What publisher is still living in the 1950’s, still sending out messages to young girls that limit them to a life of keeping house and raising babies? Little Golden Book!
This children’s publisher with a reputation for some of the finest, classic stories to its name, has seen fit to republish its book entitled Little Mommy. Read to me by my 10-year-old granddaughter, at first I was stunned by this book; now I am angered by it. The story it tells my granddaughter and all little girls is the same story I was told more than 4o years ago – limiting, insulting our intelligence and our abilities and just plain, dare I say it, patronizing.
The book was first published in 1967, 42 years ago, when I was a very young mother. But I have changed, women’s roles and opportunities have changed and the world has changed. Somehow this book manages to ignore the history-making changes of the 70’s as well as the courage and efforts of the women’s rights activists who rocked the very foundations of this country.
Even when it was first published, the book was a bit of an insult, telling a story that reflected the simplistic “Leave It To Beaver” attitude – men going to work, women staying home and raising children. The fact that this book was published during a sea change that was occurring in our society – a change that would forever free ALL women from ANY stereotype, makes it even more puzzling.
Everything changed because pioneering women like Bella Abzug and Gloria Steinem, joined by women in all walks of life, led the way for women’s rights in this country. Women and launched and eventually won the battle for equal rights for women(the ERA) and equal funding in sports (Title IX).
I have no objection to women following whatever path suits them including staying home and raising children. I do object to reading a book that is obviously so dated and so passe. So how could such a respected children’s publisher perpetuate the myth of a woman’s role in society, a myth that was out of date 42 years ago? I have no answer but would love to hear from someone who does.
“I don’t want to drag you down into my world… But be sure to bury deep the things that I’ve drawn out in you. They might be dangerous.”
This quote is spoken by Gimpei Momoi, the protagonist of Yasunari Kawabata’s darkly moving novel. It is a quote that could be read to warn of the unconventional perspective of The Lake, which focuses on the taboo and degenerate.
Gimpei is an old man compelled to stalk young women. Miyako Mizuki is a young woman who seems to draw stalkers to her. She has given her youth to her elderly lover, the rich Arita. Her maid schemes to have her younger daughter steal Arita. Arita is the chairman of the high school attended by Gimpei’s former pupil and lover. Gimpei begins to stalk a beautiful young school girl, who is a friend of Miyako’s younger brother.
The narrative constantly shifts viewpoints and chronology as it examines the relationship between youth and old age. This is not done through the well-worn path of familial relationships, but by curiously interwoven lives of the outcast or vulnerable. Yet while conventional parent-child relationships are largely ancillary to the plot, they are a subtle undercurrent that becomes a conspicuous absence.
Gimpei is a deliberately character, and in general the older characters are parasitic or predatory. However, none of the central characters are innocent. By depicting taboo desires or actions, Kawabata blurs conventional morality, just as he blurs the distinction between youth and age. Gimpei is childlike in his compulsion and self-perceived victimisation, Miyako is world weary and acts as both lover and mother to Arita.
But what does it all add up to? If there is catharsis, it is as difficult to grasp as a wisp of smoke. Instead, Kawabata focuses on creating a completely immersive atmosphere that is both hypnotic and suffocating. The language is concise, as is the novel itself, which is just over 150 sparsely printed pages. In this short space, the author crafts a masterfully structured novel that is both original and disturbingly resonant.
I’ll let the book covers speak for themselves, for the time being… and then, of course, offer up some modest analysis. Note that your definition of modest, or indeed the general understanding of what that word means or ought to mean, is not necessarily mine (!).
In sifting through the archives at Digital Dragon, I discovered an eclectic mix of stories–science fiction, space opera, fantasy high and low, humor, horror, and apocalyptic dystopian speculation. Something for everybody. Most of the authors have been published elsewhere, but are not yet widely known, so if you’re looking for fresh voices or want to begin following a new author with promise, this may be a good place to start.
Here’s a representative sample of stories I particularly enjoyed:
“Blessed are the Peacemakers,” by Johne Cook, from the July ‘09 issue. Two-fisted space opera diplomacy in the spirit of Keith Laumer’s classic Retief tales. I highlighted this story a few months back in my recurring “I Found a Cool Story the Other Day” feature, more details there.
“A Small Sacrifice,” by Mike Lynch, from the August ‘09 issue. Science fiction. Earth’s in the crossfire of a war between two alien empires, and our continued existence is in the hands of one soldier.
“The Gift,” by Kat Hechenbach, from the November ‘09 issue. Modern fantasy. A man has the ability to ease his wife’s pain as she nears death, but should he? A sad, sweet, reflective tale.
“The Seeker,” by Brandon Barr, a Christmas story from the December ‘09 issue (and also featured in the inaugural June ‘09 issue). A dangerous-looking alien visitor is taken in by a little girl–what does it want?
And finally, Becky Minor provides an epic tale of fantasy and adventure in her “Wind Rider” serial, beginning in the August ‘09 issue and now in its fifth installment. Knights, elves, dragons, and an heroic quest.
There’s usually also at least one poem in each issue. I’m not a connoisseur of poetry, but you might want to check out Tony Lavoie’s fun take on an epic poem, ala Beowulf, about a stranded starship crew that discovers their hiding place isn’t quite as safe as they hoped. It’s called “Evil Awakened,” and it’s in the September ‘09 issue.
I have no idea what I’m going to do for Day 3 of the CSFF Blog Tour. Come back tomorrow and find out!
Other sites on the tour:
Brandon Barr Justin Boyer Amy Browning Valerie Comer Amy Cruson CSFF Blog Tour Stacey Dale D. G. D. Davidson Shane Deal Jeff Draper Emmalyn Edwards April Erwin Karina Fabian Todd Michael Greene Ryan Heart Timothy Hicks Becky Jesse Cris Jesse Jason Joyner Julie Carol Keen Krystine Kercher Tina Kulesa Melissa Lockcuff Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika Nissa John W. Otte Cara Powers Chawna Schroeder James Somers Speculative Faith Robert Treskillard Jason Waguespac Phyllis Wheeler Jill Williamson KM Wilsher
Jack, Smithy, and Madison once had two parents. Then their mom became pregnant and was diagnosed with cancer. She chose to have the baby and forego chemo, which ultimately brought about her death (after she gave birth to the healthy baby, Tris). The father struggles to take care of the four kids alone, and is initially grateful when his sister-in-law offers to move in with them and help take care of the family. Then a freak accident happens – toddler Tris manages to shift the family’s car out of park and run over the dad, killing him. With the dad gone, the aunt takes over running the family, and creates changes in the house, starts to get rid of any evidence of life before. Madison moves in with her godparents. Smithy goes away to boarding school. Jack is left at home, needing to protect his brother Tris. When the aunt decides to bring the media into their home to broadcast the life of Tris, Jack knows that he must keep his brother out of the spotlight and away from the scheming aunt. Smithy becomes suspicious of the details of her dad’s death, because the only witness to the accident was her aunt, who seems to be intent on breaking the family apart. For teens, grades 8 and up.
Title : Soon
Author: Jerry Jenkins ( in paperback)
Jerry Jenkins, author of the acclaimed Left Behind series takes us on a dangerous journey to the future in Soon. This work of Christian fiction begins almost a century after the infamous 9/11 attacks. World War 3 has taken place, massive destruction has resulted in the restructuring of the US into the USSA, landmarks are gone, entire states destroyed and the practice of all religion is outlawed.
The current government blames religious zealots for the war that destroyed much of the earth and determines that peace is only possible when religion, its symbols and especially Christians are an ancient memory. Anyone practicing or professing faith in Christ is considered a terrorist and a traitor.
The protagonist, philandering government agent Paul Stepola, is a member of the National Peace Organization (NPO) charged with ferreting out religious zealots and destroying these so-called “terrorist cells”. He proudly and enthusiastically carries out his mission until mysterious events (miracles) begin to unfold. When he experiences a personal miracle, he begins to question just which side of this battle he should be fighting on.
Loosely based on the conversion of Saul, I found Soon to be a bit of a slow starter, the first 50 pages or so, but once Jenkins gets started, it is a page-turner that I finished in one sitting . It has mystery, romance, espionage, politics and a hefty dose of violence. The underlying message of faith at all costs makes the reader thankful that this is a work of fiction and left me wondering at my own strength in the face true persecution.
Soon is book one in this trilogy that also includes novels Silenced and Shadowed. Have you read the trilogy? Share your thoughts on this Christian novel or other works by Jerry Jenkins.
Before venturing into this uncharted territory let me state that there is a “real universe” that each one perceives differently: if this real world didn’t exist then there would be nothing to perceive. The real world cares less about the notions of time and space. No matter how we rationalize about the real world our system of comprehension is strictly linked to our brain/senses systems of perceptions. The way animals perceive the universe is different than our perception. All we can offer are bundles of hypotheses that can never be demonstrated or confirmed even empirically. The best we can do is to extend the hypothesis that our perceived universe correlates (qualitative coherent resemblance) with the real universe. The notions of time, space, and causality are within our perceived universe. Each individual has his own “coherent universe” that is as valid as any other perception. What rational logic and empirical experiments have discovered in “laws of nature” apply only to our perceived universe; mainly to what is conveniently labeled the category of grown up “normal people” who do not suffer major brain disturbances or defects.
Man uses symbols such as language, alphabets, mathematical forms, and musical symbols to record their cognitive performances. Brain uses “binary code” of impressions and intervals of non impressions to register a codified impression. Most probably, the brain creates all kinds of cells and chemicals to categorize, store, classify, and retrieve various impressions; the rational is that since no matter how fast an impression is it stands to reason that the trillions and trillions of impressions would saturate the intervals between sensations in no time.
We are born with 25% of the total number of synapses that grown up will form. Neurons have mechanisms of transferring from one section of the brain to other parts when frequent focused cognitive processes are needed. A child can perceive one event following another one but it has no further meaning but simple observation. A child is not surprised with magic outcomes; what is out of the normal for a grown up is as valid a phenomenon as another to him (elephant can fly). We know that vision and auditory sensations pass through several filters (processed data) before being perceived by the brain. The senses of smell and taste circumvent filters and are sensed by the limbic (primeval brain) before passing this data to cognition.
The brain attaches markers or attributes to impressions that it receives. Four markers that I call exogenous markers attach to impressions as they are “registered” or perceived in the brain coming from the outside world through our senses. At least four other markers, I label “endogenous markers” are attached to internal cognitive processing and are attached to information when re-structuring or re-configurations are performed during the dream periods: massive computations are needed to stored data before they are transformed to other ready useful data before endogenous markers are attributed to them for registering in other memory banks. There are markers that I call “reverse-exogenous” and are attached to information meant to be exported from the brain to the outside world. They are mainly of two kinds: body language information (such as head, hand, shoulder, or eye movements) and the recorded types on external means such as writing, painting, sculpting, singing, playing instruments, or performing art work.
The first exogenous marker directs impressions from the senses in their order of successions. The child recognizes that this event followed the other one within a short period of occurrence. His brain can “implicitly” store the two events are following in succession in a qualitative order (for example the duration of the succession is shorter or longer than the other succession). I label this marker as “Time recognizer” in the qualitative meaning of sensations.
The second marker registers and then stores an impression as a spatial configuration. At this stage, the child is able to recognize the concept of space but in a qualitative order; for example, this object is closer or further from the other object. I call this marker “space recognizer”.
The third marker is the ability to delimit a space when focusing on a collection of objects. Without this ability to first limit the range of observation (or sensing in general) it would be hard to register parts and bits of impressions within a first cut of a “coherent universe”. I label this marker “spatial delimiter”
The fourth marker attaches “strength” or “weight” of occurrence as the impression is recognized in the database. The child cannot count but the brain is already using this marker for incoming information. In a sense, the brain is assembling events and objects in special “frequency of occurrence” database during dream periods and the information are retrieved in qualitative order of strength of sensations in frequency. I call this attribute “count marker”.
The fifth marker is an endogenous attributes: this marker is attached within the internal export/import of information in the brain. This attribute is a kind of “correlation” quantity that indicates same/different trends of behavior of events or objects. In a sense, this marker will internally sort out data as “analogous” or contrary collections along a time scale. People have tendency to associate correlation with cause and effect relation but it is not. A correlation quantity can be positive (two variables have the same behavioral trend in a system) or negative quantity (diverging trends). With the emergence of the 5th marker the brain has grown a quantitative threshold in synapses and neurons to starting massive computations on impressions stored in the large original database or what is called “long-term memory”.
The sixth marker is kind of a “probability quantity” that permits the brain to order objects according to “plausible” invariant properties in space (for example objects or figures are similar according to a particular property, including symmetrical transformations). I label this the “invariant marker” and it re-structures collections of objects and shapes in structures such as hereditary, hierarchical, network, or circular.
The seventh marker I call the “association attribute”. Methods of deduction, inductions, and other logical manipulations are within these kinds of data types. They are mostly generated from rhetorical associations such as analogies, metaphors, antonyms, and other categories of associations. No intuition or creative ideas are outside the boundary of prior recognition of the brain. Constant focus and work on a concept generate complex processing during the dream stage. The conscious mind recaptures sequences from the dream state and most of the time unconsciously. What knowledge does is decoding in formal systems the basic processes of the brain and then re-ordering what seems as chaotic firing in brain cells. Symbols were created to facilitate rules writing for precise rationalization.
The eighth marker I call the “design marker”; it recognizes interactions among variables and interacts with reverse exogenous markers since a flow with outside perceptions is required for comprehension. Simple perceived relationships between two events or variables are usually trivial and mostly wrong; for example thunder follows lightning and thus wrongly interpreted as lightning generates thunder. Simple interactions are of the existential kind as in the Pavlov reactions where existential rewards, such as food, are involved in order to generate the desired reactions. The Pavlov reaction laws apply to man too. Interactions among more than two variables are complex for interpretations in the mind and require plenty of training and exercises. Designing experiments is a very complex cognitive task and not amenable to intuition: it requires learning and training to appreciating the various cause and effects among the variables.
The first kinds of “reverse exogenous” markers can be readily witnessed in animals such as in body language of head, hand, shoulder, or eye movements; otherwise Pavlov experiments could not be conducted if animals didn’t react with any external signs. In general, rational thinking retrieves data from specialized databases “cognitive working memory” of already processed data and saved for pragmatic utility. Working memories are developed once data find outlets to the external world for recording; thus, pure thinking without attempting to record ideas degrades the cognitive processes with sterile internal transfer without new empirical information to compute in.
An important reverse-exogenous marker is sitting still, concentrating, emptying our mind of external sensations, and relaxing the mind of conscious efforts of perceiving the knowledge “matter” in order to experience the “cosmic universe”.
This article was not meant to analyze emotions or value moral systems. It is very probable that the previously described markers are valid for the moral value systems with less computation applied to the data transferred to the “moral working memory”. I believe that more other sophisticated computations are performed than done to emotional data since a system is constructed for frequent “refreshing” with age and experiences.
I conjecture that emotions are generated from the vast original database and the endogenous correlation marker is the main computation method: the reason is that emotions are related to complex and almost infinite interactions with people and community; thus, the brain prefers not to consume time and resources on complex computations that involve many thousands of variables interacting simultaneously. Thus, an emotional reaction in the waking period is not necessarily “rational” but of the quick and dirty resolutions kinds. In the dream sessions, emotionally loaded impressions are barely processed because they are hidden deep in the vast original database structure and are not refreshed frequently to be exposed to the waking conscious cognitive processes; thus, they flare up within the emotional reaction packages.
Note: The brain is a flexible organic matter that can be trained and developed by frequent “refreshing” of interactions with the outside world of sensations. Maybe animals lack the reverse exogenous markers to record their cognitive capabilities; more likely, it is because their cognitive working memory is shriveled that animals didn’t grow the appropriate limbs for recording sensations: evolution didn’t endow them with external performing limbs for writing, sculpting, painting, or doing music. The fact that chimps were trained to externalize cognition as valid as 5 years old capabilities suggest that attaching artificial limbs to chimps, cats, or dogs that are compatible with human tools will demonstrate that chimps can give far better cognitive performance than expected.
This is a first draft to get the project going. I appreciate developed comments and references.
I want to discuss the people in Alice Munro’s stories. It would be facile and easy for me to say that Alice Munro celebrates the rich variety of people and their complex interactions in her stories. You may ask what rich variety? What complex interactions?
OK, let us start with a baby. A baby has two parents. Each parent is descended from at least ten thousand years of ancestors. Some of the same ancestors of these ten thousand years may be ancestors on both the mother and the father’s side, since after about five generations we consider even the descendents of brothers and sisters as not related anymore. When we think of our ancestors, we think of our grandparents, perhaps our great-grandparents, and in some cases our great-great grandparents, but in most cases not much beyond that.
So the baby is made up of the traits of all these people from these ten thousand years of ancestry on both the father’s and the mother’s sides. So given all these ancestral factors that go into each child, even a brother and sister or two brothers or two sisters can have completely different inherited traits. In fact two siblings can be totally different from each other. Or they can be very similar, or in the case of identical twins, almost identical.
The father and the mother of the baby may have met and mated in a great variety of different circumstances. The mother and father may have been destined for marriage to each other from almost birth, or, more likely, the two somehow met later on. In some cases, the father may have already left before the baby is born.
The birth of the baby itself is a significant, sometimes traumatic, event in the baby’s life, and can play a role in the identity of the person.
After the baby is born, it becomes part of a family. Each person in the family has a role. Of course, the child who most fulfills the parents’ expectations usually has most favored status in the family, even if the parents are careful not to show favoritism. In some cases, the first-born child so fulfills the parents’ expectations, that whatever the second child does is found lacking. In some circumstances one of the children may turn into the black sheep of the family even at a quite young age. There are cases where such a black sheep will have the persistence to succeed despite the family dynamic, but in other cases may be defeated in many different ways. One common example is the creative or artistic child born to very practical-minded parents. Or the very down-to-earth offspring of artistic parents. Also, the parents’ values may not be unified, where the mother and father have very different values. That may be the best circumstance in some cases.
Then there are the significant life-changing events that occur in everyone’s life such as school, jobs, illnesses, significant deaths, friendships, romances, marriages, divorces, accidents, etc. Each person, given their individual makeup, attaches their own significance to each of these events.
Given all of the factors above, when two people meet, many different things can happen. In some cases one or both persons may have shut themselves off from meeting the other person in the first place. In many cases, when two people meet, they have enough empathy that they become friends. But in other cases, there is no empathy whatsoever between the two and the interaction most resembles a collision. In some cases, two people that are antithetical to each other must necessarily deal with each other on a daily basis.
Back to Alice Munro. Munro deals with these human complexities in her stories. In one story, a woman is going through a life-changing drama. She is so caught up in her own drama, she doesn’t realize that to another person who seems rather peripheral in her own story, she is the center of a completely different story. Alice Munro doesn’t constrict herself to narrow plot paths, so just about anything can happen in her stories, just like in life.
Munro doesn’t shy away from evil. If you are looking for pleasant stories only, stay away from Munro. If you are looking for a pleasant story, the first story in this book will probably cause you to have a heart attack. There are also other stories in the book about evil. For Alice Munro, life isn’t about good persons and bad persons. It’s about the circumstances that cause people to do bad things. It’s complicated. It is part of the rich variety of human interaction.
Geoffrey Grigson’s 1960s guide to touring the countryside (The Shell Country Alphabet) has been republished (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/book[...]ntry-alphabet-geoffrey-grigson for a review). And here – http://www.themodernantiquaria[...]ters_church_clyffe_pypard.html for a little more about Nikolaus Pevsner, Geoffrey Grigson, Paul Nash and John Piper.
Sophie Grigson (Geoffrey Grigson’s daughter) writes about her father in the forward to his book that, “He knew about Roman roads, poets and the countryside, Sheila-na-gigs and shooting stars. He knew where to find stone-age flints, fossilized sea-urchins, or glow worms in their season. You could ask him about fog-bows or gloops, the work of Richard Jefferies or the workings of windmills, and he’d offer an explanation that took you beyond the obvious.”
This really is a book packed full of fascinating facts and ‘beyond the obvious’ sums it up perfectly. A book either to just dip into for an idle half hour or to use as a more serious reference. The entries are arranged alphabetically, beginning with Aber and ending with Zodiacal Light. There are entries on Drove Roads, ‘Druidical’ Remains, Stukeley, Well-Dressing and Winterbournes, among many, many more. The lengthy entry on Henges and Standing Stones asks the question what they were for, and Grigson argues that they may have been no more than supports for fencing with the spaces between the stones being filled with thorn, hurdles or loose stones – corrals in other words (this suggested back in 1966!).
The book is peppered with poems, one of which is by Wordsworth which Grigson has used in his dedication to Colin Banks -
Not in Utopia, subterranean fields, -
Or some secreted island, Heaven knows where!
But in the very world, which is the world
Of all of us, – the place where in the end,
We find our happiness, or not at all.
For some reason I didn’t read my usual quota of books in a year (yeah, the first part of the year was a bit unsettling for me).
At any rate, here are my top five from those I was able to read:
1. The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning. I remain a big Manning fan. This title is about embracing and truly letting Abba’s love engulf you.
2. The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmoly and Origins Debate by John Walton. Written on a semi-technical level, this introduction a larger work by prof. Walton is quite engaging. I believe he’s made a solid case, like a few others, for a functional understand of the Creation narrative.
3. Paul: A Brief Insight by E.P. Sanders. This was actually my first entire read of Sanders. I had read portion here and there. Now I’m looking forward to his groundbreaking Paul and Palestian Judaism in 2010.
4. The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards by John Carrick. Both theist and atheist refer to Edwards as one of, if not, the top philosopher-theologian that American has ever produced. This title by Carrick takes us into the study and pulpit of Mr. Edwards, that learned New Englang divine.
5. The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel’s Scripture byRichard B. Hays. This title is sort of a follow up to Richard B. Hays Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, which I’m looking forward to reading in 2010. Every seroius student of Paul and Letters needs to read The Conversion of the Imagination.
Right now I’m reading James D.G. Dunn’s The New Perspective in Paul. It certainly will take me into 2010.
Once again, this is not a list of books published in 2009, but rather a list of the best books I read this year.
I continued reading Roberto Bolaño (1953-2003). By Night In Chile (2000; transl. Chris Andrews 2003) is the confession of a priest who sold out to the Pinochet regime. A two-paragraph novella. Original title: Shit Storms (a reference to both the political history of Chile and the Catholic Church’s pigeon problem). In The Savage Detectives (1998; transl. Natasha Wimmer 2007) the leaders of gang of bohemian revolutionary poets flee mid-70s Mexico City on a hunt for an ultra-obscure poet in the Sonora Desert. Bolaño uses the form of the diary and the oral history to tell of the quest for Cesárea Tinajero and its long aftermath in Europe and elsewhere.
There are three short novels by Horacio Castellanos Moya in English translation. This year I read them all: Senselessness (2004; transl. Katherine Silver 2008), The She-Devil in the Mirror (2000; transl. Katherine Silver 2009), and the ridiculous Dance With Snakes (1996 ; transl. Lee Paula Springer 2009). Moya is from El Salvador. He now lives in exile. Senselessness is a funny, bawdy, horrifying novel about war crimes in an unnamed Latin American country. The narrator is a writer hired to polish the prose of a long report commissioned by the Catholic Church on the atrocities of a military dictatorship. Bolaño writes of his friend: “One of the great virtues of [Moya's work]: Nationalists of all stripes can’t stand it. Its sharp humour, not unlike a Buster Keaton film or a time bomb, threatens the fragile stability of imbeciles who, when they read [his books], have an uncontrollable desire to hang the author in the town square. I can’t think of a higher honour for a writer.”
Clive Sinclair is the too-little-known British author of many stories and novels such as Cosmetic Effects and Augustus Rex. The Lady With The Laptop (1996) is a cosmopolitan and bawdy cycle of six interrelated stories that revolve around seduction, contraception, terrorism and death.
I finally got around to reading the novel which donated its title to this blog. Anthony Burgess’s Honey For The Bears (1963) is a farce of black-marketeering based on the Burgesses’ trip to Leningrad. Andrew Biswell’s fine biography illustrates the extent to which Burgess’s 1990 memoir mixes the remembered with this invented account. The rendering of sultry, stinking, polluted, half-Oriental St Petersburg is vastly at odds with the stereotypical Cold War-era USSR. This is a very funny book, and one of many strong candidates to dislodge A Clockwork Orange from its disproportionate status in the Burgess corpus.
Aleksander Hemon’s first story collection The Question of Bruno (2000) was very good but not quite as fine as it promised to be. Hemon is Bosnian, but writes in very fluent American English. The stories are rooted in Eastern Europe’s dark 20th century and Hemon’s peculiar immigrant experience. Not every story works as well as it could; indeed the New Yorker’s abridgement of ‘Blind Jozef Pronek’ transformed the meandering story as published here into a comic masterwork. There is an occasional tendency towards self-pity (eg. “This story was written in Chicago (where I live) on the subway, after a long day of arduous work as a parking assistant, A. D. 1996″). But these are quibbles, and what I have read of Hemon’s latest story collection Love and Obstacles (2009) is impressive. I have a feeling I’m going to like the novel The Lazarus Project (2008).
Other highlights: Flash For Freedom! (1971), the third Flashman adventure by George MacDonald Fraser: Flashy as reluctant slaver and equally reluctant hero of the Underground Railroad. My favourite Flash yet. Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest (1929) (I subsequently took Don Herron’s wonderful Dasheill Hammett walking tour of San Francisco. Thanks, Don). Luis Fernando Verissimo’s macabre novella The Club of Angels (1998; transl. Margaret Jull Costa 2001), about a Brazillian gastronomy club that engages in a kind of culinary Russian roulette. Javier Marias‘ 1986 novel Man of Feeling (transl. M. Jull Costa 2003) and his short story collection When I Was Mortal (1996; transl. M. Jull Costa 1999) [see also his recent New Yorker story 'While the Women Are Sleeping'].
The non-fiction titles that impressed me most were Tony Judt’s immense Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (2005) and Richard J. Evan’s The Coming of the Third Reich (2003).
Lorri from Jew Wishes posted a review of Sarah Houghteling’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Here’s an excerpt:
Fast forward to post World War II (literally, as the time period between pre-war and post war are swept over without mention), as part one of the novel is a skimpy nine pages, part two of the novel encompasses 1939-1940, and the story line begins again in part three, on August 27, 1944. This is where I became disenchanted with Pictures at an Exhibition. The gap in time was an extreme disappointment to me. From that point forward, I felt the book was on a decline, and that the story went downhill, other than the historical factors.
Read the complete review here.
**Attention participants: Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**
Suey from It’s All About Books read Patricia Reilly Giff’s Lily’s Crossing for the WWII reading challenge. Here’s a little of what she had to say:
This is a great story on how WWII affected even the youngest of people, and how even though they didn’t understand all that was going on, they understood enough. I think it’s a perfect introduction to the stresses of the war for younger readers.
Read the complete review here.
**Attention participants: Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**
Ted and his older sister Kat, along with their cousin Salim wait in line for tickets to “fly” the London Eye, a major tourist attraction on the Thames that resembles an overgrown Ferris wheel. Salim accepts a free ticket from a stranger and goes it alone in a sealed glass and steel compartment which holds 20 people. Salim gets on the Eye, but when his compartment comes back to earth he has disappeared into thin air. The police are called in but they have no leads. Meanwhile, Ted uses his unique way of thinking to come up with a set of theories that his teenage sister is reluctant to hear. Ted has Asberger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, and knows that his brain “works on a different operating system.” He thinks in weather metaphors and recites shipping weather forecasts when he is stressed and refers to his Aunt Gloria, Salim’s mother, as Hurricane Gloria. His quirky family along with the tale of finding Salim and Ted’s discovery that what he has to say is important make this a great read. A great book for either gender.
I read this with “Goodness, and this was his first novel!” going through my head the whole time. It is a remarkably bold, nay even reckless, piece of writing. Mitchell manages to express the fragmentation of the modern world, and at the same time its connectedness. The fragmentation is characterised by its form, a series of episodes that take us from Okinawa to Tokyo and all points West until in the end we have been right round the world and back to Okinawa. These are not short stories, they do not have a narrative arc within themselves, they form a part of a whole: characters from one episode will re-appear in another, or events in one will have rippling effects further on. The connectedness is sometimes a bit hokum, taking the form of a spirit, which even appears as a body-jumping narrator in one section.
There are issues here that Mitchell resolves much more successfully in his later work, Cloud Atlas. The narratives here are nearly all first person, but there’s little indication of the narrative situation, of where when and why these characters are telling their story, and some of the voices themselves are less convincing, less memorable, less compelling. The linking idea is harder to detect sometimes; in the end the whole thing is a bit like that film Babel, showing how random events in one place can affect apparently unconnected people around the world, but the driving force that forges Cloud Atlas into a whole is too weak to do the job in Ghostwritten. Some parts are very impressive, but others are hard to get through. Uneven.
Ruby is back at Tate Prep, and it’s her thirty-seventh week in the state of Noboyfriend. Her panic attacks are bad, her love life is even worse, and what’s more:
Noel is writing her notes, Jackson is giving her frogs, Gideon is helping her cook, and Finn is making her brownies. Rumors are flying, and Ruby’s already-sucky reputation is heading downhill.
Not only that, she’s also: running a bake sale, learning the secrets of heavymetal therapy, encountering some seriously smelly feet, defending the rights of pygmy goats, and bodyguarding Noel from unwanted advances.
In this companion novel to The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book, Ruby struggles to secure some sort of mental health, to understand what constitutes a real friendship, and to find true love—if such a thing exists.
My Thoughts: The Treasure Map of Boys is definitely my favorite book in this series. I felt that everything just came together in a perfect way. The characters developed so much more and Ruby’s annoyingness completely disappeared but she still kept her unique voice. I loved how she worked through all of her problems and I just adored how the boys were portrayed in this one.
As this is part of a series, I don’t feel that there is much more for me to say. If you enjoyed the first two books, DEFINITELY pick this one up. It’s so sweet.
That said, for some reason, I thought this was the last book in the series but it’s not! I’m not sure how I feel about that. For some reason, I just really loved where it left off and I’m afraid another book will mess up that perfection. But, I’m still pretty excited for it! Can’t wait to see what happens!
Christina from Jackets & Covers read Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary by Ruud Van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven for the WWII reading challenge. Here is an excerpt from her review:
It’s very ghostly seeing the pictures and knowing this was a young girl who died in such a horrific manner.It offers a lot of history — both of the Frank family and Nazi Germany in general — and with big, color-coded maps, it’s easy to watch the European landscape change from a bunch of tiny, independent countries into one large empire.
Read the full review here.
**Attention participants: Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**
Laurie Faria Stolarz Bleed
Disney Hyperion (US: 22nd April 2008) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Nicole tries to snare her longtime crush, who’s also the boyfriend of one of her best friends. Maria’s desperate to connect with others on a very intimate level, but her psyche needs help the most. Kelly starts a relationship over a handful of years, but now it’s too real. Sadie’s mother may insist that she’s trying to help the eleven-year-old, but she’s pushed her daughter too far. Robby loves too much, bringing about another downfall. Ginger wants revenge, but that doesn’t guarantee inner peace. Joy wants to make her own happy ending, even at the expense of someone else’s.
These depressing related vignettes or short stories, as well as three others, explore friendship, family, identity and sex via very effed-up people in Salem and California. Each messed in their own way, Kelly Pickerel disturbs me most because of the particular relationship she initiates and continues. She comes to her senses at last, but her story is still a scary journey. Sadie Dubinski’s is the most affecting, though there’s blood in every tale.
The Mask of Command can be seen as a follow up to Keegan’s The Face of Battle, which described the experience of soldiers in battle throughout history and how it had changed. The Mask of Command is about the experience and techniques of generalship and how they have changed over time from the “heroic” (lead from the front) conception of Alexander the Great to the unheroic (lead and/or manage from the rear) concept of the modern era. He illustrates his position with the examples of Alexander the Great, the Duke of Wellington, Ulysses Grant and Adolf Hitler. However in addition there is a normative element to this book: Keegan discusses how command should have changed (and has not) given the realities of the era of nuclear warfare and modern total war. In particular he singles out Hitler as utilising an ancient heroic conception of command that was unsuited to these realities and claims that to a certain extent this explains his ultimate lack of military success. This is a fascinating analysis of generalship: thought provoking and intriguing. Ultimately I think that it is undermined by a less plausible reading of Hitler (which more recent scholarship might cast doubt on) than of the other generals, but its final section on what generalship should look like in the nuclear era is very interesting. A must read for those interested in understanding generalship in general rather than just finding out about particular battles.
English-language-enthusiast-turned-jaded-lawyer Cindy Kichlklug becomes legal counsel to the True Foods Project. This eccentric band of radical food advocates wants to sue the dairy industry; quirky mathematician Eddie Fishman has statistically proven milk consumption provides no scientific health benefits. (In fact, imbibing a different species’ natural milk product is kind of weird.) While Cindy sips lattes and makes cheesecake slices disappear in private, she pours her professional efforts into lactose intolerant culinary crusades. What she discovers can only be described as cowtastrophic truths.
Soaked with conspiracy theories, milk thugs, Vegans, and soy milk, Cindy finds herself following anti-diary rogue Tom Logan around the Beltway and greater Washington, D.C. area. Her lactose cravings tempered by FDA approved mind control elements, she begins to engage with Bessy the cow, a psychic dolphin, and the freedom of soy.
Cindy’s story is bizarrely appetizing. Her skepticism of the plot and her sarcastic retorts reflect the reader’s experience and keep the book lively. Andrew Thomas Breslin writes well. Spilling drops of etymological flavor and milky quotes enriches an interesting read. The novel explains why there’s no reason to cry over spilt milk. Mother’s Milk makes you seriously reconsider FDA regulations and nutritional integrity when asking the question ‘got milk?’
What I didn’t realize when I read Mary Doria Russell’s lovely book, Dreamers of the Day, is that she has a reputation for writing much darker fiction, and that she is, in fact, the author of two bestselling science fiction classics, one of which I will review in the near future. A Thread of Grace is not science fiction, it is historical fiction, and you will find in various places online a lot of whining from sci-fi fans who demand that Russell stick with that genre. On the other hand, I love that she crosses genres, and I think she’s a brilliant writer, period. A Thread of Grace is dramatic, thought-provoking, well-written, and powerful.
It is the story of a collection of people who found themselves in Italy’s Piedmont region during late 1943 through early 1945. These people include Jewish refugees, Italian Jews, priests, nuns, Italian fascists, Resistance fighter, military personnel of every possible stripe, and those who would just like to be left alone but are compelled to act because that’s what war does. Russell’s characters range from infants to the stooped elderly, and there are so many of them that I cringed when I saw the character list at the front of the book. But Russell gives all of these characters individual voices, personalities, and roles, so that they all seem essential to the story. In fact, I think this might be her real strength — telling a “ripping yarn” with a large cast of vivid characters.
And what about plot? It can be summed up in one word: survival. Yet as Italy’s involvement in WWII wound down, survival became complex to the point of near impossibility. People were constantly on the move, and Russell’s most vivid character, Renzo Leoni, took on multiple personas just to keep going. Young teenager Claudette Blum progresses from skipping through the streets to carrying a gun. There is even a 9-year-old who has a part in the resistance. And, as one would expect from a story about this particular time and place, death is everywhere.
I can’t recommend this book strongly enough. It is not light reading by any definition, but it also doesn’t feel as unremittingly depressing as some other books with the same setting. Yes, it’s dark, but it’s also suspenseful and beautiful, with occasional light moments. The pacing is something to be aware of — it’s very fast, and you will want to read this book over a period of days, not weeks.
As for animals, I always feel it’s odd to mention that when reviewing a book that has a great deal of human death. But the purpose of this blog is to screen books for animal lovers who don’t want to read about animal deaths or violence to animals. In that regard, the book is SAFE for animal lovers, although interestingly enough, the saddest animal note is when Russell mentions the death of a beloved dog in her author interview at the end of the book. Other than that, a pet canary is left behind as refugees flee, dogs serve their masters by barking and growling, a rat licks her fur, an unmilked cow bellows, and that’s about it.
One other thing: Russell includes maps. I love maps! One other plus for this book — you don’t need to read it with an atlas nearby.
What makes a successful man different from ordinary man? Yes you’re right its the habits which make all the difference. In order to be successful you have to follow certain habits of successful people so you can also be like them. So here is a guide book for you where you can get the necessary habits of being successful.
Good thing about Brain Tracy’s books is that they are so very easy to understand and you can follow them quite well. They are practical enough to work on and they really make changes in your life. I have read couple of Brains Tracy’s books but 21 Habits of Self-Made Millionaires is surely his best work so far according to me.
In this book Brain discusses basic characteristics of highly successful people which as follows:
1) Dream big dreams
2) Do what you love to do
3) Focus on your unique strengths
4) See yourself as self employed
5) Never consider the possibility of failure
6 ) Develop a clear sense of direction
7) Work hard
Form master mind networks
9) Be teachable
10) Be prepared to climb from peak to peak
11) Develop resilience and bounce back
12) Unlock your inborn creativity
13) Focus on continuous personal development
14) Be an unshakable optimist
15) Dedicate yourself to serving others
16) Develop a reputation for speed and dependability
17) Be impeccably honest with yourself and others
18) Concentrate single handily on one thing at a time
19) Be decisive
20) Back your plans with persistence and determination
21) Discipline yourself
This book is surely a valuable addition to your library and this can be a wonderful guide for a successful life.
I received this complimentary book from Thomas Nelson for review purposes.
Jesus Lives by Sarah Young is a small, yet beautiful, devotional book. It contains 180 devotionals broken into topics while the opposite page contains the supporting Biblical verses. The topics range from “Abiding in Him”, “Right Living”, and “Worship”.
I was a bit uncomfortable with the devotionals written as if Jesus were speaking and I didn’t like the shifting between 5 different translations of the Bible.
However; it is easy to read and the verses fit the topics nicely. It should prove to be a good resource for locating scriptures.
In short, I enjoyed it and found it to be very inspirational. I would recommend the book as an excellent gift.
The English Tea Store brand of maple-flavored black tea may not quite be what you expect to taste upon trying it. The scent of maple wafts from the tin, promising a candy sweetness. As it brews, it releases even more aroma, watering the mouth in anticipation. With a little sweetener and a dash of cream, it presents itself as a swirling, steaming mug of dessert.
And it delivers polished maple charm. But it’s unexpectedly rich and dark, as well, sobering the tastebuds and offering a distinctly “grown-up” and satisfying flavor.
For me, it immediately brought to mind one of my most cherished novels: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Originally published in 1818, it is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student who, in his relentless pursuit of science, discovers the secret of animating life. He does so, creating a monstrous being who, upon being rejected by society and his creator, vows that “If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!”
The story was written at a period in Shelley’s life around her early twenties, and was her first novel; but it may not be quite what you expect upon reading it. The narration delivers polished Old English charm, but it’s unexpectedly rich and dark, as well. It’s a sobering tale with a distinctly grown up and satisfying flavor.
Mary Shelley describes the summer experiences that inspired the story as the time “when I first stepped out from childhood into life”. And English Tea Store’s Maple Tea reflects this concept exactly. Its flavor is the memory of penny candy and home-cooked breakfast, blended into the smooth and sultry taste of stability and responsibility.
English Tea Store’s Maple Tea deserves a permanent home on your cupboard shelf, with your collection of tea classics. And don’t forget to include Frankenstein on your bookshelf with your collection of novel classics to pair with it.
Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of instruction based on a specific model (system teaching), or instructors who put down other’s theories to build their own. My main problem with Stack and Tilt is that Andy Plummer and Michael Bennett, the founders of Stack and Tilt, do both. I do believe in modeling swings especially in working with Juniors or those new to the game, but I don’t believe one model fits all.
Having said all that, I wasn’t expecting much when I received this book as a gift. I was pleasantly surprised, there is a lot of good stuff in here. To start with, I love the description of shot cones. Shot cones are the shape of your predominant shot, be it fade or draw, with the base of the cone being the starting point of the ball one line being drawn to the direction the ball started and one line being drawn to the point the ball ends. The more consistent, not necessarily the narrower, the cone the better. This is so simple I wish I would have come up with it. Another great idea in the book is having a long line of string running from the ball toward the target. This is a great way to easily work on the starting direction for the ball. I also like the way they use clubs or lines to work on creating a consistent low point for the swing. By using player’s descriptions of feels and thoughts, and multiple photos of positions discussed in the text, the explanations are easy to follow. There is a large section on drills that are very detailed and have very good explanations. As you can see, there is a lot of good here, but it is outweighed by the bad.
The bad is really bad. To start with their description of fundamentals is completely flawed. The dictionary definition of fundamental, is a foundation or base. Their fundamentals are 1) hitting the ground in the same place every time; 2) having enough power to play the course; and 3) matching the clubface to the swing path to control shot direction. They consider grip, aim, stance, alignment, tempo, etc. to not be fundamentals because there are many variations in these things. The main problem with this view is the fact that if your grip is terrible, you will never hit the ground in the same place every time. If your tempo or rhythm is off, you will never have the power you need. If your alignment is all over the place, you will never be able to match the face and the path. Now if you have played golf for a while and have a fairly solid foundation in the real fundamentals (grip, setup, balance), these would be great next steps. The part that almost made me throw the book away though was their description of the swing components that make Stack and Tilt “superior” to “conventional” swings. The comparisons are almost laughable. They use their “perfect” positions compared to the worst possible ”conventional” positions hardly an apples to apples comparison. My biggest issue with this is Stack and Tilters are always the first to complain about misconceptions of “their” swing. They also do this with their photographs. By taking photos of positions they declare good and then exaggerating terrible positions that are based off of clear misconceptions of “conventional” instruction.
Overall, I believe there are players that fit into this swing model and would greatly benefit from this book. There are some great points made in the book, and is a very nice presentation. But, I don’t believe there is one model for everyone and I disagree greatly with the misrepresentation of how “conventional” swings are taught.
Yeah, it’s been a while since I was last here with anything personal. Thanksgiving and Christmas have kept me fairly busy, but mostly I was away on family emergencies.
My older sister, Shelley, nearly died from the H1N1. She spent some time in ICU on a ventilator struggling for her life. That was 2 weeks ago. She’s home, but still dealing with health issues, which I pray end very soon so that she is well for Christmas. She’s got a new grandson, and I want her to be healthy so she can experience this first Christmas with him.
Having her survive is a miracle, and I am eternally thankful for answered prayers and a healing touch from God.
Yesterday, my younger sister and her girls–and their friends–came for a visit. We spent the day doing the Christmas baking. Several hundred cookies later, we collapsed exhausted all around the living room to watch a holiday movie. I love having family at my home. It’s just such a blessing to be surrounded by people you love, knowing they love you back!
I’ve been scouring the ‘net for items I’ve missed regarding my work…reviews and such…which I’ll be posting throughout the week.
Another year has come and practically gone. 2010 will be here before we know it. I’m hopeful for fresh beginnings on some works I have in progress. I’m trying to get book one in a new series revised and completed and submitted to a publisher. I have a couple short fiction pieces I want to submit to Eternal Press, too. I keep saying I’m waiting for things to slow down, but I can’t wait on that…need to embrace the new year with gusto!
Happy Sunday!
This has been another very good year of reading for me in which I made a conscious effort to read a wide variety of novels and collections of stories by many different authors. My reading has been influenced by the many fine book sites which I monitor as well as various book reviews.
Here goes.
‘Every Man Dies Alone’ by Hans Fallada – an utterly convincing depiction of the nightmare of the Nazi reign for average ordinary Berliners.
‘The Spare Room’ by Helen Garner – a book about the minor aggravations and the huge rewards of a really good friend during the toughest times in our lives.
‘The Secret Scripture’ by Sebastian Barry – A very traditional, but new, and powerful novel from and about Ireland.
‘Generosity’ by Richard Powers – an intelligent passionate novel about gene research and our quest for happiness.
‘Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It’ by Maile Meloy – Modern cutting edge stories about life in the United States today.
‘Snow’ by Orhan Pamuk – an involving novel of the situation in modern Turkey with the main character being Orhan Pamuk himself.
‘My Cousin Rachel’ by Daphne du Maurier – A strong mystery-romance from this classic suspense writer.
‘How the Light Gets In’ by M. J. Hyland – the story of a female high school exchange student from Australia living in the home of Chicago suburbanites.
‘The Post-Office Girl’ by Stefan Zweig – A shattering story of a young woman in Austria during the 1920s.
‘What I Loved’ by Siri Hustvedt – A novel about two couples operating in the New York art world.
This book has 25 chapters, each focusing on a different grammar point, with explanations and practice exercises. Each chapter also has an introductory listening practice, and concludes with IELTS practice – a reading passsage, for example, or a writing task.
Although the book starts with some of the more basic ideas, such as the present and past tenses, it moves onto useful areas such as comparisons, and deals with these at a level suitable for IELTS. We are given examples such as
The figures for 2003 were significantly higher than those for the year 2000
It would seem that the longer athletes keep competing the greater their chances of setting new records are.
The book is at its best, however, in the later chapters:
Chapter 23 looks at how to connect ideas within a paragraph using adverbials and prepositions, as well as the more frequently taught conjunctions
Chapter 24 is called Showing your position, and explains how to express your point of view
Chapter 25 looks at Nominalisation in written English, and gives good suggestions for adopting an academic tone in your writing
All these late chapters are very useful for students who want more than Band 6.
We like this book for several reasons, but probably recommend it most for teachers, and for self-access centres. For students who buy this book, make sure it’s not your main text. Something like Objective IELTS by Black and Capel is a better choice for your main book, but Grammar for IELTS in an excellent support text.
My mom wrote to say that Rhoda Janzen’s father Edmund Janzen and my mother’s mother (Anna Janzen Funk) were first cousins. So Rhoda and I are…what? third cousins? I am not surprised. As I have mentioned before, Mennonites all seem to be related in some way or another.
Mom also sent me a link to a Mennonite Weekly Review review of Rhoda’s book, mennonite in a little black dress, and my friend Ruth gave me a link to the review in the New York Times.
It gives me pause to read the reviews. When my memoir, wild and precious life is published, how am I going to handle the comments about me and my life, my mother, my Mennonite Brethren childhood, my writing, my friends, my choices? I have written my truth with as much integrity as I can muster. Very early in this process, when the idea of speaking the truth about my life seemed overwhelmingly scary, my friend and doctor Paul Epstein gave me this sentence from Thomas Paine, which I still have in my kitchen: “But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.” But then what?
The other day I went into Waldenbooks and stood for a long time in front of the rack of best-selling books, imagining what it would be like to have MY book on the shelf along with The Lost Symbol and Going Rogue. I felt kind of panicky, to tell the truth.
Hiroshima was published in 1946 – a year after the bomb was dropped – in New Yorker magazine. Uniquely in its history, the magazine devoted its entire issue to the late John Hersey’s 30,000 word essay. Only later was it turned into a book; the final chapter on the subsequent lives of the six subjects wasn’t written until 1985.
Hersey set out to put a human face on the consquences of the atomic bomb. All earlier news accounts, articles and stories had been focused on the statistics, the science, and the effort that led to the nuclear weapon. Understood in that context, understanding what Hersey was trying to do and say, the book is even more remarkable.
It is not a novel; a novel is a work of fiction. It is an essay, a work of reportage. This story is true. The book is all the more remarkable because Hersey was born and raised in China, the son of missionaries, and had no reason to be sympathetic to or about the Japanese. A war correspondent for Time, he earned a commendation from the U.S. Army at Guadacanal. He cannot fairly be accused of anything but supreme objectivity. By telling the true stories of six survivors in an absolutely straightforward way, without judging the decision to use the bomb, he put an intensely human face on the consequences.
He was criticized at the time and is criticized today for taking the events that day out of context. The bomb is supposed to have saved a million American casualties (a highly suspect figure today). It was supposed to have shortened the war by a year or more. Those critics are themselves missing the true context. At the time, the historical events leading to Truman’s decision were well known (although recast in February 1947 by Stinson). Hersey’s goal was to make the story real in a new way. Those facts are well and good, Hersey is saying, but there were bad consequences as well. In the process, he created a remarkable book.
I was glad to see New York University recently named Hersey’s Hiroshima as the best single work of reporting in the 20th century. As events unfold in the escalating nuclear arms race on the Indian subcontinent, everyone needs to understand the human consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. By helping keep Hersey’s work before us, perhaps we can avoid another Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Boy this time of year is busy! As the new year rapidly approaches it is time to reflect back on the year that is ending. Everyone is publishing their year in review articles and the best of the year lists. So, in the spirit of the season, I too will look back on the books I read in 2009 and pick my favorites.
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia is a Southern Gothic ghost story and romance all in one. One of the things I loved about this story is that it is told from the point of view of a teenaged boy. This book has been nominated for an award given to first time authors. Good Luck!
Wake by Lisa McMann is the first in a three book series. The story is about a girl who gets drawn into other people’s dreams. At first she is helpless and trapped in these dreams, but gradually learns that she can control and manipulate the situation. These books are so exciting! The last book is coming out in early 2010.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is the sequel to The Hunger Games. I loved the first book and was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of the second. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the sequel was even better than the first.
Ok, that was just a little taste of my favorites list. Stay tuned for more! I would love to hear which books made it onto your list.
Over the next couple of days I’m going to be adding some book reviews that I did prior to this blog’s inception. Consider this like a public service announcement.
This is the first one.
To read my review of Blood Roses by Francesca Lia Block click below to continue. All my reviews, including this one, are available on my GoodReads page. Some reviews may contain spoilers.
GoodReads Book Description: What shall we do, all of us? All of us passionate girls who fear crushing the boys we love with our mouths like caverns of teeth, our mushrooming brains, our watermelon hearts? What’s real is what’s imagined in nine tales of transformation by Francesca Lia Block.
Rating:
Recommended For: Teen and tween segment and lovers of the lyrical word.
My Review: It is hard for me not to love and likewise embrace the beauty in Francesca Lia Block’s lyrical style of writing as her stories have captivated me for so many years now. Despite this fact, or maybe because of it, I expect a bit more from Francesca Lia Block than what Blood Roses delivers. The book (filled with nine stories about transition) is not without hope though – it seems to get progressively better as it continues. The first few stories left me feeling detached from the characters and wond…more It is hard for me not to love and likewise embrace the beauty in Francesca Lia Block’s lyrical style of writing as her stories have captivated me for so many years now. Despite this fact, or maybe because of it, I expect a bit more from Francesca Lia Block than what Blood Roses delivers. The book (filled with nine stories about transition) is not without hope though – it seems to get progressively better as it continues. The first few stories left me feeling detached from the characters and wondering why I should care what happened to them (particularly Blood Roses (the story for which the book is titled) and Giant. At some point though Francesca Lia Block hits her stride and finishes by weaving the agonizingly beautiful tales she is so famous for. Skin Art, in my opinion, is the best of the nine stories. Honorable mention to Horses Are a Girl’s Best Friend, Wounds and Wings, and My Boyfriend is an Alien.
Hakim & Terrance Shadow Mystery Author: Bernadine Feagins
Publisher: LuLu
Rating:
Reviewed by: Cheryl Malandrinos
What would you do if one day you woke up and your dog was missing? Well, if you’re Hakim, you go find your best friend and start searching for clues. With the help of their families and friends in the neighborhood, Terrance and Hakim are sure to find Shadow.
In this debut release by children’s author Bernadine Feagins, two best friends set out to solve the mystery of a missing dog. Young readers will sympathize with Hakim as he searches for his beloved pet. They will also enjoy the friendship between the two boys that can become downright silly at times.
This is an adorable story with charming black and white illustrations to help make it real for the readers. Children will learn the importance of friends and family while following Hakim and Terrance on their adventure.
My only wish is that the book had been professionally edited because there are some mistakes in grammar and punctuation. That aside, Hakim & Terrance Shadow Mystery is a fun and easy read that kids will enjoy.
Kathy from Bermudaonion’s Weblog listened to the audio of Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse for the WWII reading challenge. Here’s an excerpt from her review:
This book contains a lot of Aleutian terms, so I had a lot of trouble following it. There is a verbal glossary at the end, but it didn’t really do me any good after the book was over. I’m not sure it would have helped at the beginning either. I think I would have enjoyed the written version of this book more than the audio.
Having said that, I found the author’s note and an interview with Harriet Hope that followed the story fascinating, since I had never heard of the internment of the Aleut people during World War II.
Read her full review here.
**Attention participants: Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**
Proclaiming a Cross-centered Theology by Mark Dever
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology is a product of Together for The Gospel, a coalition of concerned Christians who seek to maintain the purity of the gospel and encourage others to do the same.
The 2008 conference featured speakers Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, John MacArthur, John Piper, Al Mohler, Thabiti Anyabwile, R.C. Sproul, and others. This quite the impressive lineup. Transcripts of each speaker’s contribution to the conference form the content of this book.
The main subject is declared by the book title, Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology. The goal is to uphold the gospel of Christ as central to the theology that is proclaimed from Christian pulpits.
Ligon Duncan leads out in chapter one by calling for sound doctrine. Duncan insists that systematic theology is not only necessary, but unavoidable if we are to speak of Christ. Taking the time to dispel some myths concerning a conflict between exegetical theology, Biblical theology, and systematic theology, Duncan shows that we all have a system of thought that we operate out of, and calls for us to recognize the need to use systematic theology in the church.
Thabiti Ayabwile shows how all are made in the image of God. In so doing, he emphasized to us all that racism is contrary to the gospel of Christ, and can be seen as a denial of the gospel, or at least a compromise of the gospel.
John MacArthur tackled the huge topic of human depravity and inability.
Mark Dever gave to us “Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology.” Dever demonstrated how the “new and improved” versions of the gospel are actually deficient. Whether men seek to make the gospel relevant by a contextualization that actually changes the gospel, whether we expand the gospel by embracing as fellow laborers those who deny the gospel (especially relevant in the days of Evangelicals and Catholics Together and the Manhattan Declaration), Dever calls us to simply embrace the Biblical truth of the gospel and stand upon it.
Greg Gilbert gives an overview of what the gospel actually is. One would like to think that Christians do not need to be reminded of this, yet we sadly need this reminder.
Sproul takes the “Curse Motif of The Atonement” and demonstrates to us that Jesus became a curse for us when He went to the cross and died for our sins. This seems to have resonated with everyone at the conference, possibly being considered not only the best presentation of the conference, but the best ever spoken by Sproul.
R. Albert Mohler Jr (Al) spoke concerning the battle against penal substitutionary atonement (PSA). His question is, “Why do they hate it so?” Having read this, it is obvious that the battle rages on even among those who call themselves evangelicals. Mohler declares that PSA is Biblical and should be embraced by those who desire to be true to the gospel.
John Piper is certainly in his element when he speaks from the book of Hebrews to show us how the supremacy of Christ can create radical Christian sacrifice. This chapter will certainly be an encouragement to those who are facing hard times for the sake of the gospel. It also has the potential to lay a foundation within our hearts for the times when we must suffer for Jesus’ sake.
Last, but not least, C.J. Mahaney gives us “Sustaining The Pastor’s Soul”. Mahaney has the peculiar gift of being able to take his Bible and bring out to us exactly what we need to pick us up off of the floor, or drag us out of the pit of self pity, or even the slough of despond. I honestly can see myself going back to this chapter in times of discouragement.
This book is a call for us to come Together for The Gospel. T4G has done a good job, and this book is indicative of the work that they have been doing for several years.
Many times transcripts of speeches/sermons show the marks of having been spoken and leave something to be desired when one reads them. Whether the credit goes to the speakers or to the editors, I do not know. I do know that one should not have this problem when reading Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology.
Many thanks to Angie Cheatham of Crossway for providing PastoralMusings with this review copy.
I’m not big into reading autobiographies but there were certain events in Bret Harts wrestling life that I was interested in finding out about, and as I was lent the book by my friend Andres, I thought that I might as well read it and find out what happened backstage and out of the public eye.
Bret does of course start from his beginning, talking about his family, the very strong male influence his father and his wrestling business had on him and his brothers. From the ‘Hart dungeon’ that was famous enough to be mentioned on WCW and WWE to all the financial booms and busts that came with running a small local wrestling business. This was all interesting. Not very interesting, just enough to show how his mindset was as he grew up, how ‘old school’ his training was, and how he developed his outlook on life, women, family, brothers and work. He came from a poor large family who ran a wrestling business. There were some times when they earned lots and they generally spent it. I have a feeling there were probably more poor investments by his father than he lets on in the book, and maybe more than Bret knew about. He hung out working the family businesses more than school, and he suggests that he was the more ‘put on’ brother/sibling or the family. Not being the eldest child myself I do understand that, but I’m guessing his brothers and sisters might well have a different view on some of his earlier childhood grievances. There is lots on his sisters and brothers which he goes into more detail in as he gets older and more famous. It’s not a good healthy family relationship, and my fights with my sister pale in comparison. His family falling outs take it to a whole new ‘Jerry Springer’ level. Not talking, fighting, lawsuits and lawyers are all more part of his relationships with his sisters and brothers than any other family I’ve ever heard of. However they all seem to come together at certain main family events. Those that haven’t died that is.
The Hart dungeon is talked about along with pictures of the man made holes in the ceiling. The many people who passed through it, learning and being beaten up by Bret’s father. Some names I knew, others were before my time and would probably mean more to older wrestling fans than me. All I can say about the Hart Dungeon is that I’m very glad I wasn’t born into that family, or came anywhere near it. Social services and/or the police would have been involved if it was around now, although I’m not sure if that would be a good thing. The people who passed through didn’t seem to complain, and people seemed to willingly turn up wanting to train there. Granted they might have all been mad, but it was their life, and it suited them more than me.
It was when Bret got into his time in the WWF and his tours of Japan that I started to get more interested in what he was writing about. He skipped past a few times wrestling in Mexico and how dangerous it all was, and focused more on his time in Japan. This was when he started to mention people remembered watching on TV in my youth. He discusses how it was all down to him that his younger brother Owen got a job within WWF, how Davey Smith, the Dynamite kid and Jim Neidhart all got on, or rather didn’t. There were obviously family issues and major jealousy that went on during the career of all these brother-in-laws. When they got on the shows were great, but there were too many problems for it to last.
There were three bits of wrestling history that I wanted Bret to go into detail on in this book, the alleged rampant drug consumption of that period, what happened to his baby brother Owen, and the famous ‘Montreal screw job’. The first of these things Bret brings up is drug abuse. He fully admits the majority of wrestlers were consuming large quantities of everything, including himself, and especially Davey Boy Smith. He mentions how he would pop a handful of pills regularly himself just to ease the pain of overworking, and general bumps and bruises. He sweeps past the legal problems that Vince McMahan, and WWF doctors faced with the involvement of the police investigation and it becomes more of a back story as to why the WWF folded on certain agreements they are forced into. However he stops short of ever stating who took what and was supplied by whom (other than one doctor was who charged by the police, but there was no way only one doctor supplied every wrestler in the WWF), and how much he himself took, and relied on. With a few wrestlers who are now dead like Davey Smith, Bret does go into details and how worried he was, and I did find it very funny how he implied that Chyna was a steroid freak (like that was a well kept secret) but for everything else it becomes very obvious that somewhere along the writing of the book, lawyers got hold of a copy and ‘advised’ on how vague some details should be. Smith’s problems have been well documented and discussed before, and whilst Bret does go into how they affected the family, his sister, and wrestling contacts that Bret had, it wasn’t enough for what I expected. After Bret’s falling out with WWF/WWE and all the talk about spilling the beans, I wanted more. I expected more, and whilst it wasn’t a whitewash, I know that there was more that happened which Bret didn’t go into.
I was surprised at how little he goes into Owen’s death. He does talk about it very well, and it was hard for him, both Owen’s death and all the family arguing, and legal fighting between Owens’ wife and Bret’s family (especially his sister), and the WWF. Again this was probably cut short in the book to avoid lawsuits, but Bret seems to be very much a ‘family’ man (although I don’t mean faithful to his wife though) and the loss of people he knew hits him hard, and writing about Owen probably hurt more than the rest of the book. That is of course just the feeling that I get from the book.
I do feel sorry for Bret when it comes to the Montreal screw job, but not in the way he wants, I pity him, because I have no sympathy for his plight, and object to him playing the martyr. He had quit the WWF to move to the WCW at a time when the WCW was not only competing, but beating the WWF on TV viewing. Both companies had a hostile relationship with each other, poaching stars, bad mouthing and even making public wrestling results from the other before they had been shown on TV. Granted Bret had been with the WWF for years and years and was according to him well liked, but to think that you can quit a company, and take the World Championship Belt with you to the competitors is just plain stupid. Shawn Michaels, the Heartbreak Kid was probably used by Vince to take the belt from him in an underhand manner, but Bret really had to either be very naive, stupid, or massively egocentric to think that he had a right to take that belt with him. WWF, just like all the other wrestling firms is a business which exists to make money. Allowing your competitors to take your belt and ridicule you live on television was never going to happen, and shouldn’t be allowed to happen; at least not by a company that wishes to last. Bret was wrong on this, very wrong, and I won’t take his side, and instead I put all the blame on him, not on the others whom he forced into acting the way they did. It isn’t very often that I would take Vince’s side in an argument over ethics, but in this case I will, and the fact that it is this one event that Vince credits for creating his evil television persona that has earned him millions I find amusing and a perfect example of karma coming back to bite Bret on the arse.
There is a reason why I don’t normally read autobiographies and it is because I normally finish them knowing less about the real events than I did before I read the book. It was funny reading about the power play and games between Hogan, Flair, Nash, HHH and many others, but I wasn’t looking for a comic to laugh along with. The only part of this book that I think Bret has been honest with is his volatile relationship with his siblings, and even that leaves me wanting to meet his family and ask for their opinion. Bret comes across as a womaniser, who probably shouldn’t have got married, as a saint, the leader of the pack which he wasn’t and a saint. I know I said that twice, but there is no way that he was as much of a victim in his personal life as he tries to make out, although he does come across with having good intentions during his turbulent life.
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka is a book I accidentally read twice. Has anyone else ever had that kind of lightbulb moment, when things start to sound vaguely familiar?
For me that rarely happens because I generally get rid of my books after I’ve read them. They go to friends or off to the library; I keep very few. But for some reason I kept this one, and it only took 11 pages for that reading lighbulb to go on with a scene so vivid and visual and unforgettable that at first I wasn’t sure if I’d seen it in a movie or read it in a book (this book). I had to read a little bit further to realize that yes, I’d read this before, probably when it first came out in 2002.
It is spring of 1942, in the early days of WWII. Evacuation orders for over 100,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast have been posted. Japanese AMERICANS who’ve done nothing wrong; who love baseball and school, who own stores and homes and little white dogs, whose only crime is their ancestry, are suddenly enemy aliens and ordered to leave their homes to reside in internment camps far away.
This book is about one family’s experiences. Told in sparse, simple prose, it focuses on the small things, the quiet details. It feels bare. Direct. Subtle. Sad.
The first chapter is told from the mother’s perspective. The father has been taken away for questioning late at night, months before. Taken away in his slippers and his bathrobe, with the neighbors peering out from behind their curtains.
Now the mother (never named) is making careful and necessary preparations for the rest of the family to leave their home in Berkley, California, not to join the father but to be taken to a different place. She’s packing up the house, making painful decisions about the pets, waiting for the children to come home from school. She doesn’t know where they are going or how long they’ll be gone or who will live in their home while they are away; she only knows that they have to go and can only bring what they can carry.
The next chapter is from the perspective of the eleven year old daughter, on the train and then later on a bus toward their destination in Utah. It’s hot and they are bored, cranky, sad. Their minds drift to other places.
The next two chapters are told by the 8 year old son/brother during the family’s time at camp and are filled with a kids view of the heat, the white dust, the cold, the hunger, the boredom, the thin walls, the cramped quarters, the lines, the barbed wire, the armed guards, the censored letters, the longing for old times, the wondering about friends at home. Finally they do return home but things are not the same, will never be the same.
The very end of the book, after the father’s homecoming, is a political tirade that seemed unnecessary and tacked on. The stark realities of the family’s experience and the injustice of it all is a potent enough political statement all by itself.
At 144 pages, When the Emperor Was Divine is an understated, extremely well written book with a poetic feel that pays close attention to detail and focuses more on feelings than on actual events during this painful and ugly period in our country’s history.
I loved this book and highly recommend it for anyone over the age of 12. It’s a keeper.
Title: If the Witness Lied
Lorri from Jew Wishes posted a review of Sarah Houghteling’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Here’s an excerpt:
Suey from It’s All About Books read Patricia Reilly Giff’s Lily’s Crossing for the WWII reading challenge. Here’s a little of what she had to say:
Title: London Eye Mystery 2.0
Christina from Jackets & Covers read Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary by Ruud Van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven for the WWII reading challenge. Here is an excerpt from her review:
Laurie Faria Stolarz
What makes a successful man different from ordinary man? Yes you’re right its the habits which make all the difference. In order to be successful you have to follow certain habits of successful people so you can also be like them. So here is a guide book for you where you can get the necessary habits of being successful.
Form master mind networks
The English Tea Store brand of maple-flavored black tea may not quite be what you expect to taste upon trying it. The scent of maple wafts from the tin, promising a candy sweetness. As it brews, it releases even more aroma, watering the mouth in anticipation. With a little sweetener and a dash of cream, it presents itself as a swirling, steaming mug of dessert.
Happy Holidays, EveryOne !
Author : D Hopkins and P Cullen
Rating: 
Katrina from Katrina’s Reads read and reviewed Then by Morris Gleitzman for the WWII reading challenge. Here’s a little of what she had to say:
Kathy from Bermudaonion’s Weblog listened to the audio of Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse for the WWII reading challenge. Here’s an excerpt from her review:
Proclaiming a Cross-centered Theology by Mark Dever
I’m not big into reading autobiographies but there were certain events in Bret Harts wrestling life that I was interested in finding out about, and as I was lent the book by my friend Andres, I thought that I might as well read it and find out what happened backstage and out of the public eye.
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka is a book I accidentally read twice. Has anyone else ever had that kind of lightbulb moment, when things start to sound vaguely familiar?
This book is about one family’s experiences. Told in sparse, simple prose, it focuses on the small things, the quiet details. It feels bare. Direct. Subtle. Sad.
Now the mother (never named) is making careful and necessary preparations for the rest of the family to leave their home in Berkley, California, not to join the father but to be taken to a different place. She’s packing up the house, making painful decisions about the pets, waiting for the children to come home from school. She doesn’t know where they are going or how long they’ll be gone or who will live in their home while they are away; she only knows that they have to go and can only bring what they can carry.
The next chapter is from the perspective of the eleven year old daughter, on the train and then later on a bus toward their destination in Utah. It’s hot and they are bored, cranky, sad. Their minds drift to other places.
The very end of the book, after the father’s homecoming, is a political tirade that seemed unnecessary and tacked on. The stark realities of the family’s experience and the injustice of it all is a potent enough political statement all by itself.