New Year’s Reading Resolutions

It’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging for very nearly one whole year.  Where does the time go?  So much has happened this past year, I’ve written about books I liked, didn’t like, loved, tried out some meme’s, attempted to follow Canada Reads and even created a few fun reading challenges.  My accomplishments this past year were many (I sense a list coming): 

1.    Read 62 books.  

2.    Managed to read 12 books of Canadian Literature.

3.    Read 7 (count’em) books from my TBR bookcase.

4.    Not only read 15 books from my library holds list, but cleared out my holds backlog entirely

 

Quite an accomplishment all round!

 

So as I head into this new year, a little older, hopefully a lot blog wiser, I’m starting off first thing with some New Year’s Reading Resolutions (aka Challenges).

 

Resolution #1:  Keep reading that Canadian Literature

Yes, this year I will once again challenge myself to read one CanLit book a month, or 12 in the year (more if I can manage it).  But the twist is to read new authors (and there’re plenty of them to choose from).  So, Timothy Findley, and all other CanLit favs (like Alice Munro, Judy Fong Bates, Margaret Laurence, Carol Shields, David Adams Richards, Robertson Davies … basically anyone I’ve already read) won’t count should I read any of their works.  Now that’s a challenge and a half!

 

Resolution #2:  Read more TBR bookcase books

Those of you who know me well and/or read my blog will know that I have an entire 5-shelf bookcase full of books not yet read.  Last year I tried to stop buying books until I’d read 5 from this bookcase and well, like any New Year’s resolution, it was broken before I’d barely started.  So, this year I’m stepping it up a notch.  Again, if you’ve read any part of my blog, you’ll know I’m addicted to my public library’s holds feature on their online catalogue.  I love, love, LOVE to put books on hold.  Books I eventually want to read, even if it’s three years from now.  So, to keep me on the straight and narrow this is what I propose for this resolution:

 

I have to read one (1) book from my TBR bookcase for every book I borrow from the public library.

 

YIKES!!!!

 

(You can stop laughing now C.  Seriously.  Stop.  Now.)

 

Resolution #3:  Because I can’t get enough of these challenges…

And because I want to read more of the classics, I propose to read six (6) classic novels published prior to 1900.  And because resolution #2 is already freaking me out, I’m going to be gentle with myself and say that anything read for an English Lit course counts in this category (whew, now I just have to pick the right classes this year!)

 

Are you making any reading resolutions for this year and if so, what are they?

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

How wonderful would it be to read your favourite story to life?  To bring the characters forth, into this world, with just the magic of your voice?  In Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart, bookbinder Mortimer (Mo) Folchart has this very gift.  He is called “Silvertongue” by the very characters he brings to life.  Unfortunately, these characters are villains in their world and have not changed for the better in ours.  The other drawback to Mo’s gift is that something or someone in this world must leave – a life exchanged for a life if you will.

 

Capricorn and his henchmen live in abandoned villages throughout Europe, wrecking havoc and filling people’s hearts with terror wherever they roam.  Capricorn’s thirst for evil is never quenched, and so for nine years he has been searching for Mo, indeed from the very day Mo read him from the pages of Inkheart into the world as we know it.  Capricorn’s one aim is to have Mo read his savage beast into being to fulfill Capricorn’s every dastardly desire.

 

Mo makes his living as a bookbinder, traveling throughout Europe giving new clothes to old books, with his twelve year old daughter Meggie in tow.  His wife disappeared when Meggie was but three, into the very story Mo read Capricorn out of.  Mo’s quest for the ensuing nine years has been to both avoid Capricorn’s clutches and to find a way to read his wife back out again.  He fails at both, and soon both he and Meggie become Capricorn’s prisoners, desperately trying to escape his clutches and find a way to send him back to his rightful story.

 

Funke’s book has an interesting premise, one that quickly captured my interest when I discovered it quite by chance, catching the movie version on TV.  However, the book failed on many counts for me.  First, it was very slow moving.  Inkheart is the first in a trilogy, telling Mo and Meggie’s fantastical story and it failed to grasp my interest.  I struggled to make my way through the book, never quite able to decide if I liked the book or not.  I’m still not sure.  When it did finally pick up, in the latter hundred pages or so, I was still left with some dissatisfaction, namely that Meggie, though twelve years old in the novel, reads like a much younger character, and this left a discordant note to the story, one I struggled to get past.  Also, the book is set in modern day, complete with cell phones, yet reads more like a classical fantasy novel akin to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, with its talk of fairies, trolls and mystical beings such that every time a cell phone was mentioned I was jarred back out of a story I had worked so hard to get into.  There in again lies the problem – a reader should not have to work so hard to immerse oneself in a story, but should fall in with ease, meeting up with characters who are as comforting as old friends.  Inkheart unfortunately left me cold and struggling to maintain interest in the story.

 

Till next time, L is looking for a better book to read...

Cheers! :)

The Blessing Stone

Barbara Wood’s The Blessing Stone is an ambitious novel.  It begins three million years ago when a meteorite hits the earth, wiping out the dinosaur population and creating a blue crystal that purportedly has the power to change lives.  Speed forward to 100,000 years ago and we delve into the world of prehistoric woman, following the tale of Tall One as she discovers the magical blue crystal and leads her people safely away from their ancestral, nomadic home at the base of an imminently erupting volcano.  As millennia and centuries pass, we follow the blue crystal as it traverses this wide world we live in, experiencing for a brief time, the lives of the various people who inherit it, by one means or another:  The Lady Amelia in Rome in the days of early Christianity who through her courage becomes a saint; Mother Winnifred, prioress of St Amelia’s abbey in medieval England, who uses the gift of courage imbibed by the blue crystal, to ward off a Viking attack, and so on. 

The premise of Wood’s novel is intriguing and yet the blue stone is just an inanimate object that one cannot begin to care about.  I enjoy novels that are character driven, and at first I enjoyed the book very much, connecting with the characters in prehistoric times as they struggled for survival and to make sense of this world we live in.  Yet, as the novel moved into more recent historical times, I found myself more and more removed from the subsequent characters and their stories.  The novel read more as a narration of this stone’s journey than a story of real people and their triumphs and failures.  And so I was left wanting more. 

 

The Blessing Stone’s central message of femininity and female power, of women’s role as mother creator usurped by the male Christian god is soon bogged down by mediocre characters and a final message that the stone is just a stone after all and the power to change your future lies within yourself.  Wood’s novel, while starting off strong and interesting, soon wallows with mixed messages and it is unclear to this reader, just what it is she is trying to say.

 

A great beginning, and well worth the read up until book six (of eight) or so, though the threads of the story clearly start to unravel around book five.  Just one reader’s opinion.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :)

Alison Weir's The Lady Elizabeth

Alison Weir’s novel of the early life of Elizabeth I, before her rise to the throne is a captivating account of the childhood of the most fascinating British queen in all of history.  The Lady Elizabeth is a fictionalized novel deeply rooted in historical fact, rich in historic detail with strong, well-defined characters that kept me enthralled, avidly turning the pages until the book was finished.  I am now left wanting more: more Elizabeth I and more Alison Weir!

 

Beginning from age three, when her mother, the famous usurper of King Henry VIII’s affections Anne Boleyn, is executed, the novel traces Elizabeth’s life through various stepmothers, the birth of her younger brother Edward VI, Henry’s death and both Edward’s and elder sister Mary’s ascension to the throne of England.  It traces political intrigues at court that threaten Elizabeth’s very existence and throughout these events, we witness the forming of Elizabeth’s character, as she famously forms opinions about marriage and the role of women in society.  It makes for fascinating reading.

 

Alison Weir is to be commended for bringing history to life in an enjoyable novel that reads with delight and is a breath of fresh air from the usual stodgy biography.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :)

L finally reads Sue Grafton

I am admittedly a mystery novel novice.  The majority of my reading life, up until this past decade, has been taken up with romance novels, so it is no surprise that as I move further into the mystery genre, I am only now discovering Sue Grafton and her “alphabet mysteries.”  I have to say, I’m impressed.

 

For a first novel, A is for Alibi totally blew me away and I’m left wanting more Kinsey Millhouse, the “female hard-boiled private investigator” of Grafton’s series.  The book had everything I wanted in a mystery novel – lots of characters to choose whodoneit from, and a strong female protagonist that kicks butt when required.  The book left me guessing right up until the very end, and though I had my suspicions, they didn’t prove to be true until the last few chapters. 

 

I like strong female protagonists, and in Kinsey, I found a woman who doesn’t just get the job done, she also delves into her own psyche and experiences real, heartfelt emotion.  She became a real living and breathing person for me, unlike a certain Eve Dallas of In Death fame who tends to be more robotic and often far too prickly for this reader to commune with.  Kinsey is a down to earth character that I wouldn’t mind spending more time with, so the “alphabet series” has just topped my mystery novel reading list.

 

For those of you familiar with Grafton’s novels, you will know the first book was published in the early ‘80’s, 1982 to be exact, when I was a mere babe.  I don’t often enjoy reading pop fiction from so far back, because it’s usually very dated, with references to clothes, cars, slang and other cultural norms of the time.  Grafton’s novel was surprisingly, a timeless read for me.  Other than my wondering why Kinsey just didn’t give out her cell phone number, or whip out a cell phone when she was in a jam, it read like a current novel and I had to keep reminding myself it was written and published in the ‘80’s.  Well done, Grafton!

 

In A is for Alibi, Kinsey Millhone is hired to solve an 8-year old murder by the woman who was wrongfully accused.  After so many years, the trail has all but gone cold and as Kinsey starts digging and asking questions, more bodies begin to pile up.  Will the real killer be caught before Kinsey herself meets her maker?  Read this delightful novel and find out for yourself :)

 

Till next time, happy holiday reading

L :)

December's CanLit pick

The exam is written, the semester over, I can finally read all I want for pure enjoyment.  Woohoo!!!!  I celebrated the end of a not so fun class with Midnight at the Dragon Cafe, my December CanLit pick. 

I have heard Judy Fong Bates described as the Chinese Alice Munro, though I have not read her collection of short stories: China Dog and Other Stories.  Her debut novel, Midnight at the Dragon Cafe is the story of a young Chinese girl, Su-Jen Chou, who immigrates to Canada with her mother when she is but 5 or 6 years old.  Her father has a restaurant in the small town of Irvine, Ontario, just outside Toronto, and she and her mother join him in the family business.  Having come over so young, Su-Jen is able to quickly learn English, to go to school and get an education that will see her prosper, not slave away in a small-town family business.  It is 1957 and the Chou’s are the only Chinese family in Irvine.  Su-Jen’s mother who speaks no English soon becomes embittered with her lot, resentful of her much older husband and the poor life he offers her in a backwoods town where they are cut off from other Chinese people and their culture. 

The story is told from Su-Jen’s perspective from the time she comes to Canada until she’s around 12 years of age.  It is her assimilation into a new culture we follow, but we also glimpse the emergence of family secrets through her eyes.  Not all is readily revealed as it is filtered through the eyes and mind of a child.  Su-Jen is also torn between the modern English-speaking world she’s growing up in and the ancient Chinese culture and superstition her parents live and believe.  She is caught between both worlds, trying to make sense of each, and this dilemma adds a richness and depth to the novel.

I had not realized, though I suspected, I may have read this book before.  Some 100+ pages into the novel it dawned on me I knew this story ... at least parts of it.  But as the novel is so dense, there was much I didn’t remember, making a second reading very enjoyable.  It’s not often I happily re-read books, but Fong Bates is such an amazing storyteller, I couldn’t help but be sucked back into the world she creates, caring for her characters all over again and seeing nuances I’d missed before.

A great story that’s well worth your time.  Midnight at the Dragon Cafe by Judy Fong Bates, published by McClelland & Stewart 2004.

Till next time, happy reading

L :)

…Or Not to Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes

Marc Etkind’s book of suicide notes is, he says “pornography” and that we are “sadistic voyeur[s], transforming someone else’s pain into [our] own pleasure.”  He continues to state that “it seems wrong to make public someone’s private pain.  But this assumes that all suicide notes are meant to be private.”  All of the suicide notes in …Or Not to Be have been previously published.  Etkind brings them into this collection to discuss the similarities of these notes and to try to shed some light and understanding on the mind of a suicide completer.

 

On Easter Sunday in April of 2004 (I don’t remember the exact date, either the 11^th or 12^th – I’m terrible with dates, but I remember the Christian holiday well), my eldest brother completed suicide.  He was 50 years old.  He left no note.  For most of the year following his death, I was haunted by that eternal question: why?  I am resolved to never knowing the answer, however I had not realized until reading Etkind’s book that six years after the fact I am still asking: why?  I guess I always will.

 

Excerpt from …Or Not to Be:

 

Resume

 

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

and drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren’t lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

                                    ~ Dorothy Parker

 

Dorothy Parker attempted suicide five times, and “died at the age of seventy-three of a heart attack.”  I guess she took the advice of her own work.  Many artists complete suicide, in large part because they are often manic-depressives.  In fact, mental illness is a contributing factor in the decision to end one’s life, if not the factor for suicide. 

 

What I have learned from Etkind’s book, which not only presents suicide notes from all walks of life and eras of history, since notes were first published in the eighteenth century with the birth of literary, but also analyses their contents, that even for those who leave notes, no answer is found as to why the individual chooses suicide.  There just is no answer.

 

A remarkable book.  …Or Not to Be: a Collection of Suicide Notes by Marc Etkind, published by Riverhead Books in New York, 1997.

 

Till next time, happy reading

L

Indulgence in Death

The latest installment in J.D. Robb’s (aka Nora Roberts) In Death series starts out in Ireland, with Eve Dallas and Roarke on vacation, visiting Roarke’s mother’s family.  Of course, death never takes a break, and Dallas soon stumbles over a body.  But as the entire book isn’t set in Ireland, this murder is an open and shut case and it isn’t until the happy couple return to New York that the meat of the story takes off.

 

While Ireland was a nice interlude, it started the book off very slowly for me.  I would much rather have been thrown in to the “real” murder mystery right from chapter one.  Because it is only when Eve sinks her teeth into the murder of a limo driver does the book finally take off and become the usual page-turner Robb/Roberts is known for.

 

That being said, I still had issues with the book.  I like the In Death books, in great part due to the continuing story of Eve and Roarke and their circle of friends.  But lately, their relationship has stagnated.  They’ve settled into the happy married couple rut you know your beloved romance novel couples do, but you just don’t particularly want to read about it.  I miss the emotional angst of the turbulent early days of their relationship and marriage and having them both deal with the skeletons in each others’ past.  Perhaps Robb/Roberts has mined that part of the story for all she can.  What’s left is mediocre mystery, where the bad guy(s) stand out like sore thumbs because there’re only a handful of characters in each book and most of them are recurring.  Once again, in Indulgence in Death, we learn who done it before we’re halfway through the book and it’s just a matter of how Eve proves it.  I don’t generally like mysteries that read this way.  I’m more of an Agatha Christie fan who loves to read a book peppered with possible suspects and so many red herrings I end up smacking my head at the end, wondering why I didn’t see it, ‘cause once Dame Agatha explains all, you feel pretty silly for missing her clues.  I guess when I read, I want to think, not be instantly gratified with the solution presented before the problem is even read about.

 

But to give Robb/Roberts her due, Indulgence in Death is still one of her better installments to the series of late and although I knew who done it, the fast pace of the story kept me turning pages till the end.

 

Till next time, happy reading.

L J

The Johns: sex for sale and the men who buy it – Victor Malarek

Victor Malarek is a journalist living in Toronto.  He has done hard-hitting news segments for the fifth estate and other news outlets on the sex trafficking of women and children for prostitution and sex exploitation.  In his book The Natashas, he explores the stories of these trafficked victims.  The Johns, looks at the problem from the opposite side of the coin – the men who buy sex and create a demand for trafficked women and children.

Malarek presents the various faces of the men who frequent prostitutes, compiling research from interviews, websites and internet forums.  The picture he draws is both heartbreaking and disturbing.  Malarek posits that if there were no johns, there would be no prostitution, yet there are so many factors that drive some men to “pay for play,” many of which had me alternately shaking my head and biting back tears.  How have we come to be a society where people (men) feel so unlovable they would pay for a brief moment of pleasure because no woman could possibly want to be with them otherwise?   Or that older men see it as a rite of passage for their sons, to lose their virginity to an “experienced” woman, often setting up the encounters for them.  The scores of homicides attest to the number of men who see prostitution as an outlet for their violence, their rage, their hatred of women.  Malarek rightly points out that no other profession on earth is as dangerous as prostitution. 

Yet, how do governments fight back?  When it is the victim being prosecuted, we can’t.  Currently it is only the women who face jail time and criminal records.  The men who buy sex are cloaked in secrecy, among the so called “Brotherhood” – the cops and politicians who also “pay for play.”  In the last decade, Sweden passed into law an act that criminalizes the purchase of sex.  Johns are now fearful to buy as they will be criminally charged for their actions.  The country has seen a sharp decline in the sex trade.  If only the rest of the globe would follow suit.  Unfortunately sex tourism brings billions of dollars into impoverished countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Costa Rica and others.  Money the governments of those countries don’t want to turn away.  And so women and children continue to be trafficked and exploited.  Thankfully, voices like Malarek’s are speaking out against this travesty.

The Johns: sex for sale and the men who buy it

Victor Malarek

Key Porter Books, 2009

 

Till next time,

L

The Sittaford Mystery

I am slowly clearing out the last of my books on hold reads from the public library.  Agatha Christie’s The Sittaford Mystery was one of them.  Normally I enjoy Christie, but perhaps this read was too close to the last one or because I thought this was a Miss Marple mystery and she was nowhere to be found, but for whatever reason the book fell flat with me and I just didn’t get my usual Christie enjoyment out of it.

 

As I read further and further into the book I started to wonder why there was no mention of Miss Marple, when I was sure this was a Marple book.  No mention of her was on the cover, or the back blurb, yet when I did a Google search on the title the name Miss Marple inevitably came up.  Upon turning the final page of the novel and still no Miss Marple to be found, I returned to Google only to find the book was turned into a movie with none other than Miss Marple solving the crime.  Hmm.  Bit of literary license taken there, I’d say.

 

Well.  Humpf. 

In the novel, a neighbourly group descends upon Sittaford House one Friday afternoon for tea with the Willets, a mother and daughter new to the neighbourhood.  They have recently rented Sittaford House from its owner, Captain Trevelyan who has taken a place nearby in Exhampton.  A game of table turning is soon suggested and everyone gathers round for some physic fun.  Little are they aware that murder is about to occur or that the victim’s name will be spelled out by the “spirit” called forth.  Upon hearing that Captain Trevelyan has been murdered, the group disbands, shocked, upset.  None more so than his good friend Major Burnaby, who insists on leaving at once for Exhampton to check on the Captain, despite the snowstorm rapidly approaching.

 

In the habit of visiting, by foot, his friend each Friday, Major Burnaby trudges through the driving snow the six miles to Exhampton only to discover the murdered body of his late friend.  Who, how and why must be discovered and it is soon revealed that the Captain’s nephew had visited Exhampton on the day of the murder and left by the six o’clock train the following morning.  Highly suspicious behavour.  The nephew is quickly arrested, but his fiancé, one Emily Trefusis, insists he is innocent and sets out to prove it while discovering the real murderer.

 

All the elements of Christie are present.  Quiet village life with the usual assortment of oddball characters and a whip-smart young girl searching for truth while devoted to her true love.  I guess I just missed Miss Marple and her clever ingeniousness or Hercule Poirot with his “little grey cells”.  Stock characters perhaps, but for me, they bring Christie to life.  The Sittaford Mystery was not a terrible read, I just had trouble getting into it as it was not at all what I was expecting.

 

Till next time, happy reading.

L J

Got Debt? Get Gail!

OMFG this book is amazing!  And Gail Vaz-Oxlade is my new hero!  So many financial gurus are great at telling you what you need to do to get your finances in order.  Gail goes one step further and shows you.  Step by step with instructions that any idiot (namely me) can follow, Gail can help you turn your finances around.

Lately I have been feeling the pinch.  The pinch of spending more than I make, living off credit too often, and watching my credit balances go continually upwards instead of down.  I was playing a disastrous juggling game with my finances and my little house of cards finally came tumbling down.  Enter Gail and her wonderful manual that will help you get Debt-Free Forever should you so choose.  And baby I choose!!!  I’m so very tired of playing the credit game and knowing if I should lose my job tomorrow, I would have very little savings to carry me over to the next job, and in this economy, there’s no guarantee the next job will be there before the money runs out. 

So, I started with Gail’s first exercise:  Track your spending.  I gathered my financial papers together for the past 6 months and sat down, plunking the numbers into a most conveniently provided spreadsheet (you can change the categories, delete some or add more.  It’s a great tool to get you started).  OMG eye-opener!  Was I really spending that much each month?  No wonder I have debt.  Sigh.  Time to grow up, knuckle down, cut back, do whatever it is I need to do to get me out of this mess I’ve made for myself,

But before the budget is made and the cutting back begins, Gail takes you through a much needed exercise -- one I unfortunately skipped in my immediate need to polish up my spending habits, but that I have every intention of doing: Sit down and write out your dreams, what it is you truly want out of life and then make them your goals.  Then, when you begin to budget and pay down debt and save and cut back on your fun spending money, you have a purpose for all this hard work (because let me tell you, I desperately want to just say “budget smudget” and do all the fun things I was doing before, but reality is, that behaviour if left unchecked will put me into the poor house faster than you can pronounce Gail’s last name!).

So I’m two weeks into a new budget, one I’m managing to stick to, because it’s based on realistic figures.  Figures gathered from my 6-month spending tracker and advice from some incredibly supportive friends.  I have a solid plan for paying off my consumer debt in three years or less, a plan I feel really good about,   And I’m working on those goals – where I want to be, and what I want to accomplish 3, 5, 10 years from now,  It’s not going to be easy.  Gail doesn’t promise easy.  But she does guarantee results, if you’re committed. 

Should you embark on Gail’s plan, however, one word of caution which Gail herself addresses:  Be prepared to find out who your true friends are.  I certainly have, though not without much surprise, grief and disappointment.  Well, Gail will not only help you shed your debt, but also the users and spongers in your life.  And we can all do without users and spongers, am I right?

Gail is changing my life for the better, one penny at a time.  Cheers Gail!

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

From Stone Orchard

Timothy Findley’s endearing memoir of his experiences living at Stone Orchard, a farm near Cannington Ontario he and Bill Whitehead purchased in 1964.  Together, they lived on and loved the farm for thirty years.

 

A collection of vignettes, many of which published originally in Harrowsmith magazine Findley shares with candid detail and much humour, his adventures as a city dweller coping with rural living, the people he encounters and befriends and the many animals that shared his home there.  Stone Orchard was not only a beloved home, where many of his books were written, and some set, but it was also an animal sanctuary as Tiff and Bill rescued many cats, dogs and even horses.  Not even the mice that invaded their very walls were turned away.

 

Beautifully written and heartfelt, From Stone Orchard reminds me of the best of rural living, of community, of being neighbourly – it is the best of small town Ontario.  Findley’s love for place and people permeate every word, every sentence.  He has opened up his home and his life to his readers and it is truly a treat.  A very enjoyable read.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

L manages to read a book. Hurrah!

Yes, hurrah!  I am horribly behind in reading my programming text for the course I’m taking this Fall semester, and I’ve managed to get sick again, but all that doesn’t matter because I read a book ... purely for pleasure … and it was wonderful!!!

 

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman, author of Practical Magic (which was made into one of my all-time favourite chick flicks starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) is, according to the dust jacket, a book that “illuminates the bonds and mysteries that connect mother and daughter, sister and brother, woman and man.”

 

When she was eight years old, our unnamed narrator made a terrible wish.  She wished that her mother would die.  And her mother did.  Wracked with grief and blame, our narrator creates a fairy tale for herself in which she becomes the girl who climbed a mountain and refused to move, becoming frozen in place for all eternity.  The Ice Queen continues to function, moving through the motions of life, never really living or feeling until one day she relocates from New Jersey to Orlon County, Florida to be closer to her brother Ned.  Orlon County is a place renowned for having the most lightning strikes and lightning strike survivors and not long after her move, the Ice Queen is struck, causing a miraculous awakening in her life.

 

Told from the first person perspective our unnamed narrator leaps to life through Hoffman’s prose.  It is only as I write this, trying to describe this book, that I realize the woman whose life I so intimately followed has no name.  Yet, she is as real to me as I am, as you are.  A powerful, moving book, The Ice Queen will keep you turning the pages.

 

Till next time, happy reading J

L

Fugitive Pieces and a challenge completed

Young Jakob Beer is the sole survivor of his family’s massacre for the simple reason he was still small enough to hide in the wall when the Germans arrived, shooting and killing his father and mother.  Of his older sister Bella, who was too big to climb into the wall, there is no trace.  Jakob flees the city, traveling by night, burying himself in the earth during the day, to avoid detection.  He is only able to escape German occupied Poland when Greek archeologist Athos Roussos smuggles him past the checkpoints, hiding Jakob inside his clothes.  Athos takes Jakob home to Greece and hides him on the island Zakynthos until the war finally ends.  While German soldiers patrol the streets of Greece and wreck havoc on their Jewish ghettos, Jakob remains hidden in the upper story of Athos’ home, with Athos teaching him from an extensive classical library.  At the end of the war, Jakob is pale and weak, having seen the sun from windows only for years.  But his youth is in his favour as he quickly bounces back, regaining health and strength.  Together, he and Athos make their way to Canada and a new life.  They settle in Toronto where Athos has secured a job teaching at the University of Toronto. 

In Fugitive Pieces, author Anne Michaels explores the theme of memory in quite a unique way, I think.  How do our memories define our present selves?  Our future?  As the years pass and Jakob matures into a young adult he is haunted by the images of his childhood, the death of his family, the memory of his sister Bella, a gifted pianist who held so much promise, who was cut down in life at such a young age.  Jakob’s memories haunt his present and impact his future, particularly his relationships until he can come to terms with the deaths of his loved ones.  Peppered throughout are images of the horrors of the Holocaust, keeping fresh for us, the reader, the tragic waste and needless death of that moment in history.

Jakob’s story is riveting, but Michaels branches off towards the latter part of the novel, and I find the novel falls apart a bit as suddenly the protagonist shifts from Jakob to Ben, the child of Holocaust survivors.  Ben has briefly met Jakob, been drawn to his story, and following Jakob’s death, is haunted by the need to know more about Jakob then has been shared with the world in Jakob’s poetry collection.  The interesting thing about Ben’s story is how his own life (past, present and future) have been affected by his parents’ experience.  Survivors of the Holocaust who immigrated to Canada, they live their lives in constant fear of the Germans banging on the door, of taking them away, separating their family, of losing each other.  Ben, born after the war, tries, but cannot fully understand what they experienced and how it shaped their future.  Only after their death, when well-hidden secrets emerge does he begin to glimpse what their daily lives must have been like.

Michaels does a creditable job of humanizing the horrors of the Holocaust though I would have wished she had seen Jakob’s story through to the end instead of branching off so completely into Ben’s.  However, this book is gripping nonetheless, one I had trouble putting down.  Michaels’ lyrical prose will draw you in with characters and stories that come alive.  This book was recommended to me by the bookseller at Juniper Books on Ottawa Street, as, in his opinion, “the best Canadian fiction book ever written.”  I have to admit, despite Michael’s choppy ending, I heartily agree that I would rank this novel among my top five all time CanLit books.

Well dear readers, this concludes my TBR bookcase challenge (which I didn’t strictly adhere to as I have purchased the occasional book since starting this challenge).  However, I am happy to say I read 5 books from my tbr bookcase that I otherwise would not have read without this challenge, so I guess a lesson is learned … if I want to accomplish something, I’m going to have to set a concrete goal.  Stay tuned for new challenge postings in January.  I only have a whole 5 shelf bookcase full of TBR’s to get through…..oops. J

Oh and for those of you following along, this book also counts as my CanLit read for October.  Yay!  I love a two-fer book.  Now I just have to pick a November book.  Oy.

Till next time, happy reading!

L

"Like other ghosts, [Bella] whispers; not for me to join her, but so that, when I'm close enough, she can push me back into the world."

       ~ Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

The 3^rd installment in the Inheritance Cycle, Brisingr continues with the story of Eragon and his dragon Saphira in their quest to dethrone the evil Galbatorix and rid Alagaesia of his tyranny.

 

I found this third book in the series much more exciting then Eldest, the second book, in part I think because second books in trilogies (which the Inheritance Cycle originally was planned as) tend to be transitional books.  The main characters have all been introduced in the first book, and the climax awaits us in the third book, so the second book is often merely a bridge from the one to the next.  Second books in trilogies rarely excite me.  Brisingr, however, has all the excitement of a final book, yet doesn’t quite complete the series.  Therefore, I look forward to the fourth and final book, hopefully to be published in 2011.

 

The series begins with fifteen year old Eragon discovering a dragon egg that hatches for him and he becomes a Dragon Rider, a member of an elite race of humans and elves that have nearly gone extinct with the rise of evil warlord Galbatorix.  Eragon and his dragon Saphira are the only hope Alagaesia have of thwarting Galbatorix and bringing peace back to the land.  In Eldest, Eragon and Saphira travel to the elven city of Ellesmera where their training is continued by Oromis and Glaedr, an elf and his dragon who escaped Galbatorix’s clutches and hidden themselves in Du Waldenvarden, the elven forest.  Oromis and Glaedr teach Eragon and Saphira what it means to be Rider and Dragon, preparing them for the ultimate battle with Galbatorix.  Throughout, Eragon wrestles with his familial past.  His mother died shortly after he was born and the mystery of his father’s identity is one of the themes in this series.

 

Christopher Paolini, the author, was but fifteen himself when he wrote the first book of the series, and eighteen when it was published.  Both Eragon and Eldest consequently read with a very juvenile voice.  In Brisingr, however, the reader gets a sense of the author’s maturity as several themes are examined by a maturing Eragon – family, marriage, adulthood, right vs wrong (or morality), religion, and race.  There is a thin veil between Eragon’s musings about god (each race in Alagaesia – human, Urgal, Dwarf and Elf – have their own belief and notion of spirituality) and race (if Galbatorix is to be defeated, the many factions of Alagaesia must work together – the different tribes of man working alongside the different species – Elf, Dwarf, Urgal) and the author’s own thoughts on these subjects.  For me, the book reads as a canvass for the author’s own journey toward adulthood and self-discovery, a journey that is often absent when children’s books are written by adults.  At times I found the veil too transparent and the author’s voice too intrusive, but thankfully these interruptions were few and far between.

 

Along with the maturity of the author, there was a maturity in the writing that was pleasant to experience, however I found the battle scenes much more graphic than expected for a children’s book.  It gave me the impression Paolini expected his audience to have grown with him and the series, and perhaps didn’t take into consideration younger readers just discovering the series.  Although I’m no prude, I would have wished for less gratuitous violence in what is often hailed as a children’s literary novel, but perhaps that is where Paolini’s maturity fails us, the reader.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

 

 “A room without books is like a body without a soul”

            ~Cicero

 

“Well-behaved women rarely make history” 

~Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

 

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favourite book”

~ Marcel Proust

The Mysterious Mr. Quin

Very little time can go by lately, it seems, without my craving an Agatha Christie.  I have thankfully read her so infrequently when I was younger that many of her books are new and fresh to me now that I’m hooked on her books.  As such, this is my first introduction to Mr. Quin, a series Christie wrote over several years, based loosely on the character Harlequin in the Italian commedia d’ell arte.  According to the author’s introductory letter, if read carefully, you can read the story of Harlequin himself, as played out in the series.  Cool.

 

In The Mysterious Mr. Quin, a series of short stories are woven together by the common thread of Mr. Quin and his long-time friend and entre to society, Mr. Satterthwaite.  Mr. Satterthwaite, a connoisseur of high-society and the arts is a studier of people.  Throughout his travels he finds himself immersed in various mysterious, and with the help of Mr. Quin, who pops up at the most appropriate times, solves many a murder and disappearance. 

 

A charming collection of brief tales, some of which seem a little contrived – or at least the conclusion does.  Satterthwaite seems to pull answers out of his … ah … out of thin air and his wild suppositions, barely based on fact, often point directly to the solution of the mystery.  Despite this, Christie’s writing and character development is always a delight to read.  Not exactly what I was expecting when I picked it up, I found myself enjoying the book nonetheless.

 

Till next time, I have a new quote to share J

L

 

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favourite book”

~ Marcel Proust

Short stories help calm the savage beast

At the beginning of this year I discovered book blogs and a whole world of wonderful reading material opened up before me.  Thanks to seeing a recommendation for Taddle Creek I am now subscribing to a great little literary magazine that has immensely saved my sanity of late.  For those of you following along, you know I’ve been immersed in a programming course this semester that is taking much precious time away from pleasure reading.  I’ve had Brisingr, the third book in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle on the go for nearly a month now, and still have more than a third to read, owing to the fact I’m lucky if I manage to get in a chapter a day between work and studies (major boo!).  This has led to the following discovery:  If I’m not regularly reading fiction or something for pleasure I get cranky.  Very cranky.  The not fit to be out in public kind of cranky that is most unattractive. 

 

Desperate to get the monkey off my back I picked up the summer issue of Taddle Creek (that arrived quite a few months ago but has been sitting on top of my bookshelf (where magazines generally go to die…what can I say?  I’m a book girl), ever since).  Much to my surprise and enjoyment the stories have proved to be not only wonderful reads but extremely well-written also.  My favourite so far is David Ross’ A Private Woman.  I devoured it before class started yesterday and it was simply lovely to read some really decent fiction for a change.  The experience has helped to calm me down – I feel a bit like an addict who’s just taken a hit of some really good shit and I’m very much enjoying the resultant high.  Something else I’ve discovered:  short stories are great for getting you through the lean times when life’s responsibilities interfere and leave you no time for pleasure reading.

 

I’m going to start taking a closer look at what has been, for me, a very neglected genre: the short story.

 

Many blessings,

L J

Scotiabank Giller Prize nominees

These are very exciting times.  The Scotiabank Giller Prize announced its shortlist last week.  Up for the prize are:

 

David Bergan for his novel THE MATTER WITH MORRIS

Alexander MacLeod for his short story collection LIGHT LIFTING

Sarah Selecky for her short story collection THIS CAKE IS FOR THE PARTY

Johanna Skibsrud for her novel THE SENTIMENTALISTS

Kathleen Winter for her novel ANNABEL

 

Who will the winner be?  Find out November 9^th.

 

The Giller Prize comes with a price tag of $50,000 for the winner, and $5000 each for the finalists.  Not too shabby for a CanLit literary award. 

 

I haven’t read any of the titles (either short or long list), but you can bet I’ve added them to my tbr list for future CanLit reads.  I’m particularly looking forward to reading Alexander MacLeod and not just because he’s the son of Alistair MacLeod and is home-grown talent, published right here in Essex County (at lit press Biblioasis), but because I’ve been hearing good things on the blog rolls about this book.  You can catch him at Bookfest Windsor in November. 

 

Ciao for now!

L J

Read-a-thon post # FINAL

Well hour fourteen (yup that's 14) is winding down and I'm done.  Quite tired after a day of reading, more than ready for bed, so I'm calling this one a day, though not at all disappointed with my early finish.

  Indeed, it's quite the accomplishment for my first ever Dewey 24-hour read-a-thon.  While I would have liked to go longer, 14 hours is still pretty good for a first timer.  I'll know to start earlier next time (was up at 7:30 with the dog, but didn't actually start reading until 10:20 -- all those wasted hours!!).

  Read quite a bit more than I expected to:  finished chapter 7, read chapter 8 and am 10 pages into chapter 9 (running out of ink taking notes was probably my sign to pack it in for the night).  I also very much enjoyed 68 pages of Brisingr (so happy I got to fit in some fiction!!).

  I look forward to doing this again in April.  Can't wait!

  Happy reading!
L

Read-a-thon post #4

Top of the eleventh hour and I just finished chapter 8.  My reward?  A hot bath with Brisingr.  *happy dance*  Plenty of time yet to read chapter 9 (heck, there are still two days left of this long weekend!!).

  Lesson learned:  Don't continue to write about the soporific effect of snoring dog for it can, and will, only lead to a nap!

  One brief nap, dinner and a dog walk may have interupted my reading plans, but hey, still got chapters 7 and 8 read today.  Go me!!!

  Still undecided if I will sweat out the full 24-hours but so far going strong (it helps I started on the caffeine and sugar :) -- that should give me a good few hours yet).

  Can't believe the T.V. hasn't been on once today.  Now if only I had more restraint with the computer.

  Okay, back to reading!
L :)

Read-a-thon post #3

Desperately in need of a butt fluff.  Have been sitting way too long.  Alternately yearning between a hot bath (in which I can read Brisingr -- Fiction! YES!) and a nap.  Snoring dog having the desired soporific effects ... in her opinion as then she can cuddle on couch with mommy while I snooze. 

  Breaking to type this post.  Couch cushion is far more comfy and nicer to my butt than hard kitchen chair.  Lily getting belly rub to disspell the hiccoughs.  Why does no one ever rub my belly when I have the hiccoughs? 

  Making my way nicely through chapter 8 as hour seven counts down....will do some laps around the house before reading more or butt will be flattened beyond repair....

  L :)

Read-a-thon post #2

Entrenched in hour #5, just finishing up chapter 7, have not used my time all that wisely reading-wise.  Took a mini-break to do the dishes, another to make a pot of tea, yet another do a little farming (am addicted to facebook games), still another to give some attention to Lily, refreshed from her nap and eager to play, but best of all, discovered the fix to my program problems for assignment 3.  I may be the queen of procrastination, but I don't merely waste my time. ;p

  Happy to announce assignment 3 is now finished and working correctly.  Now I have to buckle down and keep reading as I have assignment 4 waiting in the wings, and a mid-term at the end of the month and the assigned text reading must be read (because clearly, the text is teaching me a thing or two!) :)

  Ciao for now,
L

Read-a-thon post #1

Well it's coming up to the end of hour 2 and I still have 15 pages of chapter 7 to get through.  I wish I could do a true fiction read-a-thon, but I'm a responsible girl.  So instead of jumping into some fun fiction, I'm reading my text, taking notes and hopefully learning code.  Sigh.  And I'm posting this cause I desperately needed a break.  Wish this post was more fun, but about all I can do at the moment is bore you with if else statments :)

  On a happy note I started the day off with a trip to the dog park and ran Lily ragged.  She is currenly snoring at my side :)  Teehee.  I'm sure by hour 4 it will have had it's requisite soporific affect and I'll be joining her on the couch.  It's what I love about lazy Saturdays....

  Back to reading
L :)

Dewey’s 24-hour Read-a-thon

Information on Dewey’s 24-hour Read-a-thon, happening this Saturday, October 9, 2010, can be found here.  Will you be participating?

 

I’m going to attempt to read most of the day, though don’t know if I’ll be up the entire 24-hours.  I have my programming text all lined up (still a couple of chapters behind and a mid-term coming up end of the month so a perfect excuse to get reading!!) and I’m still plugging away at Brisingr when not studying so that’s on tap too.  I hope to post some updates on my reading throughout the day.

 

Happy reading!

L

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Kicks Ass!!

The movie, that is.  Haven’t read the book yet, but want to now more than ever!

Steig Larsson has been making the book blog rounds for awhile now and I was so intrigued, I added him to my TBR list.  I’ve heard good things about his books, I’ve also heard they’re a tad odd, but I like odd, so he was a natural to add to my books I wanna read list.  This weekend I finally watched the Swedish movie adaptation of his first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and have to say I loved it.  I loved, loved, LOVED it.  I was riveted to the screen, the story was so good.  And now I want to read the book all the more!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie, do.  Don’t wait for the flashy Hollywood version (albeit with Stellan Skarsgard and Christopher Plummer), as the Swedish version rocks!  Yes, it’s subtitled, but I was so drawn into the story that soon I didn’t realize I was reading subtitles. 

Apparently all three books were made into movies at once in Sweden, with the same cast, etc., like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I’m now dying to watch the next movie installment – The Girl Who Played with Fire.

Book reviews will be up one of these years when I finally get around to reading the books, but in the meantime, the movies are there to enjoy so go out and watch’em!

Till next time,

L J

Hello My Name Is

As I am firmly bogged down with course work (text book finally came in + frantically trying to catch up with readings = no time for leisure reading L ) and don’t want to use up all my reserved reviews too quickly I thought I’d share this little item of interest with you instead.

This morning as I pulled up to my local Timmies drive-thru, running late as usual, over the speaker came “Hello my name is Vicki, thank you for choosing Tim Hortons, can I take your order” and I couldn’t help but think:

1. do I really care the person serving my coffee’s name is Vicki?
2. ’m aware I’m at Timmies, it’s the reason I pulled into the lot.
3. do they get a lot of people in the drive-thru who think maybe they’re at McDonalds that they have to restaurant identify?
4. how much later is this banal chatter going to make me?
5. ust give me my g.d. coffee already (I’m not a morning person.  Seriously, don’t get between me and my fix of caffeinated sugar before 10am or I will hurt you).
6.  really should care about Vicki, after all, she’s a person too.

And while I was grumbling in my head about the length of inane chatter over the drive-thru speaker airways (Timmies is not the only culprit), and that Vicki is lucky she didn’t pick this morning to ask if I wanted a “breakfast sandwich with that” I drove up to the window to discover the car ahead of me paid for my order.

How sweet, thoughtful, kind and wonderful.

And now I have been handed the Pay It Forward baton.  Hmm, what random act of kindness shall I bestow?

Oh, and Vicki, it’s nice knowing your name, even if I forget it by tomorrow (I’m really terrible with names, sorry.  Please don’t hold it against me, though I’m sure you’ll be there to remind me J )

Ciao for now,

L

Dear Jane Austen by Patrice Hannon

Imagine if you will the beloved authoress, Jane Austen, receiving her post in 1816 while sitting at her little writing table and having just penned the closing lines to Persuasion.  The post is brought in by little Fanny, a favourite niece of the author and after a brief exchange Austen turns to her letters.  The first she opens is written by a 21^st century young woman, a “heroine-in-training” if you will, asking for Jane’s advice on her love-life.  Using examples and direct quotes from her novels, Austen begins dispensing advice with the same wit she used in personal letters to family members.

An English professor and full Ph.D, Hannon has taught Austen’s novels for many years.  In this, a “Dear Abby”-type advice book, Hannon writes as she imagines Jane Austen would on topics like love, sex, marriage and men in general, instructing would be heroines everywhere to first and foremost be true to themselves.

A great companion to Austen’s life works, Hannon does a fine job deconstructing the novels we’ve come to love and know so well.  A recommended read for every Austen lover.

Till next time, happy reading!

L J

Where the eff has September gone?

I don’t know about you, but for me, this month is flying by.  I’ve only managed to read 2 complete novels this month, and I normally read 2 a week!!  That’s how crazy this month has been.

First I was sick (yeah yeah boo-hoo, I’ve used this as an excuse long enough….), then school started.  I work in an academic library and for me, September is the busiest time of the year, getting student staff hired, trained, scheduled and back to work, not to mention welcoming all those first year students and returning students.  On top of that I decided to return to my own studies this semester.  I’m about half-way through an honours B.A. in English Literature, and had taken about a year off for personal reasons, so it feels strange to be a student again. 

I am three weeks and two assignments into a programming course that is interesting but time consuming.  The textbook only just arrived by post (had to order it through Amazon.com because it wasn’t in at the University Bookstore and Amazon.ca listed it as out of stock) this week, and I have about 6 chapters (some 200 pages) to read and make notes on before the quiz next Thursday (I’m so hoping this quiz is all code … that, I understand from class).  I will therefore be spending this upcoming weekend reading a programming text rather than my fiction book.  Boo.

And I just started reading Brisingr too, the third book in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle.  Expect a review for that in oh, about a month or so…..Thankfully I have two reviews (from the two books I actually managed to read this month) in holding so I’ll be posting something, sometime, but if I’m not around much, you know why …. Class and reading and studying and yeah yeah I know excuses excuses…..

Now to hang my head in shame.  I have not read a CanLit book this month.  And won’t as there’s only a week left and I have, as forementioned, coursework to do and Brisingr to read.  But before you proclaim my punishment remember: I read two CanLit books in both August and July this summer, so I think I’m good to miss a month…..

Till next time, L will be ducking the wet noodles J

Cheers,

L

 

Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross #4)

I have so far relatively enjoyed the first three Alex Cross books I’ve read, so when I released Cat & Mouse from my holds list at the public library, I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, to my great disappointment, it sucked. The worst installment in a series ever. And I will tell you why.

First, Patterson uses a recycled villain. Gary Soneji, the psycho killer from the first book, Along Came a Spider is back to torment Alex Cross and his family. Okay, I get the fact that Soneji was the one that got away and would eventually have to be dealt with, but not as the focus of another book. Couldn’t he have been a subplot? Or at least haunted Cross for more than three books? I was disappointed in Patterson’s reuse of plot and villain so soon in the series. Makes me worry about the other books still to read.


Second, the secondary villain’s name is Mr. Smith. We only learn about halfway into the book that this name actually has literary significance, but it was so obscure a reference that I didn’t get it until I was told it and so for the first half of the book I was thinking: “Mr. Smith? Really? That’s the most creative name you could come up with?” Oh but wait, this isn’t really a creative book is it? Recycled villain, recycled plot, now cheesy villain name. Sigh.


Third, what the eff happened to Cross????? He meets a skirt and is suddenly all lovesick and smarmy and downright horrible to listen to. Where’s the clear thinking, level headed, logical detective? I get that Cross has had some hard knocks in his personal life, and that he’s really been struggling with the balance between work and family life, but in this book Patterson jumps that up about 1000 notches and it gets annoying very, very quickly. Oh, and metaphors like the “dance floor of life” just make me want to retch. There’s this one part, where Cross takes his date dancing, and they’ve both suffered tragic loss in the love department, so Patterson writes, in Cross’s inner monologue, that he and Christine are getting out on the floor to dance just like they are rejoining the “dance floor of life.” What does that mean?!?!?! Who could read this stuff without poking their eyes out? Seriously!


Finally, the one redeeming factor, if you can stomach the first half of the book is that Cross gets injured and is shunted aside by FBI behavoural specialist Thomas Pierce who breathes new life into the book. Once we’re in Pierce’s head this book takes off like a rocket. Pierce’s inner monologue is everything we’d want of Cross’s and more. Unfortunately Pierce is all tied up in nasty ways with cheesy villain Mr. Smith and we’re back to Cross before we can say “I like that Thomas Pierce, why can’t there be a series about him?” Thankfully, Patterson gets his writing chops back once he dispenses with Soneji and focuses in on Mr. Smith and truly the book becomes enjoyable again. A small thrill ride, much like the baby roller coasters you can ride at small town fairs, and very nearly makes up for having to wade through the first half of the book. Although, had this book not been part of a series, I would have been sorely tempted to abandon it by the 50-page mark. Just my 2 cents.


Till next time, happy reading.
L

A Memoir of Jane Austen

About 50 years after the death of author Jane Austen, her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh was approached and asked to write a memoir detailing her life. He agreed, though he was but a young boy when she died and many of her letters and other memorabilia had long since been destroyed. What he produced was an incomplete and inaccurate portrait of the author, filled with reminiscences of an aunt who died long before the memoir’s author reached manhood and could know her properly.

What is wonderful about this book is the glowing report of a beloved aunt and author. Also the descriptions of England during the Regency period, so different from the Victorian England of Austen-Leigh’s adulthood, will delight any historian. This is truly a sweet and delicate read that I enjoyed very much.

As Fay Weldon says in her introduction: “…the real strength and importance of the memoir … is the occasion it affords … for ‘observing many changes gradually effected in the manners and habits of society’ … here we have such intriguing descriptions of balls, and etiquettes and household manners, and how gentlemen used to do their own gardening and how the early dinner hour rendered candlesticks unnecessary and how gloves which were a little soiled were thought good enough for a country dance ….”

And so the memoir does delight and inform and treat the reader to a long ago era in which Jane herself lived and wrote. Sigh. I’m off to watch more BBC adaptations now….

Till next time, happy reading.
L :)

Testing out the new blog

Test test gotta test out this new blog before I move over from posterous.