09 pm

One of these days, I want to get to Detroit. The Happiest Millionaire was my favorite movie when I was a kid, and this song made going to Detroit a dream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9tXzQFQ0b8

Meanwhile, thanks for reminding me of that movie--I'll have to make my husband suffer through it again sooner than later. And, I'll look forward to your review of House of Leaves too, whatever form it comes in!

115andreablythe
elokuu 25, 2014, 3:34 pm

My experience in Detroit overall was wonderful! It's a great city to visit and full of friendly people, who are all passionate about Detroit.

I'm currently working on putting together some blog posts about the trip, and when I'm done I'll summarize here with some photos and links to the posts.

Afterward, I'll work on getting all my late reviews posted.

>112 lkernagh:
I love being near the water, too. It soothes me.

>113 RidgewayGirl:
Me, too. It definitely gave some appeal to living there.

>114 whitewavedarling:
I'd never heard of that movie before. I'll have to put it on the to-watch list. And thanks for sharing the video link — after what I've seen in Detroit, that song feels appropriate in the sense that there is a real feeling of potential growth there.

116andreablythe
elokuu 31, 2014, 1:23 pm

Okay, it's taken me way longer than I intended, but here we go.

Detroit was awesome and this trip was very much about the food. The city is definitely showing signs of regrowth, with stylish little eateries and bars popping up here and there. Here are my two favorite places.

Wright & Co – From the exterior, the only sign of a restaurant is a placard with the logo the phrase “Second Floor.” Inside and up a flight of stairs (or the elevator), which made me feel like we were discovering a secret, is the restaurant and bar, packed with people. The space is trendy with a great mix of old and new. I particularly liked the stamped tin ceiling.

This place had the best food I've eaten in just about ever. For appetizers we ordered the pork belly sliders and the whipped ricotta. The pork belly sliders were savory perfection. The whipped ricotta, which I would never have picked out on my own, included homemade raisin bread, honey, and fresh fig. It was so damn good that I almost fell out of my chair. Wright & Co. had the best food I’ve eaten in I don’t know how long, and all we had were the appetizers. I can’t even imagine what a full meal would be like. I’m not sure I would survive that much goodness.

Two James – This is "the first licensed distillery in the city of Detroit since prohibition." It has a cool little tasting room and they only serve the liquor they brew. It is just astoundingly good liquor, and there's a Thai food truck that parks out back for those who want some good eats.


The Two James tasting room.

Corktown is where I started to see real signs of decay with many buildings and businesses nearby boarded up and dilapidated. But several great restaurants and a new brewery commingle, revealing signs of vibrant life.

Wednesday night, after day one of the conference I was attending for work, my new friend drove us out to Michigan Central Station, was built from 1912-1913 for the Michigan Central Railroad and was closed down in the '80s. It's been run down ever since and is currently surrounded by a chain-link fence with razor wire at the top to prevent anyone from going in. Through the open doorways, you can see signs of crumbling and decay, but it's still such a beautiful building. There's local debate as to whether it should be torn down or restored. I vote restored, though I know it's never quite that simple.


Michigan Central Station

Detroit was a delightful experience, not at all like the rumors would have led me to believe. I would definitely go back again and maybe next time, I’ll check out some more of the cultural sites as well as the good eats.

For anyone interested, I've posted more detailed posts about my experiences on my blog
Good Eats and Great Folks in Downtown Detroit
Getting In and Hanging Out
Checking Out Corktown

117DeltaQueen50
elokuu 31, 2014, 10:02 pm

I've heard so many negative things about Detroit lately, it was very nice to read about your experience. I sure hope this great American city makes a complete comeback and becomes a destination city.

118-Eva-
syyskuu 1, 2014, 7:45 pm

I have not heard great things about Detroit either, so very happy to see your pics and hear about it - thanks for that post!

119lkernagh
syyskuu 1, 2014, 11:17 pm

I have enjoyed visiting Detroit through your eyes, Andrea. A city with a history worth preserving.

120andreablythe
syyskuu 2, 2014, 12:52 am

>117 DeltaQueen50: & >118 -Eva-:
It was interesting that on my plane flight to Detroit, the inflight magazine featured Detroit with articles on the work being done to create a resurgence, one of the famous baseball players from the city with passion for his hometown, and notes on local places to checkout. So, it seems that there are signs and possibilities of new stories to start coming out of Detroit.

>119 lkernagh:
Thanks, Lori. Such great history and I hope that during the regrowth they work to preserve that history, rather than erasing it and starting over in the name of progress.

* * * *

Labor Day allotted me a lovely three day weekend, which I spent with mom and sister, visiting my aunt and cousins up in Sacramento. We went to the Yubba River, which is my new favorite place. It's full of giant boulders and deep pools and natural waterslides. I LOVED IT. That kind of scenery just soothes my soul.

My sister took me on a strenuous hike up the river, which was a bit more intense than I expected, with me stumbling over stones and climbing up steep boulders like a miniature version of rock climbing. There were points, where I was clinging to these rocks, trying to figure out whether it was safer to keep going up to the top or make the decent back down, and each time I somehow figured out to shift my weight just so in order to adjust my feet and pull myself up.

Day two of the trip involved floating lazily down the American River in inner tubes.

It was just a wonderful trip, so relaxing and just what I needed.

I have five book reviews to catch up on, so hopefully I can throw them down quickly.

121andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:56 am

54. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (*****)
Category - Part II - Standard - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
It's hard to know how to explain the story of House of Leaves, which is deeply layered. I suppose one could start the explanation with what is essentially the core story, Navidson, an acclaimed photographer moves with his family into a country home in order to rebuild bonds and find a calmer, more cohesive life together, only to discover that the house is much more than it seems.

That explanation just barely scratches the surface of this book, however. The story begins with Johnny Truant, who learns of the death of a man named Zampanó and discovers a chaotic stack of papers in the man's empty apartment. As he starts to put them together, his life starts to fall apart.

The papers involve a heavily footnoted critical analysis of what may or may not be a documentary called The Navison Report, which reveals the story of the family in the house with dark, abysses in its corners.

At every layer, there's the chance that the person recording the story and their own story could be falsifying, shifting the meaning, changing the story. Yet, despite all this layering, I managed to still connect with the Navidson family and feel for their ordeal. The house lost none of its unsettling terror and there was more than one night I found myself staring into the dark of my room thinking about this book, body tense with anxiety and fear.

Since the book is told through Johnny Truant and his assemblage of discovered papers, it's a bit disjointed as parts of it have been torn up, burned, or lost in some form or another. The assemblage sometimes unfolds in knots of disjointed text and footnotes that barely seem to make sense, at other times, almost all text seems to vanish from the page. In each case, the nature of the text on the page parallels the experiences of the family and companions who attempt to explore and discover the secrets of the house.

This is a book that certainly will not work for everyone. The layering, the disjointed text takes more work to get through, and might cause some to loose the thread of the story and connection with the characters.

For me, this book worked perfectly. I adored it and will definitely be buying it again, so I can read it again.

A Very Long Footnote:
Before I ever knew there was a book called House of Leaves, I used to listen obsessively to a CD called Haunted by musician Poe. The CD was fascinating to me, because if listened to from beginning to end, it unfolds a story of a woman trying to deal with the death and the ghost of her father, trying to reach out to her mother, and trying to find a way to let go of the past.

The CD is in part a tribute to Poe's father. Following his death, she found recordings of her father speaking on a great many subjects and she incorporated these into the interludes and spaces between the main songs. These interludes create a kind of dialog between her and her dead father, in essence, between her and his ghost.

At one point in the CD, a little girl's voice speaks out amid eerie sounds and says, "They say it's a house of leaves." This line stuck with me more than any other on the CD. You could even say it haunted me.

It wasn't until years later that I learned that there was a book titled House of Leaves and I began to wonder if Poe had been referencing the book.

I later learned that Poe's real name is Anne Decatur Danielewski; she's Mark Danielewski's sister. The two had discovered their father's tapes together and had each been inspired by them. The book and the CD are companion creations and echo each other in several ways. I love learning about these kinds of connections.

For example, Poe's biggest hit off the CD, "Hey Pretty," features Mark reading from an abbreviated chapter of the book (which when I think about it is super sexy, and since they are siblings makes it kind of gross).

Several of the songs have titles that reference the book, including my favorite song "Five and a Half Minute Hallway" and an unsettling mixture of voices and sounds called "House of Leaves".

A few of the lines from the songs are quoted in the book in several places, which kind of influenced my reading a bit, bringing perhaps more depth and meaning to lines and phrases that might have seemed off hand to those who have not heard, or loved the CD as I have.

122mamzel
syyskuu 2, 2014, 4:05 pm

Wow! Talk about a small world! That's cool that you found the connection between the musician and the author.

123andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:57 am

>122 mamzel:
It made me feel all smiley inside to realize what was going on. :)

* * *

55. The Essential Edgar Allan Poe (audio book) by Edgar Allan Poe (***)
Category - Part II - Standard - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die

As a teenager, I used to list Edgar Allan Poe as one of my favorites, which looking back was kind of disingenuous, since I only ever read "The Raven," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Tell-Tale Heart," and those because they were assigned in school. Though I loved with these stories, I never really reached for his work for pleasure. It was always too difficult to get into.

This audio book pulls together some of Poe's greatest hits, both stories and poems, as well as a facinating biography. I found listening to Poe a great way to approach his stories. It really helped me get into the stories, though it didn't work as well for poems (which may have in part been due to the reader).

"The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Tell-Tale Heart" were by far the most readable. Each are dark, thrilling stories.

"The Facts in the Case of Monsieur Valdemar" was also facinating, involving a case in which a man hypnotized a corpse. It was strange and horrifying.

"Enjoying The Murders of Rue Morgue," feature a representation of the brilliant detective, who recognizes details and makes deductions no one else notices, similar to Sherlock. The murders are brutal and the reveal is strange. This is quite a good one.

"The Premature Burial" felt very much like a memoir with an introduction about the nature of fear and a historic look at premature burials in specific. There is nothing fantastical about the story and it was a little slow, but it was interesting.

"The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Mask of the Red Death" were the headrest to follow. I wasn't that into them.

After finally getting around to reading a good chunk of Poe's work, he's not my favorite, but his work is certainly worth a read.

124andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 12:57 am

Category: Part III - Connected Miscellany

The Worm by Elise Gravel (****)
Connection: Worm in the Titles leads me to...
Wormwood by G.P. Taylor (**)
Connection: Wriggly, Icky Creatures in the Titles leads me to...
Parasite by Mira Grant (*****)
Connection: Sal, the main chracter in Parasite has an irrational fear of seeing other people's teethe, which leads me to...

56. Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz (****)

This was a fascinating magical fish story, in which Rudy moves to an island in order to try to save his younger brother's life. The island is empty of teenagers his own age, as everyone there is seeking the same magic cure that his family is. It leaves him lonely and wandering, and his wandering leads him to discover a fish boy named Teeth. (So refreshing to have a merman story!) He is drawn into a friendship with Teeth, which could endanger his brother's life.

This book does an excellent job mixing the modern world with a true fair tale feel. It also handles Rudy's emotions well, showing how he at once longs for his old life and his boredom and at the same time his deep, deep love for his brother. He's a brilliantly crafted character.

The book delves into some dark territories, but evades easy answers or solutions. The ending leaft me feeling a little heartbroken. I will definitely be picking up more books by this author.

125andreablythe
syyskuu 3, 2014, 1:22 am

57. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line: Veronica Mars #1, by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - From My Bookshelf

My sister bought this for me because we both loved the. Veronica Mars TV show and movie. The first book in the new line of novels occurs several months after the movie. Veronica is working at her father's detective office while her dad recovers from his injuries (he's not happy about her current line of work).

The novel is right on tone with the TV show and managed to transition into adulthood well. Popular characters from the show crop up here and there (almost like a seedy Where's Waldo), and I could hear their voices in my head as I was reading.

While I'm sure this might be a bit lite for avid mystery readers, I found the mystery interesting with a good set of twists along the way. The book does a good job of filling the hole for those who still long for the return of the show.

* * *

58. The Science of Herself, Plus... by Karen Joy Fowler (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - From My Bookshelf

I wasn't sure what to expect from this little book. I didn't know Fowler (best known for the The Jane Austen Book Club wrote science fiction until I read this book. It provides a set of stories and nonfiction essays.

"The Science of Herself" provides a biography of Mary Anning, who became known for being and expert of fossils, digging them out lyme cliffs under treacherous conditions. She kept detailed research about the pieces she dug up and sold, even positing her own theories. Jane Austen is discussed in comparison because she visited Lyme and because Anning would not have made it into Austen's novels. A facinating read.

"The Motherhood Statment" discusses the exploration of motherhood in science fiction novels an called for more such discussions to be made.

"The Pelican Bar" is a subtly fantastical story abou girl sent away by her parents to be "fixed". The tale is dark and bleak and so, so good.

"More Exubrent Then is Strictly Taseful" is an interview with a random set of questions that didn't flow well. They jumped around too much into too many random territories for my taste.

"The Futhur Adventures of the Invisible Man" is a great coming of age story. A man remembers the year he played baseball, revealing how his mom changed the story to suite her needs.

I have three or four more books in this "Plus..." Series and I'm very curious what they will reveals.

126christina_reads
syyskuu 3, 2014, 9:53 am

>125 andreablythe: Good to know about The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line! I'm a big fan of "Veronica Mars" as well, so I was debating whether I should pick up the book.

127andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 15, 2014, 12:17 pm

August Progress

Books Finished: 7
1. Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Echo
2. We're All Infected: Essays on AMC's The Walking Dead, edited by Dawn Keetley
3. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
4. The Essential Edgar Allan Poe (audio book) by Edgar Allan Poe
5. Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
6. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line: Veronica Mars #1, by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham7.
7. The Science of Herself, Plus... by Karen Joy Fowler

Total for the year: 58

Favorite Read:
Easy – House of Leaves is so freaking good.

Worst Read:
Foucault's Pendulum was slog.

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
Blue by George Elliott Clarke
Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (2/3)
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Only one more giant volume to finish the Thousand Nights!

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (3/6)
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (4/6)
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (5/6)
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (3/6)
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (5/6)
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (4/6)

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 4/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 1/whatever

128-Eva-
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 3, 2014, 2:02 pm

House of Leaves has been on and off my wishlist so many times! (And might even have been on Mt. TBR for a while.) I guess it goes back on the wishlist... :)

129andreablythe
syyskuu 5, 2014, 3:09 pm

>128 -Eva-:
Nice! I highly recommend it!

130andreablythe
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 17, 2014, 6:33 pm

59. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing

Steal Like an Artist is more of an inspirational, rather than practical, how-to book. It dispenses some of the epiphanies Kleon has come to discover over the course of his life as a creative artist and writer. He shares his advice with a mixture of plain-speak narrative, attractive black and white design, and illustrative artwork.

Most of these epiphanies felt rather elementary to me, being things I already knew or had a sense of — such as, “Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.” And yet, though this is not new information, I still found it refreshing to hear this advice again. The easier or more common a piece of advice is, the easier it is to push that advice to the back or your mind. Reading them again, reminds me and reinvigorates me.

The titular bit of advice, "Steal like an artist," Kleon reveals is in a sense another way of saying, "There's nothing new under the sun." The idea isn't to enact plagiarism, but to know that every experience, every book read, movie watched, every debate with a good friend intensely discussed feeds the creative machine of your mind. This both frees up artists trapped in the desperate search for originality to just sit down and create work, while also urging them to seek out experiences that best feed their work, enacting a kind of selective inspiration.

Most of the advice in Steal Like an Artist is designed to free the artist from obstacles, so that they create. It's a perfect book to read when you're feeling stuck.

131andreablythe
syyskuu 19, 2014, 12:51 am

60. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (****)
Category: Part II - Standard - From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die

This collection of short stories is a fantastic introduction to Sherlock Holmes. Each story presents a new mystery for the great and brilliant detective to solve, as told by his good friend Watson.

The first story, "A Scandal in Bohemia," rather brilliantly introduces The Woman, Irene Adler, one of the rare individuals to actually outsmart Holmes. Love her character.

"The Five Orange Pips" is another fantastic story, which includes mention of the KKK.

In general, I enjoyed each and everyone one of these stories, even the few in which I guessed the perpetrator of outcome. The stories do not always involve criminal cases and Holmes does not always catch his villain. I love that not all the stories have a clean resolution. Sometimes Holmes just doesn't bother giving the client justice as modern readers would expect a hero to do. Sometimes he is denied achieving resolution due to powers outside of his control. It all makes for great reading.

Holmes is such an enigmatic and interesting character. His addiction to cocaine is mentioned but not expanded upon. His ego and love of revealing his cleverness is clear. I didn't notice Watson's annoyance with these qualities (except for once), so much as I noticed his awe over Holmes' mind and intelligence. In fact, Holmes seemed to be a bit less put-offing here than I've seen in shows or movies.

Anyway, the writing is great and concise, the characters are interesting, and the mystery reveals are fun — I'll definitely be reading more Holmes stories in the future.

132rabbitprincess
syyskuu 19, 2014, 5:51 pm

A classic collection! :) Glad you enjoyed it!

133-Eva-
syyskuu 20, 2014, 12:19 am

I do love the original Holmes stories - they just don't get old.

134electrice
syyskuu 22, 2014, 5:29 am

>131 andreablythe: Yeah more love for Sherlock, I need to read the books, especially as I have the whole collection at home :)

135andreablythe
syyskuu 23, 2014, 7:15 pm

>132 rabbitprincess:-134
I'm looking forward to reading much more Holmes!

136mathgirl40
syyskuu 23, 2014, 10:31 pm

I really enjoyed your review of House of Leaves and the story about the author's sister. I'd read the book a few years ago. I'd like to read it again one day, and I'll definitely have to check out Poe's music before doing that!

137andreablythe
syyskuu 24, 2014, 1:41 pm

>136 mathgirl40:
Thank you! I hope you enjoy Poe's music. I'm a big fan. :)

138cammykitty
syyskuu 30, 2014, 12:15 am

You're making me want to pick up Holmes right now. I haven't read him since I was a teen.

139andreablythe
lokakuu 1, 2014, 5:17 pm

61. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (*****)
Category: Part I - Standard - From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die – FINISHED!

Oh, my god! Guys! Hey, guys! I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Susan Trinder is a sixteen year old thief, known as a fingersmith, in Victorian London. When Gentleman comes to her family with an opportunity to con a young, innocent woman out of her fortune, Susan signs on and agrees to pretend to be her maid.

And that's all I'm going to tell you about it, because to say one word more risks spoiling too many things. What happens in this story is brilliant and surprising and oozes with moral grey areas.

Someone compared this to Dickens and I think it's an apt description. Many of the characters exist either in London's underground or in the obscure wealthy and each one is a unique and fascinating character. You could see them coming right out of a Dickens novel (think: Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, perhaps, or Fagin from Oliver Twist). The plot could also be considered quite Dickensian, I think. Although, for me, Waters is infinitely more readable than Dickens.

Although, I've only read this one book by her, I've also heard amazing things about Tipping the Velvet and I can already tell she's going to fall in with my all-time favorite authors.

140andreablythe
lokakuu 1, 2014, 5:25 pm

62. Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft,
Locke & Key: Head Games,
Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows,
and Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (*****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels

I've counted these four as one for this challenge, since I've read each one before. And let me say..., just as damn good the second time around as the first. Maybe even better.

63. Locke & Key: Clockworks, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (*****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels

Here, at last, we get to see into the past and learn how the keys are made and how things got so bad. Art continues to be gorgeous. The story continues to be fantastic.

64. Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (****1/2)
Category: Part II - Standard - Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels - FINISHED

I'm not sure all the characters lived up to what I hoped for them, especially for Kinsey. However, this is a gripping and satisfying conclusion to the series. This is among my favorite graphic novel storylines.

141andreablythe
lokakuu 1, 2014, 5:38 pm

September Progress

A very slow reading month. Wow.

Books Finished:
1. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
3. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
4. Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft,
Locke & Key: Head Games,
Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows,
and Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez
5. Locke & Key: Clockworks, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez
6. Locke & Key: Alpha & Omega, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez

Total for the year: 64

Favorite Read:
Fingersmith. Seriously. Guys, go read this, if you haven't already.

Worst Read:
None.

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
I would have finished Contact by Carl Sagan if the last CD of the audio book hadn't been so damaged as to be un-listenable. Ug. I'm waiting for the paper back version so I can finish it out, and it'll be a long wait, since I'm currently traveling for two weeks in Germany.

Also, still working on Blue by George Elliott Clarke and Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older

And.... I've started The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 3 at 855 pages. Aye. ;)

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (2/3)
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Only one more giant volume to finish the Thousand Nights!

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (3/6)
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (4/6)
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (6/6) – FINISHED!
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (6/6) – FINISHED!
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (5/6)
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (6/6) – FINISHED!

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 4/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 1/whatever

.

Despite it being a slow month, I've finished off three more categories and have only seven books in my Part I and Part I categories to go!

142DeltaQueen50
lokakuu 1, 2014, 5:56 pm

>139 andreablythe: Oh, my god! Guys! Hey, guys! I LOVED THIS BOOK!

I felt the same way about Fingersmith, quite simply an excellent read!

143lkernagh
lokakuu 1, 2014, 11:11 pm

>139 andreablythe: - A 5 star read?! Wow..... Even better, I think I already have a copy of that one. I just checked and yes, I do have a copy. Oh dear, did you just say that this compares to Dickens? *slight whimper* Well, at least you mentioned Miss Havisham as an example. She is part of the reason Great Expectations is my favorite Dickens read to date. My Waters experience is currently limited to The Little Stranger which I LOVED but a number of readers here will probably agree is a different type of story by Waters. I also have heard amazing things about Tipping the Velvet although I admit to being tempted to watch the movie adaptation of that one.

144andreablythe
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 2, 2014, 1:42 am

>142 DeltaQueen50:
So good! It stuck with me for days. I could hardly put it down.

>143 lkernagh:
I have a hard time with Dickens, too. It's not so much the writing style, which in Dickens can be dense and hard to follow for me, but more the interesting assortment of odd and unusual characters and the twisty plotlines. Waters is supremely readable compared with Dickens.

There's a mini-series for Fingersmith, too, which I will definitely be watching just as soon as I can. I'll hold off on watching Tipping the Velvet until after I've read the book. I don't want watching it to color my experience. :)

ETA: I looked up The Little Stranger... a ghost story?? I'm in!

145RidgewayGirl
lokakuu 2, 2014, 2:03 am

Oh, Fingersmith is fantastic. It's the plot and characters who are Dickensian, not the pacing! (I say that as a fan of his books). And the plot is twisty to an outrageous degree, but it all works.

146AHS-Wolfy
lokakuu 2, 2014, 8:17 am

There's so many graphic novels that I want to get to and Locke and Key is certainly amongst them. Glad to see you enjoyed it so much and that it holds up well to a re-read.

147-Eva-
lokakuu 4, 2014, 9:47 pm

My plan is to have Locke and Key as a Halloween-read. It looks great!

148andreablythe
lokakuu 5, 2014, 4:08 am

>145 RidgewayGirl:
Yes, yes, exactly!

>146 AHS-Wolfy:
I don't know what else you have on your list, but I'd recommend jumping it up at least a few levels. ;)

>147 -Eva-:
Nice. It'll make a great Halloween read. :)

149andreablythe
lokakuu 5, 2014, 5:19 am

65. Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie (****)
Category: Part Four - Just Because

Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Captain Hook, Smee, Tinker Bell and all other now famous characters make, what I believe to be, their first appearance here. Pan leads Wendy and her brothers off to Neverland and they have many adventures. And the narrator has a lot of opinions about what happens along the way.

All the movie adaptations make the story light and magical and innocent, but this book is actually very creepy in parts. There are some unsettling aspects, such as the idea that mothers flip through our thoughts when we're asleep and take out the bad ones or that Peter might just forget you after taking you on an adventure, leaving you stuck. There's the fact that battles are bloody and real and many other things that make this not the nice neat children's story that I expected it to be.

None of that even addresses the problematic representation of the "Indians," who are said to be of the "Picaninny" tribe. According to wikipedia, the term was once affectionate, which may be how Barrie thought of it when writing — but it has long been thought of as derogatory at this point, so that part doesn't hold up well.

That aside, Peter Pan is a great magical, adventure story. The characters are semi-one dimensional, but that suits the fairy tale tone. There's a reason the story has become a popular classic.

150andreablythe
lokakuu 15, 2014, 5:50 pm

I am back home from Germany, which was a really draining trip involving a lot of work and networking and socializing with strangers, combined with not much time for fun touring around and some frustrating experiences when I did. So, I'm exhausted. I'm planning on pulling together a few thoughts for my blog, which I'll also share here when I get a chance.

In another news, I'm finding that a drawback of reading on my iPad is that I get far too distracted by the mind numbing games on there and end up playing them instead of reading. Sometimes this is okay, because I need a mental break. Other times it feels obsessive (must get to next level!) and out of control, which is not good.

I'm still reading Long Hidden, a collection of speculative fiction short stories and have started A Study in Scarlet, but mostly my reading has been slow or almost nil over the last couple of weeks.

151lkernagh
lokakuu 15, 2014, 9:20 pm

Welcome home!

152RidgewayGirl
lokakuu 16, 2014, 11:08 am

Welcome home! I'm sorry Germany was not a great success. Did you make it to Munich?

153rabbitprincess
lokakuu 16, 2014, 5:32 pm

Hope you can grab plenty of relaxing moments for yourself now that you're home. Socializing with strangers is such a drain on energy!

My problem with reading on the iPad is that I forget I have books on there. Physical books are much better at nagging me to read them.

154DeltaQueen50
lokakuu 16, 2014, 10:44 pm

I'll add to the "Welcome Home" wishes. It's good to have you back Andrea.

155andreablythe
lokakuu 17, 2014, 12:55 pm

>151 lkernagh: & >152 RidgewayGirl:
Thanks for the welcomes! I did not do much touring this time around. Just a single day trip to Köln. But in past trips (my company goes to Germany every two years), I've made it out to both Munich and Berlin, which were both fantastic fun. I especially love Berlin.

>153 rabbitprincess:
I totally agree! I do the same thing with the ebooks and physical books. I find I'm so much more focused with a physical book, too.

>154 DeltaQueen50:
Thanks! I'm so glad to be back, believe me. :)

156-Eva-
lokakuu 17, 2014, 3:49 pm

Welcome back - too bad you didn't get to do some proper touristing.

157hailelib
lokakuu 19, 2014, 11:31 am

>150 andreablythe:

You've described why I've resisted putting games on my iPad. If I had them I would never do anything else!

158andreablythe
lokakuu 19, 2014, 12:26 pm

>156 -Eva-:
That's all right. I mean, I love touristing, but I honestly didn't have the funds to spend in extending my trip.

>157 hailelib:
I know. Hours and hours have been lost to silly games. I've deleted games before to try to save myself but it's too easy to redownload them. Then I'm lost all over again.

_____

For those interested, I've posted a blog about my wandering a in Germany. Normally I would cross post it here, but I'm feeling too lazy at the moment to go out to a coffee shop for proper internet access. (Doing this on my phone.)

159-Eva-
lokakuu 19, 2014, 5:34 pm

>158 andreablythe:
That was great!!! Love the photos too.

160RidgewayGirl
lokakuu 20, 2014, 11:09 am

Thanks for posting the link. I've also been stuck in that out-of-the-way hotel. It's such a waste, when there's so many better options out there. Stumbling onto the Frieda K. sounds fantastic, though.

161andreablythe
lokakuu 20, 2014, 6:55 pm

>159 -Eva-:
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm trying to be more narrative with my travelogues, so it's nice to know it works.

>160 RidgewayGirl:
The Frida K was a lovely discovery. It made me so happy. I would go back to Quedlinburg just to visit that cafe again. :)

162andreablythe
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 23, 2014, 11:49 am

66. Contact (audio book), by Carl Sagan (*****)
Category: Part II - Standard - Science Fiction and Fantasy

"In the scant few decades in which humans have pursued radio astronomy, there has never been a real signal from the depths of space, something manufactured, something artificial, something contrived by an alien mind.
...
And yet the origin of life now seemed to be so easy — and there were so many billions of years available for biological evolution — that it was hard to believe the Galaxy was not teeming with life and intelligence."

– from Contact by Carl Sagan


So many alien contact stories, especially those presented in movies, show a hostile force invading the Earth, forcing the human race to rally together in order to fight back. This is perspective is often driven by humanity's history of violence and colonization, as well as human paranoia, such as with 1950s alien invasion movies as a metaphor for Cold War fears.

While I've enjoyed many an alien invasion stories (most recently, Falling Skies), I find myself drawn to and prefer first contact stories that are more positive or, at least, more ambiguous.

I think that is part of what made me love the movie Contact so much, when it was released in 1997, that story of ambiguous first contact with alien life based in scientific plausibility. It was a story not wholly built on paranoia and allowed for interesting perspectives to come through — How would people and government and religious groups react if an alien signal arrived from space? Plus it featured a complicated woman, heading the scientific investigation, played by the amazing Jodie Foster. I still get chills just rewatching the movie trailer.
"I'll tell you one thing about the universe, though. The universe is a pretty big place. It's bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So if it's just us... seems like an awful waste of space."
— from Contact (movie version)

It's taken me a long time to get around to reading the novel, but it's been on my to-read list ever since I've seen the movie. I'm so glad I did.

Both the novel and the movie generally follow the same storyline: a team of scientists, lead by Ellie Arroway, discovers a radio signal in space, from the star Vega, and begin to decode a message that ultimately leads to an astounding adventure. But whereas the movie, due to it's limited time frame to unfold the story, is extremely American-centric, the book allows for space and scope to expand into a look at how other nations handle the situation, as well as presenting a more thorough understanding the science. It's the science and the knowledge that the Earth rotates that makes the international scope necessary — a single array of telescopes can only capture the signal from Vega for a short part of the day or night before the Earth rotates away and looses contact with the signal, requiring a global network of radio telescopes along every longitude.

Another thing the book expands upon wonderfully is the character of Ellie, who we see from her birth up through her team's first discovery of the signal and onward. It shows a determined and intelligent woman, who find through science and discovery a sense of wonder in the world and how it works. And, since the story is primarily told from Ellie's point of view, that sense of wonder is settled into the necessary scientific explanations throughout the book, making me want to look at the world with new eyes.

In the face of proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life, the book posits, the world began to grasp a feeling of greater perspective and unified perspective that we are all human. As a result, the Earth's most powerful nations, the U.S., Russia, and China, began to dismantle their nuclear stockpiles as a part of renewed negations. Reading this, I couldn't help but cry and long for some signal to reach us. Our world, in which the world news seems to present announcements of new, bloody conflict everyday, could use a shift in its universal perspective.

"My fondest hope for this book is that it will be made obsolete by the pace of real scientific discovery," writes Sagan in his Author's Note. We're not quite there yet, I don't think, but I hope we will get there.

163lkernagh
lokakuu 23, 2014, 9:39 am

Contact is on my future movie watching list.... I know, for some strange reason I haven't seen it yet. Maybe this weekend. I am very happy to see the book received a 5 star rating from you!

164andreablythe
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 23, 2014, 5:11 pm

>163 lkernagh:
I don't know how big of a movie it was when it came out. I mean, I think it was relatively well known, but I doubt it was blockbuster status, where everyone knew about it. You're not the first to not have seen/heard of the movie. :)

165-Eva-
lokakuu 25, 2014, 6:56 pm

>162 andreablythe:
I love that movie! And the book has been on the wishlist for 15 years or so and I clearly need to do something about that. *Thumb!*

In my posse, if someone in the group takes too long to get ready when we're going somewhere, the others will follow them around and go, "I'M OK TO GO!" until they're done. Haha!

166hailelib
lokakuu 26, 2014, 2:54 pm

I've had the book for a long time and never read it. Sounds like I should definitely give it a try.

167andreablythe
lokakuu 28, 2014, 5:42 pm

>165 -Eva-:
OMG! I love that. I may have to start using I'M OKAY TO GO in everyday life now. (Not that anyone I know would get it.)

>166 hailelib:
Yes, you should! ;)

168mathgirl40
lokakuu 28, 2014, 6:26 pm

Great review of Contact. I've never read it nor have I seen the movie, but I've read several of Sagan's non-fiction books and enjoyed them very much.

169andreablythe
lokakuu 28, 2014, 6:31 pm

>168 mathgirl40:
This was the first book of his that I've read. I'd like to read more from him. I'll look into the nonfiction books.

170andreablythe
lokakuu 28, 2014, 6:56 pm

Welp, I definitely made my category challenge too complicated this year. Just too many Part and Topics and variables, because somehow my numbers are off. I'm apparently at 68 books, not 67 like I previously thought (unless I'm screwing up the recount, which is also possible). I'm not sure where I messed up and it's too much work to figure out, so I guess I'm on 68...

*

68. Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older (*****)
Category: Part II - Standard Categories - Science Fiction and Fantasy (6/6) – FINISHED! Woohoo!

I received this book as a reward for supporting the kickstarter project that made it possible. "Most written chronicles of history, and most speculative stories, put rulers, conquerors, and invaders front and center," the editors wrote in the project description. "People with less power, money, or status—enslaved people, indigenous people, people of color, queer people, laborers, women, people with disabilities, the very young and very old, and religious minorities, among others—are relegated to the margins."

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History provides alternative narratives, presenting the stories of people that the history books usually ignore. A wide ranging variety of voices populate this excellent collection of stories, offered alongside an individual black and white illustrations, also in a variety of styles. The stories are anchored in time and place, with the date and setting noted at the top of each one, this connection with real-world history makes these stories of the fantastic more believable. There was not a single one in this collection that I didn't like and, for me, the stories ranged from good to utterly fantastic. Below are a few of my personal favorites.

In "Free Jim's Mine" by Tananarive Due escaped slave Lottie and her Cherokee husband are running for freedom. Along the way they seek out her Uncle Jim for help in their escape, but they find out that Uncle Jim's help has a price.

As I'm a sucker for great Baba Yaga story, I had to fall in love with "Across the Seam" by Sunny Moraine. The gritty setting of a coal mining town on the verge of a strike suits the story well. (Moraine has a great blog post about how the story ties in her own family history.)

"Angela and the Scar" by Michael Janairo was a bloody and yet delightful story about a girl and her kapfre (a cigar smoking trickster fairy that lives in the trees) aiding in the fight against the white strangers in the Philippines.

"Perhaps the best tales are only half-told," writes Benjamin Parzybok in "The Colts," a story of the undead that was surprisingly human, haunting, and unexpected.

"Nine" by Kima Jones tells the story of three women and their young boy, who live and work in a lodge and tavern that serves people of color outside of town. This story socked me in the gut in the best of ways.

"It's War" by Nnedi Okorafor is a tale of a girl who can fly, set in 1929 Nigeria. Such a lovely story with so many feels.

"Medu" by Lisa Bolekaja is a magical hair story, about a young girl and her dad as cattle herders in the Wild West. I love seeing alternative visions of the west, in which the focus is on more that the great white cowboy. So damn cool!

Nicolette Barischoff's "A Wedding in Hungry Days", which is the sweet story of a young, lonely ghost who weds a young, lonely boy. So good, it made me cry. The story is paired with this gorgeous illustration by Eric Orchard.



171andreablythe
lokakuu 30, 2014, 6:55 pm

69. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (****)
Category - Part II - Standard - From My Bookshelf

Elisa bears the Godstone, a diamond-like jewel in her belly that marks her as destined to perform some great act of service in the future — if she can survive in the turbulent times ahead with war on the horizon. When she is secretly married on her sixteenth birthday to a king in a neighboring country, she finds herself thrust directly into that turmoil.

I enjoyed seeing Elisa's personal transition. Her story, as much as it is about war, adventure, love, and magic, is also very much about growing up and meeting the challenges life puts in front of you, something especially difficult when you're young. In the beginning, she's struggling. She feels useless and like and outcast, believing her sister hates her and that her family is happy to be rid of her through marriage. She eats to sooth her emotions. She's a large girl and because she compares herself with her slender, graceful sister, she indulges in further self-loathing. Some readers might find her whiny, but I could sympathize with Elisa. Being a teenager can really suck. I know, I've been there. I've spend a fair share of my teenage days hating my body and feeling like an horrible, ugly unwanted outcast. Maybe that's a part of the reason why it was so cool seeing her grow as a person as she faced each new challenge, becoming stronger in confidence, body, and soul.

Something I also really liked was the world-building and setting. The towns and people's names are inspired by the Spanish language and the people are generally dark skinned. The setting is jungles and the deserts and hills, so not the typical British Isles-style feudal fantasy.

While the religion described in the book seemed a little too simple and too widespread with no competing belief systems, I appreciated that there were variations in how characters approached their belief. In fact, it's the variations in interpretation that causes much of the overall problems throughout the book.

While far from a perfect read, The Girl of Fire and Thorns was enjoyable. I'll be picking up the sequel soon.

172andreablythe
marraskuu 1, 2014, 2:36 pm

70. The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson (*****)
Category: Standard - Part II - From My Bookshelf — FINISHED!

Scotch thinks her biggest problems are her over protective parents, facing her ex boyfriend, and pulling together her dance moves before the big competition. But then the Chaos, a worldwide cataclysmic event in which the rules of physics become patchy — a volcano appears in the middle of Toronto, Sasquatches and other strange creatures start appearing on the streets, and people are changing. Her brother goes missing, people are dying, and a black blemish is quickly spreading across Scotch's body.

The Chaos that plunges into the world is strange, unsettling, and sometimes terrifying, like if Salvidor Dali and Franz Kafka envisioned the apocalypse. This kind of story could have quickly gone off the rails, but Hopkinson handles it deftly with vivid descriptions and an array of compelling and interesting characters. And I really liked that those characters represented a diverse set of backgrounds with none of them coming off as token characters.

There was so much strangeness and so many horrible things that I wasn't sure how this story could possibly end, but I needn't have worried; the ending was perfect and left me clutching the book to my chest, not wanting to let it go.

*

71. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (audio book) by Robert Louis Stevenson (****)
Category: Part Four - Just Because

I'm not sure the original Hyde lives up to the figure of threat and evil that pop culture has made him over the years. But this novel is short and fairly suspenseful — or it would be, if I didn't already know the answer to the mystery of Mr. Hyde and why Dr. Jekyll is protecting him. The story is quick and it's a classic worth visiting.

173andreablythe
marraskuu 1, 2014, 2:52 pm

October Progress

Books Finished:
1. Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie
2. Contact (audio book), by Carl Sagan
3. Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older
4. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
5. The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson
6. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (audio book) by Robert Louis Stevenson

Total for the year: 71

Favorite Read:
The Chaos was creative and kinda mind-blowing.

Worst Read:
I wasn't as compelled by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but it wasn't a bad read.

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
Making progress on The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 3 and should finish before the end of the year.

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (2/3)
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (6/6) - FINISHED
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (6/6) - FINISHED
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (6/6) – FINISHED!
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (6/6) – FINISHED!
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (5/6)
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (6/6) – FINISHED!

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 4/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 3/whatever

2 MORE CATEGORIES COMPLETED, leaving me with only two left to go. Woo!

174andreablythe
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 1, 2014, 2:59 pm

So this is what my month of November looks like:

1 - trip to the U.K. for work with a couple of days to tour

3+ - wedding events to attend, including the Bachlorette party, rehearsal, and actual wedding itself

1 - sister to help move into her new apartment

2-3 - Thanksgiving dinners, depending on how the family dynamics turn out this year

30 - blog posts to be written, one per day for a blogging challenge

50,0000 - words that have to be written for Nanowrimo, because there is something wrong with me

And somewhere in the midst of this an unknown number books to be read, runs to be run, and interaction with friends and family have to be fit in.

The likely outcome:

0 - chance of sleep or survival

175RidgewayGirl
marraskuu 1, 2014, 3:01 pm

Ha! I started reading your post, thinking, "well, she won't be doing nanowrimo," and then I got to the part about doing nanowrimo! Good luck. I have a much lighter month, and am still frantic about getting far enough ahead to weather the activities at the end of the month.

176andreablythe
marraskuu 1, 2014, 6:24 pm

>175 RidgewayGirl:

I wasn't intending to do Nano, and then I started writing a blog post in order to make my excuses and I realized I really need to be doing Nano. This decision came at 10 am this morning.

177-Eva-
marraskuu 1, 2014, 7:51 pm

" too much work to figure out, so I guess I'm on 68"
That'll work!! :)

Good luck on Nano!

178rabbitprincess
marraskuu 1, 2014, 11:17 pm

I hope you will be able to sleep on the trip to and from the UK! The flights are always the worst part for me. I can't sleep on planes so this usually means that for the first day I'm up for over 24 hours straight.

Best of luck getting through the month!

179lkernagh
marraskuu 2, 2014, 9:42 am

You have one very busy month a head of you. Good luck with Nano!

180DeltaQueen50
marraskuu 2, 2014, 3:21 pm

Wow, I'm tired just reading about your month. Good luck with Nano, travelling, wedding, moving, Thanksgiving and blogging! Whew!

181LittleTaiko
marraskuu 2, 2014, 6:22 pm

Good luck surviving November!

182mamzel
marraskuu 3, 2014, 12:04 pm

Folks, we have an uber-achiever in our midst! That you have any time to share your activities with us is humbling. Good luck on Nano this year. I had no inspiration so am not even trying.

183andreablythe
marraskuu 3, 2014, 12:44 pm

>177 -Eva-:, >179 lkernagh:, >180 DeltaQueen50:, &>181 LittleTaiko:
Thanks for the luck, everyone! I'll need it.

>178 rabbitprincess:
Yeah, the flights are rough. I can usually sleep a bit on the way there, though it's so uncomfortable that I usually end up feeling like I shouldn't have bothered. One of my tricks for sleeping when I arrive is to take no naps before bed, to essentially get myself so exhausted I just HAVE to sleep.

>182 mamzel:
Haha! Oh, man, I haven't think of myself as an uber-achiever, but I guess I can say so since I added Nano. ;)

I understand about the no inspiration. I spent the past few months completely incapable of writing anything creative. Joining Nano was a way for force myself to break out of that feeling of being stuck.

184andreablythe
marraskuu 28, 2014, 7:40 pm

It's been rather busy since I've come back from London. I was a bridesmaid in a good friend's wedding. There was a lot to do, including the bachlorette party, the rehearsal and dinner, a girl's night with the other bridesmaids, and then the wedding. It was a lot to do, but it was lovely and so joyful.

I've also taken the entire week off work for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I've been trying to write for Nanowrimo and spending time with family and friend. Hanging out with family has been the priority though, so I'm helplessly behind on Nano. Though since the point was just to get me writing, I feel like it has been a success so far.

Turning back to London, I had an amazing time. I packed as much as humanly possible into the two days as possible. I really loved visiting Shakespeare's Globe and and seeing the poppies art installation at the Tower of London, among other things.







But my favorite moment, by far, was attending a performance of 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore by John Ford. I read the play as part of a class in college, though I didn't really get it at the time. Seeing it performed by this amazing troupe of actors, though, I discovered that the play was hilarious and captivating. It was one of the best performed plays I've ever seen.



The story is about a young man who falls in love with his sister. When he comes to her to confess his love, begging her to kill him or love him, she matches his love and the two begin an incestuous affair. Meanwhile, the sister is being courted by three different suitors. As the tale unfolds and the desires of each of the characters overlaps and conflicts, several plot lines of revenge evolve and unfold into bloodshed. I kind of think of it as a deliciously thoughtful, 17th century, campy horror movie.

The setting of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse also added to the atmosphere as it is a replica of a Jacobean style candle lit theater. The entire performance is in the candle light with some scenes played with the players lighting themselves by holding candelabras. Though the play was three hours long, it never once dragged. I left the playhouse feeling elated, having seen an amazing performance.

If anyone is interested, in addition to the posts I linked to above about the globe and the Tower, I also have some posts up with some random thoughts about the art at the National Gallery and the Tate Modern (i'm linking rather than crossposting, because the posts are too long):
St. Michael’s a jerk and other paintings at the National Gallery
Imaginary Architectures
What makes a story a story and other thoughts at the Tate Modern

185andreablythe
marraskuu 28, 2014, 8:21 pm

72. Sleepwalk by John Saul (**)
Category: Part Four - Just Because

I've had this on my bookshelf for ages and finally picked it up because it was a lightweight paperback to take on the plane. It served its purpose as something to read, but it annoyed me in several ways. The main character was a teacher; I was a substitute and my sister and friend are teachers, and the descriptions of classrooms and schools in the book did not ring true. None of the characters were particularly interesting either and the evil corporation conspiracy storyline was cliche. Plus the story involved around the concept "noble natives" as connected to nature compared to the people in town people who blindly working at an oil refinery, which is destroying nature. It all felt like it was borrowing old ideas, tropes, and stereoypes mixed together into a novel. Not a winner.

186cammykitty
marraskuu 28, 2014, 8:33 pm

Ouch! Sleepwalk! Will skip that one, but I will be looking for Long Hidden. Nnedi's story there sounds like it was probably a short story that her novel Zarah the Windseeker grew out of. I may have the title slightly wrong because no touchstone is coming up. You might like to check that out. And if you haven't read Steven Barnes yet, you should. He is Tananarive Due's husband and they are quite a pair. They seem made for each other.

187rabbitprincess
marraskuu 28, 2014, 8:35 pm

London! So jealous! Glad you got to see some fabulous sights.

188-Eva-
marraskuu 29, 2014, 7:03 pm

Sounds like a successful, if short, London-trip!

189andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 30, 2014, 1:45 pm

>186 cammykitty:
That may be so. I don't know much about Zahrah the Windseeker, but I've been meaning to read it.

I haven't read Steven Barnes yet either, but I'll check out his work. :)

>187 rabbitprincess: & >188 -Eva-:
Thanks, ladies! It was great. :D

* * * * * * * * * *

November Progress

Books Finished:
1. Sleepwalk by John Saul (**)

Total for the year: 72

Favorite Read:
n/a

Worst Read:
n/a - I didn't finish enough books to determine either a best or worst.

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
Most of my reading time in November has been focused on The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 3 and I'm about 500 pages in to the 850 page book.

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (2/3)
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (6/6) - FINISHED
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (6/6) - FINISHED
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (6/6) – FINISHED!
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (6/6) – FINISHED!
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (5/6)
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (6/6) – FINISHED!

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 4/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 4/whatever

2 official categories left to go. Woo!

* * *

In non-reading news for November, I would like to point out that I attended all events and I wrote 21 blog posts and 14,500 words on the NaNoWriMo novel. No where near a full completion, but enough that I'm in a happy place. :D

190christina_reads
joulukuu 1, 2014, 4:08 pm

Congrats on your NaNo progress! I have never gotten that far. :)

191lkernagh
joulukuu 1, 2014, 9:02 pm

I am super impressed you accomplished all that you did in November, and stayed sane in the process! ;-)

192RidgewayGirl
joulukuu 2, 2014, 3:15 am

My laptop died a cat-assisted death on the fifth, losing me my first 10,000 words and taking the wind out of my NaNo. I plan to keep working on it, with the new laptop I'll pick up when we're in the US in a few weeks. Probably, a woman of greater grit and determination than me would have managed regardless.

You went to two of my favorite museums in London.

193mamzel
joulukuu 2, 2014, 10:38 am

>192 RidgewayGirl: I'm so sorry. With only one month to write, losing 10,000 words would definitely deflate me. Maybe you could backup on the cloud next year and save yourself that pain.

194andreablythe
joulukuu 2, 2014, 11:43 am

>190 christina_reads:
Thanks! Any words are good words as far as I'm concerned.

>191 lkernagh:
I'm not sure my family would describe me as having stayed sane, but thanks! ;)

>192 RidgewayGirl:
Holy frack. I think I would start weeping, if that happened to me and it would definitely dampen my spirit, too. (This reminds me that I need to back up the info on my computer.)

I have had a computer die on me and then took it into a computer shop. They were able to take the hard drive out of the computer and recover a large chunk of the data. You might be able to try that.

195andreablythe
joulukuu 12, 2014, 1:04 pm

73. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (*****)
Category: Part Four - Just Because

Book description:
"In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means "Who Fears Death?" in an ancient African tongue.

Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny-to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture-and eventually death itself."

I loved many things about this book, fantastic post-apocalyptic worldbuilding, fascinating characters, and a captivating storyline, full of complexity. The writing is clean, giving Onyesonwu a clear voice as she narrates her life story.

Onyesonwu is a wonderfully interesting character, full of both anger and compassion, able to strike out and provide healing, desiring revenge and yet not wanting to engage in the violence she sees around her. Likewise, her companions and teachers (there are many) are complicated too, with a variety of motivations and assumptions based on traditions or superstitions.

The story includes descriptions of rape, genocide, female circumcision, stoning, child soldiers, and other real-world violence that is horrifying (and sometimes hard to read), and yet handled with honesty, precision, and care. In the face of all this horror, the story could have easily turned into a downer, but hope, love, and friendship are weaved into the story as well. The story is powerful, deeply resonant, and one to think about long after having put it down. An amazing work of art.

I will definitely be reading more by Nnedi Okorafor.

196DeltaQueen50
joulukuu 12, 2014, 11:25 pm

Your review of Who Fears Death has definitely delivered a book bullet. I am very intrigued by this one.

197andreablythe
joulukuu 15, 2014, 12:10 pm

>196 DeltaQueen50:
Nice! I hope you enjoy it. :)

198andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 17, 2014, 2:48 pm

74. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 3
Category: Part I - Listopia - A Thousand Nights – FINISHED!!!!!



I have officially finished all three volumes of The Arabian Night, a 2,715 page journey!

Volume 3 comprises nights 719 to 1001, as well as the "Aladdin, or the Magic Lamp" standalone story. This third volume has proven to be my favorite, as there is less repetition (same kind of story followed by same kind of story) than in the previous books and some stories that begin on well trodden themes actually branch of in surprising directions. Adventures, romances, and comedy tales mix together with morality tales in a broad spectrum of stories, many of which I found rather fun and interesting.

Shahrazad's Tale Comes to an End

As I mentioned, in my review of volume 2, we can see Shahrazad's story and dramatic progression through the tales she tells, guiding King Shahriyar to a different perspective on women. By volume 3, I get the sense that Shahrazad has relaxed, which allows her to explore a greater variety of tales. She probably senses him coming around and so can use the tales more as entertainment than for moral and philosophical lessons.

Though, there is one clear exception to this toward the end of the 1001 nights. In general, Shahrazad has veered away from concluding stories with morals, but in one particular tale, she compares a woman who is an adulteress and a traitor to a woman who is loyal and virtuous. At the end of the story, she states, "Whoever thinks that all women are alike is suffering from a disease of madness for which there is no cure." Since the King has been marrying, bedding, and then executing one woman after another, because he believes every woman to be just like his adulteress wife, this statement seems to be pointedly directed at him.

The story concludes as we all know it concludes, with the King respecting Shahrazad as a good, virtuous woman and granting her her life. The most shocking aspect, however, was the fact that at the end of all this storytelling, Shahrazad presents the King with his three sons, whom she has given birth to over the course of all these nights of tales. I mean, really? He didn't notice her belly growing and shrinking during all these nights they've spent together?

Love for Miriam and other clever women of the Arabian Nights


One of the things I've come to appreciate about these stories is that, taken as a whole, they provide a wide spectrum of kinds of women. I've mentioned how women are presented in my reviews of both volume 1 and 2. While there are certainly types — the pure, virtuous virgin, the evil, plotting adulteress, the wickedly clever old woman — there is also great variety that strays outside these parameters. The adulteress, for example, is not always evil or punished. Women sometimes appear as heavily armed, strong fighting armies. And women are just as likely to be the ones to come up with the clever plan to escape a dangerous situation.

My favorite character in the entire set of three volumes, by far, is Miriam the Girdle Maker. She annoyed me at first as a vain, superficial, and arrogant slave girl. Able to choose who would buy her, she was reject many merchants for being ugly, fat, stupid, or too bearded, making up poetry to mock them as she did. While this ties in to how the Arabian Nights tend to honor beauty as equal to goodness and I could respect her clever and sometimes humorous snark, I wanted to tell her that life isn't all about looks. As expected, she chooses Ali Nur al-Din to buy her, because he's very handsome, even though he has to spend all his money to make the purchase.

Once she begins to live with Nur al-Din, she is able to save him from his new poverty. Turns out she's known as the Girdle Maker, because she can craft beautiful girdles and cloaks out of fabric, which Nur al-Din is then able to sell at the market to sustain them.

Her abilities don't stop there, however, because it turns out her name is Miriam and she is a princess of the Franks. When her father's adviser later comes to bring her home, parting the two lovers, it is Miriam who continually outwits and frees them both from her father and the adviser's clutches.

– Miriam disguises herself as a male ship captain and slays her father's sailors to escape with Nur al-Din.

– On her second escape, Miriam tries to ride off on great stallions with Nur al-Din, only to be pursued by her father and brothers. She calls out to them to fight her and she fights them with grace and skill. As the story says, "She was the bravest warrior of her age and unique in her time, for ever since she was a little girl her father had taught her how to ride and plunge into the waves of battle even in the darkest of night."

By the time, Miriam was battling great warriors like a noble knight, I adored her.

I only wished she had fallen in love with and chosen a better companion for herself, because Nur al-Din is pretty much useless. He starts out the story by getting drunk and knocking out his own father's eye, spends most of his time wallowing in loss of Miriam and relying on luck and help from others to stumble his way back to her, leaves her alone in the boat to get recaptured the first time, and then during the second escape falls asleep, allowing the horses to be stolen, leaving Miriam to outwit the thief and return to save his sorry ass. Seriously, he's not even moderately clever and Miriam deserves much better.

When Love at First Sight Goes Awry

As with fairy tales and Arthurian romances, love at first sight is taken as noble and normal in the Arabian Nights, though in some cases it leads to unhappy consequences. Take, for example, the character Zain, who is so beautiful just about every man she comes into contact with falls in love with her. When her husband drags her off to another city in order to keep her from her lover, she uses her beauty to convince every magistrate in the city that her husband is wicked and that she will marry the magistrate, if only he would help her. She then slips away in the night to escape her husband, leaving all the magistrates and their servants to waste away and die in love for her.

Later, Zain in her flight back to her lover stays at a monastery, only to have abbot and forty monks also fall in love with her, each of whom likewise wastes away and dies when she leaves.

I could argue that Zain is certainly the first femme fatale in the story books. Also, this death and mayhem is so dramatic and absurd that it's funny and it makes me wonder if this story is in mockery of the "love at first sight" concept.

People of the Sea

Two stories in volume 3 feature sea people (or merfolk) stories. In one, a King falls in love with a sea woman and tricks her into becoming his concubine. She gives birth to a son that can breathe underwater and this prince later falls in love with princess of the sea. He wins her only to later fail one of her tests, causing them to be parted and forcing him to journey to find her.

The second story is much more interesting and tells the story of a fisherman who catches a seaman in his net. After releasing him, the two become friends and the merman brings jewels and precious stones in exchanges for bowls of fruit. Later, the fisherman travels with the seaman under the water and you get to see how the seafolk live. At one point they mock the fisherman for having two legs and wearing clothes.

Bits, Oddities, and Humor

Here are just a few other random things that amused me.

– When someone tells/has told a tale, it's often said that the story is "so remarkable that, were it written with needles on men's eyeballs, it would serve as a lesson for all who can learn." Which leaves me wondering, who is going around writing on people EYEBALLS? Though likely this little odd word choice it more due to translation problems.

– The story Badr, in which he meets a woman named Queen Lud, who turns people into animals, reminded me quite a bit if the story of Odysseus and Circe. I wonder if one story may have influenced the other.

– In one story, Qamar al-Zaman, a young man falls in love with another man's wife. He befriends the husband in order to find a way to meet and be intimate with the wife, which results in this hilarity: The husband "kept on talking about these qualities until, thanks to him, his wife had fallen in love with his Qamar al-Zaman description — and there is no greater pimp than a husband who describes a man to his wife as both handsome and generous with his money." Too funny.

– People apparently lived to ripe old ages in these tales. One King was said to be 180 years old, while his Vizier was 280.

– I rather enjoyed the story of Khalifa the fisherman, a humorous tale in which the hero plays the fool, calling out "Praise be to God" at every misfortune that befalls him. His foolishness leads him to mistaking the Caliph for a beggar and making other mistakes that draw him unawares into court intrigues.

– Characters often blame fate, destiny, or the will of God for their misdoings, as in, "I'm so sorry I tried to kill you, but it was decreed by fate that I should do this terrible thing, so don't blame me and offer me forgiveness." In many cases, the people are forgiven, some to repent and some to do harm again. Only once did I see a wise young man point out to a wrongdoer that God granted men freewill and therefore he should take responsibility for his own actions.

In Conclusion

This year long journey through all 1001 nights of tales, including the supplemental stories “Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves“ and "Aladdin, or the Magic Lamp," has been epic and well worth the effort.

199mamzel
joulukuu 16, 2014, 10:24 pm

Congratulations on finishing this epic book! I love your comments about the story especially the one about fate or Allah's will.

200christina_reads
joulukuu 17, 2014, 2:39 pm

>198 andreablythe: Wow, congratulations on finishing!

201andreablythe
joulukuu 17, 2014, 4:41 pm

>199 mamzel: and >200 christina_reads:
Thanks. It's been a fun journey.

202andreablythe
joulukuu 17, 2014, 6:20 pm

75. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (****)
Part Four - Just Because

The Crown of Embers is the second book in a series and picks up where The Girl of Fire and Thorns ends. At seventeen years old, Elisa is a hero and a queen with enemies at every side, a war scarred kingdom to rebuild, an army to raise, and the truth about her godstone and destiny to figure out — not to mention choosing a prince consort to marry and ensure her countries stability.

Though this is clearly a middle book, strung between the beginning and the end, it was better than the first book. The story opens just a few months after a battle and things seem almost cheery and hopeful, but the ease is quickly ripped away when an assassin comes for Elisa during her birthday procession, causing a rippling effect of panic and riots throughout her kingdom. This is immediately followed by a succession of bloody near-death incidents, court intrigues, and difficult decision making that leaves me never wanting to be the ruler of any country EVER. Elisa grew a lot in the first book and here we see her grow even more as she tries to figure out just what it means to be a queen and rule.

Like the first book, there is also a love story and this, too, was a more interesting story to me, more grown up and more complicated. Her reasons behind holding back are understandable; she's a queen, she must show propriety in all her actions, and she must choose a partner who will help consolidate her power. Love has little to do with marriage in her world.

Altogether a solid story and I can't wait to read the final book.

203andreablythe
joulukuu 18, 2014, 6:35 pm

76. Siberiak: My Cold War Adventure on the River Ob by Jenny Jaeckel (***1/2)
Category: Part Four - Just Because
Note: This was an ARC provided by the publishers through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

Siberiak is a graphic memoir about Jaeckel's experiences during the end of the Cold War, when she took part in a young ambassadors program in Russia. The group of American students flew to Russia and joined up with a group of Russian students and together they took a journey down the river Ob, camping, speaking and laughing in pantomime, and partying by the campfire.

The art is cartoony, with animal headed characters playing out the travelogue, which fits with the lighthearted tone of the story. For the most part, relations between the two cultures are pleasant with the Russian communities being very open and welcoming. Conflicts are few and far between. The story is not riveting, being a soft narrative of a mostly peaceful journey with rained out roads and blisters from rowing. But though light, it was entertaining enough and interesting to learn that such delegations existed.

204andreablythe
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 19, 2014, 6:14 pm

77. Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Hepperman (****)
Category: Part II - Standard Cats – The Universe in Verse - Poetry – FINISHED!

Fairy tales neatly blend together with the lives of teenage girls in this darkly funny collection of poems for teens. Definitely from a girl's perspective, these poems explore unfortunate boyfriends, friendships, girl-on-girl cruelty, and other teenage nightmares using the fantastical and strange. As the Hepperman explains, these poems show how a teenage girl walking down the street can feel as though she's trapped in her own personal tower. Many of these poems are simple, narrative poems told from the point of view of a villain or an innocent, if you believe one is any different from the other. The book is also illustrated with fantastical and surreal black-and-white photography, often evoking fairytale imagery.

A lot of these poems focus on body image, weight issues, anorexia, and so on. It was by far the most common theme among the poems. And for the most part Hepperman explores these issues artfully, though at times it seemed as though there was too much focus on this subject, the impact dulled by overuse and the ultimate message eventually feeling somewhat trite. However, some of these body image poems were also my favorite in the collection, as with "The Wicked Queen's Legacy", which shows how easy it is to become obsessed with self-image.
It used to be just the one,
but now all mirrors chatter.


In fact every reflective surface has opinions
on the shape of my nose, the size

of my chest, the hair I wash and brush
until it's so shiny I can see myself

scribbling notes as each strand
recommends improvements.

— from "The Wicked Queen's Legacy"

One of the things I really enjoyed about this collection was how darkly funny many of the poems were. For example, the poem "Big Bad Spa Treatment" describes how you can get sumptuously treated with "deep-tissue Massage Mallets, / leaving you loose / and gristle free" and a "honey barbecue facial mask". And the evil queen doesn't stop at Snow White in "Assassin," but laboriously works to take out Sleeping Beauty, Gretel, Bo Peep, Goldilocks and others in her need to be the fairest.

While I can't say this was the best collection of poetry I have every read (I think there is more mature work out there), it was certainly enjoyable and I would recommend it for just about any teenage girl. I think it would resonate with that age group quite a lot. I would have been obsessed with this collection as a teenager, reading it dogeared and copying quotes down in my journals. I remember facing my own self loathing around my body in high school and the awkwardness I felt around my peers, and I'm sure this book would resonated. It might have even made me feel stronger, as though I could face the world with courage and awesome.

205-Eva-
joulukuu 20, 2014, 10:38 pm

>198 andreablythe:
Huge congrats on finishing!!! I had hope for this year too, but it didn't happen for me. Another year....

206andreablythe
joulukuu 22, 2014, 5:59 pm

>205 -Eva-:
Thanks! I hope you have fun when you get a chance to read it. :)

207lkernagh
joulukuu 24, 2014, 6:26 pm

>198 andreablythe: - Congratulations on finished The Arabian Nights unabridged and, if I am not mistaken, your challenge. That is huge! Good job!

Stopping by to wish you a Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2015, Christina!

208andreablythe
joulukuu 24, 2014, 6:41 pm

>207 lkernagh:
Thanks, Lori!
I totally forgot to post that I had finished the challenge. Lol.

A Merry Christmas to you as well!!

209DeltaQueen50
joulukuu 24, 2014, 7:57 pm

Merry Christmas, Andrea. I hope Santa is good to you!

210rabbitprincess
joulukuu 24, 2014, 9:06 pm

Congrats on finishing your challenge, and Merry Christmas!

211cammykitty
joulukuu 24, 2014, 9:53 pm

OMG! You finished The Arabian Nights!!! I'm about halfway, with Sinbad still. Big congrats for that! & yes, I did get Long Hidden. Hopefully I'll get to read it next year. Speaking of, Happy New Year! Er, Uh, I suppose I should wish you Merry Christmas first.

212andreablythe
joulukuu 25, 2014, 9:37 pm

>209 DeltaQueen50:
Thanks, Judy. Santa was very nice to me. No books, unfortunately, but I got some great running gear.

>210 rabbitprincess:
Thanks! Merry Christmas to you too!

>211 cammykitty:
Thanks! It was quite an adventure. I hope you enjoy Long Hidden. And a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too!

213andreablythe
joulukuu 26, 2014, 6:30 pm

78. The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson (***1/2)
Category: Part Four - Just Because

It feels good to finish out a series all in one go, something I haven't done in a while. As this book is a direct continuation of the previous book, I won't talk much about the plot due to spoilers.

This book felt a bit more disjointed and scattered in it's plot than in previous books, with a lot of threads of story wrapped up fairly quickly and perhaps too neatly. However, Elisa really reaches her true heroic potential in this book, becoming a powerful rival both with and without the power of her godstone. She's clever and formidable. Though she's young, ruling a kingdom at seventeen, it's clear that she will likely grow into even a stronger ruler as she ages. The trilogy concluded in a satisfying manner and I enjoyed the journey.

214andreablythe
joulukuu 30, 2014, 11:36 am

79. Audacious (a novel in verse) by Gabrielle S. Prendergast (****)
Category: Part Four - Just Because
Note: This book was an ARC provided by the publisher through the Early Reviewers program.

"I'm wary of them
Their glossy lips hide sharp fangs
And I have been bitten
One too many times."

After a spat of problems at previous schools, Raphaelle decides to remake herself at her new school as Ella, a good girl who fits in and doesn't say or do the wrong things. But her plan is short lived. The popular girls are quick to mock her and she finds that her audacious self soon shines through. She makes friends with Samir, a Muslim boy in her art class, she is drawn to. Each of them is pulled aside to make an art piece for the student art competition, and each comes up with a society challenging piece of art that evoke their frustration with their lives and the world, drawing a considerable amount of controversy and problems.

This novel is written in free verse and in some cases this means prose broken up into lines and stanzas. However, Prendergast does a good job of making each poem feel whole within itself and presents some good poetry in the mix of telling the story.

“The weight of that name
Is sometimes a mountain
With a cave of secrets

And sometimes a feather
Floating on a puff of air”


I didn't expect to like this story as much as I did. I didn't expect events to take the turns they did or the characters to be as fully fleshed out as they were. I have to say it was a very pleasant surprise.

215andreablythe
joulukuu 30, 2014, 1:38 pm

80. This One Summer written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki (****)
Category: Part Four - Just Because - AND THAT's THE END of 2014!

Rose travels to a beach cottage with her parents every summer, where she always hangs out with her summer friend Windy. But this one summer things are not as light hearted as they used to be. Rose is growing up and feeling caught between longing for an older boy and hanging out with her younger friend. Her mom is dealing with some sort of depression and can't seem to have fun. Her dad is trying too hard.

This is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about a summer in which nothing happens, and yet everything seems to be changing. The art is purple and blue toned, whispy, reflecting the floating, absent, lazy feeling of a summer by the water. Somehow in the midst of these lazy days, Rose's life shifts and we can see her not quite, but beginning her journey into adulthood. An excellent graphic novel.

216andreablythe
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 1, 2015, 3:23 pm

December Progress

Books Finished:
1. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (*****)
2. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 3 (****)
3. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (****)
4. Siberiak: My Cold War Adventure on the River Ob by Jenny Jaeckel (***1/2)
5. Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Hepperman (****)
6. The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson (***)
7. Audacious (a novel in verse) by Gabrielle S. Prendergast (****)
8. This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (****)

Total for the year: 80

Favorite Read:
Who Fears Death was visceral and powerful and oh, so amazing.

Worst Read:
None that I didn't like this month

Books Still in Progress at the End of the Month:
I just started Palimpsest today.

Category Progress
Part One - Listopia
1. A Thousand Nights (3/3) - FINISHED
2. Door Stoppers 2/2) - FINISHED
3. Pulitzer - Nonfiction (3/3) - FINISHED
4. Pulitzer - Fiction (4/4) - FINISHED
5. Bram Stoker Awards (5/5) - FINISHED
6. Newberry Medal Winners (6/6) - FINISHED
7. Nebula and Hugo Awards (7/7) - FINISHED

Total for Part I - 30/30

Part Two - Standard Style Categories
1. From My Bookshelf (6/6) - FINISHED
2. Science Fiction and Fantasy (6/6) - FINISHED
3. Nonfiction and/or Books About Books/Writing (6/6) – FINISHED!
4. Panel by Panel – Graphic Novels (6/6) – FINISHED!
5. The Universe in Verse - Poetry (5/6) – FINISHED!
6. From 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (6/6) – FINISHED!

Total for Part II - 36/36

Part Three - Connected Miscellany - 4/whatever

Part IV - Just Because - 10/whatever

***

Welp, I've finished my challenge. Less than my normal average for reading in a year, but I'm feeling good.

A round up of best books of the year is to come!

217AHS-Wolfy
joulukuu 30, 2014, 3:49 pm

Congrats on completing your challenge!

218rabbitprincess
joulukuu 30, 2014, 6:45 pm

Woo hoo!! Congratulations!!

219lkernagh
joulukuu 31, 2014, 12:43 am

Congratulations on ending on a high note!

220paruline
joulukuu 31, 2014, 11:53 am

Congratulations!

221hailelib
joulukuu 31, 2014, 1:39 pm

Congratulations and have a good reading year in 2015!

222-Eva-
tammikuu 1, 2015, 11:00 pm

Congrats on finishing!!

223andreablythe
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 9, 2015, 9:46 am

Thanks, everyone! It's taken me a while, but here are my final 2014 book stats and favorite reads. I read a total of 83 books (if you count each of the Locke & Key books separately), of which there were:

Fiction - 56
Nonfiction - 8
Graphic Novels - 11
Poetry - 7
Audio Books - 8
DNF - 2

The Top Ten

1. The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan
2. Among Others by Jo Walton
3. Red Shirts by Jihn Scalzi
4. The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson
5. Contact by Carl Sagan
6. The City & The City by China Mielville
7. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
8. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
9. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
10. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Best Science Fiction Novel

Contact by Carl Sagan blends science and wonder into a hopeful first contact story.

Best Fantasy Novel

Told through the Mori's journal, Among Others by Jo Walton felt deeply personal, sharing the story of a young girl with a physical disability, a love for science fiction and fantasy books, and a belief in fairies. One of the things I loved about this book is how the fairies and magic are presented as mundane and ordinary and oh, so believable.

Best Horror Novel

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is almost possible to sum up in a single sentence, full of "found" writing, notes, and footnotes — a story about finding a story about a documentary about a family that moves into a House that is more than it seems. This is a book that takes some patience, but nevertheless has the power to deliver chills.

Best YA Novel

The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson is a magical apocalypse story, in which a teenager called Scotch thinks her biggest problems are her over protective parents, facing her ex boyfriend, and pulling together her dance moves before the big competition until a cataclysmic event throws the world into chaos. This story is strange, unsettling, and sometimes terrifying, as though Salvidor Dali and Franz Kafka envisioned the apocalypse. An inventive and fast paced book.

Best Short Story Collection

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older provides alternative narratives, stories of people that the history books usually ignore in a fantastic collection of speculative fiction stories.

Best Graphic Novel

I have to name the Locke & Key series, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, which I read in its entirety this year. The story follows the Locke family, who move to their uncle's large old house in Lovecraft, Massachusetts to make a new start following the murder of their husband/father. The mother is trying to hold it together, the eldest son is racked with guilt, the daughter (who already saved her younger brother once) is trying to disappear into the crowd, while the youngest, Bode, explores the ghostly world of their new home. The house they move into is full of doors and hidden keys, which do allow the kids to do all sorts of strange, wonderful, and frightening things. Beautifully illustrated, bloody, emotionally complex, and just plain awesome.

Honorable Mentions: I loved Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks for it's sweet, funny storyline, and This One Summer, written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki for it's bitter-sweet tale and gorgeous artwork.

Best Poetry Book
Hum by Jamaal May is a stunning collection of poetry, thrumming with rhythm and beautiful imagery highlighting "the inner lives of Detroiters.”

Best Nonfiction Book

Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King tells the story of a court case Marshall worked on with many other members of the NAACP, in which four young black men (known as the Groveland boys) are accused by a white woman of rape in Groveland, Florida, in 1949. This book is rich in historical detail and is so captivating it reads like a thriller novel.

Most Epic Read

The Arabian Nights, Vols. 1-3 was an epic journey through Shahrazad's 1,100 nights of folkelore and tales, which was over 2,000 pages in length. It was a fun journey full of viziers and kings, villainous and virtuous women, and an assortment of magical creatures.

So that's it! 2015, here I come!

My 2015 thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/184001

:D

224RidgewayGirl
tammikuu 9, 2015, 2:28 am

I loved Fingersmith, too. And Devil in the Grove is on my radar. Good to know that it's worth reading.