Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home

40-something Rhoda Janzen finds herself moving back in with her parents and rediscovering her Mennonite roots.  First, her husband of fifteen years leaves her for Bob, a guy he met through Gay.com, then a car accident leaves Rhoda unable to work, let alone pay the bills on a huge lake house that would have been a stretch on her single scholar’s salary to begin with.  Seeking solace and healing time, Rhoda moves back in with her folks, who are deeply religious and very active in their Mennonite community.  What ensues is a hilarious self-portrait of one woman’s journey to rediscover herself, family and the roots of her faith.

 

Many times throughout reading this book I positively laughed out loud.  Janzen’s unique voice and ability to poke fun at herself and the misconceptions of her faith are incredibly endearing.  Below are a couple of quotes from the book that I found particularly memorable:

 

“Usually scholars take a less fixed, more interpretative approach to deadlines, preferring to think of them as suggestions, not firm commitments.”  -- on getting paid to ghost-edit a book on sacred dramatic literature of the fifteenth century.

 

On Borscht, the number one Most Embarrassing Shame-Based Food to find in your school lunch pail

“Borscht … the hearty winter soup of the Russian steppes.  Our people borrowed it from the Russians during the long Mennonite occupation of Ukraine.  Borscht has a distinctive ruby color, a stain to anything it touches.  This distinctive color comes from beets.  The soup also has a distinctive smell, a noxious blast of savage fart.  This  smell comes from cabbage.  As if that isn’t appetizing enough, Borscht is served with vinegar and a dollop of sour cream.  The vinegar curdles the cream so that the whole thing looks and smells like milk gone bad.  Yet there is more.  The bottom note, the lingering afterwhiff, presents with an intensity reminiscent of our friend the soldier’s lumpy Hosen.”  -- that latter is a reference to the song her mom used to sing about Hot Potato Salad which in English goes like this:

 

“On the hillside

stood a soldier.

In his pants

he made potato salad!”

 

Clearly a culture unique in its own history and folklore, not unlike pretty much every other.  A delightful little book that will have you laughing out loud and give you much food for thought; pick up a copy of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, you won’t be disappointed.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  Reviews were mixed amongst the group for this book.  Some liked it, others did not and some found it boringly long (okay, she does start to ramble a bit towards the end, almost as if she had a certain word-count to meet, but no longer knew what to write about).  Our discussion morphed into the difference between faith and religion, where it should be noted that Janzen left her religion in her twenties to marry an atheist and earn a Ph.D.  Upon returning to her parents’ house, she learns the value of faith, and realizes that though educated she could still have faith in her religious beliefs without needing to become a sheep, following the tenants of her religion, well, religiously as it were and without thought.  The thread of religion verses faith runs strong in this book and led to much rousing discussion, after which we trekked over to Kelsey’s for drinks and nibbles and more fabulous discussion of a non-bookish variety and a good night was had by all.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

TBR Bookcase Read: Alice I Have Been

A few years ago I enrolled in a Children’s Literature course at my local University where I am studying part-time, working towards a degree in English Literature.  Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland was on our reading list, and I quite enjoyed studying it from a scholarly perspective.  It’s a story a quite enjoy, though it was never a treasure of my childhood.  As always in Literature courses, the professor gave background information to the class on the life of the author and how the book came to be published.  For those who don’t know, Alice in Wonderland had an incredibly interesting beginning.

 

See, Lewis Carroll is the pen name of Charles Dodgson, and when he was a young man studying at Oxford University, he befriended the children of the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, notably three young sisters, Lorina, Alice and Edith, who spent many a summer day in his company, playing, picnicking and rowing down the river.  He would amuse them by making up stories.  One day while rowing on the river he made up a story about a girl named Alice.  After the story was finished, the real Alice begged him to write it down, but he demurred.  From that day onward, as often as she could, Alice continued to persuade Dodgson to write down the story.  It wasn’t until several years had passed however, that Dodgson finally gave in, wrote the story and published it.  Alice in Wonderland was an immediate success and continued to be for generations afterward.  Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, henceforth forever became known as the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland.

 

In Alice I have Been, Melanie Benjamin pieces together what is known about Charles Dodgson and Alice Liddell and their relationship, and provides us with a decent, highly fictionalized tale of Alice’s life from childhood through to old age, including the speculation that Dodgson had interfered with the child Alice, though as there is no concrete proof that anything untoward happened between the two, these events are merely hinted at and shrouded in mystery, left up to the reader to come to whichever conclusion suits them best.  I for one believe as my professor did, that Dodgson was a young man with a stunted maturity, feeling far more comfortable relating to young children than his contemporaries. 

 

Benjamin’s book, though slow-paced, was a pretty interesting read, and I quite enjoyed exploring the impact of being a wildly popular book’s inspiration had on the adult Alice.  For years she wanted nothing to do with the book, not even sharing the stories with her own children, until as an old woman, financial troubles forced her to go public and tour the U.S. as “the” Alice who inspired a most beloved story.  Quite fascinating, really, learning more about the real woman behind the fictional character.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: Fifty Shades of Grey and L Reviews the Complete Trilogy

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Fifty Shades of Grey

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Omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgogmgomgomgomgomgomgomgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I loved this book.  Loved the characters, the banter, the love story, loved it loved it loved it!

 

This book is getting a lot of press lately, and unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about it, and heard what it’s about.  Yup, it’s a sex book.  A kinky sex book at that.  But, that’s not all this book is.

 

At its core, this book has a decent romance plot.  Young, naïve, virginal Anastasia Steele, about to graduate from Washington State University is sent to interview billionaire Christian Grey for her school paper.  It is attraction at first sight, and though Christian tries to warn Anastasia away, knowing that his dark predilections are too much for her to handle, still he can’t resist the sweet charm that is Anastasia Steele.  And Anastasia is just as enamored of Christian.  It is typical romance genre writing, and what’s more important, it works.  Anastasia cannot stay away from Christian, even when she learns about his kinky BDSM lifestyle, even when she’s introduced to his “Red Room of Pain.”  There is something about Christian that draws her like a moth to a flame, and she’s willing to burn for the chance of being Christian’s girl.

 

Beyond the subject matter, and the oh so numerous sex scenes (I mean really, is Christian a robot?  Who has that much stamina??  I was exhausted just reading those scenes….) these characters come together in a most delightful way.  Christian has a painful, abusive past he won’t share with Anastasia.  Anastasia wants to love Christian and bring him out of the dark desires he inhabits into a world of love and light.  It creates for some great tension and verbal sparring, and makes from some really addictive reading.  Ending on a most delicious cliffhanger, I’m left breathlessly yearning for the second book, Fifty Shades Darker.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  Again I wish I could tell you, but I missed this book club’s meeting too. :(   Which sucks cause apparently they had “prizes” made of chocolate in themed shapes, and that’s all I’m gonna say. 

 

 

Fifty Shades Darker

 

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Omgomgomgomgomgomgomggggggggggg What is this crap?!?!

 

Before I was even halfway through the first book, I jumped on Amazon.ca to order the trilogy (I was reading a borrowed book, and loved it so much, I know I just had to own it).  The cliffhanger at the end of the first book left me breathlessly yearning to read this next book and as soon as it arrived on my doorstep, I ripped open the box and dived into the book only to discover it was just more of the same.

 

Nothing much happens in the second book, except you learn a little bit more about how Grey got into this Dom lifestyle and who introduced him to it.  And you meet one of his former, very obviously emotionally disturbed submissive.  And, Anastasia turns into a green-eyed monster and becomes so neurotically jealous of Grey and his past that you just want to smack her.

 

Thankfully it was an easy read and so I turned to the third book, hoping, that like many trilogies, the third would satisfactorily wrap up this story for me.

 

 

 

Fifty Shades Freed

I read this final book in the trilogy not so much out of anticipation for what happens next, but just because I like to know how things end.  Having not enjoyed the second book, Fifty Shades Darker, I wasn’t all that excited to dive into Fifty Shades Freed, but read it I did, and well, what can I say?  It’s typical romance novel material.  Good girl meets bad boy and changes him through her love.  Not the most realistic plotline.  This book contained some extra material at the end, notably the first meeting between Christian and Ana as told from Christian’s point of view, and let me just go on record as saying thank god E.L. James wrote the series in first person from Ana’s perspective because had I gotten into Christian’s head from the get-go in the first book, I never ever would have read the entire series, let alone the entire first book.  The man is an idiot!!!!   And I just wanted to slap him silly!  But as seen from Ana’s rose-coloured vision, he has redeemable qualities that kept me reading.

 

The buzz on the street these days is all about the movie version and who will be cast to play the main characters.  Knowing Hollywood’s penchant to re-write novels to screen, I’m actually quasi looking forward to the movie, if only to see Hollywood’s take on this story.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :) 

 

Windsor Book Club Reads: The Catcher in the Rye

This was the June book selection and yes, I’m quite behind in my blog posting.  Let’s just say, I’ve taken a little vacation this summer.  J  But I promise to catch up with all that I’ve been reading if you’ll but be a little patient. J

 

I read The Catcher in the Rye back in high school.  Grade 10 to be exact.  And I fondly remember it as “that banned book” our rebel of a teacher had us read.  I still remember that day Mr. Dempsey walked into class with a ratty box of books tucked under one arm.  The book was not on our prescribed reading list, and so it felt very sinful to pick out a tattered copy from the box.  Lord knows from where he scrounged together a class set of mismatched copies, but read them we did, and I found myself very disappointed.  A few swearwords peppered the book, but frankly, I’d read much worse by that age, so why was this book on the banned list?

 

Anyway, maybe I fondly remember the book so much because it was given to us by Mr. Dempsey, a crazy old bird who used to call all the boys “cretinous cretins” and nearly had a fit when he asked one boy to shut a window who responded with “that there window?”  His rants about sports player interviews and their atrocious grammar still echo in my head to this day.  But the greatest influence he had on me was helping me understand that crazy language used by William Shakespeare.  It is with thanks to Mr. Dempsey that I can read and enjoy a Shakespearian play without stumbling through the antiquated language.  So yes, you could say he is a little bit of a hero as many of my English teachers were in those days, and so I think I loved The Catcher in the Rye just because I read it in his class.

 

Fast forward about 15 years, and you find me a young woman branching out into different reading territory.  I’d read romance novels since my early teens, when suddenly I felt like rediscovering the classics of my youth, and revisiting novels read in high school, among them The Catcher in the Rye.  I have to confess, after a second reading I still didn’t “get it.”  The book was good, but not earthshattering.

 

Move forward a few more years, and this book popped up on my book club reading list.  Always game to re-read a classic, and still looking for the brilliance behind the designation, I once again idled away a few summer days with Holden Caulfield.  Finally though, I was seeing the light.  Holden wasn’t just a typical bratty teenager, but a deeply disturbed young man, ignored by his parents, and grieving over the loss of a younger brother.  Suffering a psychological breakdown, he runs away from his boarding school and spends a few days in New York City, experimenting and growing up, and ultimately reconnecting with his little sister and finding the help he needs.  It’s a good book, and definitely one worth reading, although you’ll get the most out of it if you can take the time to peel back the surface layers.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  I wish I could tell you, but unfortunately I missed the June meeting.  If any of them are reading this blog post, I encourage you to please leave a comment about your thoughts on the book or what was discussed at the meeting.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

TBR Bookcase Read: The Sacred Blood

Several times a year my University’s bookstore holds clearance sales, and when books are selling for $0.99 each, I’m not too discriminatory about what I pick up.  No book is a bad book in my opinion and I attempt to read each and every one.  Sometimes you get a dud, other times, like in the case of Michael Byrnes’ The Sacred Blood, you get a really good read.

 

I was not aware that this book was a sequel to The Sacred Bones until I was a few pages into the book, but enough information is given about what went on before to easily follow the action of the present book, and it’s enough of its own standalone story that I didn’t feel I was missing anything, not having read the prior book, so I continued to plow forward, losing myself in the intrigues and conspiracies. 

 

In the first book, an ossuary is discovered that purportedly contains the bones of Jesus Christ.  The Vatican very kindly returns the ossuary to Israel, but the bones and other contents “disappear”.  Working with the group of archaeologists is American geneticist Charlotte Hennesy who extracts DNA from the bones and discovers something very surprising – a strange genome that appears to replicate and repair all genetic disorders.  Suffering from bone cancer, she injects serum made from the genome and is miraculously cured,

 

In The Sacred Blood, we learn of a century’s old plot to return the Testimony, or the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the very spot where God handed Moses the Ten Commandments and where Abraham went to sacrifice his son Isaac.  According to legend, a new Messiah will be chosen, will open the Ark of the Covenant, and so will begin a Messianic Age whereby God will smite down those who blaspheme and fail to follow his covenant, and raise up a new Temple and reward true believers.

 

Unfortunately, the rabbi who is purportedly a direct descendant of Aaron, and whose family has passed down this secret plot for generations upon generations is also incredibly corrupt, killing at will those who get in his way.  Adding to the problem is the fact that the sacred spot the Ark must be returned to is located in the Dome of the Rock, a place of Islamic worship.  What the rabbi is proposing to do could very easily set off World War III.  Racing to prevent this disaster is Israeli archaeologist Amit Mizrachi who rapidly pieces together the rabbi’s plans.  It’s a breathless race to the finish, and a delightfully delicious story of religious conspiracy akin to The DaVinci Code.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L